College of the Muscogee Nation (CMN) will offer two new certificate programs beginning in the fall 2022 trimester. A Mvskoke language teaching certificate and a tribal leadership certificate have been approved by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), the CMN’s regional accrediting agency. These certificates address the growing need to revitalize the Mvskoke language and train the workforce in a cultural setting that combines tribal core values with management and leadership skills.

The Mvskoke language teaching certificate is a 27-credit hour program that will build on a student’s language knowledge at the advanced and conversational level. The program will provide skills and understanding to teach the Mvskoke language. Students will become proficient in curriculum development, digital resources, and language teaching methods. The certificate will support the development of qualified teachers of the Mvskoke language. The new Mvskoke language teaching courses include Methods for Teaching the Mvskoke Language; Practices for Teaching Reading and Writing Language; Digitally Teaching the Mvskoke Language; and Mvskoke Language Practice Teaching, Observation, and Evaluation. The program’s outcomes are to create a guided curriculum for developing the necessary teaching methods to converse and teach the Mvskoke language in a classroom or virtual setting. Students will also gain the skills to assess student learning in a classroom or virtual environment.

The tribal leadership certificate is a 24-credit hour program that will intentionally engage current and prospective tribal leaders. The curriculum is specifically designed with a cultural context to add tribal core values of leadership with current organizational management methods. This certificate program provides students with the leadership skills of communication, team management, critical thinking, and problem solving through a tribal cultural perspective. The program builds on students’ knowledge of Native American history and culture. This certificate addresses the need for the development of leaders with an understanding of tribal politics and historical traumas influencing modern Native American communities.

The new tribal leadership classes will include Theories and Practices of Tribal Leadership, Political Factors in Tribal Leadership, and Tribal Community Development. The program’s outcomes are to define tribal leadership skills; demonstrate organizational management; implement strategies for tribal community development; and design leadership action plans that augment tribal sovereignty, economic development, and civic engagement.

In addition to the new certificate programs, both focus areas will be included as specializations within CMN’s existing associate degrees. Mvskoke Language Teaching has been added to the specialization area of the Native American studies Associate of Arts degree. Tribal leadership has been added to the specialization area of the tribal services Associate of Science degree. Classes for both the certificates and specialization areas for the associate degrees will begin in the fall 2022 term.

Norma Marshall, Native American studies and Mvskoke language instructor, stated, “Teaching the Mvskoke language is more than the college credit hours; the identity of the Mvskoke people is in the language and culture. Indigenous multimedia through digital technology extends the cultural classroom beyond physical limitations and brings the cultural curriculum to the cutting edge through elders and youth learning together.”

Dr. Monte Randall, president and tribal leadership scholar, stated, “As tribal nations, we need to reclaim our traditional leadership training practices. The United States government tried to destroy us and intentionally targeted many aspects of our identity through assimilation, and we are still feeling those effects of historical trauma. A crucial part of identity is the ways of training current and future leaders, which was also disrupted during that time.”

The program is the first in many steps to begin strengthening the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and other tribal nations by cultivating tribal leaders and equipping them with skills to lead through service. Visit College of the Muscogee Nation’s website for more information about these and other degree and certificate programs.