Kay L. McLennan, Ph.D., Professor of Practice

Home Up

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Cultural Context of Leadership Final Project

A Survey of the

Cultural Aspects of Leadership

Supported by the Curriculum

at Selected

American Indian

Tribal Colleges

 

by Kay L. McLennan

August 2001

 

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

U Purpose Statement   U

     The purpose of this research project is to examine the cultural aspects of leadership supported by the curriculum at Native American tribal colleges and universities.

 

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

j Background j

Native American Participation in Postsecondary Education     

     As background on Native American participation in postsecondary education, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (1998), Native American enrollment in institutions of higher education has grown dramatically since 1976.  More specifically, between 1976 and 1994, Native American enrollment in postsecondary institutions increased by 67 percent (in comparison to an increase of 30 percent for the total population) (National Center for Education Statistics, 1998).    In turn, while Native American enrollment at the undergraduate level exceeds the enrollment levels for the general population, the  highest level of educational attainment is primarily limited to certificate and 2-year programs.  In other words, Native Americans are less likely to enroll and complete 4-year programs in comparison to the total population of U.S. college students.

Rise of Tribal Colleges

     As a product of the self-determination movement begun during the 1950s ["During this period, Congress authorized a program of rapid termination of federal trust responsibilities for American Indians" (Deloria, 1999)] in Native American Indian tribes, the first tribal college was established by the Navajo Nation in 1968.  During the following three decades the number of tribal colleges grew to where there are currently 30 tribally controlled colleges in the U.S. (this number is according to the National Center for Education Statistics findings as of 1995).   (A detailed time line of the historic events related to the development of tribal colleges and universities is included below in Table 1.)

     Each of the tribal colleges provide a wide variety of programs of courses but all adhere to the goals of preserving and enhancing tribal culture and serving as a resource for economic development in tribal communities.

Table 1: Historic Events Related to the Development of Tribal Colleges and Universities

Year Historic Event
1968 The Navajo Nation established the first tribally controlled college--Navajo Community College in Arizona (now called Dive Community College).
1970 Haskell Institute (originally founded as an off-reservation boarding school) became Haskell Indian Junior College and began offering postsecondary courses.
1971 Congress passed the Navajo Community College Assistance Act providing Navajo Community College with a federal appropriation based on its enrollment as well as providing a limited amount of funding for capital construction.
1972 The Indian Education Act created an Office of Indian Education within the U.S. Department of Education and established the National Advisory Council on Indian Education.

The American Indian Higher Education Consortium was created by six tribal colleges to provide technical assistance and undertake advocacy efforts. 
1975 Congress passed the Indian Self-Determination Act and the Education Assistance Act.
1976 Navajo Community College became the first tribal college to gain full accreditation as a 2-year college offering associate's degrees.
1978 Congress passed the Tribally Controlled Community College Act, providing funding for the establishment and improvement of tribally controlled colleges.
1983 Oglala Lakota College and Sinte Gleska College became the first two tribal colleges accredited to offer bachelor's degrees.
1988 Congress reauthorized the Indian Education Act and called for a White House Conference on Indian Education.
1989 Sinte Gleska College was the first tribal college to receive accreditation to offer master's degrees.
1991 The Indian Nations At Risk Task Force, established by the U.S. Secretary of Education, released its report emphasizing the need to improve financial aid programs for Native American students, encourage Native American students to become teachers and develop a national database on Native American education.
1992 The White House Conference on Indian Education led to 114 recommendations concerning Indian education.
1994 The U.S. Congress gave land-grant status to tribal colleges.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, about 128,000 American Indian and Alaska Native students were enrolled in postsecondary education.
1996 President Clinton issued the Tribal Colleges Executive Order, directing federal agencies to provide more resources to tribal colleges. 
     Source: National Center for Education Statistics.  (1998).  American Indians and Alaska Natives in postsecondary education.  (NCES Publication
No.  NCES 98-291.  Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.               
 

 

 

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

[ Issues   [

Today the government seems intent on stressing the economic aspect of Indian Life to the detriment of its educational component, a policy exceedingly shortsighted in view of the continuing economic crisis of the United States and the limited resources that Indian reservations actually contain.  --Deloria, et al (1999), p. 144

     The main issue in this study is how Native American culture appears to require a different postsecondary educational experience. Related to the central issue of culture, the profile of Native Americans in higher education supports the notion of the importance of alternative tribally led education.

