The following story was written and reported by Kate Saltzstein. All content © Native Sun News.

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO –– Tribal colleges must prepare students for the new job market while maintaining the tribes’ cultures and values.

This was the conclusion of several speakers at the 67th Annual Convention of the National Congress of American Indians who looked at the role of tribal colleges to train students to work in health care, the environment (green jobs), computer science, business and education while integrating tribal culture and values into the curriculum.

Navajo Community College (NCC), the first tribal college, was founded in 1968. Its success demonstrates that tribes “can successfully take ownership of their own education,” said Verna Fowler, president of the College of Menominee Nation.

Now there are eight campuses of NCC, and there are 36 tribal colleges throughout the country with 78 campuses. And, the 10 largest Indian reservations all have colleges, she noted.

“This shows that it works and it works well,” said Fowler, but, she added, there’s a lack of funding because “we don’t market ourselves.”

“In order to succeed, a tribal college needs to be locally based. The whole person needs to be addressed, along with the family and the community,” Fowler said. “Tribal colleges succeed if their studies are relevant to a particular reservation and focused on the culture of the tribe.”

“In the Dakotas, range management and bison production” are offered along with Native language, Native studies, education, social work, computer technology, liberal arts and other studies, for example, she said.

In Wisconsin, the Menominee offer forestry courses, in Alaska tribal colleges include degrees in marine life management. Education should be relevant to the tribes’ needs. For example, land management programs are important in rural areas.

“Tribes must maintain their sovereignty through excellence in education,” Fowler said

Surveys have shown that 80 percent of Native American students want to return home and work for their tribe, Fowler said. Tribal colleges do best when the look at what’s needed on the reservations they serve. For example, students should learn how to build houses, run head start and daycare programs, construct green buildings and work in the medical field.

In another study, 80 percent of the students in Alaskan communities were Native American but only 3 percent of the teachers were Native American so “tribes developed teacher education from a Native perspective, one that is culture based.”

“Tribal colleges deserve adequate funding. Only education can get us out of poverty,” she continued.

And, there’s a need for more scholarships through the American Indian College Fund, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which helps pay tuition for Native American students.

Medical Technology is another important field with future jobs according to Tom Kauley, a Kiowa of Oklahoma and director of the Regional Extension Center National Indian Health Board.

“In the future every hospital, every provider will use electronic health records. We want to ensure that high tech support is available to health care providers” trained by tribal colleges, said Kauley who noted that soon all health records will be computerized and available to health care professionals.

“We need Indian people filling those jobs to build on our work force,” he continued. This includes medical records technicians, site managers, and health information technology specialists There will be a shortage of health information management and health information technicians by 2015. The job prospects are very good for technicians with strong computer skills.”

“Tribal colleges have to take the door of opportunity and maximize it,” he said. “Through high tech centers, jobs and the workforce we can take better care of ourselves and our communities.”

Lorenda Sanchez, Executive Director of the California Indian Manpower Consortium, described ways the organization is building skills for Native Americans who own a business or start one in the future.

The organization, based in Sacramento, offers courses on everything from writing business plans and making presentations to securing funds and developing analytical skills.

Native American professionals and graduates of the program have inspired 12,000 to 18,000 graduates to work in Native American and Alaskan communities.

Through the help of a US Department of Labor grant the Consortium offering courses to prepare workers for green jobs “culturally relevant curriculum.” These include work with alternative fuels, manufacturing construction materials, and clothing at colleges at ten locations in California universities and technological schools.

Sanchez emphasized that Native American students need to begin when they are very young to learn about college, jobs and the economy.

“We need to prepare mid and high school students for higher education early,” she noted.

Greg Masten, education director of the Hoopa Valley Tribe of Northern California, agreed.

“Too often when discussing the sustainability of tribes, education is on the back burner. It should be a spearhead,” Masten said. “The educational focus should be on preparing the next generation to go out and get jobs. When planning for the future of the tribe, don’t forget education. It’s part of the definition of sovereign.”

“In the education process, we should recruit for college as soon as possible. In pre-school we should be telling kids about the importance of college,” Masten said.

Studies have shown that this approach dramatically improves college enrollment.

Not enough has been done to follow the progress of Native American students, according Masten. Good data is needed.

“It’s important to go out, knock on doors, look at dropout rates compared to other kids and track the kids to know how they’re doing,” Mastensaid.

Also, there should be a job market data base because kids go out, get a degree, come back to the reservation and there are no jobs. There should be pathways to link these two together: the kids’ ideas for their future and the needs back home, Masten added.

(Contact Kate Saltzstein at: salty223@aol.com)