The United Tribes Technical College, 66 tribes and the state of North Dakota are owed an explanation for the Bush administration's "shabby treatment" of the tribal college, The Bismarck Tribune says in an editorial.

The paper criticizes the repeated cuts to the school's $3 million budget. "This, despite a visit to the campus in 2002 by Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton in which she expressed support for the college and the 'hope' that funding would be resumed on a regular basis the following year," the paper says.

The paper takes Bureau of Indian Affairs "functionary" Aurene Martin to task for her "disingenuous" letter that she wrote in defense of the slash. "BIA-DOI should find that person with the attitude, purge or re-program him or her, and restore UTTC to the budget once and for all," the paper says.

In a followup to Martin's letter, UTTC President David K. Gipp criticized the "Washington thinking" she displayed. "The apparent shell game she describes has real consequences here and throughout Indian Country," he wrote.

Last week, members of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee tried to figure out why the Bush administration keeps leaving UTTC behind. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.), chairman of the committee, said he is considering rewriting a federal law to ensure no cuts are made in the future.

Get the Story:
Editorial: Shabby treatment of UTTC (The Bismarck Tribune 2/18)
Aurene Martin: Bush budget doesn't short UTTC (The Bismarck Tribune 2/11)
David Gipp: 'Washington thinking' hurts UTTC (The Bismarck Tribune 2/15)

Relevant Links:
United Tribes Technical College - http://www.unitedtribestech.com

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Bush budget cuts funds at tribal college (02/04)
Norton pressed on Indian funds (6/14)
Norton promises to visit tribal college (06/14)
Doing more with less at the BIA (3/26)
BIA cuts to schools questioned (3/15)