Indian education plan presented to Ronan board

RONAN — Indian education issues took center stage at a special Ronan school board meeting last week, as the district's Indian Education representative presented a detailed report to board members highlighting the challenges and successes the district has had with its Tribal population.

"I think what we're doing is historic," Julie Cajune, Ronan's Indian Education coordinator, said at the meeting as she presented the plan.

In addition, a detailed 37-page Indian education report, covering everything from attendance to dropout rates with statistics showing the achievement gap between Indian and non-Indian students, was submitted to the board and attendees.

The report also cites curriculum that had success with Indian students in the past.

"With such a significant percentage of the school population at risk academically, the data for this report should become essential to program planning and resource allocation," the new report read.

"I wanted to show people that this isn't something that people dreamed up. This is hard data," Cajune said after the meeting.

This isn't the first time the Indian Education Committee has attempted to establish more cultural awareness in the school district.

Cajune said that the original plan was presented in 1999, but the Board didn't take to it.

"It hasn't been something that has been embraced or approved by the board," she said.

Cajune, along with IEC Department Head Joyce Silverthorne and Chair Francine Dupuis, are again pushing for more cultural balance in the Ronan school district. However, this plan takes a more positive approach, proposing answers instead of pointing fingers, Cajune said.

The plan outlines eight of the IEC's objectives including: students, parental involvement, school staff, curriculum, school programs and activities, school facilities, trustees and committees and the IEC itself.

One area of concern is the student handbook, a topic of much discussion at the meeting. If adopted by the board, the plan will revise the handbook to include "positive statements and an outline of student rights and expectations such as, but not limited to, the 40 Developmental Assets."

The 40 Developmental Assets being "factors in young people's lives that make them more likely to grow up healthy, caring and responsible."

The plan recommends that Pablo Elementary School change its name to Michel Pablo School to "honor an important community member that played a pivotal role in history that will forever impact all Americans."

According to Cajune, the name Michel Pablo is not only widely recognized in the Valley, but politicians in Washington D.C. are familiar with the name as well. Cajune said that Pablo has living descendants in the valley and that they granted permission to use the name.

A suggested name for Ronan Middle School is Nenemay Middle School, honoring longtime community member and Tribal elder, Alice Nenemay Camel.

Ronan schools are not named after anyone whose history is relevant to Native American students, explained Silverthorne. Changing the name would give them a sense of ownership.

It is also requested that the Tribal flag be added to school flagpoles in addition to the U.S. and state flags.

While the plan calls for the school administration to ensure that materials portraying American Indians displayed in school buildings be culturally appropriate, it isn't cited specifically to change Ronan High School mascots, the Chiefs and Maidens. However, the issue was brought up by board member and Tribal Housing Collections Officer Patty Stevens. The mascots have been a hot-button topic ever since the Tribe requested to have the mascots changed seven years ago.

Stevens recalls going to games in the early '80s and hearing fans shout "Go Chiefs, Go Chiefs, Go scalp 'em!"

Though the school song was deemed inappropriate and banned by school officials in 1985, Stevens would still like to see the mascots be changed to something more culturally sensitive.

"People think that if it's not offensive to you then don't worry about it," Stevens said.

She also takes offense to the Chiefs and Maidens being so gender specific. There is a pending lawsuit about the issue against the school district that has been taken to the Supreme Court.

But it is more than just name and mascot changes for the IEC, it's the integration of Indian languages, history, literature and heritage into curricula and the active recruitment of Native American staff, the women said.

Currently, about one percent of district staff are Native American.

"My son went to SKC where he learned about Tribal government, and I was thinking that this is stuff that he should have been learning in high school," explained Dupuis.

Dupuis also stated that her son is doing better at SKC than he did in high school. She attributes that to SKC's emphasis on Native American culture and the fact that roughly half of SKC staff are of Native American descent.

Since receiving Impact Aid, which provides federal funding for schools that are "impacted" by students living on federal land, the district is obligated to assimilate the Vision component of the district's Policy #1510, which includes "viable educational programs which allow all students, including Indian students to compete, succeed, and excel in life areas of their choice."

According to Cajune, the school district hasn't been held to strict accountability and there hasn't been any formal planning or resource allocation on anybody's part other than the IEC.

"On any reservation, Indian students have lower test scores. To me that says the challenge hasn't been taking seriously enough," she said.

The plan will be on the board agenda for the next two meets. On April 11 the board will make a final decision on whether or not to adopt the policy.

In related news, the House of Representatives voted against House Bill 791 Tuesday, which would have put $6.1 million into a constitutionally mandated effort to teach American Indian history and culture in all Montana Schools.