As part of her director's duties for the Tribal History Project at Salish Kootenai College, Cajune sought permission and fact-checking help from Salish elders to name 36 landmarks. Those elders deliberated for months about whether Cajune's project was worthy of knowing the names and, more importantly, the stories and significance behind them.
Controlling her growing frustration, Cajune said she made yet another trip to the elders, and found a big envelope with her name on it. She ran back to her car and opened it. Inside was more than she asked for, in more ways than one.
The experience pointed out several other challenges for educators as they bring about the state mandate of Indian Education for All, Cajune said. Bringing that about is not simply an exercise in gathering historical records. Nor is it just an effort to make Indian American students feel better about themselves.
“If we get this right, the original intention of those really visionary people who wrote that into our Constitution in 1972 can really happen, Cajune said. “They were really talking about race relationships in Montana. I don't know how we can think about peace with other people until America recovers its own memory. We must make peace here.”
Cajune laid much of that challenge at the door of the university system. She claimed that for too long, college historians, archaeologists and education experts have misconstrued, ignored or oversimplified American Indian culture. Those mistakes have been cemented in textbooks and public assumptions which will be hard to repair.
And they've left many American Indians wary of getting involved in the academic process. For example, Cajune spoke of the growing number of people who apply for federal grants to study Indian culture, but don't seek the cooperation of the tribal members involved until after the project is funded.
“Everybody wants an elder in the classroom now,” Cajune said. “People are a little hesitant. They're getting burned out. Some of the information being requested is very private. We must build relationships of trust. I'm going through the same thing - trying to build a consensus that we're doing the right thing.”
The way research projects are structured can be a barrier. Cajune said she couldn't work directly with the state Office of Public Instruction, because its contracts require that all materials produced be copyrighted to the state.
“Would you give all your family history and stories to a state agency to copyright?” Cajune asked. Researchers need to consider such sensitivities as well as what the tribe or elder might get in return for sharing the information. Everyone should be up front about who is getting what and what it is worth, she recommended.
But, overall, people should remember that this is a relationship that requires trust.
“If they see this as an Indian issue, that's a dangerous thing,” Cajune said. “It's a human issue. It's an ethical imperative. When people see it that way, there may be a greater push in doing this.”
Reporter Rob Chaney can be reached at 523-5382 or at rchaney@missoulian.com
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