AIHEC STUDENT CONGRESS, 2007-08. Student leaders and their sponsor. Photo courtesy of Michele Spencer.

Tribal College Journal interviewed the leaders of the American Indian Higher Education (AIHEC) Student Congress in November 2007.  Karl Duncan, 22, is president of the AIHEC Student Congress and has been president of the Associated Student Government (ASG) at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), Santa Fe, NM, for two terms.  His confidence as a leader may derive from his experience working with two successive college presidents at IAIA. It may also have to do with traveling the world as a member of his family’s dance troupe, the Yellow Bird Indian Dancers.

Elijah Hopkins (Assiniboine Sioux), 27, is vice-president of the AIHEC Student Congress and he is also Mr. AIHEC 2007. Hopkins majors in Business at Fort Peck Community College (FPCC, Poplar, MT). His is an amazing story of overcoming challenges and of taking Sun Dance teachings to heart. Both young men plan to graduate from their respective tribal colleges in May 2008.

Karl Duncan:  ‘Art Can Ignite a Positive Revolution’

TWICE A PRESIDENT. Karl Duncan, IAIA Museum Studies major. Photo courtesy of John Villani.

Karl Duncan is San Carlos Apache on his father’s side and Arikara, Hidatsa, and Mandan on his mother’s side.

How did you choose to attend IAIA?
Easily – my parents attended IAIA, where they met, and my dad is an IAIA graduate.

What adjustments did you make when you first came to IAIA?
A friend was already at IAIA, so he helped me. I was uncomfortable just the first day of orientation week, but after we played basketball that day, I was  fine.

What led you to Museum Studies?
My mother is director of the Salt River Pima Maricopa Tribal Museum. I practically grew up in museums because of her work. I wanted to study Indian museums, not mainstream museums.

What is involved with Museum Studies?
It’s about culture through visual arts. Every day we learn about art – how to identify it, how to handle it, how to show it, how to explain it, and how to manage collections and space. We receive hands-on experience at the IAIA museum, and the college also networks with local museums and galleries to give us more experiences.

Where did you attend high school?
I went to Westwood High School in Mesa, AZ, an urban public school that was mostly Anglo-populated, but there were a lot of Native American and Mexican students there. The school was jokingly referred to as “Wastewood.”

What has shaped your tribal identity?
I’ve lived in Mesa, AZ, all my life, but my family traveled to Fort Berthold in North Dakota in the summers to visit our relatives. Also, my family’s dance group – we did Northern Plains dancing from my mother’s side and Apache dancing from my father’s side.

Who is your favorite teacher?
Until he retired, Chuck Dailey, who was the Museum Studies teacher – he also taught my parents.

Tell us about your best learning experience at IAIA, so far.
I was in a group organized by the IAIA Center for Lifelong Learning that included students, alumni, elders, tribal representatives, and spiritual advisors who traveled to South Africa to explore areas of art there. We spent two weeksin Botswana in June 2007. I appreciate the endless possibilities for  change at IAIA and the support that I encounter there.

What has been your most interesting experience as ASG president?
When the IAIA administration rejected a request by Mel Gibson to preview the movie Apocalypto on our campus, the IAIA Film Club got the help of Disney to rent a downtown Santa Fe screen so we could view the movie before it was even released. We [students] wanted to be involved in the discussion about the portrayal of Indigenous people in the movie. There was a mixed response from the audience.  Some liked it for the action; some felt it portrayed Indigenous people in a romanticized, stereotyped way.

What are your other interests on campus?
I’m a photographer. I like taking pictures of landscapes and people.  I’m also involved with the student-run gallery on campus, which allows for a more informal display of student work.

What motivated you to run for ASG president at IAIA and what does the position entail?
I saw the outgoing president, Randy Charley, being really active by  volunteering and being involved on campus. He asked me to run. I’ve run unopposed for two years since then. It’s about working with people and building relationships. My focus is on working things out, and I’m the go-between for students, teachers, and staff. When you’re at school, your classmates are your family. On our campus, there are a lot of different tribes represented from all areas of the country. There are a lot of issues to tackle. We have a new president, Dr. Bob Martin, who has started talks about campus issues. I sit on committees. I’m a non-voting member of the college board, which meets quarterly, and I meet weekly with the college president.

