American Indian Programs at the University of Wyoming 1975-2015

AMERICAN INDIAN PROGRAMS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING 1975-2015 A Summary prepared by John F. Nutter March 2016 AMERICAN INDIAN PROGRAMS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING 1975-2015 A Summary Prepared by John F. Nutter March 2016 INTRODUCTION As I adjusted to my retirement years and maintained an interest in programs of the University of Wyoming focused on support of American Indian students, it occurred to me that several of the colleagues with whom I had worked on the programs had left the university or would soon be retiring. The knowledge and history of these efforts over 40 years would in large part be departing with them. In an attempt to record some key points of that history, I have collected thoughts and documents from this time period to create this summary. The document is divided into four segments—Student Support, Academics, Scholarships, and Institutional Activity. There are overlaps, but this division is designed to provide focus on the type of activity and its relationship to similar activities. A chronological list of actions is included at the end. This report is not designed to praise or critique any individual or action. It is meant to record what has happened, for future reference. There have been successes and there have been failures. There have been great collaborations and there have been many noble individual attempts. It is for future leaders and generations to assess what has been accomplished and where greater effort is needed. I extend a sincere thanks and appreciation to the following people who have shared their stories and remembrances with me. I have attempted to fairly represent their thoughts as best I can. Barry Ballard, Associate Director of Student Educational Opportunity and chairman of the Indian Education Coordinating Council; Judith Antell, first Director of the American Indian Studies Program; Dolores Cardona, Associate Dean of Students/Multicultural Affairs; Caskey Russell, current Director of the American Indian Studies Program; Tim Rush, Professor Emeritus of Education; Conrad Chavez, Manager of Multicultural Affairs; and Tammy Mack, former Manager of Multicultural Affairs. I offer a special thanks to Jaime Levick, Office Assistant Senior in the American Indian Studies Program, for her help and access to AIS records. I thank the following individuals for researching specific information for me: Tami Benham-Deal, Mary Ann Garman, Lois Gelb, Sue Heide, Kathy Hull, Marilyn Johnson, Ginny Kilander, Debra Littlesun, Janet Lowe, and Sidney Walter. _____________ Note: One ancillary purpose of this report was to determine if the position originally created using funds from the Wind River tribes to employ an advisor for American Indian students is still being used for that purpose. The answer, in a general sense, is “yes.” The original position was #0328 and was assigned the title Associate Director, Student Educational Opportunity/Director, Indian Education Office. It moved to the College of Arts & Sciences in 1991 and was re-titled in 1993 as Director, American Indian Studies. It remains as the Director of American Indian Studies Program position today, although no funding is permanently attached to the position. When support services for American Indian students were moved from the American Indian Studies Program in the College of Arts and Sciences to the Dean of Students Office/Multicultural Affairs in 2000, a new position, #2604, was assigned for this purpose and UW funded the position internally from recruitment/retention funds. The Manager of Multicultural Affairs holds that position today and offers support to American Indian students as well as other ethnic minority students. STUDENT SUPPORT INDIAN EDUCATION OFFICE While support for American Indian students attending the University of Wyoming (UW), especially from the Wind River Indian Reservation tribes, has for many decades been a concern of the University of Wyoming, one of the first concentrated efforts to provide that support came in the 1970s. UW’s College of Education offered a Master’s degree in Counseling program that was designed for students from the reservation. Scott Ratliff (a Central Wyoming College (CWC) counselor), Bob Rowan (a counselor at Wyoming Indian High School), and Darwin Griebel were among the program participants. It was these students who were involved in starting the first powwow at UW in 1971. By mid-decade, the Office of Student Educational Opportunity (SEO) in the Division of Student Affairs identified support for Wind River students as a specific need that they should address. Barry Ballard was hired in 1978 by SEO as a counselor in the Student Support Services program, a Federal grant program. He was selected because of his previous experience working on the Winnebago, Omaha, and Santee Sioux reservations in Nebraska. Because Ballard was paid from state funds, and not Federal grant funds like other SEO staff, he was given the specific assignment to build relationships with the Wind River tribes (Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho) and provide advice