Native Village
Youth and Education News
May 18, 2005 Issue 152 Volume 2
"Receiving your degree reflects a new beginning in your life – a life blessed with happiness, a strong intellect, self-discipline and many riches... During your graduation ceremony, reflect back on the personal struggles you and your family have overcome to get to where you are today and the strength you are blessed with to overcome future endeavors. Remember your parents, relatives and friends who encouraged and supported you with their prayers. Remember and thank your role models and those who positively influenced your life. Listen and think about your elders' teachings that being blessed with richness is not based on your salary or how many vehicles you own." Leonard Chee, Navajo
Indian graduates receive
encouragement, opportunities
As graduation season rolls by, tribal leaders across the country are
trying to let students know that getting an education is extremely worthwhile.
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Chairman Harold Frazier advised students to combat negativity by becoming more active in
sports and keep busy while setting examples for their peers. He told the adults. "The kids
don't ask for much-just to have people work with them, listen to them and encourage them and all of us must do
this."
Leonard Chee, Chairman of the Education Committee of the Navajo Nation Council: "Receiving
your degree reflects a new beginning in your life – a life blessed with happiness, a strong intellect, self-discipline
and many riches. I know about the unique challenges a Navajo college student must face when in school, such as
homesickness, lack of money or strenuous academic competition. During your graduation ceremony, reflect back on
the personal struggles you and your family have overcome to get to where you are today and the strength you are blessed
with to overcome future endeavors. Remember your parents, relatives and friends who encouraged and supported you with
their prayers. Remember and thank your role models and those who positively influenced your life. Listen and think about
your elders' teachings that being blessed with richness is not based on your salary or how many vehicles you
own." He also warned against "breaking the law, drinking alcohol or drinking and driving."
http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=6446
Standing at the
Crossroads--The Seventh Generation
South Dakota: Most of the Pine Ridge Reservation's problems is blamed on
beer. Although selling alcohol there is banned, tribal members travel to Whiteclay, Nebraska, which sold the equivalent
of 4,500,000 cans of beer, mostly to the Lakota, in 2003. Tribal activists blame alcohol sales for the 80% reservation
alcoholism rate Others, including some tribal members, blame the Lakota themselves. Near a frozen creek there in 1890,
soldiers of the 7th Cavalry killed more than 300 Native men, women and children. Some say the massacre at Wounded
Knee broke the sacred Hoop and the spirit of the Lakota. But the holy man, Black Elk, spoke of the Seventh
Generation of Lakota who would come after him and mend the sacred hoop, the continuity of the Lakota people. Some
say that generation is today, in the growing movement of people getting sober and educated. Those who walk this road are
mothers fighting to keep their children sober and educators working to give students alternatives to substance
use. Some fought to get them through high school and to keep them from joining peers on the reservation's dark
roads, the scene of 247 accidents involving kids in 2003. The idea of a Seventh Generation is a rallying cry to improve
the lives of Pine Ridge youth, who have a 31% high school dropout rate. They believe the young people are the
Seventh Generation. Through them, the hope of the Lakota people will be renewed.
http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2005/05/15/special_section/whiteclay/
Blanket to link Thurston,
Red Lake
Oregon: Students and staff members at Thurston High School understand the
pain, loss, and grieving that follows a school shooting. Seven years ago, they suffered an assault similar to the March
attack which took ten lives at Red Lake High School. Now the Thurston Campus is reaching out to help Red Lake High
School heal; they plan to ship a turquoise Chief Joseph blanket, plus more than 30 condolence cards, to Red Lake High
School. The idea came from Shannon Lyon, a multicultural liaison at Thurston, who is Anishinabe. In Indian culture, a
blanket is a common gift for people who are going through a tragedy, she said. "This is a healing gift to
send to them," Lyon said.
http://www.registerguard.com/news/2005/05/09/b1.cr.blanket.0509.html
American Indian students
receive praise
Louisiana: 95 American Indian seniors and their parents met at
Terrebonne Parish to recognize the high school graduates. Surrounded by poster-size portraits of American Indian
elders, colorful Indian blankets, hand-stitched baskets and palmetto fronds, the graduation ceremony emphasized he value
of education and honor students who have made it through high school. "Nowadays, the government recognizes
that we didn't do the natives right," said superintendent Ed Richard. "We have Kirby (Verret) and John (Solet)
with Indian Education in Terrebonne schools helping natives to realize that there is a future for them if they stay in
school. That's part of the village, to keep these children in school and to see that they graduate." Some
seniors plan to study medicine, psychology, education or a skilled trade at a university or vocational school this
fall. Others plan to join the military.
