Re: Anishinaabemowin language

lsaul@west.cscwc.pima.edu
Mon, 3 Apr 1995 18:42:25 MST

This is a definite issue. Albert Alvarez of the Tohono O'Odham nation worked
with Kenneth Hale of MIT to do much of the fundamental work on TO language,
and when I took a TO language class (from a fine tribal member, native speaker,
with a degree) she wanted to have Alvarez hired to assist her but could not
do so because he did not have the degree. Sometimes creative programs to
use non-degreed knowledgeable people work, but often institutions aren't
willing/able to bend the rules.

I faced the same problem (with the same college) as a writing instructor
teaching "off-campus" classes on the reservation. When I could talk the
college into bending the rules for class size required to offer a class,
I often had excellent, exciting classes with maybe 1 or 2 students fewer
than college rules required. In remote reservation communities such
adjustments may be required (despite the loss of a few dollars from the
normative budget of the institution) in order to serve the community at
all. My experience on the Tohono O'Odham Nation was that there were many,
many students who wanted and were quite capable of a college education,
but they could not abandon their lives (families, jobs, an incredibly
beautiful and spiritually meaningful environment) in order to go 60-90
miles away to attend a "regular" college. If colleges cannot see this,
and tribes are unable to set up their own college facilities, then many
deserving people are simply denied important opportunities.
Lynn Saul, Pima Community College, Tucson AZ