Montana Indian Technology and Cultural Heritage

(TeCH) Learning Center

Evaluation Report

Evaluation conducted by Laura Ferguson, Center for Native American Studies, Montana State University

For the U.S. Department of Commerce National Telecommunication and Information Administration

Technology Opportunities Program (TOP)

April 2005

TABLE OF CONTENTS EVALUATION SUMMARY ………………………………………….. 1 PROJECT DESCRIPTION ………………………………………….. 3 PROGRAM GOALS AND OBJECTIVES ………………………………….. 4 EVALUATION METHODS ………………………………………….. 5 FINDINGS AND OUTCOMES ………………………………………….. 7 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ………………………….. 31

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EVALUATION SUMMARY

The Montana Indian Technology and Cultural Heritage (TeCH) Learning Centers Program has brought information technology and training to four reservations: Northern Cheyenne, Fort Belknap, Rocky Boy and Crow. Primary TeCH Learning Centers have been established at Chief Dull Knife College, Fort Belknap College, Stone Child College and Pretty Eagle School, respectively. In addition, smaller TeCH Centers are in place at tribal Senior Centers and Cultural Centers. Each of the primary sites is staffed with a site-coordinator chosen by the partners, and site-coordinators received hands-on technology training at the Burns Telecommunication Center of Montana State University, Bozeman. Additional training in the form of on-site assistance from BTC staff, online technology courses and collaborative learning between site-coordinators has enhanced their technological skills and expertise. Nearly all anticipated outcomes have been achieved. Participants at each TeCH Center have made significant accomplishments in the areas of cultural, historical and linguistic preservation, establishing digital archives, collecting TeCH Learning Centers have supported numerous preservation, technology education, and cultural education endeavors, often in collaboration with other tribal programs and offices. Local schools, language immersion programs, language instructor certification programs and tribal colleges are beneficiaries of educational modules. Site-coordinators are working with educators and elders to improve their technological skills. Elders are active participants as technology users, and they provide guidance and cultural knowledge. Every TeCH Center has enabled projects that contribute to the support of tribal communities. Other communities interested in implementing similar technology programs can benefit from the experiences and expertise of these TeCH Program partners. Two objectives of the program have not fully been met. Youth involvement has been hampered by logistical difficulties that limited the frequency and consistency of their participation. While the TeCH Centers and individual projects have created numerous research and internship opportunities, few individuals have taken advantage of such opportunities. Tribal colleges could encourage students to participate in research and preservation efforts at the TeCH Centers.

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Each site has responded successfully to challenges in implementing the program. Initial challenges were publicizing the TeCH Centers in communities with little or no media and attracting potential participants from populations had little experience with the capabilities of the technology or its applicability to cultural and community preservation. Other challenges included: ethical issues regarding sensitive materials, reaching housebound elders, prioritizing projects and balancing community needs with limited staff.

Two challenges persist, both relating to funding. The research and acquisition of archival materials, recordings and photographic collections from universities, museums and similar institutions is expensive beyond what the program can support. Site-coordinators need support staff and long-term funding, and it has been suggested by several participants that permanent, fulltime funding for site-coordinators would benefit the communities greatly by adding stability, continuity and institutional memory to the program and by allowing the development greater trust and repoire between the TeCH centers and other tribal entities. The Montana Indian Technology and Cultural Heritage (TeCH) Learning Centers Program continues to strengthen tribal efforts to preserve and sustain cultural, historical, and linguistic resources. Completed projects serve as models for future endeavors and for other communities. On-going projects, such as language education, technology training, and the development of culturally based curricula, empower the participating tribes to achieve community and cultural sustainability.

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PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Montana Indian Technology and Cultural Heritage (TeCH) Learning Centers are a project of the Burns Telecommunication Center at Montana State University. The purpose of this project is to expand the availability and usage of network and information technology to Native American reservation populations by assisting tribal communities with the integration of these technologies in culturally meaningful and community supportive ways. Building on previous experience establishing technological infrastructure at tribal colleges and reservation schools, the Burns Telecommunication Center has collaborated with Montana tribes to create TeCH Learning Centers at the Northern Cheyenne, Fort Belknap, Rocky Boy, and Crow Reservations.

The TeCH Learning Centers provide reservation communities with the equipment, training, technical support and opportunities to utilize information technology for the preservation and maintenance of cultural, historical and linguistic resources. Primary TeCH Centers are located at Dull Knife Memorial College, Fort Belknap College, Stone Child College and Pretty Eagle School. Additional technology sites at tribal Senior Centers enable elders to partake in the program. Recently constructed Cultural Centers provide access for community members as well as space for digital archives and the display of cultural resources.

Each site is staffed by a site-coordinator who received hands-on training and technical support from the Burns Telecommunication Center staff, program director, and lead site-coordinator. Site-coordinators serve as trainers for community members, and TeCH Centers provide technology support to a wide array of community, college and tribal programs. In addition, collaboration between the TeCH Centers and other tribal programs has resulted in the development of culturally relevant educational materials that are now being used in local schools, in language programs, and for individual cultural and linguistic instruction.

