It was September 13th, two days after the devastating attacks in New York City and Washington, DC. Yet as I made my way north across the vast North Dakota prairie on this cloudless, cool, early autumn day, the horrors on the East Coast couldn’t have felt more distant. Along isolated rural Highway 3, I watched geese, ducks, and coots paddling lazily across lakes and streams, while in New York rescue workers desperately clawed through the ashen rubble, seeking signs of life. Before me acres and acres of sunflowers radiated their golden halos against the endless, deep blue sky. Could such pastoral serenity even exist on the same earth as the horrors I listened to continuously on the radio? A thousand miles had never been so immeasurable.

While the lands of each place spoke their opposing stories on that day, so too did the economies. Although the peaceful North Dakota landscape could easily convey a romanticized image of farming and living off the fat of the land, quite the opposite is true. Yes, parts of North Dakota are economically stable, if not wealthy. Just over half of the 642,000 residents employed in non-agricultural enterprises such as mining, manufacturing, service sectors, and information technology earn an average of $25,000 per year, according to statistics provided by the state. Overall, North Dakota enjoys an unemployment rate of only 3%, according to the 2000 Census.

North Dakota salaries are dramatically lower than the salaries of those working in the symbolic financial headquarters of the world, but, not surprisingly, the American Indian tribes in North Dakota defy all of these statistics. The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in Belcourt, ND, for example, has a 69% unemployment rate. Of those employed, 25% earn below poverty wages, according to 1997 Bureau of Indian Affairs labor statistics. They live in a rural, isolated area, only a few miles from the Canadian border. The nearest city of Minot is over 100 miles away. Services many of us take for granted, such as bookstores, copy shops, and major airports, require a minimum hour and a half drive.

What many on the Turtle Mountain Reservation do have, however, is resilience, creativity, intelligence, and dedication. As the whole country slowly begins its recovery from the attacks and the ensuing war, many Americans are questioning how to rebuild their lives, their businesses, their sense of safety and security. On this day, I was on a journey to find out how the Turtle Mountain Community College (TMCC) has been answering these questions for its own people on the reservation, creating employment opportunities, educational opportunities, and sustainable living environments, despite the odds.

Meeting the need

On this reservation, two cases of diabetes are diagnosed every week. According to 1998 Indian Health Service figures, nearly eight percent of the 13,816 Turtle Mountain population has been diagnosed with adult onset diabetes. Many of these people live in rural, isolated places without clearly marked roads or addresses. If someone were in a diabetic coma and in need of immediate medical care, emergency responders might have trouble finding him or her. Now, thanks to the efforts of a group at TMCC, diabetic residents can rest a little more easily. Dave Ripley (Three Affiliated Tribes) realized Geographic Information System technology could accurately identify and map homes so that in the case of emergency, patients could be found. The development team at the college wrote an extension grant and received money from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the mapping project.

That they received a grant and applied it in this manner is not the innovative part of the story. The innovation is the process they developed to leverage grants and monies for programs that have a direct impact on the college and the people of Turtle Mountain.

Creating a model

In 1996, then President Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 13021, directing federal agencies to create new partnerships with tribal colleges and/or strengthen old ones. Previous to the order, most federal departments and agencies weren’t aware that tribal colleges even existed, according to the American Indian Higher Education Consortium. Additionally, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation kicked off its “Capturing the Dream” initiative with tribal colleges to create a higher education system that is more responsive, accountable, and accessible to Native American students and communities.

Turtle Mountain Community College already had a department for Institutional Resource Development. However, funding from the Kellogg Foundation allowed the college to restructure the development department into the Center for New Growth and Economic Development (CNG & ED), according to President Dr. Carty Monette (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa). They created a model for leveraging money from every available source including the federal government.

The model is important and newsworthy for several reasons. First, putting it to use has enabled college staff to bring in over $10 million in the last four years. Second, the college is fulfilling a key element of its mission: cooperating with local Indian-owned businesses and stimulating economic development. Third, they are creating lasting networks amongst the college, the tribe, tribal entrepreneurs, and county and state officials. In combination, these efforts are creating healthy, sustainable programs for the college, the environment, and the community.

How it works

Staff at the school designed the infrastructure to efficiently channel resources, according to Monette. To reflect the tribe’s value system, they designed it around the four directions and the medicine wheel. Program and funding information is received by the institution from various sources, many of which are listed around the outside of the wheel. The center staff works to match the funds with the needs of the college and community. When a match is made, funds are channeled into the proper department, represented by the four categories within the four directions.

The formation of a data center exemplifies the model. Although the U.S. Census Bureau promoted efforts to collect accurate census information in Indian Country in 2000, there always have been a great many pitfalls in rural reservation communities, including Rolette County, ND. Outside census workers often felt intimidated by the culture, the rural addresses, and the people in general, according to Monette. Thus, their data presented a skewed picture.

Taking the matter into their own hands, staff of the CNG & ED received a federal Administration for Native Americans grant to collect information. For the first time ever, the center is gathering a broad range of statistics and putting it into a database. Information on demographics, health, crime, the environment, elections, and government will fill the database and eventually be accessible to community members. Both the college and tribe use the information for marketing, attracting new ventures, and planning for the future.

TMCC's new campus runs almost entirely on geothermal energy.

