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Interview with
ben Geboe

Executive Director of the

Indian Community House in
New York City

For the Norwegian diaspora in New York City, Bergen and Andalsnaes. I was raised in the
Ben Geboe is definitely not a stranger. You can Sioux Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota.
run into him in the Norwegian Seamen’s church My priority has always been – and continues
on the 52 nd Street where he is one of the regular to be – to help Native American communities
visitors. Ben has even organized events there in both in the United States and in Canada.
the past. One of them was the Nordic Expo,
where New Yorkers could meet artists from the Where does that come from?
Nordic countries. He is a friendly and dynamic My father was a big advocate for education.
man, proud of his Norwegian roots, and he He worked at a place called Sinte Gleska
even speaks the language of his ancestors – both or Spotted Tail College named after a local
the Native Americans and the Norwegians. For Chiefnwho believed in education, one of
the last couple of years, Ben has been deep in the first tribal-run schools on the Rosebud
research and has just finished his PhD at the Reservation. He devoted his professional
prestigious McGill University in Montreal, life to advancing American Indian access to
Canada, doing research on Native Americans. schooling. He worked in the Office for Indian
Now the floor is yours Ben. Affairs for many years running boarding
schools and regular schools, and working as
Could you tell us a little about yourself? a kind of community liaison in the Indian
My name is Ben Geboe and I’m from the Affairs Office in education programs in
Yankton Tribe of South Dakota. My father Washington D.C. I think I followed in his
was Native American and my mother was of footsteps as I’m now the Executive Director
Norwegian descent. Her people came from of the Indian Community House here in New

w w w. d i va i n t e r n at i o n a l . c h