Illustration by S. M. Chavez

The story has become a legend. In 1991, J. Patrick Lannan was driving his daughter across South Dakota on Interstate 90 when he saw the sign for Sinte Gleska University. Remembering a newspaper article about the college, he spontaneously detoured south to see the college. Stunned by the contrast between the ramshackle facilities and the enthusiasm of a student, Lannan decided to help. Today, the college enjoys $18 million in new buildings, thanks to the Lannan Foundation.

The lesson? Individuals can form relationships with tribal colleges and make a world of difference for tribal college students and reservation communities. Patrick Lannan is an unusual individual, of course. He is president of the Lannan Foundation in Santa Fe, N.M. However, interviews with tribal college converts and with tribal college presidents across the country reveal many diverse roles for individuals as the colleges struggle to make educational opportunities more equitable.

In 1998, Liz Staples arrived at Bay Mills Community College in Michigan for what she anticipated to be a one-year assignment constructing a virtual library. A software engineer who had worked for IBM, Corp. for 21 years, Staples accepted the assignment to the small tribal college in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan under IBM’s faculty loan program.

By the end of the year, however, the computer corporation was unable to entice her back. She had discovered a different world. “I like the lifestyle. It’s not as hectic and competitive as it is in the information technology world. It’s very rewarding to actually make a difference. Sometimes in the big corporation, it’s hard to feel you’re making a difference. At a small tribal college, it’s very easy to see the effect.”

Liz Staples: “Sometimes in the big corporation it’s hard to feel you’re making a difference.” Photo by Jennifer Dale

Staples’ “effect” far outstrips her modest description. She has made a dramatic difference not just to Bay Mills but to the entire consortium of tribal colleges. Accreditation is critical to tribal colleges’ status, funding, and student recruitment. Colleges sometimes have narrowly retained their accreditation when accrediting agencies have scrutinized their limited library collections. Before Staples arrived at Bay Mills, many tribal college libraries relied heavily upon donated books and magazines, not the ones that they would choose to serve their students.

Staples designed the prototype virtual library at Bay Mills, and now she is customizing it to serve each of the tribal colleges. With the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) virtual library, students and faculty have access to thousands of volumes and journals.

Retired Maj. Gen. Jake Lestenkof also has made a difference for tribal colleges. He joined the board for Northwest Indian College (NWIC) Foundation in 1994, and Bob Lorence (then president of NWIC) soon became aware of the general’s experience on Capitol Hill. Lorence asked Lestenkof if he would speak with the Alaska delegation on behalf of all the tribal colleges, and particularly with U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, the Republican chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee.

The tribal colleges’ new friend was well respected in the halls of Congress. Lestenkof said he took every chance that he could to meet with Stevens, U.S. Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, and U.S. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, and their staffs about the importance of adequately funding tribal colleges to accommodate their growth. “Tribal colleges are the gateway for the future of Indian reservations,” he told them. “They can open a broader world to the reservations without injuring or intimidating political institutions.” Veronica Gonzales, former executive director of AIHEC, said she could see the difference that his communication made. AIHEC has no member colleges in Alaska, but after Lestenkof’s work, AIHEC representatives were able to meet with Stevens. In the Fiscal Year 2001 appropriation process, the tribal colleges enjoyed their best year yet as a result of this and dozens of other contacts with members of Congress and their staffs (see separate story by Meg Goetz in this issue).

Retired Maj. Gen. Jake Lestenkof: “Tribal colleges are the gateway for the future of Indian reservations.”

Lestenkof, who is part Aleut Native and part Russian, was born in the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea of Alaska. He established the Aleutian Pribilof Island Trust, which is restoring Russian Orthodox churches on the islands. He became acquainted with NWIC through a mutual contact when he owned a home in Washington. As chairman of the NWIC board, Lestenkof also hosted a couple of dinners for donors and business interests in Seattle at the Washington Athletic Club. “There is a lot of money out there,” he said, “but potential donors need to know exactly what they are buying into. It is important to tell the tribal college story.”