Indian Culture Requires Unique Postsecondary Educational Experiences

     Indian culture is at odds with the theoretical frameworks and conduct of western academics. In particular, for Native Americans, "whatever information is obtained in higher education must …have some direct bearing on human individual and communal experience" (Deloria, 1999). In contrast, mainstream higher education is confined to a narrow "methodology acceptable to the present generation of academics and researchers" (Deloria, 1999).

     In turn, the preservation of tribal culture is one of central missions of all tribal colleges. (The extent to which an Indian culture based method of inquiry is incorporated to tribal college curriculum offerings is beyond the scope of this inquiry.)

Native Americans in Higher Education

    On average, Native Americans have a lower level of educational attainment than is observed in the total population. More specifically, in 1995, only 9.3 percent of the Native American population (25 years and older) had earned a bachelor's degree. In comparison, for the same period and age group, for the total population, 20.3 percent had earned a bachelor's degree (National Center for Education Statistics, 1998).

     However, Native American participation rates in higher education have grown dramatically in recent years. In comparison to a 30 percent growth rate in college enrollments for the total U.S. population, between 1976 and 1994, Native American postsecondary enrollment grew by 67 percent (National Center for Education Statistics, 1998).

     Still, Native Americans face the severest handicaps of all student population groups in traditional higher education settings. (The risk factors include delayed enrollment, part-time attendance, financial independence, having dependents, being a single parent, working full time and being a GED recipient.) In turn, the risk factors contribute to low enrollment rates and reduced degree completion rates.

     For tribally led higher education, as reported by the National Center for Education Statistics (1998), "[a] 1983 American Indian Higher Education Consortium survey found a 75 percent greater completion rate among Indian students who completed a course of study at a tribal college and then went on to complete a 4-year degree program than among Indian student who went directly to a 4-year institution." Further, while the unemployment rate of Native Americans living on a reservation is dramatically higher than in the rest of the economy, Native Americans with postsecondary certificates and/or degrees that elect to stay on the reservation face a dramatically brighter reservation-based employment future.  According to a recent American Indian Higher Education Consortium report (2000), "one year after receiving their degrees or certificates, the overwhelming majority of tribal college graduates, 91 percent, were either working or attending college."  Of the group working and electing to stay on the reservation, 85 percent were able to secure employment.

     Finally, as an extension of the unique federal trust relationship between Indian tribes and the federal government, the tribal colleges in existence do not generally receive state support.  Also, owing to a lack of income from other sources (there is no tax base to speak of), most tribes do not support tribal colleges (Shanley, 2001).  However, an analysis of the adequacy of funding for tribal colleges or tribal college students is beyond the scope of this inquiry.

[

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

 

B Research Questions  B

That the Supreme Court has continually characterized Indian tribes as foreign to the United States in cultural ad political traditions is difficult for most people to understand, so they make little effort to do so and prefer to consider Indians as simply another racial minority, albeit one with considerable fascinating habits.   --Deloria, et al (1999), p. 145

     The conclusions and implications section of a recent joint study by the American Indian Higher Education Consortium and The Institute for Higher Education Policy (2000) begins, "[s]overeign Indian Nations are composed of four over laping attributes: a secure land base, a functioning economy, self-government, and cultural vitality." The report continues, "[t]ribal colleges contribute to strengthening all four of these aspects-by encouraging land development, economic growth, community leadership, and the preservation of tribal traditions."

     In turn, the aim of this research project is to investigate and detail how the specific cultural and leadership curriculums at tribal colleges currently support the strengthening of community leadership.  In addition, this inquiry will present descriptive information on 30 tribal colleges (the American Indian Higher Education Consortium lists 33 tribal colleges on their web site but only 30 were included in the most recent statistical review conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics) and will explore the issues surrounding the formation of new tribal colleges.

B

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
 

A Literature Review  A

Native American Culture Requires Unique Postsecondary Educational Experiences

     A literature review revealed numerous views that Native American culture requires a unique postsecondary educational experience.  According to Deloria (1999), Indian culture is at odds with western academic inquiry. To illustrate the difference between western and Indian inquiry, Deloria (1999) uses the following example.

