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Metǣmoh: Teachers of Native Children Empowerment event was held on November 11, 2021 at Menominee Casino Resort. Preservice teachers, CMN education graduates, cooperating teachers, local school administrators, CMN staff, and honored guests were invited to attend.

The purpose of this event was to promote the empowerment of Indigenous women and teachers of Native children in the College Menominee Nation education program. In the education program, the majority of our students are non-traditional students who have families to care for and who may work full-time. Education is a challenging endeavor for many of them. We try to nurture and support our students as much as possible, and ask school administrators, cooperating teachers, teachers, and elders to also do so.

We require our teachers to learn to think critically, learn to analyze and synthesize information, and to clearly express themselves. In order words, they must find their voice as educational leaders in the schools in which they will work.

We see Native women and teachers of Native children as advocates who serve Native populations bringing together communities and addressing issues intended to benefit their communities. We are committed to equity and social justice for families and communities, and dedicated to maximizing the potential of all our children.

We embrace Culturally Responsive Teaching and practices as a major component in our program because so many of our students will teach in schools with Native American children. In other words, we want our students to participate in nation building and to change the world of Indigenous education for the better.

Program Information

The education program has continued to grow over the years thanks to many of you who have entrusted us with your education. Since we began awarding degrees, we have had about 120 graduates in all our programs, which includes our Associate of Arts, Bachelor of Arts, and Bachelor of Science degrees.

We received approval of our Bachelor of Science degree from the Department of Public Instruction in May 2012, which licensed teachers in Early Childhood/Middle Childhood in birth to age 11. Since then, we have graduated 25 teachers who have gone on to teach in our surrounding schools. Currently, we have 52 students enrolled across all of our programs with three student teachers this semester and four in the spring semester.

Our big announcement is that DPI has designated and approved our program for kindergarten through 9th grade certification, which includes K4. This is new legislation requiring all programs to receive new program approval and different licensing categories. This new license is effective for all new students admitted to our Bachelor of Science program.

Student Boarding School Research

In the EDU 300 Foundations of American Education social justice program for 2021, several of our major projects in class researched boarding schools and explored social justice issues. This is a very apropos topic at this time because of the scandal in Canada over the finding of the unmarked graves of Indigenous children at Catholic boarding schools.

For many students, this was a very emotional issue. Consequently, we wanted to recognize that fact and process our anger. As a result, we adopted the theme for this event of EVERY CHILD MATTERS. Education has always been a painful process for Indigenous children through the years but we as teachers and future teachers want to change that fact.

Various students from EDU 300 and the Education Program presented snippets from their boarding school research and PowerPoints before the main speaker presented. Each student chose a particular boarding school or topic to research.

Jenny Meyer discussed the topic of Nutrition at boarding schools in the United States. Jenny is a long time Head Start and Daycare teacher in Keshena.

Deborah Lyons’ topic was Haskell Indian School. She graduated with a two-year degree from Haskell. She works as a Special education paraprofessional at MIMS in Neopit.

Ravena Fowler talked about Chemawa Indian School, where she attended as a high school student. She works at MIMS as a special education paraprofessional.

Brandon Dehne shared his research on Carlisle & Captain Pratt. Brandon will be student teaching in the spring semester. He is from Oconto Falls and he works part-time as a respite care worker for children with autism.

Betsy Trudeau discussed Spanish Residential School where some of my family attended as children. She is from the Hannahville Indian Community and Potawatomi.

Tina Driscoll’s topic was Canadian Residential Schools because of the recent scandal in Canada over the finding of unmarked Indigenous children’s graves at the Kamloops school and other residential schools. She works as a special education paraprofessional at the middle school level in the Oconto school district.

Presenter

Our presenter was Brenda J. Child. She is Northrop Professor of American Studies and former chair of the Departments of American Studies and the Department of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota. She is an historian. She is the author of award-winning books on American Indian history, including Boarding School Seasons: American Indian Families, 1900-1940, which won the North American Indian Prose Award. It is a book we have used in EDU 300 Foundations of American Education for a number of years. Students were pleased to meet her and impressed with the knowledge she shared with them.

In her presentation, Professor Child indicated that there were different phases in the history of boarding schools, with the most abusive being in the early days of the implementation of the new schools. She noted the real reason for boarding schools was to steal Native land and resources. After 90 million acres of land were stolen at the end of the boarding school era in the early 1900s, Native students were sent to public school for the most part.

