Phil Baird
Just the beginning
A brief history of the NIEA
By Phil Baird, Sicangu Lakota RAPID CITY – This week, the 44th annual National Indian Education Association (NIEA) Convention will be held at Rapid City. Along with 2,000 plus members, the event will bring special memories of a past NIEA presidency. Following in the footsteps of Lakota/Dakota educators such as Lionel Bordeaux, Rick LaPointe, Ken Ross, Lowell Amiotte, Gay Kingman and others, I was honored to be elected to the NIEA Board of Directors in 1992 and eventually serve as President. This came at a time when a series of exciting developments were taking place in Native American education. The U.S. Department of Education released its Indian Nations At-Risk report in 1991. This was followed by the first-ever White House Conference on Indian Education convened in January 1992. The most exciting part of this period for me was being part of NIEA’s Silver Anniversary activities in 1993-94. Because of its unique history during Indian activism and the tribally-controlled education movements, the organization actually celebrated two benchmarks. An American Indian education conference was called together in 1969 at Minneapolis by Will Antell, Rosemary Christenson, Bill Demmert and others. The purpose of the event was to explore how to impact the teaching and learning of Native American students. Conference registration was $3.00. With sufficient public support demonstrated, NIEA was incorporated in 1970 at a convocation held at Princeton University. The leadership expanded to include Rupert Costo, Sparlin Norwood, Marigold Linton, Hershal “Ace” Sumaunt, John Winchester, Elji Raymond, Roger Buffalohead, Richard West, Dave Risling, Dillon Platero and Ned Hatathli. Twenty-five years and thousands of members later, NIEA would reflect on this history and its accomplishments at its birthplace. Here follows some memories about the Silver Anniversary. NIEA President-Elect
I served as NIEA secretary in my first board position in 1992. At that time, the organization needed a stronger news publication. United Tribes Technical College of Bismarck, N.D. extended its support and provided three editions of the NIEA newsletter that year. In a milestone development, a forward-thinking NIEA board of directors was exploring the succession of organizational leadership. This led to the establishment of a President-elect position under Loren “Bum” Stiffarm’s (Gros Ventre-Cree) presidential term. The motivation of this action was to allow for a smooth leadership transition that was different from the sometimes volatile dynamics of tribal government elections. I was honored to be chosen as the first President-elect in 1993. One of the key roles of this position was to oversee the development and coordination of the annual convention. That year, the nation’s Tribal educators traveled to Mobile, Alabama for the Silver Anniversary gathering. What I remember most distinctively about this event was the 3,000 plus audience listening intently to the keynote message of national AIDS/HIV spokesperson Lisa Tiger of Oklahoma. Stricken by the disease through a heterosexual relationship, this young Native woman spoke courageously about her situation against a backdrop of an unknown future for herself and Indian Country. She tugged a lot of hearts that day. What I didn’t realize then was my own personal connection to Lisa’s story about the death of her father, Muscogee Creek-Seminole artist Jerome Tiger, at age 26. During one of my previous trips through Oklahoma, I bought an original art piece as a gift to my grandmother. She later told me it was signed with Jerome’s eagle feather signature. National Indian Education “Red Book”
Another role served as NIEA President-elect was networking and communicating with the many Tribal organizations throughout Indian Country. There was a need for consistency and unity behind a national message for Native American education. The NIEA leadership reached out to Gaiashkibos (Lac Courtes O’Reilles Ojibwe), president of the National Congress of American Indians. The charismatic tribal chairman from Wisconsin was very supportive of the coalition idea and the first to sign the inter-organizational agreement with NIEA. Other major groups soon joined the coalition including the Affiliated Tribes of the Northwest Indians (Alvin Schuster), American Indian Higher Education Consortium (Veronica Gonzales), Association of Tribal Community Schools (Roger Bordeaux), and the National Indian School Board Association (Carmen Taylor) along with state Indian education associations. The next part of our efforts was the development of the “National Indian Education Red Book.” The purpose of this document was to create a common platform about the various dimensions of American Indian education. The Red Book definitively stated that the education of Native Americans was a special responsibility of the federal government articulated under federal Indian treaties, executive orders, and Congressional legislation. The book also outlined the federal-Indian consultation process (interpreted by the Tribal side), the need for and place of culturally-relevant curricula, issues related to Native Education research, and the appropriateness of local Tribal control of education. NIEA Executive Director Lorraine Edmo (Shoshoni-Bannock) was one of the key leaders in gathering and integrating the many dimensions of the draft Indian education platform. Little did we know how much work it would take among the many different intertribal interests. But when it was ready for ratification during the Silver Anniversary Year in October 1994, the document with the red cover was approved through consensus by over 125 Indian Nations and Tribal organizations. Tribal Education Agencies