A Western observer faced with the question of how and why certain species of birds make their nests is liable to conclude that it is "instinct." And this identification of course tells us nothing whatsoever, but it does foreclose further inquiry because a question has been answered.

In the Indian context the answer would involve a highly complicated description of the personality of the bird species, be it eagle, meadowlark, or sparrow, and the observed behavior of the bird would provide information on time of year, weather, absence or presence of related plants and animals,

     Further, Hall (1976) contrasts western language with Hopi Indian language in the following text.

In English, when a man says, "It rained last night," there is no way of knowing how he arrived at that conclusion, or if he is even telling the truth, whereas a Hopi cannot talk about the rain at all without signifying the nature of his relatedness to the event-firsthand experience, inference, or hearsay.

     The finding of Bryant, et al (1998) that certain [or all] Native Americans do "not want to speak for others" raises the question within a western academic setting of "[h]ow does a scholar construct meaning from qualitative interview data if that same scholar must refrain from speaking for others?"

      Finally, Deloria (1999) provides the legal basis for substantive cultural differences between Native American culture and the mainstream culture of the United States. That is, "[t]he Supreme Court has continually characterized Indian tribes as foreign to the United States in cultural and political traditions is difficult for most people to understand, so they make little effort to do so and prefer to consider Indians as simply another racial minority, albeit one with considerable fascinating habits."

The Genesis of a Tribal College

     Shanley (2001) and Stein (2001) detail an elaborate list of the minimum requirements for forming a tribal college. For example, in order to be recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (and be eligible for federal funding) a postsecondary institution must complete an eligibility study to address items like accreditation status and organization as well as "be sanctioned by the tribe and governed by mostly Indians; the majority of students must be Indian; and there must be enough potential students (critical mass) to support a tribal college" (Shanley, 2001)

     More importantly, according to Stein (2001), it is "[u]sually a small cadre of tribal activists and supportive educators who do the actual work [of forming a tribal college]--planning, lobbying for, and building the college.  In turn, the genesis of a new tribal college appears to have more in common with the notion of self-organizing systems (Bryant, 2001) than with the formal legislative initiatives responsible for the creation of other public institutions in the United States.

A

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
 

G Method Used   G

Internet-Based Survey of Tribal Colleges' Curriculums

     Each of the tribal colleges web sites (28 out of the 30 tribal colleges examined have web sites) were searched for information on both courses and programs in tribal culture and tribal leadership/management. In turn, the findings on the targeted curriculum offerings from the 28 tribal college web sites are detailed in the section entitled "Data Presentation."  In addition, drawing on the National Center for Education Statistics (1998), the Data Presentation section includes information on the accreditation status and degree levels offered for each of the colleges offering tribal culture and tribal leadership/management courses (a total of fourteen tribal colleges fit this profile).

     Also, as further background, information on the institution's year of establishment, location, tribal affiliation, total enrollment and the proportion of the affiliated tribe's highest level of educational attainment is provided for all thirty tribal colleges profiled in a recent National Center for Education Statistics report entitled American Indians and Alaska Natives in Postsecondary Education (1998).

Limitations of the Survey Approach

     The study design is limited by the extent to which the web site information includes course and program listings.  For example, two tribal college web sites (for D-Q University and Haskell Indian Nations University) surprisingly did not mention any tribal culture or tribal leadership/management courses despite the fact that both institutions offer bachelor's degrees. (Only five out of the thirty institutions offer bachelor's degrees.) In turn, where D-Q University and Haskell Indian Nations University have enrollments of 466 students and 793 students, respectively (National Center for Education Statistics, 1998), it is reasonable to expect these two institutions both at least offer tribal culture studies courses.

G

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

 
 

I Presentation of Data   I

In  this section, the findings from a search of all available tribal college Internet web sites is detailed in Table 2.  In addition, Table 1 includes a range of complementary statistics and information on tribal colleges from the National Center for Education Statistics (1998).  More specifically, for each tribal college, Table 1 details the year established, location, tribal affiliation, total enrollment and highest level of educational attainment.  Table 2 focuses on the particular tribal culture and leadership course and program offerings available in the sub set of fourteen tribal colleges that listed this information on their web sites.

