Only 17% of Native Americans are able to continue their education after high school.

Tribal colleges hope their efforts to help these students thrive will lead to improved outcomes. The approach is being highlighted in a Wisconsin school's milestone. This fall, the College of Menominee Nation kicked off a yearlong celebration as it observes its 30th anniversary.

Christopher Caldwell, president of the school, said it is important to display how much of an asset the campus is to the community. He noted part of it plays out in welcoming Indigenous students who did not have a good experience in trying out a mainstream college or university.

"And so, they come back home," Caldwell observed. "They might not have their degree, or they come back with debt."

Caldwell pointed out schools like his work closely with students in those situations, and he hopes their welcoming environment rubs off on mainstream campuses. He added tribal colleges are also important because they can educate the community about a local tribe's history. This year's celebration coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Menominee Restoration Act of 1973.

The policy reversed an earlier decision by Congress to terminate Menominee's status as a federally-recognized tribe. Caldwell argued it is an important story to keep telling.

"We really as an academic institution represent the intent of that act in all of the efforts of what our tribal nations look to do, which is to assert their sovereignty [and] their self-determination," Caldwell emphasized.

He stressed they are working to revitalize traditional aspects of the Menominee language and culture, which coincides with similar efforts around the country to prevent Indigenous languages from going extinct as a number of tribes lose their elders.

Caldwell stated it is a key example of the role an institution like his can play, and something other colleges can learn from.

Ho-Chunk Farms' annual Indian Corn Harvest is reviving and preserving this tradition for the northeast Nebraska tribe. Corn from a Winnebago family's heirloom seeds is grown organically, handpicked, harvested and processed as closely as possible to the way it was done by the tribe's ancestors.

Cory Cleveland, Ho-Chunk Farms agriculture business manager, said the Indian Corn Harvest involves several steps and several generations. He explained that after the corn is picked and husked, it is boiled and blanched for ten to fifteen minutes followed by the "wasgu."

"Then a lot of our elders like to come and do the 'wasgu.' And that's taking off kernel-by-kernel with hand and spoon. This is a time a lot of our elders will share stories with maybe some of their grandchildren that may be helping also. So, it's a really good time to connect with one another," he said.

Following the wasgu, the corn is dried on screens for two or three days and put in quart-size bags. Cleveland said the corn is then frozen and typically used in a traditional corn soup. He says about one-third of this year's 350 quarts will be distributed to folks who helped with the process.

Much of the remaining corn is reserved for another Winnebago cultural tradition.

"And the rest, at Ho-Chunk Farms, we store it, and we give to tribal members that have passed, to their funerals. On the last day of the funerals, generally, there is a corn soup. We usually give two quarts to the funerals throughout the year," he explained.

Students in Winnebago Public Schools also participate in the Indian Corn Project. Middle and high school students in the Academy program pick the corn, and after it's blanched and boiled take it back to school where they "wasgu," dry and package it. Even students as young as first through third grade get involved by helping husk.

"The husking is what takes a long time. I mean, if you've husked one yourself, you can understand doing probably three or four hundred of those. So, it's good to have their help. If we can have them say, 'Hey, Mom and Dad, I went to help with the Indian corn today,' that is what we're trying to do with the Indian Corn Project," Cleveland said.

The Indian Corn Project also contributes to the Winnebago tribe's goal of food sovereignty for its community.

Montana's Indigenous population is pushing back against efforts to limit ballot collection on tribal lands.

Many members of the state's seven tribes live several hours from the nearest polling place. The Montana Supreme Court has ruled two laws make it prohibitive for people living on reservations to reach a polling place or mail an absentee ballot before Election Day. The state is now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review that ruling.

Ronnie Jo Horse, executive director of the group Western Native Voice, said they collect ballots from tribal residents who face transportation and other hurdles that keep them from getting to a physical polling place and added the service was very important during the pandemic.

"We had a novel virus going around," Horse pointed out. "A lot of people were afraid to leave their houses because Native Americans had a really high mortality rate than any other group in America."

The bills ended Election Day voter registration and third-party ballot collection services in Montana but the state's high court ruled them unconstitutional and stopped them from taking effect.

The American Civil Liberties Union said voters on tribal lands have "disproportionately relied on" Election Day voter registration and ballot collection services in Montana to cast ballots. Horse stressed the critical services need to be protected.

"If they did put (up) more barriers or even take away ballot collection, those will actually put up barriers for all of Montana, not only Native Americans, to make that decision and cast their vote," Horse contended.

Election Day registration has been the law in Montana for 15 years and efforts to end it were seen as measures to make voting for Indigenous people more difficult. Early voting in Montana starts Oct. 7.


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By Robert Bordeaux for Arts Midwest.
Broadcast version by Mike Moen for Wisconsin News Connection reporting for the Arts Midwest-Public News Service Collaboration

Language is the center-point of any culture. For Indigenous people, keeping and carrying forward their language becomes a decolonial act — a reclamation of space. 

This has been Laura C. Red Eagle’s journey. A writer and language enthusiast, Red Eagle is a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, whose traditional territories include land in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois.

Red Eagle grew up in rural Wisconsin with her non-native mother, away from her Ho-chunk communities in the area. During this time, she had trouble navigating her identity, culture, and community. Her father’s family were fluent Ho-chunk speakers, but they spoke to her in English when they shared space. In high school, Red Eagle decided to start learning her traditional language. She joined a language camp offered by the Ho-chunk community in Black River Falls. This lit the fire to her language-learning journey.

Over the years, she noticed a deep yearning to create community around language learning. Post-secondary education didn’t offer what she was hoping for. Determined, she decided to gather her own resources. 

These resources were few and far between — common for many Indigenous languages. As oral languages, resources weren’t created until colonial contact. Made by non-speakers, non-native individuals and organizations, complications arose around the control of translations and learning methods, and access to these materials. 

A Space to Share

Red Eagle tracked down a tape that offered Ho-chunk for colors, numbers, and animals, but she craved to dive deeper.

Then, a timely interaction set the stage for her next chapter of language-learning. At her father’s funeral, she heard Jon Greendeer (current president of Ho-Chunk Nation) speak in Ho-Chunk. After a conversation, he offered resources and other community members to connect with around the language. The importance of community learning spaces kept surfacing for Red Eagle. 

“Learning the language in a judgment-free zone opens doors into learning about history, the ways of thinking, and being, and what is important, and so much more,” she says.

Her perseverance led to the Indigenous Language Table at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery (WID) in Madison. It’s a space for active language practice beyond the classroom. The Indigenous Language Table is a communal gathering that meets once a week. It emphasizes the importance of using the language in everyday conversations.

To young Indigenous people and new language learners, Red Eagle says: find a class, build a community, and create spaces for language use. 

Red Eagle remains steadfast in creating a supportive community for language learners, even with the struggles of language revitalization work. “Language is ultimately about connecting as human beings and creating a sense of belonging,” she says. She envisions more Indigenous Language Tables across Wisconsin and beyond. Her story is a testament to the resilience and dedication required to revive and sustain Indigenous languages. Her efforts with the Indigenous Language Table offer a blueprint for creating vibrant language communities.


Robert Bordeaux wrote this story for Arts Midwest.


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