Education

Minnesota State Shutdown Interrupts MN Indian Scholarships

Kate Fort1 Comment

From a longer post by Tenured Radical discussing the shutdown:

Open, however, does not mean that higher education in Minnesota continues to be accessible.  A shutdown into late summer  could begin to disrupt or prevent the matriculation of a majority of students prior to the opening of the fall semester. According to this source, financial aid to the state’s most needy students has already been disrupted, interrupting the education of hard-working students who often rely on the summer term to speed their path to a degree. “State grants and scholarships like State Work study programs, the Minnesota Indian scholarship, Child Care grants and the Minnesota GI bill have all been suspended,” reporter Megan Nicolai writes, and the financial aid office is operating on limited hours. However, “The Student Educational Loan Fund program has stayed open, however, after Ramsey County Chief Judge Kathleen Gearin ruled the service critical during a state government shutdown. SELF loans are low-interest loans for Minnesota students who have exhausted their federal aid options for higher education.”

Sixth Circuit Panel Strikes Down Michigan’s Prop. 2 (Anti-Affirmative Action Statute)

Matthew L.M. Fletcher3 Comments

Here is today’s opinion in Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action v. Regents of the University of Michigan.

An excerpt:

Proposal 2 is a successful voter-initiated amendment to the Michigan Constitution. In relevant part, it prohibits Michigan’s public colleges and universities from granting “preferential treatment to[] any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin.” Mich. Const. art. I, § 26. Our task is to determine whether Proposal 2 is constitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Fortunately, the slate is not blank. The Supreme Court has twice held that equal protection does not permit the kind of political restructuring that Proposal 2 effected. See Washington v. Seattle Sch. Dist. No. 1, 458 U.S. 457 (1982); Hunter v. Erickson, 393 U.S. 385 (1969). Applying Hunter and Seattle, we find that Proposal 2 unconstitutionally alters Michigan’s political structure by impermissibly burdening racial minorities. Accordingly, we REVERSE the district court’s grant of summary judgment for the Defendants-Appellees and order the court to enter summary judgment in favor of the Plaintiffs-Appellants.

Sault Tribe Kids at Camp KinaMaage (UM Biological Station)

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the article.

From left, Sturgeon Bay Singers Gary Gibson, Joe Medicine, and Duane Gross participate in a feast and celebration at Camp KinoMaage. (Photo by Dana Sitzler)
Click here for more photos of the students during their week at Camp KinoMaage.

Saginaw Chippewa Indian tribe Accepts Mount Pleasant Indian School Grounds

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Indianz:

The Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan held a remembrance and healing ceremony on Monday at the site of the former Mt. Pleasant Indian Industrial School.

The school operated from 1893 to 1934. Officially, five children died there but a search of obituaries and local records turned up the names of nearly 150 more, whose names were read at the ceremony.

The city of Mt. Pleasant owns most of the site but the state deeded eight acres and six historic buildings to the tribe.

Get the Story:
Tribe remembers boarding school era, begins healing (The Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun 6/7)
Tribe plans day of remembrance, healing for June 6 (The Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun 5/31)

“Indian Education in New Mexico 2025” A Report

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

NMIndianEdRpt2011Apr2411

From the executive summary:

This study indicates that best practices in Indian education entail providing a culturally responsive education for Native students. Culturally responsive education requires systemic reform and transformation in educational ideologies. Such a task is not easily accomplished in a rigid public school structure that is
bound by state and federal laws.

GTB Chair to Attend World Education Expo

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Article here.

An excerpt:

 Representing a five-county region of Northwest Michigan, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians Tribal Chairman Derek Bailey will participate in the 2011 World Forum on Early Care and Education.

The event will be held May 3 through May 6 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

During the World Forum, Bailey will meet with 40-50 Global Leaders to exchange knowledge and experiences about programs that directly improve and enhance care and education of young children.

Bailey was asked to represent the five-county region that includes Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, and Leelanau counties, and to participate in the Global Forum, by a group of organizations that include the Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District (TBA-ISD), Rotary Charities, the NorthSky Nonprofit Network, and Mother Goose Time.  The five-county region is the region served by the TBA-ISD.

Although Bailey is the Tribal Chairman of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa & Chippewa Indians, he says he will participate in the World Forum as a representative of the five-county community.

Mount Royal University (Calgary, Alberta) Seeks Indigenous Studies Professor

Peter Scott Vicaire

The Department of Humanities, Mount Royal University, invites applications for a tenure-track position in Indigenous Studies at the rank of Assistant Professor, effective 15 August 2011. This position is open to all areas of Indigenous Studies broadly defined, with a preference for those candidates with a background in History. A completed Ph.D. is preferred and experience in undergraduate teaching is required.

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Building Strong Sovereign Nations: Anishinaabek Leadership For Seven Generations Tribal Governance Training Conference ~ May 19/20 ~

Peter Scott Vicaire

The Building Strong Sovereign Nations Tribal Governance Training Conference is quickly approaching.  It’s happening on May 19th and 20th at the Odawa Casino Resort in Petoskey.  Here’s a link to the registration page. 

2011 Michigan Indian Education Critical Issues Conference (March 10-12); Sam Deloria Keynote Speaker

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here are the materials:

Conf_Announcement 2011

MIEC 2011 Flier

Call_for_Exhibitors-MIEC

Michigan Indian Education Council website.

Congrats to Dr. Matthew Van Astine Makomenaw!!!!

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

From the Univ. of Utah Press Release:

December 13, 2010 — The University of Utah announced today that Matthew Van Alstine Makomenaw, Ph.D., has joined the Office for Equity and Diversity as the director of the American Indian Resource Center (AIRC).

Makomenaw, a member of the Odawa tribe, from the Grand Traverse Bay Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and Little Traverse Bay of Odawa Indians, has extensive experience working with American Indian students in higher education. He was the director of Native American Programs at Central Michigan University, an adjunct faculty member at the Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College and served on the Board of Regents for the Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College.

The American Indian Resource Center provides support to American Indian students toward achieving success in an academically competitive environment as they strive to reach their full potential. As the director, Makomenaw will guide the development and implementation of campus-wide plans for enhancing the success of American Indian students while working with American Indian tribes and nations in the state.

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