Bill Olson News Stories |
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Published in The Spectator, the student newspaper of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire;
Monday, October 1, 2001 American Indian Studies to be at all UW extensions
UW colleges Provost Margaret Cleek said she and UW-Eau Claire Provost Ronald Satz signed the American Indian Studies Transfer Agreement last semester. UW colleges permit students to complete the first two years of their university education closer to their homes and then transfer to one of the UW baccalaureate institutions, she said. UW-Eau Claire has the only American Indian Studies major in Wisconsin, said Lawrence Martin, AIS director at UW-Eau Claire. He said the study of American Indian issues is very important, especially in Eau Claire. “Eau Claire is in the middle of Indian country,” Martin said. The boundary of the 1837 treaty runs through the middle of town, and the land north of that boundary was ceded by the Ojibwe (Chippewa) people, who retained the right to hunt, fish, and gather on that land. “This was the basis of all the legal controversy about spear-fishing,” Martin said. Roger Wall, associate professor of political science at UW-Fond du Lac, and one of those involved in forming the transfer agreement, said violence and hostility toward the Chippewa over spear-fishing resulted in Wisconsin Act 31. “Act 31 calls for the school districts to include instruction in the history, culture, and tribal sovereignty of federally recognized American Indian tribes in Wisconsin,” said Satz, a scholar of federal Indian policy and treaties. Wall said the University of Wisconsin has an obligation to prepare teachers to satisfy the Act 31 requirements. “Several of us in the UW colleges decided that we need an American Indian Studies program to better meet this obligation,” Wall said. Carolyn Polodna, UW-Fond du Lac associate professor of business, said they worked together for three years, ultimately helping to organize a symposium on Act 31 at UW-Fond du Lac. Martin attended and began discussing Eau Claire’s AIS program with Wall and the possibility of improving course transfers, she said. This led the UW colleges to develop two new courses, “Introduction to American Indian Studies” and “American Indian Expressive Cultures.” Polodna said the new courses wouldn’t be offered before next summer.
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