SMSC donation supports Haskell Indian Nations University

Prior Lake, MN- In the past researchers and scientists would go to indigenous nations and study them, take their research, and go home. Unacknowledged biases shortchanged important cultural and spiritual issues, and stereotypes often prevailed. Rarely did tribes benefit from opening their communities to outsiders, and oftentimes exploitation was the result, such as the case of the Havasupai Indian Tribe from the Grand Canyon which is currently in litigation. The Havasupai consented to diabetes research, but instead their blood was used to research genealogical traits towards schizophrenia and inbreeding, as well as to seek support for the Bering Strait land bridge theory of migration which is at odds with tribal spiritual beliefs.

To help develop a cadre of Native American researchers to conduct their own research and share it with other sovereign nations, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community announces a donation of $150,000 to the Haskell Endowment Association (HEA) to support initiatives at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas.

Of that amount, $100,000 will support an endowment, and $50,000 will support the Research, Evaluation, and Dissemination (RED) Center which promotes and develops capacity in research for students, staff, and faculty.

 “There is a need for us to have our own Indian people with abilities and skills to understand and conduct research,” said Judith Gipp, RED Center Program Director. “The donation is going to provide us with the necessary tools to create those opportunities for our students and staff, to be better, to become that clearinghouse or the home base for indigenous research, to be that protective mechanism when it comes to research about us.”

The focus of the RED Center is in the disciplines of business, education, environmental science, and health, indigenous, and American Indian Studies. The RED Center currently offers the Haskell Presidential Honors, an academic scholar initiative of the Dr. Gerald Gipp Scholar Exchange Program, the Dr. Robert Martin International Education Program, and the Dr. Karen Gayton Swisher Instructional Mentorship Program. The RED Center has also implemented a Series Research Summit which is an annual event focusing on the aforementioned disciplines; as well as, the RED Center Clearing House, a national repository on indigenous research by and about indigenous people. 

The $100,000 donation to support the Haskell Endowment Association will help establish the endowment as the permanent and primary fundraising entity for Haskell Indian Nations University and to purchase necessary equipment for fundraising initiatives and developing campaign materials.

The SMSC grant will be matched with funds from the United States Department of Education. “Shakopee is the first tribe which has donated to the endowment,” said Priscilla Hovland, Director of the Haskell Endowment Association. “We hope that other tribes will join the Shakopee to support Haskell.”

“We encourage other Indian Nations to give generously to support one of the country’s only Indian universities,” said SMSC Chairman Stanley R. Crooks.

“The Haskell Endowment Association is very grateful for your generous donation. The award will provide the much needed resources for Haskell and support the Endowment as we move forward in establishing long-term funds and resources to support academic and student programs,” said Hovland. “Your support will allow the RED Center to continue to grow in becoming the centerpiece on indigenous research.”

For 125 years American Indian students have received an education at Haskell. Today, Haskell has an average enrollment of over 1,000 students each semester. Students represent federally recognized tribes from across the United States. Students select programs that prepare them to enter baccalaureate programs in elementary teacher education, American Indian studies, business administration, and environmental science; to transfer to another baccalaureate degree-granting institution; or to enter directly into employment. Haskell continues to integrate American Indian/Alaska Native culture into all its curricula. This focus of the curriculum, besides its intertribal constituency and federal support through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, makes Haskell unique.

Haskell Indian Nations University prepares graduates to assume positions of political, economic, intellectual, artistic, and environmental leadership in tribal, regional, national, and international contexts. In order to achieve Haskell’s vision of being a national intertribal center for teaching, extension, and research, the academic community is committed to assisting tribal constituents in their efforts to address social, cultural, economic, educational, and environmental development for the twenty-first century.

 For more information about Haskell Indian Nations University, go to www.haskell.edu.