 Table 1: Tribal Colleges and the Population Served

 

Institution

(Including Internet Address)

 

Year College Established

 

 

Location

 

 

Tribal Affiliation

 

 

Total Enrollment

 

 

Highest Level of Education in Tribe

Bay Mills Community College http://www.bmcc.org

1984

Brimley, MI

Intertribal

83

Not Applicable

Blackfeet Community College http://www.montana.edu/wwwbcc

1976

Browning, MT

Blackfoot

395

          Associate’s=8% ; Bachelor’s=5.8%

Cankdeska Cikana Community College http://www.little-hoop.cc.nd.us

1974

Fort Totten, ND

Sioux

174

Associate’s=7.7% ; Bachelor’s=5.9%

Cheyenne River Community College           (No Web Address Found)

1973

Eagle Butte, SD

Sioux

45

Associate’s=7.7% ;Bachelor’s=5.9%

College of the Menominee Nation http://www.menominee.edu

1991

Keshena, WI

Menominee

Not Available

Associate’s=5.5% ; Bachelor’s=4%

Crownpoint Institute of Technology http://cit.cc.nm.us

1979

Crownpoint, NM

Navajo

414

Associate’s=5.2% ; Bachelor’s=3.1%

D-Q Unversity, http://www.dqu.cc.ca.us

1971

Davis, CA

Intertribal

466

Not Applicable

Dine Community College http://crystal.ncc.cc.nm.us

1968

Tsaile, AZ

Navajo

2,031

Associate’s=5.2% ; Bachelor’s=3.1%

Dull Knife Memorial College http://www.montana.edu/~wwwai/DKMC.html

1975

Lame Deer., MT

Cheyenne

378

Associate’s=6.4% ; Bachelor’s=4.7%

Fond de Lac Tribal Community College http://www.fdl.cc.mn.us/web/dept.html

1987

Cloquet, MN

Anishinabe

757

Not Available

Fort Belknap Community College http://www.fortbelknap.cc.mt.us

1984

Harlem, MT

Assiniboine and Gros Ventres

190

Assiniboine: Associate’s=9.9% Bachelor’s=6.6% 

Gros Ventres: Associate’s=9.4% Bachelor’s=6.4%

Fort Berthold Community College http://www.fbcc.bia.edu

1973

Newton, SD

Aikara, Hidasta, and Mandan

257

 Aikara: Associate’s=6% ;Bachelor’s=4.8%

Mandan: Associate’s=9.9%   Bachelor’s=4.9%

Fort Peck Community College http://www.fpcc.ct.mt.us

1978

Poplar, MT

Assiniboine and Sioux

383

 Assiniboine:  Associate’s=9.9% Bachelor’s=6.6%

Sioux: Associate’s=7.7% ;Bachelor’s=5.9%

Haskell Indian Nations University http://www.haskell.edu

1970

Lawrence, KS

Intertribal

793

Not Applicable

The Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development http://www.iaiancad.org

1962

Santa Fe, NM

Intertribal

231

Not Applicable

Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College, http://www.lco-college.edu

1982

Hayward, WI

Chippewa

468

Associate’s=7.8% ; Bachelor’s=6.1%

Leech Lake Tribal College      http://www.lltc.org

1990

Cass Lake, MN

Anishinabeg

Not Available

Not Available

Little Big Horn College http://www.lbhc.cc.mt.us

1980

Crow Agency, MT

Crow

274

Associate’s=6% ; Bachelor’s=7.4%

Little Priest Tribal College http://www.unl.edu/dgs/lptche.htm

1996

Winnebago, NE

Winnebago

100

Associate’s=9% ; Bachelor’s=5.4%

Nebraska Indian Community College (No Web Address Found)

