With the current fiscal and political atmosphere in Washington, D.C., new attention is being focused upon the relationship between states and tribes. In most cases, state and tribal governments have been adversaries, battling over jurisdiction and tax authority. In Minnesota, however, the tribes and state legislature have worked together for over 20 years to assure educational services to the American Indian students at all levels.

This cooperation has provided concrete results, unheard of in most states. The most remarkable is Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, which is run by the Fond du Lac Band of Chippewa but also chartered by the state. At the K-12 levels, the state/tribal cooperation has resulted in significant achievements, which could serve as models in other states. These include: state funding that assures an equal funding base for tribal and public schools, state training programs to prepare American Indian teachers, state funding for Indian career counselors, and state funding for Indian language and culture programs. The state/tribal leadership could also leave a legacy of greater understanding by non-Indian students for their Indian neighbors; all teacher preparation programs must offer Indian sovereignty and treaty education.

Like most states, Minnesota did not readily accept responsibility for educating its American Indian residents. The state legislature first became involved in American Indian education in 1925, appropriating $10,000 for school facilities in Indian country and $35,000 for tuition payments to public schools to accept Indian children. Until 1936, however, most Indian youngsters were educated in Bureau of Indian Affairs day and boarding schools, including boarding schools at Pipestone, Minnesota, and Flandreau, South Dakota. Federal Johnson O’Malley funds became available in 1936 for states to educate Indians. On the Fond du Lac Reservation, children were sent away to federal boarding schools or attended one of the day schools in the village of Sawyer or the Indian village near Cloquet. When the Indian school near Cloquet burned in a 1918 forest fire, it was never rebuilt, and Indian students began attending local public schools. The Normantown School was closed in 1919 and was replaced with a brick structure, the Sawyer School. The Sawyer School remained a federal day school for many years but was converted to a state public school and merged with nearby Carlton Public Schools. Sawyer School closed in 1962, and Indian students were bussed to the larger, predominantly white public school in the village of Carlton.

The federal system of education had a devastating effect on the culture, language and tradition of American Indian people. The transition to public education has also been far from smooth for Indian children. With Indian high school dropout rates hovering from 80-100 percent in many locations and few successes for American Indians in higher education, tribal officials began a concerted effort to work with the Minnesota state legislature in the early 1970s to turn things around. The effort was led by the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe (a confederation of six reservations) and the Minnesota Indian Affairs-Intertribal Board (a state organization with representatives from all of Minnesota’s Indian communities).

In the late 1970s when the federal government discontinued Johnson O’Malley (JOM) basic support funding to primarily Indian public schools, the Minnesota legislature enacted JOM replacement funding legislation to make up for the loss of federal funds.

Since then several pre-K-12 Indian education initiatives have been established, some of them quite unique:

–The American Indian Language and Culture Education Act provides language and culture maintenance programs in 15 selected public and tribal schools. On the Fond du Lac Reservation the program provides for an Ojibwe language teacher at the Fond du Lac Ojibwe School (a K-12 tribal grant school). Without state funds, many schools would not be able to offer extensive language and culture programs.

–The American Indian Post-secondary Preparation Program provides career guidance services for American Indian students in 23 tribal and public schools. The Fond du Lac Reservation has used its funds to employ a career counselor at the Ojibwe School.

–The state provides tribal equalization funding for Minnesota’s four tribal schools, making up the difference between basic state funding and Bureau of Indian Affairs base funding. This gives tribal schools a funding base at least equal to the state’s public schools, ensuring equal educational opportunity.      Minnesota’s much-heralded charter school legislation allows for the establishment of outcome-based, site-managed schools free from most state mandates. Two of these charter schools are located in Dakota communities. A charter school in Morton recently opened; and the one at Prairie Island was scheduled to open in fall 1995.

Because of these pre-K-12 initiatives, graduation and achievement rates for American Indian students are significantly improving. On the Fond du Lac Reservation, high school dropout rates have been lowered to less than 25 percent from more than 75 percent. More than 60 band members are attending institutions of higher education, up from a mere handful two decades ago.