Among those recognized:
Dustin
Curley: full academic and football scholarship to
Southeastern Oklahoma State University;
Caleb
Chaisson and Amber
Dardar; graduating with the
highest grades.
Amber
Dardar, for her many years of
dancing at different functions
Eva Lovell Chouest Award: Joshua
Duthu, Jarred
Eschete, Storm
Fitch, Autumn
Hendon;
Joseph Dardard U.S.
Marines Award: Stormy Parfait,
Brandon Slaughter,
Valine Pellegrin,
and Destiny Roberts;
The Marie and John Verret Memorial Award: Charles
White;
Luster Award: Jerrica
Francis;
Charles McDonald Award: Ashley
Parfait, Jimmie
Duplantis and Lauren
Rodriguez;
Corine Paulk Award: Rebecca
Molinere;
Body Elite certificates: Lose
Hernandez and Jamie
Billiot.
Houma Daily Courier
Teen faces obstacles,
graduates college
South Dakota: Savannah Sioux Greseth has accomplished something special:
the 17-year old single mother is graduating from Sisseton Wahpeton College with an associate's degree in general
studies. Greseth, who graduated at age 15 from high school on the Lake Travers Reservation. lived on her own and paid
her bills by working as a tutor for college students. "People didn't realize how old I was; they just assumed
I was as old as them. It did come as a shock to some people though," Greseth said. Savannah, who was honored
as the 2005 Student of the Year for Sisseton Wahpeton College, has been accepted into South Dakota State
University's pre-med program. Once she finishes the pre-med program, she plans on attending the University of
South Dakota to get her medical degree. "I want to become a doctor because there is a shortage of Native
American female doctors and I believe I can help children, especially on the reservation, have a healthy start in
life,"she said.
http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/11647122.htm
Sister grads honor late
mother
Kansas: Linda Norman died two years ago knowing she wouldn't be able to
see her daughters graduate from Haskell Indian Nations University. "Education meant everything to her,"
said 24-year-old Alicia Malchoff, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in education. "The last time my
sister and I left her on Christmas break, we knew we probably wouldn't see her again, but we knew we were doing
what she wanted us to do -- she wanted us to get an education." Norman who was a Head Start teacher in Port Graham,
Alaska, died Feb. 6, 2003. She had cancer. "We wouldn't have made it if it weren't for all the support we got
from Haskell," Alta Malchoff, 22, said. She earned an associate's degree in arts and sciences. "This is
our second home. It really is family here." The Malchoffs were among 170 students who received their diplomas
during the recent graduation ceremonies. Among the honorees:
Jessie
Branson and Marigold
Linton: Friend of
Haskell Award;
Joseph
Claunch: American
Indian Higher Education Consortium Student of the Year;
Leroy
Silva: Haskell Brave;
Julie
Sharp: Haskell
Student of the Year;
Dempsey
Micco and Barney
Old Coyote:
Outstanding Alumni of 2005 Award.
Journal-World
Record number of Native
American teens in science fair
Arizona: The Gila River Indian Reservation's warm, salty waters are ideal
conditions for raising tilapia fish. Annette Mendivil, 16, has made the tilapia fish the focus of a nearly year-long
science project. The sophomore from Casa Grande Union High School is among five Native American students from
Arizona and New Mexico competing in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix. Mendivil started
her science project last summer, spending at least an hour a day observing and taking care of 200 tilapia. She
sacrificed basketball, vacation and winter breaks to tend, observe and analyze. Her hard work was worth it:
Annette's experiment was awarded a grand-prize awards in March at the Arizona American Indian Science and Engineering
Fair. Her tribe, the Gila River Indian Community, doesn't have a full-time biologist, she said. So her
long-term goals are to go to college, major in biology and come back to the reservation. Phil Huebner, director of
American Indian programs for Arizona State University, is helping advise the students. "We've developed a
scientist," he proudly said.
Arizona Republic
Zah to receive honorary
degree from ASU.
