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Canku Ota |
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(Many Paths) |
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A Newsletter Celebrating Native America |
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December 2, 2000 - Issue 24 |
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School News |
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gathered by Vicki Lockard |
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The information here will include items of interest for and about Native
American schools. |
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Hopi education endowment fund passes unanimously KYKOTSMOVI—This holiday season, the Hopi people will have 10 million more reasons to celebrate. In an unprecedented action, the Hopi Tribal Council unanimously passed Ordinance 54 establishing the Hopi Tribe Education Endowment Fund into law on November 20. In their action, the Council transferred the initial principal of $10,000,000 into the Fund that will be kept separately and managed in accordance with the requirements of Ordinance 54. In his opening statement to the Council, Hopi Chairman Wayne Taylor spoke about the proposed fund as a form of community investment. “The future of the Tribe depends on the future successes of our children. We must do all we can to help out children succeed. The Fund can help make that success more likely. Ten million dollars speaks loudly about our commitment to our children,” said Chairman Taylor. In her presentation to the Council, LuAnn Leonard, Staff Assistant to Chairman Taylor said, “Never in my sixteen years as an employee of the Hopi Tribe have I ever worked on something that is so important and historic in nature.” Members of the Council agreed. “There is no such thing as a free education,” said Danny Honanie, Kykotsmovi Village Council Representative. “It takes a lot of money to go to school these days. This is a good plan and a wise investment.” |
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Tribe Donates Funds For SHS Weight Room Shawnee High School athletes Thursday received a boost from the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma. Absentee Shawnee Gov. James "Lee" Edwards presented SHS Athletic Director Steve Fluke and three high school athletes with a donation for the high school's new weight room. The high school was one of five groups to receive donations. Each month, a portion of the proceeds from games at the tribe's Thunderbird Entertainment Center are earmarked for non-profit groups. "We're glad to do this again," Edwards. "We enjoy helping the community." Lt. Gov. Kenneth Blanchard also was at tribal headquarters for the ceremony. Other recipients who attended the presentation were Darla Bryce, Little Axe Touchdown Club, and Donna Roberts, Court Appointed Special Advocate program. Fluke said construction is scheduled to start this week on the weight room, and athletes should be able to use the facility by February. He was accompanied by Tiffany Rolette and Jessica Unruh, SHS softball players, and Lyndsey Johnson, basketball player. The Ronald McDonald House and the Tommy Carlson Fund also received donations, but representatives of the two organizations were unable to attend. Tommy Carlson, a 6-year-old Absentee Shawnee tribal member from Monroe, contracted Rocky Mountain spotted fever last July from a tick bite. Edwards set up a donation drive to assist the Carlson family with expenses, as Tommy underwent several operations. Tommy's mother, Nancy Carlson, gave birth to a son, Adrianno McBride Carlson, less than 24 hours after Tommy died on Aug. 19 in a Tulsa hospital. |
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Indian school hopes for learning wheels District 81's Indian education program uses cultural approaches to teach students. Fieldwork is vital for students at Medicine Wheel Academy, an Indian alternative school."They might go out root digging and that's their math class where they have proportions of dirt," said Vicki Countryman, the district's equity director. But lack of transportation is hampering the program.Buses are too expensive and inflexible for the school of 26 students, leaders said."Last year, we went on a root gathering and we couldn't take all the kids because of transportation," said Mary Stading, a teacher at the academy. "A lot of time we use our personal transportation, which ranges from my pickup to a small family van." Last year, the Medicine Wheel Academy held a benefit to raise money for a van. The school fell short of its $26,000 goal by $8,000.The school is holding another fund-raiser. Native American singer, songwriter and poet Jack Gladstone, a Montana Blackfeet, will perform at the Met at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10."It means a lot to the staff, which is why we started this (fund drive)," said Pam Austin, coordinator of Indian education for District 81. They're not looking for a handout, she said."We're trying to earn our own way," Austin said. One of the district's growing programs that has been hurt by lack of transportation is an after-school photography program for all Indian students.Instructor Shelly Boyd shuttles the equipment and students to various places to take pictures."I'm really limited in the amount of kids I can bring in my car," Boyd said. "Last year, we sometimes used a taxicab for some kids. This van would do a lot of things." |
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Federal Education Grant Helps Sho-Ban Tribes Plan For Future FORT HALL, Idaho-Members of the Shoshone-Bannock tribes want their children to have better public school education. And a new $537,000 grant may help them achieve just that. The tribes received a grant from the U.S. Department of Education to begin a Native Scholars Program at Idaho State University in Pocatello. The program's intent is to fund and advise Sho-Ban and other American Indian students at the university's College of Education, where future teachers are trained. |
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| Canku Ota is a free Newsletter celebrating Native America, its traditions and accomplishments . We do not provide subscriber or visitor names to anyone. Some articles presented in Canku Ota may contain copyright material. We have received appropriate permissions for republishing any articles. Material appearing here is distributed without profit or monetary gain to those who have expressed an interest. This is in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107. |
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Canku Ota is a copyright of Vicki Lockard and Paul Barry. |
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The "Canku Ota - A Newsletter Celebrating Native America"
web site and its design is the Copyright © 1999 of Paul C. Barry. |
