(NAME-MCE) Universities launch effort to debunk Native stereotypes

[KispokoT at aol.com]

Universities launch effort to debunk Native stereotypes
ALEX DeMARBAN 
July 24, 2008 at 11:19AM AKST   
A university program that aims to get students talking about touchy  subjects 
will spend the coming school year dispelling myths about Alaska  Natives.  
Many students and professors at the University of Alaska Anchorage are  
woefully misinformed about Alaska’s indigenous people, a situation that  leads to 
stereotyping and can make Native students uncomfortable, said  John Dede, 
special assistant to the vice provost.  
It’s likely one factor in the group’s high dropout rates, he said.  
“I think there’s a perception that Alaska Natives are white people  under 
different skin,” Dede said. “And they are not. They come from  different 
cultures with a different world view, and understanding that  will be a realization 
for a lot of people.” 
To overcome the problem, a group of academicians, with help from Native  
leaders and others, are publishing a 100-page handbook that debunks Native  myths, 
Dede said.  
The university and neighboring Alaska Pacific University will give the  book 
to some 600 professors and provide 900 free copies to students.  
The effort is part of a stepped-up Books of the Year program, a  third-year 
partnership between the universities to juice up debate in  lecture halls and 
classrooms.  
Last year, the project distributed copies of “The Handmaid’s Tale” and  “
The Swallows of Kabul,” works that tackle themes of religious extremism.  
Teachers added the books to lesson plans and panels discussed them, said  Dede, the 
program’s coordinator.   
This year, in addition to the handbook, the reading list consists of  two 
other books.   
Some 900 freshmen on both campuses will get free copies of “Yuuyaraq:  The 
Way of the Human Being” by Yup’ik author Harold Napoleon. The book  explores 
the social devastation caused by Western-brought diseases that  wracked Natives —
 sometimes leaving entire villages abandoned — from the  late 18th to early 
20th centuries.  
The third book — “Growing up Native in Alaska” by historian A.J.  McClanahan 
— features interviews with more than two dozen Alaska Natives  about their 
search for self-identity.   
This year, UAA boosted funding for the book project fivefold, from  $10,000 
to $50,000, as part of its effort to create more Native graduates,  Dede said. 
The extra money will pay for the companion book’s publication  and support 
special events such as guest lecturers and cultural events.   
Only 10 percent of the university’s Native students get bachelor’s  degrees 
in six years or less, in part because they feel out of place,  according to a 
recent study. 
The new handbook, which treats topics such as subsistence, Native  
corporations and tribal governments, is titled after a common question  heard on campus: 
 
“Do Alaska Native people get free medical care?”  
The book’s reply is detailed, but the short answer on the cover is,  “No, 
they paid in advance.”  
The federal government foots the medical bills for Alaska Natives and  
American Indians as compensation for land it took. The payments are rooted  in 
historical land treaties.  
Phyllis Fast, a Koyukon Athabascan and UAA associate professor, said  
students often enter her introductory anthropology course confused about  Natives. 
They sometimes ask resentful questions about benefits Natives  receive.   
She doesn’t know if that’s why some Native students leave her class  before 
it’s done. 
“That quiet dropout is hard to assess. What’s more important is that we  
reduce the number of people who feel alienated and uncomfortable in a  class 
situation,” she said.  
Fast answered this question in the handbook: “Are there reservations in  
Alaska?”    
The answer: All but one – Metlakatla – were abolished in 1971 when the  
federal government passed the Alaska Native Land Claims Settlement Act.  The act 
created regional and local Native corporations that manage land  and resources 
to benefit Natives.   
Libby Roderick, associate director of the Center for Advancing Faculty  
Excellence, edited the book. Contributors include Heather Kendall-Miller,  an 
Anchorage attorney for the Native American Rights Fund, and Larry  Merculief, an 
Aleut and former commissioner of the Alaska Department of  Commerce and Economic 
Development.  
Roderick said Natives and their perspectives are “radically  underrepresented”
 in higher education, so it’s not surprising many,  especially from rural 
villages, don’t feel at home at UAA. 
“A lot of students feel like they’re in a foreign land,” she said.   
Many Natives come from a background that places relationships above  
productivity and may not be accustomed to the culture of deadlines, lonely  study 
halls and teachers with little patience.  
“I’ve been in the presence of too many Alaska Native friends who have  
really had to struggle to survive higher education settings,” she said.  “I’ve 
been with people weeping about how hard it is.” 
The book, which will be handed out free at UAA’s bookstore, will likely  be 
used by professors of numerous stripes — from business to science to  liberal 
arts — because it covers a wide array of topics, Roderick said.   
She hopes it will be reprinted and outlive this Book of the Year  project, 
since it can help everyone from tourists to K-12 educators to new  Alaska 
residents.  
“It can have an impact way beyond the borders of our campus,” she said.  

Alex DeMarban can be reached at (907) 348-2444 or (800)  770-9830, ext. 444. 

_http://thearcticsounder.com/news/show/2797_ 
(http://thearcticsounder.com/news/show/2797) 








**************Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? 
Read reviews on AOL Autos.      
(http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 )