1979

Niobara., NE

Omaha, Santee Yankton and Sioux

320

 Omaha: Associate’s=9.4% ;Bachelor’s=3.2%

Sioux: Associate’s=7.7% ; Bachelor’s=5.9%

Northwest Indian College  http://www.nwic.edu

1983

Bellingham, WA

Lummi

Not Available

Associate’s=5.4% ; Bachelor’s=5.8%

Oglala Lakota College , http://www.olc.edu

1971

Kyle, SD

Sioux

1,038

Associate’s=7.7% ; Bachelor’s=5.9%

Salish Kootenai College, http://www.skc.edu

1976

Pablo, MT

Salish and Kootenai

874

Salish: Associate’s=9.8% ; Bachelor’s=6.9%

Kootenai: Associate’s=7.5% Bachelor’s=6.3%

Sinte Gleska University http://www.sinte.indian.com

1971

Rosebud, SD

Sioux

748

Associate’s=7.7% ; Bachelor’s=5.9%

Sisseton Wahpeton Community College http://swcc.cc.sd.us/cc.htm

1979

Sisseton, SD

Sioux

197

Associate’s=7.7% ; Bachelor’s=5.9%

Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute http://www.sipi.bia.edu

1971

Albuquerque, NM

Intertribal

615

Not Applicable

Sitting Bull College http://www.sittingbull.edu

1973

Fort Yates, ND

Sioux

196

Associate’s=7.7% ; Bachelor’s=5.9%

Stone Child College http://www.montana.edu/wwwscc

1984

Box Elder, MT

Chippewa and Cree

226

 Chippewa: Associate’s=7.8% Bachelor’s=6.1%

Cree: Associate’s=7.6% ; Bachelor’s=7.9%

Turtle Mountain Community College http://www.turtle-mountain.cc.nd.us

1972

Belcourt, ND

Chippewa

585

Associate’s=7.8% ; Bachelor’s=6.1%

United Tribes Technical College http://www.unitedtribestech.com

1969

Bismarck, ND

Intertribal

246

Not Applicable

Total Native American Population

        

Bachelor’s=9.3%

Total American Population

        

Bachelor’s=20.3%

    Source:  National Center for Education Statistics (1998).  American Indians and Alaska Natives in postsecondary education.  (NCES Pulication No. NCES 98-291).  Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

 

Table 2: Tribal Colleges Offering Tribal Culture/Leadership Courses and Programs

    •  

    •  

    Institution

    (Including Internet Address)

     

    Accredited

     

    Degree Level Offered

    Tribal Culture/

    Leadership

    (TC/L)

    Programs

     

    Tribal Culture/

    Leadership Courses Offered

    Bay Mills Community College http://www.bmcc.org

    Yes

    < 1-Year Certificate 1-Year Certificate Associate’s Degree 2-Year Degree

    No TC/L programs listed on the site.

    Native American Awareness ;

     Nishnaabemwin Language

    Blackfeet Community College http://www.montana.edu/wwwbcc

    Yes

    < 1-Year Certificate

      1-Year Certificate

      Associate’s Degree

    Blackfeet Studies 

    Blackfeet Bilingual Education

    History of the Blackfeet

    Intro. to Blackfeet Studies

    Blackfeet Women

    Blackfeet Art

    Blackfeet Language

    Federal Indian Policy

    Blackfeet Philosophy

    Blackfeet Human Services

    Oppression of the Blackfeet

    Early Indian Health and Medical Practices

    Advanced Blackfeet Research

    Blackfeet Community Practicum

    Dine Community College http://crystal.ncc.cc.nm.us

    Yes

    1-Year Certificate

     Associate’s Degree

    Navajo Bilingual-Bicultural Education

    Navajo History & Indian Studies

    Navajo Language

    Navajos & Acculturation

    Navajos Tribal Government

    History of Native Americans

    Navajo Language

    Navajo Philosophy

    Fort Berthold Community College http://www.fbcc.bia.edu

    Yes

    < 1-Year Certificate

     1-Year Certificate

     Associate’s Degree

    Public/Tribal Administration

    Introduction to Grantsmanship

    Tribal Government

    Basic Indian Law

    Tribal Studies

    Tribal Government Internship

    Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College http://www.lco-college.edu

    Yes

    < 1-Year Certificate 

     1 Year Certificate

     Associate’s Degree

    Native American Studies

    Introduction to Tribal Cultures

    History of Native Americans

    Native American Literature, Song and Dance

    OjibwEmowin Language

    Leech Lake Tribal College http://www.lltc.org

    Applying for candidate status.

    1-Year Certificate

     Associate’s Degree

    Anishinaabe Studies

    Topics in Ojibwe/Anishinaabe Studies

    Anishinaabe History

    Speaking Ojibwe

    Economics of Reservation Life

    Anishinaabe Philosophy

    Treaty Law & Tribal Sovereignty

    Federal Indian Law

    Indian Psychology

    Northwest Indian College http://www.nwic.edu

    Yes

    1-Year Certificate

     Associate’s Degree

    Public & Tribal Administration

    Native American Studies

    Tribal Environment and Natural Resources

    No courses

    were listed—site

    was under construction.

