Page 3 - November report 2023

COMMUNITY IMPACT OF TRIBAL COLLEGE
“Turtle Mountain Community College graduates have replaced many non-Indians in professional positions across the reservation. Almost all the teachers on the reservation are graduates of TMCC.”
Sheila Trottier, Dean of Career and Technical Education
S ite visits offer insights and perspectives that Zoom calls and emails simply can’t deliver. The information exchange can be the same, but the digestion rate is different when it happens on location and
in person. We all know that. It’s why we prioritize and invest in these types of meetings.
When Sheila shared the quotation above, it hit me: The work of this tribal college, on the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Reservation (North Dakota), is transforming the community. The thought of an Indigenous elementary student being taught by a teacher who shared and valued her culture struck me. When I got back home to Florida, I had to call Sheila. I wanted to know more about how this happened and what it meant.
Historically, the college recruited teachers from outside the reservation to fill positions. The local tribe did not have degreed candidates to fill positions. In the mid 1980s, TMCC became the first tribal college to receive 10 years of accreditation. That meant tribal students could now obtain educational credentials and college degrees. Over the next 35+ years, TMCC would provide a workforce of degreed candidates. These teachers, medical professionals, businesspeople and civic leaders provide hope and promise to the community they serve. There are so many things right with this progression of development.
Outside recruits were limited in their understanding and appreciation of Native culture and community. The Indigenous professionals that replaced them were able to teach, lead and serve their community in the context of their culture. Culture could be brought into the classroom, into the clinic and into other services.
Students, patients and customers could see professionals who looked like them. The view of opportunity and possibility was opened in the eyes of young students and neighbors. Now, local professionals earn livable wages and can patronize local entrepreneurs, because they have money to spend.
JSF continues to play a meaningful role in Indigenous communities through education. The support of tribal colleges has remained a cornerstone of the JSF strategy in Indian Country. The hope of education is real.
Robert A. Krause
Page 1 HORIZONS