Dr. Child was born on the Red Lake Ojibwe Reservation and she is a member of the Red Lake Ojibwe Nation in northern Minnesota. She has a Ph.D. in History from University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa. She has worked as a professor at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and knows many students from different Wisconsin tribes.

Dr. Child wrote a picture storybook for children called Bowwow Powwow in 2018, and it won the American Indian Youth Literature Award for best picture book. She shared with event participants how this story came from her grandmother and life at Red Lake when she was growing up. Part of the story shares the “begging dance” that was sung long ago on her reservation. But this dance was inaccurately designated by anthropologists. It was really a ritual exchange of gifts.

Jenna Corn, an education student, read aloud the picture storybook Bowwow POWWOW for event participants. Each participant received a signed copy of the book. Jenna Corn will be student teaching in the spring semester. Jenna is also a Marine Corp veteran.

Special Activity

As part of a special activity, Leslie Teller introduced John H. Teller, Manny Teller and Delvin Cloud to sing. We know generosity and sharing are Indigenous core values. There is an old almost forgotten social song to enact and celebrate the give away. John Teller learned the traditional social song many years ago from his Menominee Language teacher Mani Boyd. The song identified as the Begger Dance was sung to enact the modern blanket dance and the song has Menominee words

Mrs. Teller said she remembers the song from when she was a little girl from the Keshena Fair days. The Menominee Ceremonial Dancers would perform in the fairground’s stockade all weekend. On Sunday afternoons the dancers would leave the stockade and go to each fair stand and sing the song and dance for food and gifts.

Rose Wayka, elder and former language teacher, said that the song brought many old memories for her of the Keshena Fair era.

Christopher Caldwell

Investiture:

Colleges and universities traditionally observe the selection of a new President or Chancellor with a formal event which may be called an inauguration, installation or, as has been chosen by CMN’s Trustees, investiture. While Chris Caldwell is the College’s third duly chosen President, he is the second being ceremonially invested in the office.

The structure of academic investitures reflects centuries-old customs. The rites include a procession of delegates in academic gowns, a presentation of symbols of service, and a program featuring key stakeholders in the organization. Our program will include elements appropriate for CMN’s own history, Menominee art and culture, our institution’s standing as a tribal college, and its diverse community of students, alumni and employees from many tribes and many backgrounds.

This tradition is under the aegis of the Board of Trustees.

History in Brief:

Dr. Verna Fowler was hired by the Menominee Legislature in September 1992 to create a college for the tribe. Three other dates are especially significant in the history of the College of Menominee Nation. On Jan. 19, 1993, CMN began offering general education classes on the Menominee Reservation to 42 tribal members. On March 4, 1993, CMN was chartered by the Menominee Legislature. A revised charter was unanimously approved by the Tribal Legislature on Oct. 3, 1996. The College observes 1993 as it's founding year and March 4 as Charter Day.

The College of Menominee Nation Board of Trustees welcomed Chris Caldwell to the CMN Presidency on July 1, 2021. Prior to this, Caldwell served as Interim President of the College since February 2020. He will be formally invested by the Board in ceremony on October 22, 2021.

President Caldwell began his higher education journey at CMN earning his Associate Degree in Sustainable Development. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Natural Resources from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master's Degree in Environmental Science and Policy from UW-Green Bay. He is currently a PhD candidate in Environment and Resources from UW-Madison Nelson Institute.

President Caldwell is an enrolled member of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin. He and his wife, Toni Caldwell, Ed.D. candidate, are the parents of two daughters, Brooke and Trinaty, pursuing their bachelor's degrees.

The College of Menominee Nation (CMN), a 1994 Tribal Land Grant College, is excited to announce it has been awarded a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-Agriculture and Food Research (AFRI) Sustainable Agriculture Systems (SAS) grant. This project is in collaboration with other Land Grant Institutions - including Central State University (1890 Land-Grant), Kentucky State University (1890 Land-Grant), the University of Delaware (1862 Land-Grant), the University of Kentucky (1862 Land-Grant), and Mississippi State (1862 Land-Grant).

The award totals $10 million dollars over five years with CMN receiving $1,164,925.00 for the first two years and the remaining $1,651,034.00 for years three, four, and five. The project, titled “Sustainable Aquaculture Production of High Omega-3-Containing-Fish Using a Novel Feed Additive (Hemp),” will increase CMN’s ability to develop and implement a research line that will benefit students and faculty. In addition, the project will offer both an education and community extension component that falls directly in line with CMN’s mission as a Land Grant Institution.

