Indian Youths Sample Academic Big Time of Engineering, Science : Education: Program collects 30 high school students from reservations throughout U.S. and exposes them to fields that could benefit tribal life.

A group of Indian teen-agers got their first whiff of the academic big time this week.

“It’s a lot bigger than I expected,” said Becky Flynn, 16, a Cheyenne Indian from Watanga, Okla., midway through a guided tour of the campus at Cal State Long Beach.

When asked what surprised her the most about California, Corrine Maillelle, 15, a member of the Athabascan tribe of Alaska on her first trip outside that state, did not think too long. “Palm trees, stars in the summer and crickets,” she replied, listing things which she said are never seen in the small village from which she comes.

Flynn and Maillelle are among 30 American Indian high school students, from reservations throughout the United States, spending four weeks on campus this summer in an unusual program. Its immediate purpose, according to director Lee Francis, is to steer them toward careers in engineering and science, fields he says are woefully under-represented in tribal life. But more than that, he said, the experience will broaden their horizons.

“Many students prefer their home environments,” said Francis, himself a Laguna Pueblo/Teton Sioux and director of the university’s Indian Studies program. “(This will give them) access to a major university.”

Paid for with a $45,000 grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation of New York and funds from the university, the program is sponsored by the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, a professional organization based in Colorado, which chose Cal State Long Beach from among dozens of campuses nationwide for the project.

Although the grant pays for instruction, dormitory rooms and food, the students were responsible for their air fare to Long Beach. Chosen on the basis of academic performance and interest in science or engineering, they will receive five hours of instruction a day in computer science, engineering, algebra and calculus. In addition, Francis said, the students will go on field trips to area museums and amusement parks and will hear lectures from Indians who have succeeded in science or engineering-related fields.

Project organizers hope that some of the students will pursue higher education and careers in those fields. Ultimately, they say, they would like as many as possible to return to their reservations and make contributions in such areas as building construction, water reclamation and land management.

“We don’t see a lot of role models,” Francis said. “What we want to do here is translate all of this into a tribal context.”

As part of doing that, he said, the summer courses will emphasize such Indian contributions to engineering as the cliff dwellings of New Mexico and Arizona, precursors of modern-day condominiums; the early dome structures now favored by some environmentally conscious developers, and early irrigation systems that heavily influenced those built later.

“The Indian emphasis is respect and understanding for the earth, our mother,” Francis said. “(The question is how to) build on that tradition.”

Not all of the students intend to use their educations exclusively for the benefit of their tribes or reservations, however.

Garek Murphy, a Sioux from Fort Yates, N.D., said he hopes to become a teacher somewhere other than on his reservation. “The kids on the reservation have a bad attitude,” said Murphy, 16. “I wouldn’t want to teach there.”

And Delford Johnson, 16, a Navajo from Chinle, Ariz., said he too will probably leave the reservation on which he was raised to find better opportunities.

But some of the youngsters say they are committed to staying.

James Couture, a Chippewa from Duluth, Minn., said he would like to become an electrical engineer, then return home to put his skills to good use. “Around my reservation not too many Indians graduate with degrees,” Couture, 16, said. “They mostly take jobs to support families.”

And Maillelle, the Athabascan from Alaska, said she intends to become a nurse, then return to her home village to serve as an example to others of what is possible.

“The place I live is remote, and they don’t know a lot about the outside world,” Maillelle said. “It would help them to know that I got out.”