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PROGRAM GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The goals and objectives of the Montana Indian Technology and Cultural Heritage (TeCH) Program included immediate and long-term benefits for the participating tribal communities. The overall goals of the program were as follows:

To provide network and information technology equipment, training, and support to tribal communities;

To assist these communities with the integration of such technologies

within a cultural context;

To provide technological opportunities for the preservation and maintenance of cultural, historic and linguistic resources;

To enhance the ability for tribes to develop educational modules with

tribally specific cultural, historical and linguistic content. Specific anticipated outcomes of the TeCH program were:

The development of greater understanding of the uses and benefits of

information technologies;

The application of information technology to support and preserve Native cultural, historical and linguistic resources and communities;

Technology education for multiple generations;

Intergenerational learning and collaboration, with youth demonstrating

leadership skills;

The improvement of faculty skills;

The creation of opportunities for student internships and research;

Improved technology use in classrooms through the development and utilization of educational resources pertaining to tribal cultures, histories and languages;

Participating communities to serve as models for other reservation

communities desiring to institute similar programs.

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EVALUATION METHODS This qualitative evaluation was conducted between June 2002 and December 2004. During the evaluation period the evaluator made multiple visits to the sites at various stages in the implementation of the grant, corresponded frequently with TeCH site-coordinators, the program director and the lead site-coordinator, and attended three conferences at which program participants presented. The evaluation process had three main components: on-site observations, interviews and follow-up correspondence. Additional information was gathered from site logs and user sign-up sheets. The evaluation is based on data gathered from the Northern Cheyenne, Fort Belknap and Rocky Boy sites; at the time of the evaluation the TeCH Center at Pretty Eagle School on the Crow Reservation was still being installed. On-site visits provided the evaluator with opportunities to observe the technology being utilized by site-coordinators and project participants. Observations afforded the evaluator a chance to view completed projects and to ask questions regarding the application of the technology. Site-coordinators and other participants could demonstrate their knowledge of the technology, explain their learning processes, and show how completed projects could be used to achieve the objectives of the program. In addition, the evaluator accompanied TeCH site-coordinators to training sessions at the Burns Telecommunication Center at Montana State University to observe their technology training.

Participants were eager to explain how their technology education and awareness had increased, what they had learned, and how they had applied that knowledge. For instance, the site-coordinator at Fort Belknap demonstrated his expertise at digital restoration of historical photographs, which could then be displayed at the tribal Cultural Center. An elder at Rocky Boy explained how he had learned to create master documents and forms that he used to assist tribal veterans in getting their benefits. At a conference at Montana State University a Northern Cheyenne woman presented a Cheyenne language lesson that incorporated original animation, storytelling in Cheyenne, and Cheyenne language captions.

Interviews were conducted at site visits, over the telephone, and by email. Follow-up correspondence was primarily by email or at later visits to the sites. The evaluator developed interview questions for each of the following participants:

TOP grant program director; Lead site-coordinator; Multicultural education specialist and advisor; TeCH Center site-coordinators; Cultural Center staff; Senior Center site-coordinators; Tribal college administrators, faculty and staff; Additional project participants: community members, elders, youth, and

tribal college students.

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Several interviews were conducted at the initial implementation of the grant to assess the level of technology awareness among the TeCH Center site-coordinators, Senior Center site-coordinators and additional participants. These interviews included discussion of the uses to which participants hoped to put the technology and their individual assessments of how it could be utilized to achieve the grant objectives. Following the initial interviews the evaluator conducted follow-up interviews and made additional site visits to obtain information regarding the utilization of the technology, the level of community participation, expanded technology training for TeCH site-coordinators, and advanced application of the technology. Another intention of follow-up interviews and visits was to discuss with site-coordinators any challenges or difficulties they experienced in utilizing the technology, teaching others to use it, or getting people involved as active participants.

Observations, site visits, interviews and follow-up correspondence provided answers to the following questions:

Who is using the technology? What technological skills are participants developing? How are participants utilizing the technology? How do the products of their efforts benefit tribal communities? What are the challenges in implementing the program? Are program goals and objectives being met?

The findings, outcomes and recommendations in this evaluation are intended to provide other communities interested in implementing similar technology programs with useful information for developing such projects.

Site-coordinator Arlene Small demonstrates to BTC Director Kim Obbink, TeCH Program Director Terry Driscoll, Louise Stump,Cultural Advisor, Giorgianna Roasting Stick, Elder Cultural Advisor at the Rocky Boy TeCH Learning Center.

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FINDINGS AND OUTCOMES

This section is divided in to three portions, corresponding to the formative and summative aspects of the evaluation. The first portion addresses the initial set-up of each TeCH site, the process of choosing site-coordinators and the training of site-coordinators. Next, summative findings are organized according to each of the articulated goals and objectives of the project as well as additional outcomes not specified in the program goals. Last, this section includes a discussion of some of the main challenges each site faced in implementing the program and offers descriptions of how site-coordinators responded to these challenges.

Initial implementation Determining TeCH sites and setting up sites The program director met with the site partners to discuss the implementation of the TOP grant. Together they determined three different technology site locations at each reservation, taking into account such practical needs as security, adequate space, and accessibility for community members. On three of the four reservations, the primary TeCH Learning Centers were located at tribal colleges; the fourth was located at a school. Senior Centers on the reservations housed smaller TeCH sites easily accessible to senior citizens. One of these Senior Center sites was later relocated across the street in a building which houses the offices of commodity distribution and tribal veterans’ affairs, as this location provided a better atmosphere for teaching and using the technology but was still easily accessible by seniors. Tribal Cultural Centers provided space for digital archives as well as public display of cultural materials. The program director installed the equipment at each of the primary TeCH Learning Centers first, so that the technology could be introduced to the community. Following this process, the program director and site–coordinators set up the technology centers at the senior citizen facilities and the cultural centers.