    Oglala Lakota College http://www.olc.edu

    Yes

    Associate’s Degree

    Bachelor’s Degree

    Post-baccalaureate

    Master’s Degree

    Tribal Leadership & Management

    Lakota Studies

    Lakota Language

    Lakota Oral Literature

    American Indian Literature

    Lakota History

    American Indian Political Systems

    Lakota Tribal Law, Treaties & Government

    Indian Law

    Native American Psychology

    Lakota Culture

    Lakota Thought & Philosophy

    Lakota Cultural Resource Management

    Lakota Social Systems

    Internships & Special Topics in Lakota Studies

    Salish Kootenai College http://www.skc.edu

    Yes

    1-Year Certificate Associate’s Degree Bachelor’s Degree

    No links to either the Ktunaxa Language or Native American Studies Departments were included in the institution’s web site.

    Ktunaxa Language

    Native American Studies

    Sinte Gleska University http://www.sinte.indian.com

    Yes

    1-Year Certificate Associate’s Degree 2-Year Degree Bachelor’s Degree Master’s Degree

    Native American Mathematics & Science Education Leadership

    No course information was available on the web site.

    Sisseton Wahpeton Community College http://swcc.cc.sd.us/cc.htm

    Yes

    1-Year Certificate

     Associate’s Degree

    Dakota Studies

    Cross-Culture Counseling

    Dakota Culture

    Bison Culture

    Dakota Language

    Dakota History

    Dakota Arts

    Dakota Culture

    Indian Images in Literature &Film

    Sitting Bull College http://www.sittingbull.edu

    Yes

    < 1-Year Certificate

     Associate’s Degree

    Native American Studies

    Lakota/Dakota Language

    Lakota/Dakota Culture

    Native American Studies

    Cultural Anthropology

    Local Tribal Government

    History of Native American Education

    Native American & Lakota Art

    Native American Government

    Lakota Tradition, Philosophy & Spirituality

    Native American Women

    Native American Literature

    Current Issues in Native American Studies

    Stone Child College http://www.montana.edu/wwwscc

    Yes

    1-Year Certificate

      Associate’s Degree

    Native American Studies  

    Tribal Management

    No course information was available on the web site.

    United Tribes Technical College http://www.unitedtribestech.com

    Yes

    1-Year Certificate

     Associate’s Degree

    Tribal Management

    Tribal Management

    Tribal Law and Government

    Cultural/Historical Preservation

    Federal Laws and the American Indian

    Personal, Tribal and Community Health Management

    People and the Environmental Issues

    Leadership Development

        Sources: With the exception of the institutional accreditation status, all of the information in Table 2 was compiled from Internet searches of the various tribal college web sites.  The information on accreditation came from the National Center for Education Statistics (1998).

     

     S Discussion of the Findings  S

    We can no longer live the way we used to. We cannot move around the way we were brought up. We have to learn a new way of life. Let us ask for schools to be built in our country so that our children can go to these schools and learn a new way of life. -Chief Dull Knife

         In contrast to the sentiment in the quote from Chief Dull Knife above, Native Americans do not need to rely on others to build schools for them. The tribal college movement proves that tribal self-government on educational matters can work and may even work better, particularly for the Native Americans that plan to stay on their reservation. That is, considering how tribal colleges graduate a higher proportion of enrolled Native Americans than non tribal colleges and universities and those graduates have dramatically improved prospects for finding employment on the reservation, tribal postsecondary education is a resounding success!

         However, tribal colleges only served about 12,484 students in 1995 (see Table 1 in Data Presentation section) or approximately 8 percent of all Native American students enrolled in postsecondary institutions (National Center for Education Statistics, 1998). Still, the tribal college movement is only 33 years old (or dating from the founding of the first tribal college in 1968 by the Navajo Nation) with the average age of the 30 existing tribal colleges being just 24 years old.

