Kansas School Sheds Taboos of a Century Ago : Indian College Integrates Indian Lore

When it was founded 100 years ago, Haskell Indian Junior College issued regulations forbidding its students from speaking their tribal tongues.

Times, like the Indians, have changed.

Today, Mark Haln, a Rosebud Sioux from an Indian reservation in Pine Ridge, S.D., is learning to speak Lakota, one of three Sioux dialects. A sophomore at Haskell, Haln speaks with innate pride when asked why he is studying Lakota.

“I want to learn it to bring my people all together,” he said. “If you bring your culture back and get everyone back together, you won’t have to rely on the government as much. You can do things on your own.”

Gerald Gipp, president of Haskell, has a new vision for the school as it celebrates its centennial. His goal: to redefine the curriculum so that Indians learn more about their heritage and culture. Gipp wants students who return to their tribes to have a firm grip on contemporary Indian issues.

“We’re trying to approach the whole notion of being an Indian college and not just educating Indians,” said Gipp, a Standing Rock Sioux who grew up on a reservation at Ft. Yates, N.D. “Our students really need to understand the issues they are going to encounter as tribal people.”

Haskell did not always embrace the notion of integrating Indian issues and culture into course offerings. Instead, it attempted to “Americanize” its students to prepare them for the white man’s job market, Gipp said.

“I think they wanted them to become non-Indians, white people, take on the values of the larger, dominant society at that point,” he said of early Haskell educators. “That doesn’t hold true today. That’s why we’re trying to relate back to heritage.”

Haskell is the only all-Indian junior college operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but there are about 18 federally financed community colleges on reservations and overseen by individual tribes.

“These are up and coming schools,” said Lincoln White, executive director of the National Advisory Council on Indian Education in Washington, D.C. “It ties right in with the Indians’ self-determination.”

Since Gipp’s arrival at Haskell in 1981, he has initiated a mandatory course on contemporary Indian issues. This year he has asked teachers to weave into all courses some aspect of Indian culture, past and present.

“It is an all-Indian college, and what we’re trying to do is make that a relevant issue,” he said.

To be admitted to Haskell, students must have one-quarter Indian blood. Tuition is free for the 775 students, representing more than 100 tribes. Navajos have the largest representation, with 200 students.

The school was established by an amendment to the Indian Appropriation Act of 1882, signed by President Chester Alan Arthur. Initially called the United States Industrial Training School, it had three buildings, 14 students and a focus on vocational training and agriculture.

Haskell’s evolution as a respected school for Indians took a step forward when it received junior college accreditation from the state in 1970 and full North Central Assn. junior college accreditation in 1979.

Students about to enter Haskell are required to take the American College Test. They currently rank eight points below the national test score average of students entering college.

“I think it probably is a reflection of the education they receive from the public schools,” Gipp said of the shortfall. “We have a pre-college program to bring those skills up.”

Not everyone is happy with the direction Haskell has taken. John Edwards, president of the school’s Oklahoma alumni association and a track runner in the 1950s, said school spirit has waned. It can be revived only by placing more emphasis on sports and the core curriculum of reading, writing and arithmetic, he said.

“I feel like it’s gone from good to worse,” Edwards, who holds a doctorate in education administration, said of his alma mater. “When I was there we had a love story going.”

Haskell’s athletic history is notable; among its students was Billy Mills, who in 1964 won the Olympic gold medal in the 10,000-meter run in Tokyo. Jim Thorpe attended Haskell, but only for about a week.

Although the school has its detractors, there are also staunch supporters, some of whom blame the BIA for Haskell’s problems.

Mary Mae Norton, chairman of Haskell’s Board of Regents and a member of the Wintun Tribe in Citrus Heights, Calif., criticizes the BIA for having little political muscle and being slow to replace open jobs at Haskell. And BIA appointments are not always the best, she said.

Haskell has struggled financially since 1978, the year it had its highest level of federal funding. Under the Jimmy Carter and Reagan Administrations, the school’s budget was axed by about $1 million, with more cuts expected.