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More News from Inelien Country . Pdge 10 Spilyay Tyrooo February 28, 2008 'A Nev. higher ed seeks increased Indian enrollment RENO (AP) - Higher edu cation officials have formed a coalition to try to turn around the historically low number of American Indian students who go on to college in Nevada., “A lot o f students from ru ral areas haven't been away from the reservation at all, and when they come to larger urban areas and onto a university cam pus, it's quite overwhelming,” said Sherry Rupert, executive di rector of the state Nevada In dian Commission. “So they need that help to make the transition.” To m eet th a t need, the N o rth ern N evada Am erican Indian Higher Education Col laborative was formed last fall by the University o f Nevada, Reno, Truckee Meadows Com munity College, Western Nevada College and Great Basin College. To further the collaborative's mission, UNR hired Kari Emm last August as the full-time out reach and retention coordinator at its Center for Student Cultural Diversity. E m m , a m em ber o f the Yerington Paiute Tribe who was raised on the Walker River Res ervation in Schurz, tells Ameri can Indian students they can succeed in college but must take the tougher courses that will prepare them. They also must learn what financial resources are available. “I tell them, You can make this happen. It can happen for you and here's how you can do it,” Emm told the Reno Gazette- Journal. Across the state, the percent age of American Indian students attending Nevada colleges and universities has trailed far be hind other minorities for the past decade. From 1996 to 2006, the per cent o f American Indian/Alas kan students increased by 20 percent compared to 63 percent for blacks, 138 percent for His panics and 148 p ercen t o f Asian/Pacific Islanders, accord ing to statistics from the Nevada Higher Education System. American Indian students represent only 1 percent of the student populations at UNR, the University o f Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada State College and the College of Southern Nevada. W ith 4 percent, G reat Basin College in Elko has the largest percentage of American Indians students, compared to 3 percent at Carson City-based Western Nevada College and 2 percent at Truckee Meadows Commu nity College in Reno. B rittn ey Santos, a U N R freshman and member o f the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, said having someone like Emm to talk to has helped her. “College is definitely a stress ful environment at times, and to have someone who knows what you're going through and who has gone through it, too, really helps you,” said Santos, 18, who hopes to become a phar macist. Chelsea O'Daye, a member o f the R eno-Sparks In d ian Colony who lives on the Hun gry Valley Reservation, said Emm checks on her and the other students to make sure they're on track to earn their diplomas. “Kari is someone we can con nect with,” said O'Daye, a UNR freshman who wants to become a pediatrician and work at the colony's Reno clinic. This semester, UNR is offer ing a course in Native Ameri can studies. The Native Ameri can Student Organization was formed last fall, with Santos and O'Daye heading the public rela tions and marketing efforts. “So the club has becom e more known around campus and other students are beginning to understan d our culture,” Santos said. Tribe plans to sign deal assuming ownership of Indian City U.S.A. ANADARKO, Okla. (AP) _ Officials with the Kiowa Tribe planned to sign a deal on Friday that would transfer ownership o f an A m erican Indian and O klahom a landm ark to the tribe. The Kiowa Business Commit tee negotiated at length Thurs day with shareholders of Indian City U.S.A., a historical park lo cated on Oklahoma Highway 8 just south of Anadarko. “I'm 99.9 percent sure it'll go through,” Modina Waters o f the tribe's planning commission told the Lawton Constitution. The tribe will offer an offi cial statement once the deal is formally signed, Waters said. George C. Moran built the park in 1955 with the help of University of Oklahoma anthro pologists. The 198-acre site holds an Indian village w ith life-size dw ellings o f seven In d ian tribes _ the Apache, Caddo, K iow a, N avajo, Paw nee, Pueblo and Wichita. ’ Cooking show features Native foods, culture POST CREEK, Mont. (AP) — Jody P erez was sure th at when, after a week at a Tradi tional Living Challenge Camp, she stepped on the bathroom scales back home, she wouldn't like what she saw. “I really thought I was over eating all week,” Perez says. T here were buffalo and elk steaks, salmon, dried meat, veg etables, fruit - even camas that participants harvested, peeled, dried and baked in the ground with black tree moss wrapped in skunk cabbage leaves. “People use camas in soups sometimes, and if you boil it, you get a bitter taste,” Heather Cahoon, Perez's sister, says. “But baking it made it so sweet, it was similar to a yam.” The food at the camp was delicious, plentiful — and, it turned out, good on the waist line. Perez ate to her heart's (and stomach's) content, and lost 6 pounds in the process. H er four young children spent the week living in a tepee at the camp with her, and Perez was none too pleased when hus band, Juan, picked the kids up at Blue Bay and immediately herded them through the drive- th ro u g h at M cD onald's in Polson. She was sold on the benefits o f a healthier, and more tradi tional, diet. Simply by reading package labels and substituting healthier or more traditional alternatives in recipes in the months since, Perez has lost more weight — a to ta l o f 25 pounds — and stumbled on a new mini-career in the process. She's co-host, along w ith Genevieve King, of a new cook ing show, “Rez Chef,” that pre m iered earlier