On the post-secondary level, tribal-state cooperation has shown equally significant results. In 1955 the Minnesota legislature enacted the Minnesota Indian Scholarships Program. From a humble beginning of only three students, the program has grown to serve over 850 students per year with funding over $3 million in state funding per biennium. This represents a huge commitment to Indian education and has greatly increased the number of American Indian students pursuing higher education.

Components of the state’s technical college system have been operating for years on several reservations. On the Fond du Lac Reservation, Brainerd-Staples Technical College offers on-site programs in licensed practical nursing and casino management. Beginning with the 1995-1996 school year these services will operate under the umbrella of the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College.

Because there is a critical need for American Indian teachers, tribal officials convinced the state to provide the American Indian Teacher Training Program, which offers non-repayable loans if they teach in public schools with significant Indian populations. Under this program American Indians take teacher preparation programs at four locations: Bemidji State University (Red Lake Reservation), Moorhead State University (White Earth Reservation), Augsburg College (St. Paul), and the University of Minnesota-Duluth (Fond du Lac Reservation and Duluth urban Indian communities). Moreover, the state legislature, at the urging of Minnesota tribes, strengthened its teacher training programs during the 1994 legislative session by saying all teacher preparation programs must offer Indian sovereignty and treaty education as part of their human relations requirement.

By far the most remarkable achievement in tribal-state cooperation is Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College (Figure 1). Chartered by the Fond du Lac Reservation Business Committee, the college opened in 1987 as Minnesota’s first tribal college. As of July, 1994, Fond du Lac also became the 19th independent community college in the state. It maintains its accreditation through the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools as a member of the Minnesota Community College System. A co-governance agreement formalized the tribal and state relationship and outlines the governance of the college. This new higher education model has not been duplicated in higher education.

FIGURE 1

Fond du Lac has received substantial benefits from its cooperation with the state, including its $7 million, 50,000 square foot facility, built in 1992 with state capital bonding money. It also receives state aid for community colleges, the amount dependent upon per student enrollment. This distinguishes Fond du Lac from other tribal colleges, most of which receive little if any state support.

The Fond du Lac campus now enrolls over 400 full time students. Spread out along an old tree farm of 38 acres, it is dominated by rows of 40-year old, 50-feet high red pines. Its architectural design incorporates many elements of American Indian symbolism, including the four colors of the Fond du Lac Reservation–red, black, white, and yellow–which represent, respectively, the four directions–east, west, north, and south. The floor tiles are green to represent the earth. The building is in the form of a thunderbird, and the landscape forms a bear paw, symbolic of the Anishinabe (Ojibwe) bear clan.

Overall leadership for the state of Minnesota’s efforts has been provided by the Minnesota State Board of Education, which adopted a policy statement on American Indians in 1982 which recognizes the sovereignty of American Indian tribes and the policy of self-determination. The board has also led an effort to eliminate the use of Indian mascots and logos from public schools. The effort has reduced the number of public schools using Indian mascots and logos from 50 to 15 schools.

The state’s efforts in Indian education are managed through the Minnesota Department of Education, Indian Education Section. The section maintains three offices in Minnesota, offering direct services (including Indian adult basic education) and program management and technical assistance for the state programs. The section is overseen by two committees, the Minnesota Indian Scholarship Committee and the American Indian Education Statutory Committee, both of which include representatives of Minnesota’s reservation communities. The committees oversee the grant programs and advise the Minnesota State Board of Education on Indian matters.

Summary

Minnesota is an example of progressive and cooperative efforts at improving the education of its American Indian residents. These efforts, initiated by tribal governments, have recognized the need for the state to accept its share of responsibility in the education of Indian people. Moreover, the efforts have proven that tribes can work in a positive, government to government relationship with the state without compromising tribal sovereignty.

References

Beaulieu, David L. 1986. “Indian education in the state of Minnesota – a model of state/tribal government cooperation.” Unpublished paper.

Bureau of Indian Affairs and State of Minnesota. 1936. “Education of Indians in the state of Minnesota.”

Indian School Council. 1989. “Our children, our future.” St. Paul: Minnesota Department of Education.

Jack Briggs, a Fond du Lac tribal member, is president of Fond du Lac Community College. He is one of the original founders of the college.

Thomas Peacock, also a Fond du Lac tribal member, is an associate professor in education at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, and current vice-president of the Minnesota State Board of Education.