ALASKA NATIVES COMMISSION
JOINT FEDERAL-STATE COMMISSION
ON
POLICIES AND PROGRAMS AFFECTING
ALASKA NATIVES
4000 Old Seward Highway, Suite 100
Anchorage,
Alaska 99503
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Witness List | PDF
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COMMISSIONER TOWARAK: Next is Mary Reeve?
(Pause.)
MS. REEVE: My name is Mary Reeve. I'm Yup'ik from Dillingham. I'm also in support of my efforts of my fellow peers, and I want to thank each and every student that has worked hard, not only studying very hard during mid-terms, but taking the time to protest to keep Native Students Services intact. How many hours have we worked as students, working to saving Native Students Services, when this should be put in place by our administration? Our administration is not listening to our needs.
I'll tell you the -- my background for a minute. My major is secondary ed. I went back to school when I was 34 years old. If it wasn't for Native Students Services, I probably would not be in college now. As an older returning student, I felt out of place. You know, I was with a bunch of college now.
I also have -- I started out as a simple -- not a simple, excuse me, but as a small role as a Secretary in the support I got from Native Students Services, I became the first indigenous woman on the Board of Regents. So I -- as a testimony, Native Students Services has been very, very valuable to me.
In comparison. Native Students Services has been at the University of Alaska -- it has been alive, first with ACC and then UAA, for 16 years. University of Alaska Fairbanks has a very effective working model. This model is World Student Services. They have a whole fifth floor in this building, dedicated to the success of Native students. And it's worked. As you mentioned, you experience it, and it does work. And if anything, if our University of Alaska Anchorage can listen to this and see the effects that this Rural Student Services Center has had in Fairbanks, they should realize how effective it is, and that it will work for UAA students, too.
Another issue, like I said, I -- it was the help of that one counselor that helped me. In my years attending UAA, we have fought; we have fought. And we have successfully hired a Native counselor -- the first ever Native counselor at UAA. And this was through the organized efforts of, not so much our administration, because this is a problem with us is that we have to reach publicly to forums like this. We have to reach out to AFN; we have to reach out -- Elaine Abraham started the Coalition for Native Higher Education. We have to reach out to our Native community, our leaders, our legislators. This is how things happen.
The University of Alaska Anchorage's proposal for the Indigenous Center, the one -- Mr. Barnhardt, you as -- you had a question about that. That has been denied by the University Chancellor that it is -- has to be rewritten, and this is going to take more time.
We feel that if the Native Students Services Offices do stay intact, that this could become the base area for an Indigenous Study Center at the University of Alaska. We could expand. This could be a place where we have, first of all, Native staff on board, where we have Native studies offered at the University, where we have a Native library, where we can have a research center, and a very good role-model institution for upcoming students.
The Board of Regents has made it a priority in their six-year plan that Natives and minority students are retained and are graduating. This not happening. The Board of Regents gives that directive; it goes to administration; and somehow gets lost in administration; and that's why we are here now appealing your support. We feel that maybe it's just lip service.
We have a Task Force on Native Higher Education appointed by the Chancellor, of which I'm a member; and I have other members here in the audience. The proposal that was worked on for so long for the Indigenous Center -- for the first Indigenous Center at the UAA. When the -- the day for the draft proposal was supposed to be blessed or not blessed by the Chancellor, the Chancellor was not even at this meeting to give us his opinion. He was not even there to give us -- he didn't even give us a memo. So I'm saying that we're working hard towards these efforts. We need your support.
UAA wants to put Native Students Services into a multi-cultural effort; and I don't see -- to me, it's like putting everybody with a certain color of skin all in one room, in one physical space. I don't think that's the answer to multi-culturalism. By putting us in one room - - and everybody's going to have to divvy it up by putting plants and dividers, and wall dividers -- it is not the answer to multi-culturalism. The answer to multi-culturalism is through our curriculum -- through effective curriculum; and that -- I have an idea that for every teacher that graduates from my university, that they're required to take one class, three credits, in Alaska Native Cultures. I believe this should be a requirement for anybody that wants to teach in Alaska. This type of multi-culturalism, I think, is better use for students on our campus and for, ultimately, our communities.
I -- like I said, I plead to you as a Commission to support us in our efforts. I plead to AFN. We did have an AFN member on our Task Force on Native Higher Education. That member has resigned; so I think it's be -- in our best efforts and interests that we get either someone from this Commission or from AFN once again on the Task Force on Native Higher Education, working with the Chancellor. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER TOWARAK: Mike, you volunteered (laughing)?