“This is a historic opportunity for the College of Menominee Nation as no Tribal College has received a USDA-AFRI SAS grant prior to this,” according to Brian Kowalkowski, Dean of Continuing Education at CMN. Kowalkowski added, “The uniqueness of bringing together such a diverse group of institutions is also a step in a new direction, specifically working with Central State University in Ohio, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU).” College of Menominee Nation President Christopher Caldwell has indicated his strong support for the project and had this to say about the new partnerships, “Being able to work across state borders as well as other Land Grant institutions is a great opportunity for our school and our community.”

For the past 27 years, CMN has held Land Grant status as designated by the federal government and not only takes its commitment to the Menominee people very seriously, but also its responsibility as a Land Grant institution to provide for the educational, sustainable, health, and economical needs of the communities it serves. This project will bring to the Menominee Reservation and surrounding communities an opportunity to learn about both aquaponics and aquaculture with training, workshops, and field days. A certificate program will be established for interested community members, as well as the development of articulation agreements between CMN and Central State University providing the opportunity for cross-cultural learning.

One of a number of priority areas for the USDA-AFRI SAS grant includes the development of agricultural economics in rural areas, and this project provides opportunities to those areas that have historically been underserved. This project received support locally from the Menominee Tribal Clinic, the Menominee Department of Agriculture and Food Systems, the Great Lakes Indigenous Law Center, University of Wisconsin Positive Youth Development Institute, and the First American Land Grant Consortium.

NEW NORTH, September 14, 2021 – College of Menominee Nation President Christopher Caldwell has been named to the board of directors of New North Inc., the organization’s board development committee announced.

Christopher Caldwell has been president of the College of Menominee Nation (CMN) since June 25, 2021. He had served as the college’s interim president for the prior 17 months, successfully guiding CMN through pandemic-related challenges. Caldwell additionally has directed the Sustainable Development Institute at the College of Menominee Nation since October 2012.

Prior to entering the field of higher education, he spent seven-and-a-half years as director of compliance and enforcement officer for the department of trust resources of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin. His earlier career included work as a forest products technician with the USDA Forest Service in Madison; student and intern with the U.S. Department of Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs-NCCE; and timber marker and forest technician for Menominee Tribal Enterprises.

“We are excited by the multiple perspectives that Chris brings to the New North board of directors,” says Barb LaMue, president and CEO of New North Inc. “His background in higher education, tribal operations and sustainability will be beneficial to our dialogue and work programs.”

Caldwell holds an associate degree in sustainable development from the College of Menominee Nation, a bachelor’s degree in natural resources from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a master’s degree in environmental science and policy from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. He currently is a PhD candidate in environment and resources from the UW-Madison Nelson Institute.

He is the fourth person to lead CMN, an accredited baccalaureate-level college with campuses in Keshena and Green Bay, Wis., since its inception in 1993. It serves American Indian students from the Menominee, Oneida, Chippewa, Ho-Chunk, Navajo, Potawatomi, Mohegan and dozens of other tribes, along with welcoming non- Indian students.

Caldwell is an enrolled member of the Menominee Indian Tribe, providing him with additional familiarity with the college’s mission and values.

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Media Contact: Jeff Blumb, 920.328.5454 or media@blumbcc.com

In April, the College of Menominee Nation and the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). The purpose of this agreement is for the tribe and the College to collaborate to meet the needs of the Menominee community. With respect to both mental health and substance abuse, this MOA will serve to provide opportunities for the College’s Substance Abuse Counselor students striving to provide resources to assist the Menominee community in being healthy.

The Menominee Indian Tribe will pay the last two semesters for students in the Substance Abuse Counselor program, provide paid internships with Maehnowesekiyah Wellness Center for students, and will assist students with the certification process and obtaining permanent employment in the Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse (AODA) field. The College will provide accredited instruction leading students to receiving an Associate of Applied Science degree in Substance Abuse Counselor while also actively recruiting students to the program with collaboration of the tribe, Menominee community, and surrounding communities.

The Substance Abuse Counselor program has been at the College since the fall of 2018. Students in the program are provided with thorough counseling techniques that are specific for substance abuse services. Upon completion of the program, graduates will be able to determine a client’s eligibility to services, consult with professionals, administer developmental appropriate substance abuse assessments, formulate treatment plans, implement evidence-based, culturally sensitive counseling techniques, and more.

The College of Menominee Nation is an accredited tribal college with 19 programs of study, ranging from technical diplomas to baccalaureate degrees, and is open to all.