During NIEA’s history, Native educators have talked about tribally-controlled education once maintained by Indian Nations but broken down by Christian doctrine, federal assimilation policies, boarding schools, and public school education. The NIEA leadership had the opportunity in the early 1990s to once again advocate for Tribal control of education when the U.S. Congress considered Indian Education amendments with the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Based on the research of long-time legislative consultants Karen Funk and Carol Barbero, the term “Tribal education departments” (TEDs) was successfully inserted into the amendments by members of a very active NIEA Legislative Committee. This was done amidst some degree of opposition within the ranks of Indian education. With 90% of Native students served by public education, some people wondered about a better approach and impact through state education agencies (SEAs). But TED advocates said the political relationship of Tribes rested with the federal government and its responsibility for the education of Native students. Few states were responsive to the needs of Indian children as state citizens, let alone the concept of local Tribal control. About the same time, several Indian Tribes were working closely with the Native American Rights Fund to establish Tribal education codes with oversight by Tribal education departments. NARF attorney Melody McCoy (Cherokee) conducted the research to justify the position. Native educators eventually came together about the need to build relationships with both state and federal governments. TED advocates took another step and established the Tribal Education Departments National Assembly (TEDNA) to specialize in their work supporting Tribal Education Agencies (TEAs). National Indian Education Blueprint
Cherokee Principal Chief Wilma Mankiller was once quoted, “Whoever controls the education of our children will control the future of our Indian Nations.” Contemporary Tribal educators, most notably Lionel Bordeaux, have advocated for a holistic view in the implementation of a 21st century Tribal education system. This spectrum should encompass our lives from “pre-natal to our final spiritual journey.” The development of a “national Indian education blueprint” could provide a template for how Tribal people regain control of the education of their children. Such a guiding map will have to be interdisciplinary and strategically integrated, impacting every fabric of how we want to live as Tribal descendants. Focused on this objective, the NIEA leadership began changing the format of the annual convention to include forums where discussions could take place about necessary changes and potential solutions. These discussions are reverberating today and pieces of the blueprint are emerging. There is much work to be done. Not the End But the Beginning
I stepped down as NIEA President in 1994 at the close of Silver Anniversary ceremonies held at Minneapolis-St. Paul. My family members of Sinte Gleska University and the Sicangu Oyate humbled me with an eagle feather staff and a very generous giveaway at the end. Because there was no precedence for an NIEA leaders-transition ceremony, the late Albert White Hat helped me with a Lakota prayer to pass on the gavel to president-elect Lorena Zah-Bahe (Diné). She in turn presented a Navajo blanket with a prayer and corn pollen. One chapter closes, another one begins. As I reflect on NIEA’s 44-year history, I am honored by the associations and friendships made on the path. I now better understand the courage, commitment, the sacrifice of family time, and the spiritual nature of our work carried throughout Indian Country and beyond. I remain a student of the many great Native leaders among the Four Directions and in the Spirit World, too numerous to mention lest we forget some. NIEA presidents of the past were very supportive of our work. As Silver Anniversary gifts, some left us with video testimonies that will hopefully pass on to the next generation. To be sure, there are outstanding young leaders coming up through the ranks. The message I would offer to them is the same as past presidents: We need to cultivate the life-long learning of our children inside and outside the classroom in culturally-relevant contexts. Today, I have “takojas” (grandchildren) at home, watching me in my present work among Tribal colleges and universities. Through my own life experiences including an NIEA presidency, I am reminded again there is no end to our work in education. It’s just the beginning. Copyright permission by Native Sun News
Join the Conversation