Arizona: Peterson Zah, one of the 100 most important American Indians in
the last century, will receive an honorary doctorate degree from Arizona State University. Zah, the former
president of the Navajo Nation, has worked for 30 years to defend American Indian people and their interests. As ASU
adviser on American Indian affairs for 10 years, Zah helped raise Native student population from 672 to 1,237 and
increased retention from 43% to 78%. Last fall he received a lifetime achievement award from the National Indian
Education Association. ''Peterson Zah is the living national treasure of the Navajo Nation, a senior statesman to
all Native Americans, and one of Arizona's most prominent citizens,'' said ASU President Michael Crow. ''He is also one
of ASU's most distinguished alumni.'' In 2002, Zah received the Pierce-Hickerson Award for outstanding advocacy
and promotion of justice for American Indians. He also has received honorary doctorates from Colorado College and the
College of Santa Fe.
IndigenousNews Digest 1179
Port Angeles Native
American counselor wins national award
Washington: Michelle Charles has been named Counselor of the Year by
Catching the Dream National Native American Education Foundation. The Native American counselor at Stevens Middle School
helps the school's 85 Native American students improve their academic achievement. Since Charles started in 2002, the
school's Native student performance on Washington State tests has drastically improved. A greater percentage of Native
students passed the reading, writing and science tests than the total state student average.
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/sited/story/html/206636
Recalling Ancient
America's Forgotten History
Missouri: History books often emphasize how young this country is,
especially compared to those countries in Europe or Asia. But the American heartland has an ancient history, too. When
Europe was in the Dark Ages, American Indians were making sculptures in today's Oklahoma, carving decorated pipes in
Tennessee, and crafting elaborate banner stones for spears in Iowa. From 800 to 1300 AD, the settlement at Cahokia
along the Mississippi River was home to 20,000 people -- larger than London in the same era. Ohio, Louisiana, Georgia
and Alabama also were home to notable indigenous communities. Even so, few people have heard of them. "That
knowledge has not yet reached our schools, grade schools, high schools," said Richard Townsend, the curator at the
Art Institute of Chicago. "This isn't just Indian history. It's part of our collective human history."
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/print?id=734468
Artwork: Cahokia National Museum Society
Students' find digs up
concerns on handling of ancient remains
Colorado: During a school outing, students from Dayspring Christian
Schools unearthed human bones in the Crow Valley Campground. The students were exploring the historic campground when
they came upon a portion of a skull, a lower jaw, some vertebrae and a couple of pieces of arm bones. Students collected
them in a bag and brought them to a teacher, who called authorities. While researchers are thrilled with the find--which
appear to predate any known American Indians who once lived in northern Colorado -- the students may have trespassed on
private land and illegally dug into an ancient burial ground before taking the bones. "There were a number of
improprieties here," said Robert Brunswig from the University of Northern Colorado. This incident is
hardly an isolated one, Brunswig added. It's becoming more common for American Indian artifacts to be accidentally
unearthed as development pushes onto undisturbed land that was once home to different tribes. Most Coloradans don't know
they are trampling on sacred ground and violating laws when they uproot bones from an ancient tribe, Brunswig
said. State archaeologist Susan Collins will try to trace the lineage of the bones. "We are sensitive
to the concerns of Native American people, who view ancient burials as sacred, and we will attempt to determine cultural
affiliation and consult with potential claimant tribes," Collins said.
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_2734589
Members Of American Indian
Studies Program Committee Resign
Iowa: All seven members of Iowa State University's American Studies
Program advisory committee have resigned. The members say the way the program is being handled promotes the
"devaluation of ... American Indian people." The committee says administrative actions have stalled
program development. "Our decision is based on the fact that the American Indian Studies Program in
just two short years has fallen from one of national status to one that is a disgrace to both Iowa State University and
Indian people across the nation," a letter to ISU's president read. Resigning committee members criticized the
school's decision to move the program to the new Center for American Intercultural Studies. They said American Indians
aren't comparable to other groups in the new center.
H-Amindian Listserv
House Kills Bill To
Guarantee Professors' Academic Freedom
Colorado: A bill designed to protect professors from political pressure
was voted down in Colorado's House of Representatives. The bill was introduced after University of Colorado
professor Ward Churchill compared some Sept. 11 victims to Nazis. Defeating the bill "is to protect
those institutions that we value, it's to protect our kids we send there and to protect Colorado's reputation,"
said Rep. Bill Cadman. Had it passed, the bill would have protected free speech rights of professors, researchers and
students. It also would have barred the use of political or religious views in considering rewards, promotions or
discrimination claims.
H-Amindian Listserv
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