Native Education

PORT ANGELES, Wash. – You can almost hear the splash of paddles hitting the water, an eagle call overhead and the crash of whales breaching as Jamie Valadez tells her high school students about paddling through the inland waters of the Puget Sound, reliving the tribal journeys of ages past.

AKWESASNE, N.Y. – As many American Indian tribes struggle to close the generational gap between traditions, culture and language, the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe is embracing technology as a way of teaching the Mohawk language to their Native youth.

I was in Miss Ruby Dial’s library one day in 1956, standing by the window, when I heard a low noise coming from the west. It grew louder and louder, and finally overwhelming. By this time the kids were yelling, “That’s Tom Boy! That’s Tom Boy!”

BISMARCK, N.D. – United Tribes Technical College honored 16 mid-year graduates during a ceremony Dec. 17 at the college in Bismarck.

WHATCOM, Wash. – As part of a growing effort to deliver higher education and community outreach services to Pacific Northwest tribes, the Nisqually Indian Tribe recently approved and presented Northwest Indian College a $75,500 grant to support and bolster training and education services for the promotion and maintenance of the cultural integrity of Native tribes.

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – More than one-third of Sequoyah Schools’ total student body has qualified for nomination for a national math award for their outstanding performance in high school mathematics. To be eligible for nomination for the official United States Achievement Academy Scholarship Foundation National Mathematics Awards, students must have a 3.0 grade point average in math, show mathematics skills and aptitude, demonstrate an attitude of cooperation, leadership, dependability, enthusiasm, responsibility, and have a desire to learn and improve. A whopping 149 students met this qualification, the highest number in the school’s history.

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – A Cherokee Nation citizen, Jackie Eagle, of Gore, Okla., has been named Indian Student of the Year by the Oklahoma Council for Indian Education. This is the second year in a row the honor has gone to a Cherokee student.

SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah recently announced that Matthew Van Alstine Makomenaw, Ph.D., has joined the Office for Equity and Diversity as the director of the American Indian Resource Center.

EUGENE, Ore. – Port Madison Enterprises scholarship intern Cassandra George has earned top honors at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Ore. George, a 19-year-old college sophomore and graduate of North Kitsap High School, has been identified as one of the top 15 percent of her University of Oregon class, based on her academic achievements.

Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk announced Oct. 7 the second competition for students attending high schools and tribal colleges funded by the Bureau of Indian Education that will promote careers in the fields of green and renewable energy. The competition will be looking for designs of a conversion process that will change biomass into diesel fuel.

BOZEMAN, Mont. – There have been a lot of great moments that have occurred in Montana State University’s Indian Club meeting room over the last few decades, but Bobcat fans could argue that the biggest moment of all may have been when Debbie Thompson Davis and Douglas Davis first bumped into each at a committee meeting more than 25 years ago.

CROWNPOINT, N.M. – Navajo Technical College unveiled some major gifts for its students Dec. 15. During the last few months, the college had been working on two major new program offerings, first, a bachelor of applied science degree in information technology, and second, a registered nursing degree program.

PHOENIX – The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians of California follows a cultural tradition of generosity taught to them by their ancestors. In their Native language amuyich is the term used to describe the belief of caring for one’s neighbor and community. The tribe gave a generous philanthropic gift of $75,000 to the Native American Finance Officers Association to support education.

DENVER – In support of American Indian students’ pursuit of higher education, Nissan North America, Inc. recently granted $85,000 to the American Indian College Fund to continue the Nissan Corporate Scholars Program. The program has provided scholarship support to Native scholars attending tribal colleges and mainstream universities for more than a decade.

RENO, Nev. – Gain the latest industry-specific management tools and learn the best-demonstrated practices used today, with gaming management courses offered by the University of Nevada, Reno Gaming Management Program. Courses taught by industry experts and university faculty provide in-depth management and career development to executives, managers, supervisors and aspiring gaming professionals to improve the bottom line and update, enhance and acquire business essentials unique to the gaming industry.

On Nov. 18, in a scene replete with blanket give-a-ways and reminiscent of a treaty signing, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians entered into a mutual agreement to develop educational and cultural preservation programs on the Indianapolis campus of Indiana University, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis.

LEUPP, Ariz. – The community of Leupp as well as employees and students from Leupp Schools Inc. celebrated as the Navajo Housing Authority officially opened a 20 unit affordable family staff housing complex, on Nov. 24, during a grand opening ceremony held at the Leupp School Inc. Library.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The American Indian Graduate Center has awarded its first fellowship scholarship to a citizen of the newly acknowledged Shinnecock Indian Nation.

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Apples, the red shiny fruit, have long been associated with teachers and education. Now Apples, the kind that process information, are going to become part of Sequoyah Schools’ daily education plan.

HARLEM, Mont. – Fort Belknap College recently announced that Ashley Alvarado received the President Obama Scholarship. This scholarship is offered to every tribal college in the country, and only one award is given to each college in the amount of $3,500.