    Cultural Leadership Findings

         First, the founding of all 30 tribal colleges represents an act of leadership on the part of the tribe members involved and the tribes that support the institutions.  Further, the leaders of the tribal colleges organized the American Indian Higher Education Consortium in 1972 to further the cause of tribal postsecondary education.

         For the specific tribal culture/leadership programs and courses offered, as detailed in Table 2 in the data presentation section, 14 out of the 28 web sites visited listed programs and/or courses in tribal culture or tribal leadership/management. In turn, the programs and courses offered per institution range from a single tribal language or tribal studies course to a master's degree program in tribal leadership. The Oglala Lakota College offers a master's degree program (entitled "The Tribal Leadership/Management Development Program") that incorporates Lakota values and language in the courses intended to prepare students for future positions of leadership within the tribe.

         In addition to the leadership specifically involved in the founding of tribal colleges and their subsequent course offerings, the tribal institutions are actively involved in the preservation of artifacts and documents of historic significance to the tribes.
     

     

    • T

    1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

    T Implications  T

    Social science in the western context describes very little except the methodology acceptable to the present generation of academics and researchers.  While an increasing number of Indian students are mastering the language and theoretical frameworks of western knowledge, there remains the feeling of incompleteness and inadequacy of what has been learned.

    More important, whatever information is obtained in higher education must, in the Indian context, have some direct bearing on human individual and communal experience.  In contrast in the non Indian context, the knowledge must simply provide a means of identification of the experience or phenomenon.  --Deloria, et al (1999), p. 147

         As a result of the extensive and growing tribal culture and leadership course and program offerings, it is clear tribal colleges provide a solid vehicle for preserving and enhancing tribal culture, including tribal community leadership. While only half of the institutions surveyed list tribal culture and tribal leadership management programs and/or courses on their web sites, this level of specialized course and program offering is remarkable given how the average age of all tribal colleges is just 24 years old. More importantly, according to a recent American Indian Higher Education Consortium report (2000), "one year after receiving their degrees or certificates, the overwhelming majority of tribal college graduates, 91 percent, were either working or attending college." Of the group working and electing to stay on the reservation, 85 percent were able to secure employment.

         Still, as detailed by the National Center for Education Statistics (1998), only 8 percent of all Native Americans attending institutions of higher education in 1994 were enrolled in a tribal college. Accordingly, tribal colleges have played a marginal role in the rapid expansion of the Native American participation rate in postsecondary education.

         Based on the findings above and detailed elsewhere in this presentation, the implications of this study include the following.

    		Tribal colleges provide an important means for preserving and enhancing tribal culture. (While this study was limited to the specific program and/or course offerings on tribal culture and tribal leadership/management, clearly the contribution tribal college graduates make to tribal community leadership spans all postsecondary courses of study.)
    Tribal colleges only reach a limited number of Native Americans enrolled in postsecondary education.
    Additional conclusions regarding whether the optimum number of tribal colleges or extent of program and course offerings in tribal culture or leadership at existing tribal colleges would necessarily impose a non Native American view on the postsecondary education portion of the self-determination movement!
     

    \ References   \

         Ambler, M. (1997). Re-envisioning American Indian education. Tribal College Journal, IX [On-line]. Available at: http://www.tribalcollegejournal.org/fall97/ee.htm.

         Ambler, M. (1997). Without racism, Indian students could be both Indian and students. Tribal College Journal, VIII [On-line]. Available at: http://tribalcollegejournal.org/spring97/ee.htm.

         American Indian Higher Education Consortium & The Institute for Higher Education Policy. (2000). Tribal college contributions to local economic development [On-line]. Available at: http://www.ihep.com/contribution.pdf.

         American Indian Higher Education Consortium & The Institute for Higher Education Policy. (2000). Creating role models for change: A survey of tribal college graduates [On-line]. Available at: http://www.ihep.org/rolemodels.pdf.

         American Indian Higher Education Consortium & The Institute for Higher Education Policy. (2001). Building strong communities: Tribal colleges as engaged institutions [On-line]. Available at: http://www.ihep.org/communities.pdf.

         American Indian Higher Education Consortium & The Institute for Higher Education Policy. (1999). Tribal colleges, An introduction [On-line]. Available at: http://www.aihec.org/intro.pdf.

         Austen, B. (n.d.). Toward a theory of cultural leadership [On-line]. Available at: http://www.academy.umd.edu/scholarship/casl/salzburg/chapter5.htm.