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Determining the site-coordinators Partners specified particular criteria necessary for choosing site-coordinators. For the primary TeCH learning Centers, these criteria included: residency in the community that would be served; involvement and interest in preservation of historical, cultural and linguistic tribal resources; knowledge of tribal culture and history; patience and the ability to work with people from different generations; commitment to developing his or her own technology skills and dedication to teaching others these skills. Site-coordinators have demonstrated their excellence in each of the areas above, receiving sincere praise from other participants and the admiration of their communities. Furthermore, each one has approached ethical issues, such as the need for maintaining the privacy of certain cultural materials, with sensitivity and respect.

Site-coordinator Sean Chandler works with elder Merle Skinner at the Hays Senior Center, Fort Belknap.

Arlene Small, site-coordinator at Stone Child College, Rocky Boy Reservation.

Heather Ryan, site-coordinator at the TeCH Learning Center at Chief Dull Knife Memorial College, demonstrates the technology at the kiosk in their new Cultural Center in Lame Deer, Northern Cheyenne Reservation.

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Training the site-coordinators The level of technology education varied among the site-coordinators. While all had basic computer skills, most needed training for advanced skills and application of software. Each TeCH Learning Center site-coordinator attended a week-long initial training at the Burns Telecommunication Center. This hands-on training included learning to use equipment such as digital cameras, digital movie cameras, scanners, and the computers. During this training session, site-coordinators also learned how to use software necessary for achieving the goals of each site. For instance, each site-coordinator brought materials they wanted to work on at the training session, such as cultural objects that they wanted to make QTVR images of or photographs for digitization and editing. Subsequent training was available through subscriptions to Element K, an online, self-paced instruction series that offers courses on basic and advanced software applications. Additionally, the program director and lead site-coordinator made numerous visits to each site to provide more hand-on training for specific projects. Finally, site-coordinators had opportunities to meet with one another and to share what they had learned, see how others had utilized the technology, and exchange ideas. For example, the site-coordinator for the TeCH Learning Center at Rocky Boy taught a class on using Authorware and Flash software; other site-coordinators attended and were able to observe the language preservation projects being created with this software and applied it to their own projects.

Since their training, site-coordinators have successfully taught other participants in their communities. They have offered presentations at schools, tribal Senior Centers, special gatherings and regional conferences to demonstrate the benefits of information technology for cultural resource preservation, indigenous language maintenance, and education. Sean Chandler received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to receive archival training from the Montana Historical Society and Montana State University.

Arlene Small of Rocky Boy’s TeCH Learning Center instructs site-coordinators Heather Ryan from Northern Cheyenne and Rose Chesarek from the Crow Reservation. Collaborative learning between sites has been a valuable aspect of the program and has contributed to the success of each site.

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Providing additional technology support Throughout the project, the program director, lead site-coordinator and Burns Telecommunication Center staff provided technology support ranging from trouble-shooting difficulties to assistance with digital video production of cultural and community events and the downloading and archiving of these videos. Burns Telecommunication Center staff filmed several conference presentations by participants on the uses of information technology for cultural and linguistic resource preservation, as well as numerous cultural events. These recordings were preserved on CDs for educational uses and for documentation of historically significant events.

John Vollertsen, Lead Site-Coordinator, films Maori language presentation at the annual Indigenous Languages Institute, Fort Belknap, June 2004. The Maori have utilized information technology to develop extensive language curricula for learners of all ages. At right, Hawaiian language instructors present to the international indigenous audience.

Terry Driscoll, Program Director, and Heather Ryan, Northern Cheyenne Site Coordinator, discussing web site options at a training session in Havre.

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Meeting long-term objectives: The development of greater understanding of the uses and benefits of information technologies

Partners in the Technology and Cultural Heritage Centers program recognized the potential benefits and uses for the information technology. As each site-coordinator acquired and applied new skills, community awareness of the potential uses for the technology grew. Site-coordinators were able to demonstrate their accomplished projects to other possible participants within their communities, and doing so inspired others to participate. Each site has accomplished several language preservation projects, including the acquisition and digitization of older recordings, the creation of new video and audio recordings, and the development of multisensory tribal language dictionaries. Many of these projects are continuing to develop today, while others are complete as educational modules.

Site-coordinators, Burns Telecommunication Center staff, and tribal college faculty have enhanced tribal communities’ awareness of the uses of the technology by offering public presentations on the reservations and at regional conferences. Faculty and staff at Chief Dull Knife Memorial College collaborated with the TeCH Center and the tribe’s Cultural Center to establish an “Intro to Archives” course and to create an archival committee to oversee language and cultural preservation projects. Each site has acquired historical photographic collections, audio recordings, video recordings and similar ethnographic materials from other institutions, such as the Smithsonian Institute, the Milwaukee Public Museum, Indiana University, Montana State University, and other archives and museums. Community members, elders and tribal college faculty have utilized the resources at the TeCH Centers to create educational curricula, to preserve cultural knowledge and to augment existing language programs. The display of finished projects have proven to be of great importance in publicizing the sites, for showing what can be done with the technology, and for attracting new participants to the TeCH Centers.

