PLAINS PEAS. Thanks to Fort Peck Community College, Montana farmers produce peas, lentils, and chickpeas for consumers in India. Photo by Jody Leland

When students from Haskell Indian Nations University set foot in Siberia, they anticipated a new experience. They did not expect something comfortably familiar.

Haskell’s Dan Wildcat (Euchee member of Creek Nation) explains it was “like being at home” when they first encountered the indigenous people in the Altai region of the former Soviet Union. “Our traditions, customs, and habits were in their eyes.”

Around the time Wildcat was in Siberia in 2001, Jodie Leland, director of the Agriculture Department at Fort Peck Community College, stepped out of a taxi on a dusty street in New Delhi, India.

She was about to meet a group of business people who might bring significant economic development opportunities for Leland’s home in Poplar, MT. She had no idea that this meeting would lead her to become an expert in specialty crops in the international marketplace.

These two stories raise some interesting questions. How did a group of tribal college students who traveled from Lawrence, KS, to Siberia come upon people like themselves? How did a tribal college agriculturalist from Montana end up in India’s capital city at an international trade meeting? These stories have something in common that is important to tribal colleges and their communities.

Dan Wildcat, chair of Haskell’s American Indian Studies Program, and Jodie Leland have assumed for years that establishing international partnerships would benefit their tribal colleges and communities. Like most professionals, they face limitations on their time and resources, but they knew that investing in international programs would pay big dividends.

For Haskell, the project in the Altai Republic gave students an increased cultural understanding of indigenous peoples around the world. Students learned that indigenous groups face similar problems in areas of social justice, health, education, and the environment.

Similar problems lead to solutions that can be shared. For instance, Haskell students went to Siberia to teach water quality testing skills to help people keep their drinking water clean. In return, the Altai villagers taught Haskell’s students a newfound respect and understanding of cultural traditions.

Wildcat stresses that indigenous scholars gain critical knowledge when they compare their histories and cultures. Today’s news headlines are full of stories of cultural conflict and misunderstanding.

Wildcat believes that the colonial experiences of Native Americans give them firsthand knowledge of the consequences of cultural conflict and place them in a unique position to assist indigenous peoples worldwide who face similar pressures.

For instance, Wildcat recently returned from Eastern Europe where he was a senior scholar exploring post-colonial educational policies. Many cultural groups that existed under repressive Communist regimes of the Eastern Bloc experienced genocidal policies aimed at eliminating them as a people.

Now, after liberation, young scholars are building an educational curriculum that accurately reflects their history and culture. They see tribal colleges in the United States as a model. The trick, Wildcat explains, is “how do you teach an accurate history without perpetuating hate?”

At Fort Peck, the international focus is on community development. The economic opportunities for agriculture in northeastern Montana are limited. Because of flat wheat prices, Montana farmers were looking for specialty crops that could alternate with wheat and provide additional income.

Leland knew that the local climate and soils were favorable for growing pulse crops such as chickpeas, lentils, and peas. Pulses are the edible dry seeds produced by legumes (plants that bear fruit as pods). India is the world’s largest consumer of pulse crops.

Working with Montana State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Leland researched the international pulse crop market, made contacts with Indian importers, and designed her plan. Leland’s connections in India told her that pulses form an important part of the Indian diet and are consumed by both the rich and poor. Yet Indian agriculture could not keep pace with domestic demand. Hence, India was importing more from the world markets.

Recognizing the opportunity to bring world markets to her local community, Leland started to encourage specialty crops locally while trying to sell Fort Peck’s products at international trade shows.

The results have been dramatic. Since 2000, the acreage in pulse crops has grown by 100 times on the Fort Peck Reservation and surrounding counties, from about 800 acres to over 80,000 acres. Last year, while wheat was selling for about $3.75 per bushel, lentils sold for about $11 a bushel.

Since wheat and lentils both yield about 25 bushels per acre, farmers received about a three-fold increase in returns for lentils compared to wheat. “It was a great year for lentils,” Leland chuckled.

Fort Peck now plans to vertically integrate its marketing chain by building a pulse processing plant locally. The college has received $58,000 from USDA to conduct a feasibility study. Last year, Fort Peck sent a team to China to study pulse markets for a Chinese population of more than 1.3 billion people. Meanwhile, the college is studying world markets for locally produced bison, malt barley, and wheat.

Fort Peck’s students also benefit. They learn global agriculture education through courses and fieldwork in places like Europe, Argentina, and Puerto Rico. Faculty and staff grow professionally and intellectually. By taking the initiative and looking creatively beyond her borders, Leland became an expert in import/export community development strategies.

What do Wildcat’s and Leland’s experiences have in common, and why are they important? These stories show how committed tribal college professionals have taken the initiative to look beyond their local communities for learning experiences.

By committing some time and resources, they have provided greater benefits to their colleges, students, and communities. Whether those benefits are economic, cultural, educational, or professional, they all build the capacity of tribal colleges to deliver quality educational services.

International programs aren’t an unaffordable luxury for the 1994 land grant institutions — they’re a necessity that they can no longer afford to pass up.

Dr. John L. Phillips has been the USDA/AIHEC liaison since 2000. He is responsible for representing the interests of the 1994 land grant institutions at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. For more information about the Haskell experience with the Altai people, see TCJ, Vol. 14, N.1.