Heartfelt exchanges

In 1993, Chip Clark first heard the tribal colleges’ story when she signed up for an eco-tourism trip to Northern Plains Indian reservations with a travel agency in Bozeman, Mont., Off the Beaten Path. “It was very interesting to see the facilities, but I was most impressed that they were presented with such pride. The fact that they had a library and that the library had books in it was a real source of pride.” Then the group met Dr. Janine Pease-Pretty on Top, the president of Little Big Horn College. “She talked about what it felt like knowing your language and culture nearly disappeared. She said the college’s purpose was to make sure that didn’t happen again,” Clark said.

Chip Clark: “The fact that they had a library and that the library had books in it was a real source of pride.” Photo by Al Stumpf

All of the participants were quite moved by Pease-Pretty on Top’s stories. The Northern Plains tour had included three reservations, and many of the participants from the East Coast were shocked and overwhelmed by witnessing the alcoholism, despair, and unemployment. “The tribal college was one of the only things we saw that seemed really hopeful. What a smart idea – to do something that is accredited and accepted in mainstream institutions and to support culture, too. It seemed to be the missing piece,” Clark said.

When someone in the tour group asked Pease-Pretty on Top what they could do to help, she told them about the American Indian College Fund, a non-profit organization that raises money for student scholarships and college facilities. Since then, Clark has been a regular contributor to the College Fund. Based in Mancos, Colo., Clark is a consultant in organizational development, who works for technology companies in the Silicon Valley, for local governments, and for nonprofits (primarily donating her services). Because of her feelings about the tribal colleges, she has done pro bono work for the Tribal College Journal.

When Clark’s own college alumni association calls for donations, she tells them her contributions are directed primarily to the tribal colleges. “St. Lawrence College will never be in danger of going away; the alumni are mostly wealthy.” Tribal colleges generally do not enjoy wealthy alumni, and like Liz Staples, Clark feels needed.

Patrick Lannan said his 1991 visit to Sinte Gleska University changed his life. He and his daughter, Sharron, and her friend, Lisa Manziano, arrived at the college where they met a student and asked her whether she liked the tribal university. “To us, it was a real shock – it was 19 years old, but the ‘campus’ was mostly trailers and one metal Butler building and a dirt parking lot,” he said. The student did not see it that way, however. She said, “It is the best school in the world.”

Patrick Lannan: “Everything was devoted to programs, but they had no facilities.”

Although they had no appointment with SGU President Lionel Bordeaux, they ended up spending over an hour and a half with him. “I don’t know how it happened. The girls asked about what it was like being an Indian in South Dakota. He compared it to being a black in Mississippi.” Lannan said, “Many of us forget how relatively privileged we are, and for two young women this was a good wake up call.

At the time, the Lannan Foundation was devoted to art and literature, but it started making small grants to Sinte Gleska University. Now the foundation has an Indigenous Communities Program, which Lannan says owes its birth to that visit to Sinte Gleska. “It struck me as an institution that had achieved a great deal. Everything was devoted to programs, but they had no facilities,” he said. For a small foundation, they made an “enormous” commitment to the new campus, which Lannan hoped would encourage other foundations to contribute to tribal colleges. He said, “The more I go back there, the more I realize how a tribal college can be the center of hope on a reservation.”

Avenues of support

For Lannan, Staples, Lestenkof, and Clark, the first step was learning the tribal college story. They became converted to the cause, felt the urge to make a difference, and then discovered their own paths for support. Tribal colleges have benefited from individual supporters in many ways. People have used their professional talents and their network of activists, convincing the Nature Conservancy to help buy land, musicians to put on benefit concerts, volunteers to serve on foundation boards, and architecture students to donate time to design new campus buildings.

Cankdeska Cikana Community College (CCCC) President Erich Longie cautions people who want to help the tribal colleges to treat them with respect. After receiving a bunch of beat up text books and outdated computers, he has learned to be cautious about accepting gifts that lack value. “Tribal colleges are not the Salvation Army. We can’t take any old property and fix it up. That’s not our business.” He said the colleges are approached regularly by good willed people wanting to offer advice. He prefers that tribal college supporters contact him to ask what his college actually needs.

