President Barack Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline Friday was important to our American Indian neighbors. So were the President’s remarks Thursday at the 7th annual White House Tribal Nations Conference.
In a panel discussion with American Indian youth from across the U.S., President Obama stressed the importance of education as the key to helping Indian youth prevail over centuries of institutional racism and oppression.
…[A]n education is really the key to a middle-class life in the modern world. And there was a time where, as long as you were willing to work hard, you could support a family without a college education, some sort of advanced schooling beyond high school. It is very hard to do now.
Every job requires a specialization and understanding everything from computers to how to communicate effectively. So it doesn’t necessarily have to be a four-year education — four-year college, but you need some advanced training [President Barack Obama, remarks to 7th Annual White House Tribal Nations Conference, Washington, D.C., 2015.11.05].
The President noted that education should connect American Indian youth with modern opportunities as well as their traditional language and culture:
Even as we prepare out tribal youth to succeed in the 21st century, we also have to preserve and protect Native culture and heritage. As I’ve said before, if you start losing your language and your culture, your sense of connection to your ancestors and touchstones that date back generations, you can start feeling adrift. And if you’re living in a society that devalues your culture, or perpetuates stereotypes, you may be devaluing yourself.
So we have to preserve those bonds, break stereotypes. I believe that includes our sports teams — because we all need to do more to make sure — (applause) — we need to make sure that our young people feel supported and respected [President Obama, 2015.11.05].
Back in June, Indian County Today spotlighted seven bills focused on improving educational opportunities for American Indians. None have yet advanced to committee. Noteworthily for South Dakota, neither Kristi Noem, M. Michael Rounds, nor John Thune has signed on to cosponsor any of these bills.
President Obama is encouraging American Indian education and opportunity. South Dakota’s Congressional delegation is not. Paula Hawks is leading the charge to replace one of those do-nothing Republicans; Indian Country, help us find a good candidate to replace another in 2016.
Pick a lane, Cory.
As I’ve said before, if you start losing your language and your culture, your sense of connection to your ancestors and touchstones that date back generations, you can start feeling adrift
Just to piss off wingnuts,I wish he would apologize to Natives for the gubmint forcing Indian kids to lose their culture and language. New week starting,Obie. Blast ’em good.
Question for anyone who may know. As I understand it, the purpose of Gear Up was to enable native students to attend college. How many were helped by the Gear Up program, i.e. attended college? Of those how many graduated or are likely to graduate?
I have often thought that the reason that I have moved away from my Bohemian heritage/culture is because I am three generations removed from the mother country. With the Indian people it is a different, they are still living in their mother country. I totally respect their retaining their culture and language. We in South Dakota have much to learn from our Lakota/Nakota/Dakota friends and neighbors.
rounds says he wants Dept Interior to study barriers to common sense regional eduction fixes, not from DC, to increase h.s. grad rates, at no addl cost on fed. spending
http://www.rounds.senate.gov/newsroom/videos
In the 2008-09 school year, GEAR UP served 3,584 students. School of Mines officials say virtually 100 percent of all the young people who successfully completed GEAR UP ended up graduating from high school, with 87 percent of those attending college and 9 percent joining the military.
from Argus leader archives.
http://www.argusleader.com/story/news/education/2015/09/28/gear-program-cost-million-yielded-mixed-results/73010114/
Tapping into the dire need for non-Indian education, this issue of the SD Magazine is dedicated to the upcoming 125th remembrance of the Wounded Knee Massacre. It’s long past the time to enshrine the site as a National Historic Site to be operated by the NPS and BIA.
John M. Nelson, according to the evaluation conducted by USD this summer, South Dakota’s iteration of GEAR UP did not meet that goal.
If every dollar from Washington and channeled through Pierre, I would bet we could provide a quality college education for every child that wanted one.
Indian students could probably get a full ride scholarship that included tuition, housing and food, and a full time tutor.
But NO, The SDGOP Indian education thieves get their hands on D.C. money and stick in their pockets and turn around and ask for more.
It is a morbid cycle that has been going on for years.
Roger,
You know Bureau of Indian Education in the department of Interior has been appallingly ineffective also. Edicts from on high don’t work well. Strange experience to sit with people working in DC that think they know what’s best for your local education systems.
Remember. … Keith Moore was the director for two years…the stories are crazy… ala Mid central. He has embarrassed natives from SD that work hard in Indian education. Keith went from Pierre to DC. N was a joke.
Well, Spike, we don’t have to bring the edicts from on high, but can we keep bringing the money and reform the way we use it to use more of it on education?
Roger, I’m with you: we need to find mechanisms that ensure we watch that money go all the way through the pipeline until it reaches the classrooms and the kids in meaningful ways. But we need to put people we can trust in charge of that oversight. In the current climate, those people would be Democrats, appointed by a Democratic Governor who knows darn well he or she can’t count on automatic re-election but must earn the trust of the people at every election.
Spike,
Yes I remember Moore and his lukewarm performance, that must be the reason he was kicked up stairs, that’s the way politicians reward incompetence.
Like state programs operated for Indian education, the BIA is equally as bad and ineffective, and wasteful.
Bureaucrats and politicians don’t think about the children they are responsible for educating, they think about their paychecks and how they can swipe a buck or two.