Ed School Seeks Funds to Keep American Indian Program Alive

The future is cloudy for the Ed School's new American Indian Program, which this year has recruited 11 Native American educators.

The program has also aided in recruitment of Indians for the University, while its members have been pushing for more Indian studies at Harvard.

In response to the financial situation, a group of students in the program has formed the Native American Multi. Tribal Educational Council (NAMTEC). By accepting consulting contracts for Indian education, NAMTEC will be able to contribute part of its fees to Ed School scholarships for Native American students.

Return Profits

"NAMTEC is a 'very Indian' thing to do," Robert A. Matthai, Director of the Ed School program said Thursday. "Putting profits back into the community is their way of saying, 'We don't want to make money out of being an Indian.'"

Daniel Honahni, NAMTEC member and Hopi curriculum specialist from Brigham City, Utah, emphasized the importance of the scholarships by saying that the end of the American Indian program could mean the end of prospects for more Native American studies at Harvard.

"Other than a seminar this spring which will bring speakers on Indian affairs to the Ed' School, the only offering in the whole University is one half course in Anthropology," Matthai said.

More Faculty Needed

"What we really need, especially here at the Ed School where we should be preparing people to go into Indian education, are some more Native Americans on the faculty," Matthai explained. "But we won't get them because we can't afford it."

The financial crunch is doubly important because the Ed School program is presently the only working mechanism for recruitment of Indian students to the University.

The Harvard Inter-Tribal Council, representing the 25 members of the Harvard Indian community, is attempting to get University funding for student recruitment, but progress has been slow.

"We'd like to see the number of Native Americans here double at least," Matthai said. "We try to help out the other branches of the University in their recruiting. It's an expensive and long-distance business, but we have program status and we have the contacts."

Presently the program is funded by a grant from the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), but it is uncertain whether OEO will continue to provide the subsidy. For 1971-72 Matthai is approaching private as well as government funding sources.

50-50 Chance

"I'd say our chances for funding are about 50-50," Matthai said. "We'd like to expand the program next year to include three or four doctoral candidates in addition to about 12 Ed.M.'s."

"If everything falls through, I suppose we can work on getting a couple

of Native Americans in through the regular Ed School scholarship program, but that's unlikely given the general financial picture here," Matthai mused.

Under this year's American Indian program, Native American educators have been studying at the Ed School since last July.

Coming from ten states and representing 11 tribes, the group will graduate in June, 1971 with Master's degrees in Education for General Purposes.

While at Harvard they are taking "professional-level" courses in such areas as educational administration and curriculum development, he said.

"The group isn't here to learn about Native American education as such. All of them have had at least two years' experience working in that field," Matthai said.

The American Indian program concentrates instead on educational theory and techniques in general with the hope that its graduates will adapt what they learn to the specific needs of their Native American communities.

"All of our graduates this year will be returning to positions of greatly increased responsibility," Matthai said, "and they're keeping in touch with the action back home while they're here. This fact alone should help us to get funds to continue the program next year."