Three generations, Chief Big Bear, his son Chief Little Bear and his son Chief Four Souls in a display at the Rocky Boy Reservation’s TeCH Learning Center.

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The application of information technology to support and preserve Native cultural, historical and linguistic resources

Participants have utilized the technology for a multitude of preservation projects. Participants at each site continue to develop tribal digital archives. Cultural and historical preservation projects include the acquisition and digitization of historical tribal photograph collections, audio recordings, and ethnographic recordings. Additionally, every site continues the digital preservation of archival documents, documentation of historically significant community events, the preservation of oral traditions and the recording of life histories of elders. Participants at two reservations have used the technology for creating digital courses on the traditional uses of medicinal plants. Demonstrations of tipi-raising, buffalo butchering, dancing and sign language are among the cultural knowledge preserved and made available to the tribal communities.

Linguistic preservation efforts are diverse and extensive. The site-

coordinators have made numerous digital video recordings of fluent language speakers, many of whom are elders, and are using many of these recordings for the development of educational resources and language archives. Topics of these recordings include family histories, biographical stories, oral traditions, reservation history, songs, cultural knowledge, songs and ceremonies. Fluent speakers and elders have assisted in the translation of songs and stories from these recordings. Sean Chandler, the TeCH Center coordinator at Fort Belknap College, has acquired several early audio and visual recordings (such as 8mm films, videos, and tape recorded interviews) from institutions such as Montana State University, Indiana University and the Milwaukee Public Museum. Among these acquisitions are several language courses taught by a man who is now a tribal elder. Chandler has digitized these recordings and improved the sound

Children are the beneficiaries of cultural education. Northern Cheyenne youngsters receive a lesson in raising a tipi. At right, students learn sign language. Digital recordings of these kinds of events make it possible to create educational modules for future learners while preserving the knowledge and experiences of present generations.

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quality so that they can be used for language instruction. Language recordings are also used for the creation of digital dictionaries. Site-coordinators and other participants at each of the TeCH Centers are developing multi-sensory dictionaries incorporating visual images, English translations, tribal language audio and visual elements and links to definitions. At present, the Cree Digital Dictionary contains over one thousand words. Having the technological equipment and training has enabled tribes to locate, access and acquire cultural and historical resources that were largely unavailable to most tribal members prior to the program. For instance, Sean Chandler has made several trips to archival institutions, including the Smithsonian, to research the history of the Fort Belknap reservation and the White Clay (Gros Ventre) and Nakoda (Assiniboine) tribes. He has acquired or made digital images of hundreds of historical objects from these institutions’ artifact collections. These images will be available for viewing at the new Cultural Center in Fort Belknap and will contribute to the tribes’ cultural enrichment and historical resources.

In addition to gathering digital images of cultural and historic artifacts, participants in the TeCH program have acquired digital copies of extensive historical photograph collections from museums and archives. Site-coordinators have acquired, restored and displayed historical thousands of photographs from archive and museum collections around the country. When collections are ready for display, the site-coordinators arrange a “photograph identification gathering” and invite the elders. These photograph collections had never been seen before by the tribes, and remained inaccessible until the technology made it possible for digital reproduction. Nonetheless, many of the elders can recall the events and people in the photographs and enjoy partaking in the identification gatherings. Displayed photographs in the TeCH Centers and at kiosks in the Cultural Centers also inspire community members to become involved in cultural and historical

Illustrations of historical events and tribal members, such as this Gros Ventre drawing at the left, are among the resources that the TeCH Centers have made accessible to the tribe. Below is a Nakoda doll, also from the Smithsonian.

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preservation. Many community members have since brought in historic photographs and portraits of ancestors for scanning, repair and printing.

A Northern Cheyenne family portrait from the Mennonite Collection at the Cody Museum in Wyoming. The Mennonite Collection contained over 200 early-Twentieth century photographs.

Below and at right: Assiniboine and Gros Ventre assemble at Fort Belknap, Sumner Matteson Collection, Milwaukee Public Museum

Left, original and digitally restored photograph. The photographs were brought into the Fort Belknap TeCH Center by a member of the community.

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The application of information for the well-being and maintenance of tribal communities

The maintenance of tribal communities relies heavily on collaboration

between different tribal entities, such as the tribal offices, tribal colleges, community programs, schools, and other organization and programs. The TeCH Centers have proven to be a valuable asset in this collaborative effort. Site-coordinators work with and provide technological services to the tribal colleges, several organizations and programs, some of the tribal offices, Head Start Programs, Class Seven Teacher Certification Program, tribal elementary schools, language immersion programs, and other agencies.

One project that demonstrates commitment to the well-being of the tribal community is a veterans’ advocacy project developed at the TeCH site at the Rocky Boy Senior Resource Center. An elder, Clifford Sutherland, who had no previous knowledge of computer technology approached the TeCH Learning Center site-coordinator with the idea of learning basic keyboarding and word processing so as to enhance his ability to help other veterans receive their benefits. With training, he developed documents, forms and letterhead that he now uses for each of the veterans he assists. He reports that they are starting to get positive results for the veterans, many of whom have been trying for years to get their benefits but have had their paperwork rejected time and time again.