Erich Longie: “Tribal colleges are not the Salvation Army.” Photo by Lee Marmon

Federal agencies and private corporations donate hundreds of computers and other hardware to the colleges. While several of the tribal colleges have attracted top notch technicians to run their systems and teach their computer classes, it is difficult to keep them. The colleges have invested in training local people, but they must bank on their employees’ loyalty. They cannot offer competitive wages when Native professionals are in such demand.

Faculty loan programs address this important challenge, especially programs like IBM’s that brought a highly qualified information technology staff member to Bay Mills. Since 1971, IBM has provided more than 1,000 employees, each for a full academic year at no cost, to more than 250 institutions.

Tribal college salaries are notoriously low. Tribal college presidents joke about being “missionaries.” Information technology salaries are notoriously high. “Tribal colleges can only pay a percentage of what one could earn in a city,” Staples said. “In some cases, a technical person would be making more than the college president.”

Ron McNeil: “We get four or five calls a year from professors who want to teach at a tribal college.” Photo by Lee Marmon

Bay Mills and other colleges have benefited from other faculty loan and exchange programs involving universities and federal agencies. Sitting Bull College President Ron McNeil said, “We get four or five calls a year from professors who want to teach at a tribal college.” Some of them are willing to teach in exchange for housing. The college had no housing to offer, but now there are plans for building it.

Individuals who cannot spend a month or a semester might consider a shorter visit to a tribal college. By arranging for a visit, they can hear the tribal college story from those who are weaving it themselves. Often a visit leads to an enduring relationship, as illustrated by the individuals above. The American Indian College Fund sponsors an annual tour for donors, which is described on the fund’s website.

Not everyone has the time to actually visit a tribal college, which might be hundreds of miles away. Dr. Ross Primm, president of Nebraska Indian Community College, suggests visiting the colleges’ websites and learning about their missions and how they meet the needs of the communities they serve. When individuals are able, they might consider monetary contributions, according to Primm and other presidents. The American Indian College Fund welcomes both small donations and large.

Whether or not supporters have the political connections enjoyed by Lestenkof, Primm said they can write letters to their Congressional representatives and urge them to support any funding bills for tribal colleges. Tribal colleges rely heavily upon federal financial support since most states offer no assistance and since the tax base on reservations is so limited. Sisseton Wahpeton Community College President Elden Lawrence, Ph.D., suggests that individuals contact their congressional representatives, whether or not there is a tribal college in their states. “We can only push our delegation so far,” he said, referring to the members of Congress representing tribal college states. “They face a political risk when they go out on a limb for Indian people.”

Threaded through their stories is the feeling that these individuals gained as much if not more than they gave to the tribal colleges. James McKensie described his experiences as an exchange teacher for one summer at Turtle Mountain Community College in a 1993 article, “Fear and Discovery” (TCJ, Vol. V, N.1). Although the program was described as a “cultural exchange,” McKenzie said it was a one-sided exchange when he considered how he had been welcomed and how much he had learned. “I realize now that the exchange of my teaching at Turtle Mountain Community College for what I learned there is as so many colored beads to Manhattan Island.”

When individuals took the time to get to know the tribal colleges and to figure out how to work with them, their gifts became meaningful. At the grand opening for the new multipurpose center in August 2000, Sinte Gleska President Lionel Bordeaux said he was overwhelmed by the gift from the Lannan Foundation, which gives the university a home for commencement exercises and sporting events. “I’m just so thankful for somebody whose vision paralleled ours.”

Marjane Ambler has been editor of the Tribal College Journal since 1995. For more information about the virtual library, see the introductory brochure on the project web page <www.communitytechnology.org/aihec_vl> and see TCJ, Vol. XII, N.1, p. 22. For links to most of the tribal colleges, see the Tribal College Journal website and the American Indian College Fund.