OPINION: We should do more to support Indigenous students in public education 

The University of Idaho is currently located on the ancestral lands of three Native American tribes: the Coeur d’Alene, Nez Perce and Palus (Palouse). We acknowledge these tribes who were removed unjustly from their lands.  

To gain a better understanding of UI’s resources and support for Indigenous students, The Argonaut conducted an interview with Philip Stevens, an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Director for American Indian Studies, who is also a member of the San Carlos Apache tribe.  

As someone who grew up in an Indigenous community and had attained higher education through multiple universities across the United States, Dr. Stevens offered a detailed perspective on UI’s efforts to accommodate Indigenous students.  

When asked what he thought about UI and its resources for Native American students, Dr. Stevens stated, “It has been really strong. With my experiences with other universities, there was less recruitment through Native American Student Centers.”  

He then went on to speak about the Native American Student Center and how, though it is active with student involvement, it is mostly dependent upon the volunteer time of staff and faculty. He also brought up Vandal Nation, a student drumming group that traveled around the Northwest to various Powwows, Native American cultural celebrations.  

The group often helped the university recruit Indigenous students by showing off one of UI’s many clubs and organizations. To his knowledge, students participating in Vandal Nation pay for the traveling expenses out of their own pockets.  

Furthermore, Dr. Stevens discussed what he thought could be done better at UI to serve Indigenous students. His thoughts went far deeper than just student resources and clubs, instead focusing on the higher education system in its entirety.  

When asked what he thought would help the static Western education system evolve, he said, “Calling attention to the way things are taught and written. Any differentiation of the status quo is seen as a threat. American education is normalized as ‘white education,’ and many people are afraid to see this change.”    

When it comes to UI’s student resources for Indigenous students, we can see many useful contemporary organizations that have helped to accommodate its Indigenous students. Nevertheless, if we are going to truly support Native American students and their cultures, we must be able to recognize not just Westernized or white-washed ways of knowledge and teaching, but also be open to Indigenous approaches to education. This includes a more holistic way of educating, where students develop all aspects of themselves rather than just their intelligence as we traditionally understand it.  

Similarly, students and faculty at UI should not view Native students just as a minority group, but as students coming from their own sovereign nations. The university should be aware of and withstand laws that harm Native students. From Pell grants to other scholarship resources, Indigenous students should be offered full compensation and respect for their cultural status.