I have this fantasy…

I would like to teach a whole roomful of Republicans about Cheyenne spirituality, recreation, art, and maybe the grammar of my language, and do all of this teaching in the Cheyenne language. I would like to do this for one year, and then I would like to test them, and then I would like to publicize the results of those tests on a national basis. And then, I’d like to say, “Because they do not have black hair, brown or black eyes, and brown skin, they have all of these deficiencies. Look at their scores! The scores show that. Terrible scores!”

–Dr. Richard Littlebear, acting president, Dull Knife Memorial College, reprinted with permission from Journal of Navajo Education, Fall 1995.

In March 1995, 179 Hardin High School students skipped school rather than attend the school’s Celebration of Diversity. The Indian high school students were deeply hurt. They had spent months planning the celebration and had joined with the Crow Tribe to raise $10,000 for it. When the non-Indian students returned to class the next day, many of them taunted their Indian classmates, emboldened by their parents, 150 of whom sent notes condoning their children’s behavior. Enraged and not knowing what to do, the Indian students boycotted classes for one day, staying within the school. Thus tensions were already high the following weekend when the Ku Klux Klan began distributing inflammatory, anti-Indian leaflets in Hardin.

The Montana community seemed likely to erupt into violence, according to Alee Stewart, who felt compelled to keep the peace. Stewart contacted the local church coalition and the Montana Human Rights Network and organized a series of meetings at Little Big Horn College. “We want to clear the air and not be led by false rumors,” she said in a letter to the editor. “I find that communication is a good remedy to solve problems,” she said.

The crisis was averted, and Stewart continues to work on racism issues, in between classes and spending time with her husband and three children. She founded the Crow Coalition for Human Rights. Her biggest concern is the local school system; her oldest son dropped out of school because of racism, she believes. Crow parents call her frequently with complaints about how their children are treated. “I try to act as an advocate for them. They feel better when I say I’ll look into it and try to help them,” she says.

By her own description, Stewart would not have been a likely community leader a few years earlier. “When people would say mean things to me, I had a feeling of helplessness. I just gave up. Inside me, I would just cry. I was lucky I never punched anybody; I wasn’t educated.” Her classes at Little Big Horn College, however, have strengthened her confidence and her cultural belief system. A second year business student, she has also taken classes in Indian issues, Indian education, and cultural classes. “I never knew my culture. My parents only taught me the Bible and not my culture,” she says. A public speaking class gave her the confidence to stand up and speak against racism.

Sometimes she feels alone and discouraged as people tell her they feel helpless to change things. She gets support from the parents she helps and from the Montana Human Rights Network staff. “My heroes are people who speak out,” she says.

Marjane Ambler is editor of the Tribal College Journal.