Left to right: Gail Bruce had the dream. Anne Edinger and Robin Guido helped construct it.

American Indian peoples face many threats to their cultural identity. For centuries, their most precious ceremonial masks, medicine bags, pipes, and amulets were stolen, burned, and sold. A quiet renaissance has occurred in recent years as tribes have begun to reclaim their heritage with the help of federal policies that recognize their religious rights and private individuals and foundations who support them. When Congress passed the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act in 1990, it required museums across the country to return human remains and ceremonial objects to tribes. However, the tribes needed safe places to store or display the items.

As a private individual active in repatriation and American Indian youth programs, Gail Bruce recognized this need and wanted to do something about it. After building a log cabin on her own land, she came up with an extraordinary idea in 1992: build a log structure on each tribal college campus. These structures could serve as repositories for cultural and archival items. They could double as living, breathing, community gathering places. With donations of pre-cut log structures from log home companies, she believed the colleges could build cultural centers quickly and inexpensively while pulling local people together in a common effort.

As a founding board member of the American Indian College Fund, Bruce was well known to tribal college presidents when she took her idea to the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) board. Responding to her charisma, her enthusiasm, and her love, the presidents endorsed her idea and contributed their name to the AIHEC Field Museums, leaving it to her to raise the money. Later Bruce used her own resources to hire a part-time assistant to write grants. Anne Edinger, who was getting her masters in fine arts at the time, loved the project idea and agreed. However, as the rejection letters from potential funders multiplied, the dream faltered and nearly died. Then in June 1998 (the day after Edinger’s thesis show), the W.K. Kellogg Foundation agreed to provide $2.5 million. Two years later the Lilly Endowment provided over $8 million for cultural center construction through the American Indian College Fund’s capital campaign.

New York Institute of Technology architecture students joined Sinte Gleska University students, board members, and community volunteers to help build the cultural center in Mission, SD.

Looking back, it is clear that the initial plans were wildly optimistic. No one anticipated how difficult the project would become. They believed the 30 centers could be constructed in 10 states with less than $400,000 each including labor, supplies, and cash. Expected to take one year, the construction of the 30 centers ultimately took more than six years. Relying so heavily upon private donations and volunteers turned out to be unrealistic.

At this time, less than a dozen use their cultural centers for their original purposes. For many, the cultural center was the first building that they could call their own, and so it was constructed to fulfill the college’s most pressing needs. When the cultural centers were constructed, most tribal colleges were holding classes in condemned buildings, quonset huts, and leaky trailers. Some did not have a room big enough to gather their whole faculty in one place.  The Cultural Learning Centers now provide bright, warm, inviting space for language institutes, Native American Studies classes, classrooms, and offices.

In this interview with Bruce and Edinger, they share their perspectives on the 10-year history of the project.

Q: How did the idea for linking the cultural centers to tribal colleges originate?

GB: The tribal colleges were originally founded to preserve the culture and language of the tribes. So that was a good marriage, but we had to get the cultural centers up fast and in a way that would involve the community. Visiting Salish Kootenai College (in Montana) and seeing how they had built their whole campus, I noticed there was no graffiti. People walked on walkways; they didn’t walk on the grass, and they took really good care of their buildings. I felt like it was because they built them.

Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell [Northern Cheyenne] introduced me to Richard West [Southern Cheyenne], the new director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. He was looking for places that maintain their cultures locally, and they were more than willing to lend their name to the project.

Then I met Barbara Martin, who was executive director of the Log Homes Council of the National Association of Homebuilders. Barbara said, “I love the idea; I don’t know if they will do it, but I’ll give you the time on the agenda.” So I went in and stood in front of all these guys, clutching my paper. I didn’t ask them for anything at that point, I just said, “This is an idea.” When they asked if anybody would be interested in participating in development, nobody raised their hand. They had meetings three or four times a year, and I must have been to at least six meetings before I wore them down.

Sitting Bull College's cultural center is the first structure built on its new campus grounds, overlooking Fort Yates, ND.

Q: Why did the log home companies agree to participate?

GB: Because we twisted their arm. And also because we promised them national media attention.

AE: Because Gail wouldn’t give up, and they respected that. Everyone I interviewed [for a film on the cultural centers] always said the same thing, “We just couldn’t believe she kept coming back.” Ultimately I think they were just kind of hypnotized, like Chinese water torture [laughter]. But seriously, times were good for them, and they wanted to give back. And they wanted to open up a new market.

Q: What situations arose that you didn’t foresee?

AE: Lack of donations and volunteers, not being able to go after additional funding, not having a public relations campaign to help with donations, and the absolute, 180 degree shift from where we started out and what the project became.

GB: I think is important that everybody understand what we have gradually come to understand –this was an idea, a dream, and a concept. And we had a blueprint for that dream. But the dream became fluid; it was like a river, and it kept taking its own course. The project itself, and the demands of the project, made it fluid; it had to adapt.

Hired as a writer, Anne Edinger learned how to handle earth-moving equipment, plumbing problems, and the media.

AE: The demands on us were constantly changing as things came up, and the demands on the colleges were always changing. We had so many different variables that we didn’t know which of them was going to come into play and at what time.

We had 100 different companies involved, ranging from ma and pa to big companies like Carrier Corporation, and we needed 2000 more. We didn’t know whether they could supply complete and accurate designs or whether we had to take the designs to an architect to have redesigned. We didn’t know whether delivery was going to come on time, whether it was going to come missing half the building, and whether the spikes or screws would arrive. We didn’t know whether the media or the senators or the representatives from the log companies would show up or whether the community would welcome us.