In addition to providing advocacy services using his newly acquired

computer skills, Sutherland learned to scan, repair and print photographs and to incorporate them into a power-point presentation. His office walls are lined with rows of framed 8-by-ten photographs of tribal veterans from several wars, including both World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm and the current Iraq war. These photographs offer testimony to the large percentage of tribal members who serve in the U.S. military, but who are often forgotten by the government after they’ve served. In the summer of 2004 the tribe constructed a Veterans’ Memorial outside the Senior Resource Center and the veterans’ office.

Clifford Sutherland works and learns at the Senior Resource Center’s TeCH lab. Other veterans at Rocky Boy are impressed with his dedication, but so far have hesitated to use the technology. Sutherland teases them, saying, “Some day you’ll be doing this!”

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In honor of these veterans, Sutherland created a power-point presentation with 112 portraits of tribal veterans and presented it at the Senior Center and at a special community gathering for the commemoration. He also designed a pamphlet for the dedication of the memorial.

Another way that the technology is being applied at the Rocky Boy

reservation for the benefit of the tribal community is through the development of vocabulary and language curricula on CDs for tribal medical clinics, the tribal council, the housing authorities and the schools. This project is in its earliest stages at present, but it has great potential to alleviate communication difficulties between speakers and non-speakers, between tribal members and non-members who provide services to the tribe, and between generations.

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“I saw Lynwood at the store today and he told me some very good news…they used the computer and camera for a few projects. One in particular earned the elderly complex $1,500.00 and lots of new hats, gloves and other winter wear items. He was so happy. All of the items were donated from very generous people in Dayton, Ohio. They wrote a letter to the Dayton, Ohio newspaper and got a very good response… Lynwood also said that they used the equipment to send a little news letter information update to the tribal council. He said that they are planning to start a monthly newsletter. He said we are going to show up the whole tribe with the things that we can do with the equipment that was given to them. He also said that the tribal council wants to see the Mennonite presentation sometime… He also told me that St. Labre is paying to hove the buffalo movie edited in Billings somewhere. I thought that was great news and wanted to share it with you right away.” -Email to Program Director Terry

Driscoll from Northern Cheyenne site-coordinator, Heather Ryan.

At right is Lynwood Tallbull of the Shoulderblade Complex (senior center).

A PowerPoint Presentation and a poster was made featuring all of the Northern Cheyenne Tribal Presidents since the beginning. The posters are in each classroom on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation.

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Technology education for multiple generations

Site-coordinators have trained several other participants to use the technology for a variety of purposes for basic computer skills to web-page creation, power-point presentations, scanning and image editing, and the production of digital audio and visual materials. Many participants had little or no information technology background, but saw completed projects of the TeCH Centers and approached the site-coordinators with their ideas. Developing skills as they designed and completed their projects, these participants envision other applications for the technology and motivate others to become involved.

Elder participation varies from site to site and is gradually increasing. Generally, most elders are involved as knowledge resources for projects, rather than as technology users and creators of projects. Many remain hesitant to use the technology, even while they are interested in what others are doing with it. Fear of breaking something, the feeling that they are “too old to learn something new,” language barriers and not being able to type are some of the reasons elders state for not using the technology. However, with increased exposure to products of the technology, elders become more likely to learn to use it, as they can imagine uses for the technology. A Cree language instructor and E.L.A.P. program director at Rocky Boy observes that, “The elders are really excited about it, because they can see how this technology is working…That is how you get their interest: get them involved in the programs you are doing.”

Some elders are housebound and cannot come to the sites. Sean

Chandler, the site-coordinator at Fort Belknap, records elder individuals’ life stories and returns later with a laptop to show the elders these recorded interviews. Some of these elders, such as Elmer Main, had been recorded, interviewed and filmed years ago, but had never before seen or heard those recordings, which were done primarily by universities. At another home visit,

Elmer Main of the Fort Belknap Reservation watches and listens to a recording of himself on a laptop from the TeCH Center. A fluent White Clay speaker, he has worked with site-coordinator Sean Chandler to record and preserve the language, stories, and history of the tribe.

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Chandler recorded children and teachers from the White Clay Language Immersion School listening to and speaking with one of the last fluent elder White Clay speakers.

Elders remain the primary resource for language, history and cultural knowledge, and thus their involvement in this program is essential for its success. One way many elders have participated is by attending gatherings arranged for the identification of people and events in the newly acquired historical photograph collections. Without their knowledge, this information would be lost to the younger generations.

A Chippewa-Cree family from the early 1900s,above left, and elders attending a photograph identification gathering at Rocky Boy in the spring of 2004. The photograph below was donated by an elder, Theresa Tendoy, who is pictured with family members at Rocky Boy, circa 1930.

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A handful of elders at each site have become active users of the technology, working with site-coordinators to develop skills and accomplish their desired goals. Some elders have learned to do email correspondence, internet searches and word processing. At Rocky Boy one elder, who had quit his job as a typesetter at a newspaper because he did not want to learn to use computers, found out that his wife signed him up to take computer classes from the TeCH Center site-coordinator. He learned keyboarding, WORD, and EXCEL and how to use email to keep in touch with relatives. He expressed that he and would also like to learn to scan and edit photographs.