MR. WILLIAMS: My question is you sound like -- do you see feasibility of a tribally-controlled college in Alaska, or, you know, what's your feelings on that?
MS. REEVE: Oh, I love the idea. You know, I've been a student at UAA for so long now, and it's been a constant struggle for our Native -- the success of our Native students; and -- you know, and I like the idea; and if our administration doesn't want to work with us, that's their choice, I guess. Apparently, you know -- and so, yes, tribally-owned-and-operated colleges and other levels of education are wonderful. Yes, I'm -- I support them (laughing).
COMMISSIONER TOWARAK: Thank you, Mary.
MS. REEVE: Yes. Thank you.
MR. BARNHARDT: Sam, Sam?
COMMISSIONER TOWARAK: Ray?
MR. BARNHARDT: I just wanted to commend you and the rest of the student representatives for putting forward, I think, a very well-thought-out and well-documented case. And I think you're quite right that the Rural Student Services Program in Fairbanks has made a big difference for a lot of students. I would just call attention to Jo Arm Tochargme (ph.) back there, who is currently the Director of Rural Student Services. You might want to spend a little time with her if you get a chance.
MS. REEVE: Thank you.
MS. PERATROVICH: I have a question --
COMMISSIONER TOWARAK: Nettie?
MS. PERATROVICH: -- for her.
MS. REEVE: Yes?
MS. PERATROVICH: I would like to know, since you are in secondary education and we seem to be having a lot of problems that people have identified all over the state, not only regarding secondary education, but elementary education as well. Do you feel that the University of Alaska is providing you with the type of secondary education to meet some of the challenges that are out there?
MS. REEVE: (Pause.) I --
MS. PERATROVICH: I ask you because I'm a product of the University of Alaska secondary education program, and I went through it probably when you were in grade school. (Laughter.) And I never felt like, you know, history of education and all of these --
MS. REEVE: I agree.
MS. PERATROVICH: -- baloney courses --
MS. REEVE: I agree (laughing).
MS. PERATROVICH: -- had anything at all to do with that kid that was not speaking English and did not know about Dick and Jane, and --
MS. REEVE: That's right.
MS. PERATROVICH: -- did not know street signs, and --
MS. REEVE: Really.
MS. PERATROVICH: -- had never seen a stoplight in his life, nor an escalator.
MS. REEVE: Right.
MS. PERATROVICH: And I would like to know if the University is more concerned about providing for teacher education for Alaska?
MS. REEVE: No, no. I don't think they are.
I've heard other people say, and I totally agree, that the
curriculum needs to be changed, not only at the elementary,
secondary, but also the post-secondary levels. The -- to me,
I would rather study Yup'ik, my Native language, than the history
of Western civilization. I think studying by knowing -- I don’t
know my language; but by knowing my language and making that
a -- I think that is more important towards my degree when
I become a future teacher in the Bush than the history of Western
civilization. I think some priorities need to be changed; and
education requirements need to be changed.
COMMISSIONER TOWARAK: The wo --
MS. PERATROVICH: I've often wondered why we have to take American history and the history of civilization for twelve years in elementary and in high school, and then four years in college; but, for some reason or another, we can never squeeze in one single course --
MS. REEVE: That's right.
MS. PERATROVICH: -- regarding the Native people --
MS. REEVE: That's right.
MS. PERATROVICH: -- of Alaska; regarding any of the languages that we spent a great deal of money --
MS. REEVE: That's right.
MS. PERATROVICH: -- developing; and because there are 5,000 students coming into our school system every single year, non-English speaking -- in other words, they are not fluent in English, and they do not have the baggage to carry them through to learn how to read and write English at the same pace that English-speaking student do. So, you know, I'm very curious as to -- you know, we know all of these things, and we've known them now for more than 20 years; and it's amazing to me the university still has not addressed these issues.
MS. REEVE: I agree, and
I think with the development, and I think with the implementation
of the Indigenous
Center that these languages and these culture classes and everything
will be available to not only Native about our cultures. If
you compare University of Alaska Anchorage to any university
in the Lower 48, we’re way below par. We are the indigenous
people of Alaska. We don't even have an Indigenous Studies
Department at the UAA. That is sad, very said, so. . . (laughing)
MS. PERATROVICH: Okay.
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