'I want our students to have opportunities their parents didn’t have'
Female education leaders discuss support, place for Indigenous students
The 'Women Leading the Way: Discussing Indigenous Education' panelists (clockwise from top left): Christina Sharp, Michelle Simms, Eva Menefee and Dr. Susan L. Cross are some of the state's thought leaders on finding a place for Native collegians and supporting indigenous students at school. (CM Life photo collage with contributed photos)
Four women who have lead the way in the field of education for over 20 spoke March 30 about finding a place in college for Native students, their roles throughout their careers and how to support Indigenous students at schools.
Around 25 students, faculty and community members attended the Women Leading the Way: Discussing Indigenous Education panel at the Park Library's Sarah and Daniel Opperman Auditorium.
Introducing the panelists
Michelle Simms is a member of Grand Traverse Bay and Ottawa Chippewa Indians. She is a PK-12 Education Specialist at the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi. After teaching 20 years in schools in Michigan, Indiana, Florida and North Carolina, Simms transitioned to the tribal education at Potawatomi.
“Some of the things that are hard in my job is when I work with students and I help them with all of their educational needs,” Simms said.
Simms said she helps students and their parents through supporting them, finding resources for them and showing them how to navigate in the educational field.
Eva Menefee is from Oneida tribe. She is a a lead faculty advisor at Lansing Community College (LCC). Menefee worked in education for around 40 years at Michigan State Univeristy and LCC.
She said the most important thing for her is to have Native American children as students and for them to be able to go to college and pursue what they like.
“I want our students to have opportunities that their parents didn’t have,” Menefee said. “I want them to be able to dream the dream and live the dream.”
Christina Sharp is a member of Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe where she is also an education director. Sharp has been in the field for 15 years.
Sharp said one of the great parts of her job is working with partners on creating opportunities and initiatives for indigenous youth.
“It’s great to … see what each tribe is doing for their tribal members in their own communities with education in working collaboratively … to improve educational services," Sharp said.
Suzanne Cross is a citizen of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian tribe. She is an associate professor emeritus in Michigan State University. Throughout her career, Cross taught at Michigan State University, Central Michigan University, Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College and Arizona State University. She retired in 2013. Now Cross continues to work as a consultant for Child Welfare Research grants at MSU.
Cross remembered when her son was packing up his suitcase with traditional clothing. She said she told her son other children might tease him, but he said he wanted to educate his classmates.
“When it comes to Native people, you’re the one that has to share,” Cross said.
Cross said very often she or a Native American student in class is the only educator, which sometimes can feel “isolating” and “frustrating.”
Finding one’s place
Menefee was a first-generation college student. She said she originally didn’t like college because the campus felt small for an urban girl and she was far from home. But her dad insisted Menefee go to school and when she got involved on campus, she found her place.
“It was about finding my place,” Menefee said. “Because of this experience all the work that I’ve done with college students all these years, I’ve always tried to help them find their place.”
Cross said first the only person from her family who went to college was her sister, who she said was the most Caucasian looking.
“I thought that’s what you have to look like to go to college,” Cross said.
But then her brother went to LLC, which inspired her to pursue education. Cross went there, too, and later transferred to MSU.
Simms said she found where she belonged when she started working for the Tribe. That's when she learned about the boarding schools and her ancestors.
“We have that trauma in us,” Simms said. “It has been a blessing to me to really get to know who I am.”
Simms said she wants other people to know who they are, too, and grow together to feel comfortable in sharing cultures.
“We are all learning together,” Simms said.
For example, during the panel Simms has already introduced herself in her native language. She also wore a ribbon skirt that she made herself.
Menefee pointed to the importance of representation of Native American students at colleges.
“The thing that drives me the most crazy is when I see institutions not really caring about Indigenous students, because they think that we are statistically insignificant,” Menefee said.
When Menefee was checking the data from colleges, she would find check boxes for white, Black, Hispanic, Asian people and the box “other.”
“I am tired of being 'other,'” Menefee said. “I am not other … You’re living on my land that you stole away from me and you’re not counting me.”
Meanwhile at schools, Sharp said, if there are less than 10 representatives of a group, they are not included in a data collection.
Moreover, the Tribe cannot collect data from the state about how the students are doing, because it includes a general population of Native American’s rather than split up by tribes.
“I could not contact the State of Michigan and ask … how our tribal members (are) doing in school K through 12, they would not be able to provide me with any type of data specifically for my students,” Sharp said.
First-year student and North American Indigenous Student Organization member Reagan Recollet was a panel moderator.
“There is a severe lack of Native representation on campus, simply because there is a lack of Native students on campus,” Recollet said.
Future of Indigenous education
Sharp advocated for a sovereignty of Indigenous education. For example, her Tribe has an elementary school fully funded by the Tribe that still practices state standards, but the Tribe has control over what they teach to their students.
“Once our children leave our elementary school, we still have to prepare them to navigate (school) systems,” Sharp said. “But also, we get to infuse our culture and language in every aspect of our school, including curriculum.”
Sharp added that she would like to see Native students feel seen in the curriculum in general.
Simms said that students should be taught history, and even children should be told the truth at their level. She said for Native students to hear their history in class would feel empowering.
“I definitely would like to see … students to feel empowered and to feel proud of who they are … to be able to hold on their ancestry,” she said.
Simms also brought up the topic of Indian mascots in schools. She said there are Native students at classes and usage of Indian mascots might affect them negatively.
“Really think about the people, not just about ourselves,” she advised.
Sometimes Native students don’t know how it is to grow up Native and learn the traditions and history only at schools Menefee said. She said she has a “dream of seeing Native students in more places … understanding their Native Heritage.”
Amy Ford is an English faculty member and Wiline Pangle is a faculty member in the department of Biology.
Ford said she was interested to hear what the panelists had to say regarding their experiences and perspectives.
Pangle said hearing their stories was “very powerful.”
“I think it was wonderful,” Pangle said. “I think we all need to learn more.”
As faculty members, they both said they want to better support Native students. Ford said sometimes students might have other priorities at a particular moment of their life, and a professor should be flexible and responsive.
“It’s really important for faculty to recognize that our Indigenous students often have close ties within their own families and tribal communities,” Ford said.
Recruiting Native students and making sure that they want to come here is another important thing, Menefee said.
For example, Sharp said universities like CMU could partner with the Tribes, consult with them and have “meaningful” discussions.
Recollet said allies are important for Native people. Allies are those people who educate themselves first.
“Let’s develop that relationship,” Sharp said. “Let’s keep it moving together in a good way.”