A faculty member at Chief Dull Knife College worked with the TeCH Center site-coordinator to create a power-point presentation of the Cheyenne peoples’ escape from Fort Robinson, incorporating digital photography of the escape route with graphics and text. He has presented this project at elders at the Senior Center who cannot make the annual commemorative trip to visit the Fort Robinson escape site. The Northern Cheyenne Senior Center site-coordinator, Lynwood Tallbull, is working on several projects, among them a medicinal plants class, a medical sign language course, and the construction of a tribal history map. Of the TeCH Center, Tallbull says, “I really think it will help [our] programs, the tribes, the communities. We can hold on to this information

“Hardly a week goes by that people aren’t saying, ‘Hey, we saw these pictures and we want to see more!’ Like most Indian communities, there’s no such thing as a museum, except in ones that are miles ahead of us, like up at the Flathead. But most Indian communities don’t have a place where people can come in and look at pictures of their relatives and old stuff. So once you get it going, there’s a lot of interest. Then they just start hearing the old stories…” Below is one of the photographs from the Mennonite Collection, showing generations of Northern Cheyenne women and children.

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for generations to come… The opportunities are here. Your imagination can just go wild!”

Minerva Allen, a teacher of the Nakoda language, is one elder who imagined—and accomplished—a variety of technology projects, including the creation of digital photo archives and gallery, assisting the Fort Belknap site-coordinator with language education modules, and a video of her traditional foods and plants class. She is now working on a book about her husband’s life.

In addition to training elders, each of the TeCH Center site-coordinators

has offered a spectrum of classes to community members and tribal college faculty. Site-coordinators express that they need more assistance in the form of additional on-site staff so that they can meet the needs of their communities and accomplish the preservation and educational goals of the TOP grant. Intergenerational learning and collaboration, with youth demonstrating leadership skills

Youth have expressed interest in working with elders to teach them technology skills, but school schedules and distance often prohibit interaction. At Northern Cheyenne, the first site in operation, high school students volunteered to work with elders, but it soon proved difficult to coordinate their schedules, commute the distance between the high school and the Senior Center, and to maintain frequency and continuity. After several months, it became obvious that there needed to be greater regularity and continuity in the intergenerational teaching, and the TeCH Learning Center site-coordinator took over working with

Sean Chandler and Minerva

Allen work on a project at the

Senior Center at Lodgepole, Fort Belknap. Minerva Allen has acquired

for the tribe several new computers.

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the elders at this site. The potential remains for youth to become involved in intergeneration learning and for more elders to likewise become active technology users, but success in this area would depend on having the right practical and logistic conditions to make it possible. The improvement of educator skills.

Tribal college faculty, language instructors and teachers at local schools have benefited from improved technology training. At Rocky Boy, local teachers are collaborating with the TeCH Learning Center site-coordinator and her assistant to develop culturally relevant curricula that include language instruction and Cree oral traditions. Language teachers in particular have been involved in the production of educational resources.

Montana is unique in that it offers a state certification for Native language teachers—the Class Seven Teacher Certification. The TeCH Center at Rocky Boy has worked with the Class Seven certification program to certify Cree language teachers. In addition, the site-coordinator has adapted computer keyboards to Cree symbols and taught two well-attended Cree writing workshops. Many of the writing workshop participants were Class Seven instructors. Responding to a tragic event on the reservation, writing workshop participants produced booklets for children on protocols for culturally appropriate behavior and social responsibility. They distributed these pamphlets at a local youth pow-wow organized to bring youth and elders together.

Cree writing workshops drew more than fifty participants at Rocky Boy. Site-coordinator Arlene Small adapted the keyboards and taught the writing workshops. Participants received college credit through Stone Child College.

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Schools on the reservations have requested presentations to faculty and

staff on the potential uses of the information technology now available through the TeCH Learning Centers. The site-coordinator from Fort Belknap developed a power point presentation to demonstrate some of the possibilities and visited the junior high schools in Harlem and Lodge Pole to share it with their staff.

The White Clay Language Immersion program pairs young students with fluent speakers. Director Lynette Chandler, far right, utilizes the TeCH Center at Fort Belknap College to create additional language lessons for the students.

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The creation of opportunities for student internships and research The TeCH centers have created excellent opportunities for research and student internships, but so far few students have taken advantage of these opportunities. Tribal college students use the TeCH Centers, but have not ventured into extensive research or internships. Tribal college faculty could encourage their students to utilize the resources developed at the TeCH centers and to work with site-coordinators or other participants on on-going projects. Research opportunities in the areas of tribal history, reservation history, and specific cultural resources (such as locating photographs, artifacts or audio-visual recordings now at other institutions) are some of the opportunities available to students. Internship possibilities include assisting site-coordinators with the digitization of cultural artifacts and archival materials, the development of linguistic resources and educational materials, and working with other organizations or programs to help meet their technological needs. Northern Cheyenne partners at Chief Dull Knife College have developed an “Intro to Archives” class for tribal college students and faculty. A similar class at other tribal colleges may inspire students to become more involved while also providing them with the technology skills they would need to take advantage of research and internship opportunities. Rocky Boy Reservation has partnered with other programs on campus to create an internship program. This allows students that are majoring in computer science related subjects to work in the TeCH Center with the Tech Coordinator. They collaborate on multimedia projects such as the digital video dictionary and work with elders to translate interviews conducted in Cree into English.