The data center also serves as a clearinghouse for those working on agency reports or writing grant proposals. Lyle Poitra, director of the center, believes everyone on the reservation benefits from more accurate numbers. “When we are undercounted by the U.S. Census, we don’t receive entitlement dollars equal to our actual numbers of people.” Without good information, good decisions can’t be made.

Who thinks of the program projects? Informal conversations generate many of them, says Dave Ripley. “We may just be visiting over coffee, and something in the conversation will spark an idea for a program that meets a certain need in the community.” Local people recognize and respond to local needs. Coming to terms with the diabetes epidemic, center staff realized that 54% of the reservation population is under the age of 24. Thus, it made sense to start educating the children about the disease and teach them about prevention. As a result, the center made it possible to develop diabetes curriculum for local elementary and high schools. “If we start seeing a reduction in diabetes in the next generation, we’ll know we’re doing something right. But how can we expect a reduction if we don’t educate them now?” said Poitra.

Benefits of doing it our way

Historically, granting institutions design stringent guidelines that emphasize their own priorities. Those applying for the funds must respond with programs that meet the funder’s specific criteria. In contrast, by designing the programs themselves and insisting upon the strength of their solutions, the CNG & ED staff members have become so savvy in their fundraising efforts, they don’t even apply for grants that don’t fit their own priorities. In fact, they’ve even turned money down because the funding agency was so inflexible, according to Monette. “It really serves our needs and the community needs more efficiently if we design our own solutions,” Poitra explained. “We’re the ones here dealing with the problems day after day, and we know best how to approach them.” They’ve discovered that funders are, more and more, giving money to their tribally designed plans, instead of the other way around. This results in great innovation with tangible results, which can be seen by anyone in the community.

Take Project Peacemaker, for instance. Funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, it has two objectives. First it provides seven legal studies courses to students working toward their associate degrees, who may go on to law school. “We need to train leaders; we need Indian attorneys in our communities,” said Susan Davis Decoteau (Turtle Mountain Chippewa), Project Peacemaker director at TMCC.

Second, the college directed some of the money toward the infrastructure, documentation, and ultimately a textbook on the tribe’s efforts to revise its constitution. Many tribes struggle with political problems stemming from an inadequate government structure. “This is a really big deal because the old constitution is so outdated and hard to follow. The executive and legislative branches are mixed, it’s hard to hold anyone accountable for anything, and it’s just really confusing. It’s a big part of why tribes are still in the place they’re in!” said Decoteau.

At the tribe’s request, TMCC became involved with the project, and Decoteau found herself with the job of documenting it from start to finish, including videoing the three days of meetings held each month by the 35 committee members, transcribing notes, and making copies of documentation. Started in July 2001, the new constitution should be complete by February of 2002. It will be presented to the people in April for a vote.

The physical campus of Turtle Mountain Community College also exemplifies the college’s capacity for innovation. Two and a half miles north of Belcourt (an unincorporated town of approximately 4,000 and the primary center of business on the small reservation), the wooded, 123-acre site provides an aesthetic setting for the beautifully designed building.

As a result of astronomical fuel prices for fossil fuel-based conventional heating and cooling, college administrators decided to use geothermal energy for their entire new campus. The unique building has state-of-the-art technology for their students, staff, and faculty; science labs; classrooms; a cafeteria; the only library and archive collection on the reservation; and a gymnasium. A 46,000 square foot addition will feature an 870-seat auditorium. Funding for the newest part of the building came from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Department of Education Title III, and the American Indian College Fund. “We were able to leverage these other funds from the federal government because of the College Fund money,” said Monette. Without that leveraging ability, it may not have happened.

This log roundhouse will be part of the Anishinaubag Wellness Center at TMCC.

The CNG &ED is promoting alternative energy use in other ways. For example, the center initiated a 12 -month wind energy study after learning that North Dakota has the largest wind energy potential. Following the study (funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation), student interns will analyze the data to characterize the wind resources and make size and siting recommendations. When the turbine is built, TMCC hopes to sell extra electricity to the local utility company. The college is minimizing its impact on the earth and reducing utility bills by thousands of dollars per month.

Future plans

The center has many projects ahead, eventually including a printing company and a bookstore, according to Poitra and Ripley. Currently, they are busy planning the Anishinaubag Complex, a comprehensive wellness center to strengthen and restore the physical, mental, social, cultural, and spiritual core of tribal individuals and families. A $168,000 grant from HUD helped purchase the 100-acre site just south of the new campus. Situated on a lakeshore, the old church camp has several buildings, including a log roundhouse sitting atop a hillock. Program offerings will cover health, cultural courses, leadership, and recreational programs. Additionally, the wellness center will include a greenhouse to grow native shrubs and herbs.

It is the people who make the Center for New Growth and Economic Development work. They are dedicated to strengthening the capacity of Turtle Mountain Community College and their tribal community. As Lyle Poitra says, “We learn by living it. We have a good team. We have energetic, ambitious people, and we don’t get intimidated.” The center has brought the college staff much closer to other community entities while at the same time strengthening the school foundation. Too often, different tribal programs can be competing with each other and not even know it, Poitra said. “With these coordinated efforts everyone is putting their energies toward one goal at a time.” Those at The Center for New Growth and Economic Development help the people of Turtle Mountain rebuild their lives and their community, one step at a time.

Felicity Kurth has worked for the Tribal College Journal for the last five years. She earned her master’s degree in environmental science and education from Antioch New England Graduate School in 1991.