Mayo Summit – Listen to These People

Galena, Alaska was at 39 below zero four days before Christmas in 1997.  At 40 below, the airport closes. Air travel is the most reasonable way to get into Galena in winter.  The other ways are by snow machine or dog sled.  A hand full of tribal leaders from the Yukon River basin were gathering on that day because they had become acutely concerned for the health of the river.  Toxic dump… Read More

Native – nonNative Partnerships: One Step in Making it Real

Yay!  A publication. Lots of you know that I write pretty regularly for scholarly outlets.  I don’t mention that stuff often here, but word just came in from the Teachers College Register (TCR) of Columbia University that a very cool commentary just went live on the TCR webpage for this week.  It’s title — PARTNERSHIP WITH NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITIES:  CAN HIGHER EDUCATION SHOW UP?  It’s only free for a week, then TCR charges for… Read More

Plane Delays and Collaboration across Cultures

It is Sunday afternoon.  I’m sitting in the Alumni Center of Austin College in Sherman, TX.  I’m here for a few days to support a conversation and the development of a relationship between this small independent liberal arts school and Native American Tribes and communities.  My job is to keep the listening and speaking going – and to join in the identification of steps to be taken toward building friendship and collaboration… Read More

Libya, the Chinook Nation and Who We are as Americans

Captions beneath three undated photos provided to the Chinook Observer by Ambassador Chris Stevens’ mother read: Chris Stevens. Stevens was among four Americans who died Tuesday night, Sept. 11, 2012 in Benghazi after they were attacked by gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades. Stevens’ death deprives the United States of someone widely regarded as one of the most effective American envoys to the Arab world. Chris Stevens, the ambassador to Libya who was killed in… Read More

Grandmothers on Fathers’ Day

Two American Indian men stand together.  The Elder is Wyandotte and Choctaw of the Mississippi Valley; the younger is Walla Walla of the Columbia River.  They are of two generations and they are friends.  The men chat with one another during a break in a graduate class of mostly non-Indian students.  The students are preparing to be teachers and counselors and taking this course on contemporary Native American life. The older man… Read More

Sustainability and Joy

3-10-2009 11th & E, NW Washington, DC A small pastel bouquet of balloons – green, pink, yellow, white – just floated toward the sky between the Hotel Harrington and the ESPN Building. I can’t tell where they came from, and now can no longer see where they’ve gone. Pastel balloons don’t really fit here. Compared with the communities I’ve visited across the South, more people here are wearing black and walking quickly…. Read More