Nadine Morisette writing Cree Symbols and Julie Nault working with Elders transcribing Cree Interviews in the Rocky Boy TeCH Learning Center.

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Improved technology use in classrooms, and the development and utilization of educational resources pertaining to tribal cultures, histories and languages

Each site has been very successful at developing culturally oriented educational materials in a variety of formats. At Rocky Boy, the site-coordinator and two assistants used movie maker and media player software to create audio and visual digital recordings of dozens of elders speaking Cree, translated their stories into English and added English subtitles, and formatted each recording onto DVDs and CDs which will be used at Stone Child College and local schools. These recordings contain a wealth of cultural knowledge and tribal history in addition to language instruction. Another on-going curriculum project at Rocky Boy is the creation of mini-lessons pertaining to specific topics—for instance, a lesson which identifies all the parts of a deer in Cree. These lessons are available to teachers at the college and at elementary and secondary schools. Teachers and the TeCH Center are working together to develop a variety of such educational resources that incorporate pictures, animation, and Cree language and which provide students with culturally and historically accurate information. Elders assist in the curriculum development by telling the stories and reviewing the final products.

At Fort Belknap, the site-coordinator has collaborated with the director of the White Clay Immersion School and with elder speakers of the White Clay language to record their language instruction and to create educational modules from the digital recordings.

Students from the White Clay Immersion School practice listening to the language.

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Tribal Head Start programs include cultural identity curriculum and have teamed with the TeCH Centers to produce more lessons that are culturally based. Language lessons created at the TeCH Centers are also being incorporated into tribal schools, where language programs are often under-funded and where many have been cut by the No Child Left Behind Act.

Parents and grandparents attend a Parents’ Institute at Stone Child College to discuss curriculum development and parent involvement in the Rocky Boy schools.

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Participating communities to serve as models for other reservation communities desiring to institute similar programs.

At regional conferences site-coordinators from different sites have collaborated on public presentations about the Montana Indian Technology and Cultural Heritage Program, demonstrating how the technology can be applied for cultural, historical and linguistic preservation and for the benefit of tribal communities. Events such as the annual Indigenous Language Institute at Fort Belknap bring together language instructors and preservationists form multiple tribes so that they can share ideas and exchange strategies. Events such as conferences and the Indigenous Language Institute publicize the TeCH Program, and site-coordinators and project participants have opportunities to network with members of other tribes who may be interested. In addition, other communities who have already utilized information technology for preservation and education purposes add their expertise and offer further inspiration. One valuable resource that is available to other communities is the Montana Technology and Cultural Heritage (TeCH) Learning Centers website created by Program Director Terry Driscoll. This website chronicles the development of the program, offers samples of completed projects at each site, and is a useful resource for learning more about the program. It can be accessed at: http://btc.montana.edu/TeCH/

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Challenges Getting the word out:

Initially, publicizing the TeCH Learning Centers and getting the communities interested was a challenge for the partners. “We don’t have a regular newspaper or radio station or TV station where people can find out things like this. It’s going to take a lot of work from the people who work at the TeCH Centers,” expressed a faculty member at Northern Cheyenne. Site-coordinators increased community awareness of the TeCH program by showing their communities what the technology can do. At the beginning of the program, TeCH sites hosted open-houses to demonstrate the first projects and to give their communities an introduction to the educational and preservation potential of the technology. Visual images, such as displays of historical photographs, worked well to draw people’s attention to the sites. Site-coordinators offered presentations regarding the program and the technology at Senior Centers, tribal colleges, and community gatherings. Lap top computers allowed site-coordinators to bring the technology to isolated or housebound elders.

As the program developed, schools and tribal councils expressed interest in having site-coordinators give presentations to them as well. Rocky Boy parents learned more about the technology at a Parents Institute designed to assist parents in becoming active participants in their children’s education and to show them newly developed, culturally-based curricula made at the TeCH Center.

Lynette Chandler gives a tech presentation at Fort Belknap College, left. Arlene Small meets with Elders Commission at

Rocky Boy to discusses uses for the technology.

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Prioritizing projects and determining how to proceed:

Because so many projects are made possible by the technology, partners need to develop a way of determining which projects would take priority. Several factors influence how the technology projects proceed, such as the skill and ability of the site-coordinators, time needed for planning and completing projects, collaboration between TeCH sites and other entities, expenses involved, and how well the proposed project fits within the program objectives. Partners have a role to play to ensure that projects contribute to the preservation of cultural, linguistic and historical resources and are beneficial to tribal communities, but not all partners will be able to review each project. At Rocky Boy the site-coordinator meets regularly with an Elders Commission to inform them of possibilities with the technology and to get their guidance and input. The Elders Commission discusses all proposed projects to determine how or if they can be done, and elders review completed projects to determine their cultural and linguistic accuracy and, in some cases, the need for ensuring that cultural projects are not distributed beyond their intended audience. At other sites, site-coordinators and project partners determine the scope and content of projects based on the program goals, interests of the participants, and commitment to seeing the project to its end. Ethical Concerns:

Ethical issues primarily involve the need to keep some projects from being disseminated in a manner that was not intended by the participants or which would conflict with program goals or cultural values. All of the site-coordinators have worked to build the trust of their communities by respecting the need for guarding the sensitivity of some projects. For instance, not all recorded materials are meant for public consumption, and some may be intended only for a limited audience, such as ceremonial songs, cultural knowledge that belongs to a particular family or society, or other sensitive cultural material. Sean Chandler articulated a concern of all of the site-coordinators: “People need to know that if they bring something into the TeCH Center, it will be safe, and that I’m going to be respectful of their wishes. This is an issue with elders, who want to know their materials will not be handed out indiscriminately.”

