MSU News: Native student being honored for community involvement at upcoming powwow

Friday, March 29, 2019  

montana.edu/news

Trisheena Kills Pretty Enemy still remembers the ambulances parked in front of her house, the long trips to Denver for treatment and the doctor's announcement on Christmas Eve.

"There's nothing more we can do for him," the doctor said about Kills Pretty Enemy's father, who had diabetes, heart attacks and then an infection he couldn't overcome. Losing her father her first semester at Montana State University was the hardest thing she has ever experienced, Kills Pretty Enemy said 4 1/2 years later.

Her father strongly encouraged education, and his death strengthened Kills Pretty Enemy's resolve to stay in school and earn her bachelor's degree in microbiology. A Crow and Hunkpapa Lakota Indian, she grew up on the Crow Indian Reservation. Her parents, Dale and Jolene Kills Pretty Enemy, met while attending Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas, but her father always wished he had gone further.

When he overheard her telling one of his nurses about MSU and her plans, "The pride and happiness on his face lit up the whole room," Kills Pretty Enemy said. "I'm doing what I'm supposed to do."

Now an MSU senior and a 29-year-old single mother of two sons, Kills Pretty Enemy will graduate in May. She will leave her graduation tassel at her father's grave in Pryor.

Planning next to pursue a master's degree or doctorate, she wants to become a medical doctor or researcher who can help others with some of the same health problems her father had, Kills Pretty Enemy said. She also dreams of returning to MSU as a microbiology professor as encouraging to her students as her mentors were to her.

"Trisheena is a strong, resilient indigenous woman who takes pride in her education and tribal way of life," said one of those mentors, Lisa Perry, MSU director of American Indian/Alaska Native Student Success in the Department of Native American Studies. "She has a bright future ahead of her both academically and professionally. Her goal is to provide a solid foundation for her children, and she continues to work hard daily to provide that."

Seth Walk, associate professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, supervised Kills Pretty Enemy in his laboratory. She came to MSU through the Bridges to the Baccalaureate Program and became interested in the work Walk was doing with human Clostridioides difficile infection, also known as C. diff.

"While her background was not in microbiology per se, she was quick to learn the techniques we use to study microbes and developed a great understanding of the problem that C. diff creates in hospitals all over the country," Walk said. "The qualities that make Trisheena stand out are her rich perspective on life and motivation to help others, which no doubt reflects her upbringing and cultural heritage."

Kills Pretty Enemy said the first of many MSU mentors came into her life shortly after her father's funeral. Because they believed in her, she applied to and was selected for a Native American Research Internship in Salt Lake City, as well as a research internship last summer at Harvard University.

Along the way, she was selected for the McNair Scholarship Program. She became vice president for MSU's chapter of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society and was featured on the cover of the group’s national magazine. She coordinates the Peer Mentoring Program in the College of Engineering's Empower Program. She recently spoke at MSU's Museum of the Rockies about her life and the Native experience at MSU.

"You never know who you are going to reach," Kills Pretty Enemy said. "It's difficult, though. The best you can do is tell students of the resources and the help they can get."

For those and other activities, Kills Pretty Enemy will receive the Daniel Voyich Award for Indigenous Community Involvement during the 44th annual American Indian Council Powwow to be held Friday and Saturday, March 29-30, at MSU's Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.

Kills Pretty Enemy will also dance at the powwow. She performed for the first time around age 5 at the Crow Fair after her aunt made her a jingle dress. Growing up, she saw women in their elk tooth dresses and was impressed by how proud and beautiful they looked. Two years ago, she was Head Woman Dancer at the American Indian Council's powwow at MSU, dancing in traditional Crow style.

"We dance for the people who can no longer dance," Kills Pretty Enemy said. "I think about all the great women in my family, the great men who passed on."

Dancing, like her life at MSU, demonstrates the importance of community, Kills Pretty Enemy said. When she was Head Woman Dancer, several family members came from Pryor to dance with her. After losing a family member every semester after her father died, she felt the support of both her MSU and tribal communities. Individuals and organizations have helped her adjust to the culture shock she felt when she transferred to MSU from Little Big Horn College in Crow Agency.

She earned her associates degree in biology at the tribal college, where most of her classmates were Native Americans, Kills Pretty Enemy said. When she started at MSU, one of her classes had 800 students, and most of them were white.

"Am I worthy to do this?" Kills Pretty Enemy asked herself. "Can I do this? Am I good enough to do this thing?"

Kills Pretty Enemy predicts that the new American Indian Hall to be built on the east side of campus will do much to support community for MSU's Native American students. A ceremony to bless the grounds will be held at 3 p.m. March 29.

"When I think about that community, it's so essential for Native Americans to thrive here at MSU," Kills Pretty Enemy said. "This building is really important and a special thing."

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