The weather was a huge variable. Sometimes we had 30 degrees below and really nice weather other places. We had lots of mud. Some of the colleges wanted hogan-shaped buildings, and others wanted long houses. We didn’t know who was going to manage each individual project at the college or whether they were going to be qualified, whether they were going to use student volunteers or hire a construction company, or whether they were going to operate under tribal or under state and county codes.

Q: Did you expect the colleges to have to raise so much cash and resources themselves?

GB: Once the College Fund and AIHEC said we couldn’t go after government and foundation funding, yes. We are disappointed they had to do that, but there was nothing we could do about it. That is what is so crucial about this story. It was a learning experience. We kept running into boulders. And we did the best we could climbing around them, over them, under them, tunneling around them. Just like the colleges did when they first started out. They had no idea what they were doing. It was a dream without anything to back it up. And then it was an investigation, and you put one foot in front of the other.

Q: Did you ever lose hope?

GB: No, actually I never lost hope. First of all, I really believe in the schools; second of all I believe in human nature. I believe people want to help people who are helping themselves. When we had 9/11 happen, I saw that again. I knew that the colleges are substantial, in the sense of who they are and what they are trying to do. But there were moments when I panicked and thought, “What have I done?”

AE: After all of those blindly sent grant proposals came back and the rejection letters, it was rough. But once we got the Kellogg grant, I thought that anything was possible. And once I went out to Sinte Gleska [the first cultural center constructed], I knew anything was possible.

People were learning from each other. I was surprised. I would go out somewhere, and they’d say, “Oh, yeah, we just went down and saw the log building over there [at another tribal college.] Just when you’d think that they couldn’t have cared less, they’d go take a 500-mile trip and look at every single bit of that building! And then strike up a deal with the contractor!

Q: What energized you?

AE: For me, every time I went out to a college, it energized me. Even the times I was sitting at a table and feeling like I was getting the third degree, and I had absolutely no answers. Because, you know, you get out there, and you work, and you meet people and make friends. Antonio Ruales was the site coordinator. He brought a great sense of humor and also motivated people with his enthusiasm.

Also, it was a new experience for a lot of the students. They got to build something from start to finish. I got to see them being interviewed by the local media, having a TV reporter asking them all these questions, being really nervous. That’s exciting. If you can be part of an experience like that for people, it means something to you.

GB: The thing that has kept me going for almost 20 years is that I think these educators are the most courageous people. They go out there and put themselves on the line, all the time, to get education to their people. And I think that they are all doing it from an altruistic place.

Q: If you had to do it over, what is the most important change you would make?

GB: Focus on public relations! It could have leveraged so many partnerships, drawn so much attention to the project, and made it much easier to sell programs.

AE: For example, a metal roofing association member verbally committed to donating roofs to all the remaining tribal colleges. But after contacting an early donor company and finding they had not received national public relations attention, they decided not to participate. If you don’t have anything to offer, they don’t have a reason to do anything. The tribal colleges had never had a large public relations campaign and benefited from it so they didn’t make it a high priority.

If I had it to do over again, I would have raised the money up front and forgot about donations.

Q: What was the most personally touching moment for you?

Mescalero Apache students take a break from their traditional dance performance at the IAIA cultural center in Sante Fe, NM.

GB: I think when we took the architecture students [from New York Institute of Technology] to Washington, DC, and they met with all of the college presidents. Seeing the looks on their faces, all those kids, and how it moved them. It changes you. It’s like a pebble that goes in the water, and the rings go out around it. All of those kids that went there, and to Sinte Gleska for the test project, had an experience that they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.

AE: For me, it was when we went out to a few project sites and met people who are real builders like Paul Baines and Noel Sansaver. They were really willing and interested in showing us what was needed to build on reservations. They took us under their wings and helped us to understand things like tribal employment regulations, bidding, who you need to talk to and who you need to inform. If it wasn’t for them, I don’t know what we would have done. People along the way decided that they were going to make it a lot easier for someone coming in from the outside.

Q: What do you think is the legacy of this project?

AE: Despite the obstacles and unforeseen changes, Gail’s vision for the cultural learning centers was sound. It resulted in 30 brand new buildings that serve a multitude of purposes. It prepared each college for the large-scale capital construction they are now undertaking.

GB: The original concept was to serve the many people who want to know about Native Americans. How wonderful it is now that people have some place to go where they can actually learn about the Native American community. This is just the beginning of what the tribal college communities can do with these centers.

Despite the obstacles, a total of 28 cultural learning centers have been constructed, with 2 more scheduled for completion in 2003. Demonstrating that Indian peoples and their cultures are alive and dynamic, some host cultural performances as well as Native craft displays and shops where tourists can support Native artists.

AIHEC is working closely with the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) to build connections between the museum in Washington and tribes. Using technology, they plan to bring the museum and its collection in an interactive way over distance into Indian communities. They also plan to take tribal college collections and students to Washington where they can study at NMAI.

As the colleges utilize their construction experience to build other buildings, an increasing number are adding display cases in their cultural centers. The dream that is a river will continue to flow and quench the cultural thirst of generations to come.

For more information about the cultural learning centers, contact Anne Edinger by email at <ramscale@mindspring.com> or Diane Cullo at AIHEC (703) 838-0400 ext. 114. For a copy of the video, “Keeping it Alive: the AIHEC Cultural Learning Center Initiative,” send $5 to Anne Edinger, 55 Bethune Street, Suite 1300, New York, NY 10014. To read more about repatriation and the beginning of the AIHEC Cultural Learning Centers, see TCJ Vol. 8, N.2. Articles about different, specific centers have been published in most issues for the past several years.