The Elders Commission at Rocky Boy helps to determine the respectful handling of cultural knowledge, including language. The Cree dictionary project and the extensive video recordings of elders’ stories both involve translating Cree language into English, but some words cannot be translated or written down for ethical reasons. “It is difficult to translate Cree into English. Some words and meanings do no translate, and some of the meaning is contextual, only referred to indirectly… Some are too sacred to transcribe even,” says Arlene Small. Fluent speakers review transcribed recordings and for linguistic accuracy and for culturally sensitive information, and this measure helps to ensure the respect for language and cultural information.

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Funding research-related travel and the acquisition of historical photograph collections:

The acquisition of photographs, recordings, documents and other archival materials is important for building the archival resources at each site. Gathering these materials requires research, travel, and significant expense. Some TeCH sites have been able to collaborate with other programs to assist in funding cultural resource acquisition, but additional future funding for such endeavors is needed. Need for more trained, paid TeCH site staff and for permanent funding for fulltime site-coordinators:

The primary challenge at the TeCH Centers is the level of demand on the site-coordinators as the communities seek to utilize the technological capabilities they now have to further their preservation and education goals. Site-coordinators have expressed that there needs to be funding for additional staff at the sites so that the needs of the communities and the goals of the program can continue to be met successfully. Many of the preservation and education projects are very time-consuming and involve long-term dedication of the site-coordinators. In addition, permanent fulltime site-coordinators would make it possible for inter-organization collaborative projects to be completed. For example, at Northern Cheyenne the TeCH Center worked with a grant-funded language program to begin creating a dictionary and Cheyenne language curricula. When the language program grant ended, the project stalled. Many programs on the reservations rely on two-to-four year grants, making collaboration on long-term projects difficult. The TeCH program offers excellent possibilities and capabilities to tribal communities for achieving cultural preservation and sustainability, but funding of TeCH Center staff needs to be permanent and sufficient to meet community needs. One reason for a permanently funded fulltime site-coordinator at the TeCH sites is the need for stability in that position. John Vollertsen, the lead site-coordinator from the Burns Telecommunication Center, says that more funding is necessary and would contribute to greater success in the program. “Ideally, site coordinator positions should be funded as fulltime positions with employee benefit packages. This measure would provide stability and continuity to the positions and add to the institutional memory for sustained cultural and historical preservation efforts. This measure would be favorable for future funding opportunities, partnering with other institutions, and financial commitments form tribal councils.” Given the dedication, commitment and involvement of the current site-coordinators and the contributions of the TeCH Centers to the tribal communities, fulltime funding for site-coordinators and additional staff is necessary.

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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The Montana Technology and Cultural Heritage (TeCH) Program has been highly successful. Participating communities have integrated information technology into their efforts to preserve and maintain cultural, historical and linguistic resources. Tribal colleges, reservation schools and language immersion programs are benefiting from newly developed, culturally based educational resources. Elders, educators, tribal college staff, and community members have envisioned and produced technology projects which contribute to the sustainability of tribal cultures and communities. At the TeCH Centers, site-coordinators have learned new skills, taught others, and responded to tribal and community needs with respect and dedication. Interest in the technology continues to grow, and collaboration between the TeCH Centers and other programs and tribal institutions contributes to the program’s success and accomplishments. Site-coordinators have assisted one another in technology training and in presentations about the technology to the public.

In retrospect, the Program Director and Lead Site-coordinator found that the three-year time frame of the grant and the distances between reservations made it difficult to maintain the level of support that was necessary for so many sites. The program director recommends that in a three-year time span, two reservations would be more manageable. In addition, the Program Director would include monies for interns or assistant to work with the site-coordinators, given the demands on the site coordinators as the program progressed and communities got involved.

The selection of site-coordinators influences the success of the program. Site-coordinators need to be dedicated to the preservation of historical, cultural and linguistic resources, and they also need to possess teaching qualities that enable them to work with people of different skill levels and ages. Elders are a valuable resource to the program’s endeavors, but community members of all ages should be included. An advisory committee, such at the Elders Commission at Rocky Boy, may be useful for ensuring that the technology is used in culturally responsive ways and that the projects produced are linguistically accurate and culturally appropriate. Because not all elders are mobile, a laptop computer is necessary to bring the technology to the housebound. Tribal colleges can contribute to the TeCH Program by offering a location for the Learning Center, encouraging faculty participating, working with site-coordinators to develop internship and research opportunities for students, and potentially for securing additional or permanent funding for the site-coordinator positions.