         Bryant, M. (1998). Cross cultural understandings of Native American leadership. Educational Management Administration, 26 (1), p. 7-20.

         Bryant, M. (2001). Self-organizing systems and their properties: Implications for educational leadership [On-line]. Available at: http://tc.unl.edu/mbryant/SelfOrgpaper.htm.

         Deloria, B., Foehner, K. & Scinta, S. (Eds.). (1999). Spirit & Reason, The Vine Deloria, Jr., reader. Golden, Colorado: Fulcrum Publishing.

         Greymorning, S. (2000). Observations on response towards indigenous cultural perspectives as paradigms in the classroom [On-line]. Available at: http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/LIB/LIB7.html.

         Hall, E.  (1976).  Beyond culture.  New York: Doubleday.

          Hermes, M. (1997). American Indian culture and curriculum: An annotated bibliography. Tribal College Journal, IX [On-line]. Available at: http://www.tribalcollegejournal.org/fall97/hermes.htm.

         National Center for Education Statistics. (1998). American Indians and Alaska natives in postsecondary education. (NCES Publication No. NCES 98-291). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

         Shanley, J. (2001). Assessing community resources & critical mass, Do you have what it takes to start a college? Tribal College Journal, XII [On-line]. Available at: http://www.tribalcollegejournal.org/SPRING2001/shanley.html.

          Smith, J. (1973). Leadership among the Southwestern Ojibwa. National Museums of Canada, Publications in ethnology, 7. Ottawa: National Museums of Canada.

         Snipp, C. (1992). Sociological perspectives on American Indians. Annual Review of Sociology, 18, p. 351-371.

         Stahl, W. (1979). The U.S. and Native American education: A survey of federal legislation. Journal of American Indian Education, 18 (3) [On-line].  Available at: http://jaie.asu.edu/v18/V18S3sur.html.

         St. Clair, R. (2000). Visual Metaphor, Cultural Knowledge, and the New Rhetoric [On-line]. Available at: http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/LIB/LIB8.html.

         Stein, W. (2001). It starts with a dream, Road map to initiate a tribal college. Tribal College Journal, XII [On-line]. Available at: http://www.tribalcollegejournal.org/SPRING2001/stein.html.

         The Institute for Higher Education Policy. (2000). Options for a federal role in infrastructure development at tribal colleges & universities [On-line]. Available at: http://www.ihep.org/infrastructure.pdf.

         Tierney, W. (1992). An anthropological analysis of student participation in college. Journal of Higher Education, 63 (6), p. 603-618.

         Wilensky, U. & Resnick, M. (1999). Thinking in levels: A dynamic system perspective to making sense of the world [On-line]. Available at: http://learnweb.harvard.edu/ComplexCausality/papers/levels-distribute2.pdf.

         Witkowsky, K. (n.d.). Tribal colleges, Native American leaders take educational matters into their own hands. National Cross Talk [On-line]. Available at: http://highereducation.org/crosstalk/ct0798/news0798-tribal.shtml.

    \

    1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
     

    X Links   X

     

    P A Collection of North American Indian Portraits         

    P American Indian Higher Education Consortium

    P Tribal College Journal

    P Bay Mills Community College 

    P Blackfeet Community College 

    P Cankdeska Cikana Community College 

    P College of the Menominee Nation 

    P Crownpoint Institute of Technology 

    P D-Q Unversity

    P Dine Community College 

    P Dull Knife Memorial College 

    P Fond de Lac Tribal Community College 

    P Fort Belknap Community College 

    P Fort Berthold Community College 

    P Fort Peck Community College 

    P            Haskell Indian Nations University

    P      The Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development

    P Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College

    P Leech Lake Tribal College

    P Little Big Horn College

    P Little Priest Tribal College

    P Northwest Indian College

    P Oglala Lakota College

    P Salish Kootenai College

    P Sinte Gleska University

    P Sisseton Wahpeton Community College

    P Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute

    P Sitting Bull College

    P Stone Child College

    P Turtle Mountain Community College

    P United Tribes Technical College
     

     

     

    Home Course Syllabi Before Registering Computer Needed Getting Started Using Blackboard Video Lectures Student Advice About the Instructor

    Last modified: May 26, 2008