and support for American Indian students attending the university in Laramie. He was aided by Pat Goggles, an enrolled Northern Arapaho, serving an internship at UW at the time. They began making periodic visits to the Wind River Indian Reservation to meet and work with tribal leaders, seeking ways for UW to help current and future Indian students. They also identified sites for SEO federal grant program offices on the reservation. In early 1983, Pius Moss, an enrolled Arapaho and teacher of Arapaho culture, visited with Professor Don Forrest of UW’s College of Education and director of the Teacher Corps program for the reservation. Moss expressed concern about students, including his son, who were experiencing difficulties in having UW accept transfer academic credits from other institutions of higher education. He was referred to Ballard as someone who was working to build connections between the reservation and UW communities. Moss indicated that he would be willing to set up meetings between UW and tribal leaders to address various issues. A series of interactions between individuals in April 1983 led UW President Edward Jennings, Vern Shelton (Assistant to the President), Moss, and Ballard, with support from Elliott Hays (Vice President for Finance), to arrange a meeting between UW administrators and the business councils of the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes. A contingent consisting of Jennings, Shelton, and Ballard and representatives from Central Wyoming College met with the two business councils. All expressed a desire to enhance relations between the schools and the tribes. It was agreed that a coordinating council would be established with membership including students, faculty, and staff from UW and CWC and tribal leaders and elders from both tribes. Ballard was charged with establishing a group to spearhead the efforts. The group met periodically for a couple of years. Meetings took place both at UW and at CWC. As time went on, it became evident that CWC, because they were located near the reservation, ~ 1 ~ had issues that required different approaches in dealing with the tribes and delivering services to Native students. Eventually CWC withdrew from the group. The group morphed into what would become later in 1983 the Indian Education Coordinating Council (IECC), appointed by new UW President Don Veal and chaired by Ballard. Initially the IECC met to identify what each entity was doing to serve American Indian students. Membership on the IECC was open. UW participants included Ballard, Anthropology professor Anne Slater, Education professor Ed Paradis, and History professor Peter Iverson. Moss, Gary Collins, Burnett Whiteplume, and Wayne Felter were Arapaho participants. Wes Martel was a Shoshone representative. The IECC also had various students from the reservation as participants, including Patrick Lawson and Regina Ray. Discussions were wide-ranging, but did not always go well. From an idea he learned at a regional conference in Utah of the Association for Special Programs in Region Eight (ASPIRE), Ballard decided to visit Weber State University, University of Utah, and Brigham Young University, to learn about their programs to serve American Indian students. All three institutions had created programs and services specific to Indian students. They also emphasized that more than resources are needed. To be effective, these students also needed someone—a person—whom they could go to for help. The IECC discussed and bought into this concept. They put together a plan for UW for what could be offered in terms of an orientation, academic and personal counseling, tutoring, an emergency contact plan, coordination with tribes and families, a study hall, and paraprofessional counselors to help American Indian students graduate. They worked with President Veal and other administrators to put the plan into operation. Funding to pay an individual to lead an Indian Education Office (IEO) on campus was critical. President Veal agreed to find permanent UW funding for a position if private funds could be found to fund the position for its first two years. Both tribal business councils were approached for support. The councils agreed to lend their support to the effort by signing a letter of request to some 20 oil and gas companies doing business on the Wind River Indian Reservation. Each company was asked for a donation of $5,000 to help support the IEO plan. The letter signed by UW Vice President for Development Pete Simpson and the chairmen of the Arapaho and Shoshone Business Councils eventually generated more than $50,000. While $50,000 was not a large amount to UW, it was a significant commitment and accomplishment by the tribes. UW administrators had to be educated as to its significance for the tribes. The IEO was officially started in September 1985. With the money collected in the UW Foundation office, SEO proceeded to interview candidates for the IEO directorship. Barbara Gentry, an Aquinnah Wampanoag from Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, was selected as the first Director of the Indian Education Office.

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