What does the AIHEC Student Congress president do?
When the former president, Vincent Townsend, resigned to recover from an accident, I got bumped into the position. Now, I represent the tribal college students nationwide. The Student Congress met once in Hawaii in November 2007 [during the AIHEC board meeting] to review our mission and bylaws. Since our members are so spread out across the country, we mainly conduct business by telephone meetings. There are many possibilities, but more tribal college students need to become aware of our organization. Our website could be more helpful to students. We do have some goals, and there are good people in the Student Congress. If we met more often, maybe we could do more.

What do you fear?
That young people will forget who they are and will get caught up in this idealized individual-based society, forgetting the basic principles of human values and respect for life.

What inspires you?
My inspiration comes from the certainty that a positive revolution among our Native peoples is here, and it can ignite through the arts.

What do you plan to do after college graduation?
I plan to stay in Santa Fe, NM, to take advantage of opportunities in the arts and culture.

Elijah Hopkins: Empowered by Home and Ceremony

MR. AIHEC. Elijah Hopkins, FPCC Business major. Photo courtesy of Elijah Hopkins.

Elijah Hopkins (Assiniboine Sioux) has re-created himself at lightning speed. Seven years ago his father moved the family back to the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana from Rapid City, SD. Five years ago, he was working as a carpenter with no thoughts about college. Two years ago, he enrolled part time at Fort Peck Community College (FPCC) in Poplar, MT.

Tell us about being a student at FPCC.
I’m studying business to become an entrepreneur. I was president of the American Indian Business Leaders Club. I served on the student senate and I’m in the Blue Stone Indian Club.

Was it difficult to adjust to college since you didn’t enroll right after high school?
I had to work really hard to catch up. I had to learn how to use computers. I was closed off. I wasn’t used to being open and talking about how I felt or what I thought. When courses got hard, I wanted to drop out. Now, I try to maintain a 3.9 GPA.

What helped you to stay on and do so well?
The staff encouraged me to stick it out. When I heard other students, I realized I wasn’t the only one who felt overwhelmed and isolated.

Who is your mentor?
Ronald Jackson (Assiniboine Sioux), the college retention officer and Indian club advisor, who always helped me. He got me involved in Sun Dance in 2004, and from then on, I began understanding the connection between ceremony and education. My life changed.

Was this your first involvement with Sun Dance?
My father’s side of the family had ties to the Sun Dance, but my involvement has influenced my whole family, including my younger brother. I also know of other students, both men and women, who were affected in the same way by the Sun Dance.

What has the ceremony taught you?
I’m able to look people in the eye and talk to them honestly. I’ve learned to be spiritual, and to be alcohol and drug free. People practice all kinds of  spirituality.  What I do is not for everyone, but I want others to know what I’m about.

Tells us about your involvement with AIHEC?
I won the title of Mr. AIHEC in a student competition at the annual AIHEC Student Conference in March 2007 in Rapid City, SD. During that same time I also won an election to the AIHEC Student Congress, and last fall I was promoted to vice-president.

What motivated you to compete for the title of Mr. AIHEC?
I’m proud of my culture and spirituality. I’m not ashamed. This makes me feel good and encouraged and I thought I could win.

What have you done as Mr. AIHEC?
I don’t see tribal colleges as providing a lower level of education than other places because education is what you – as student – put into it. I tell students this when I visit K-12 schools in northeastern Montana. I would advocate for Indian education even if I wasn’t Mr. AIHEC or part of the AIHEC Student Congress.

Is competing easy for you?
[He laughs.] At the 2006 AIHEC Knowledge Bowl, I couldn’t answer some questions. I was unprepared. I realized I had to hit the books harder to represent my college better. I went back and competed in other events the next year.

Last year, you made some of your peers gasp and laugh during student ice-breaker activities at a Student Congress meeting in Rapid City. What was that about?
I wanted to break the monotony of our first meeting and establish a more relaxing atmosphere. Occasionally, I do like shocking people because I think some people take themselves too seriously. I like to make people laugh.

What do you fear in life?
Not reaching my full potential. I know I have something more – of value – to contribute to American Indian education. Exactly what, I don’t know, but it’s my responsibility to figure that out.

Tina Deschenie (Diné /Hopi) is editor of Tribal College Journal.