this week on KSKC-TV, the public television station at Salish Kootenai Col lege. King and Perez — and their guests — weave cooking and healthier lifestyles in with Indian tradition and culture on the half- hour program. Anita Dupuis, director of the Salish Kootenai College Com munity H ealth and Develop ment Department, came up with the ideas and grant money for both the traditional living camps and the cooking show. “Historically, Native Ameri can genetics weren't made to properly digest and metabolize non-Native cuisine, i.e., sugar, flour and trans fat,” Dupuis ex plains. Her goal is to help Flat- head Indian Reservation resi dents combat diabetes and car diovascular disease by returning to more traditional diets, or us ing foods with similar nutritional values to the ones their ances tors ate. “In order to be successful, an intervention in Native commu nities must speak to who we are, must be based in and founded upon the traditional wisdom of our ancestors, and it must be learned by experience,” she says. With a grant from the fed eral Centers for Disease Con trol and Prevention, she hired Cahoon to produce “Rez Chef,” and Cahoon tabbed King and Perez — both busy moms-on- the-go - to host. With KSKC-TV general man ager Frank Tyro directing, they taped five episodes (two were combined into one show) in the new P o st Creek kitchen o f Frances Cahoon, father o f Jody and Heather. They're airing on KSKC-TV, the Salish Kootenai College public television station, on Mondays and Tuesdays over the next month. It also contains a gift shop, m useum and lodge, cam p ground, amphitheater, two radio towers and an exotic game trail that includes buffalo and ante lope. M oran's son, G eorge F. Moran, has worked at Indian City U.S.A. since 1973 when he took over for his father. He has served as executive director and general manager. Park shareholders didn't re ceive acceptable offers when it was initially put up for sale for $3 million in 2004, Moran said. The board o f trustees de cided to put it up for sale again in 2006, he said. One o f the keys to the sale is the intention of the buyer, and Moran thinks the Kiowas have the right goals in mind. “t's good to have a buyer with the resources and keep the park as is,” Moran said. “I think they will make positive improve ments.” The park has been neglected recently, and repairs have been more than an annual operating budget of $140,000 could cover, Moran said. The park traditionally closes only on Thanksgiving, Christ mas and New Year's Day. The number o f visitors to Indian City has declined since its peak o f 150,000 guests a year, Moran said. “The last few years, it's re ally slowed down significantly,” he said. Indian Gaming Commission chairman recovering from stroke RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — Phil Hogen, who chairs the N atio n al In d ian G am ing Commission, said he hopes to réturn to his Washington of fice next week after suffer ing a mild stroke. Hogen, 63, remained at his Black Hawk home this week after undergoing treat ment Monday at Rapid City Regional Hospital. He was released Tuesday. He attributed the incident to high blood pressure. Hogen said he w ent snow skiing Sunday, split some firewood at home and took a nap. Upon waking, Hogen said, he had trouble reading a digital clock and couldn't recognize some words when he tried to read. “If was kind of a frightening little episode,” he said. Hogen said last Wednes day that he felt good. “I hope to fly back (to Washington) over the week end and be back at my desk on Monday.” Hogen, who also served as U.S. Attorney for South Da kota, has been chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission since 2002. Suprem Court will rule e on Narragansett dispute with Rhode Island WASHINGTON, D.C,x(AP) — The Supreme Court agreed Monday to resolve a dispute over the federal government's ability to take land into trust for American Indian tribes. Indian rights groups fear that th e case involving the N arragansett Tribe in Rhode Island could undermine tribal land across the country. The jus tices will hear the case in the fall. The state argued that a 1934 federal law prevents the govern ment from taking land into trust for tribes recognized after the law took effect, unless Congress specifically authorized it. The Naftagansetts became a feder ally recognized tribe in 1983. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston rejected the state's claim in July- At issue is whether a 31-acre lot in Charlestown purchased by the Narragansetts should be sub ject to Rhode Island law, includ ing a prohibition on casino gam bling, or w hether the parcel should be governed by tribal and federal law. The dispute dates to 1991, when the N arragansetts pur chased the land to build an eld erly housing complex, which re mains incomplete. The state objected when the tribe asked the U.S. Department o f the Interior to take the land into federal trust, which would place it largely under tribal and federal control. State leaders fear the Narragansetts want, to build a casino on thé site. Ca sino are banned under state law. “T he param ount issue o f state sovereignty is the poten tial that this could open the door to a casino, at least a crack, over the objections o f Rhode Island voters,” said Attorney Joseph Larisa Jr., who represents the town of Charlestown. Narragansett Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas did not imme diately respond to a request for comment. Thomas has said his tribe intends to complete tie unfinished elderly housing com plex on the property, but could also consider other economic development options. NEXT TO BI-MART *** IN MADRAS W INTER BOOT BLOW OUT N O W TILL M A k C H 15TH 40% HOTTER H O L W 1 M -K 1 O -Q * S A T 1 1 - 5 OFF ALL INSTOCK WINTER BOOTS www^pe licansshoes.com
