Native Faculty, Higher Education, Racism, and Survival

Abstract

My first ten years at a state university in the Midwest were horrible years! In this time I experienced much hostility and racism in a “college culture,” which to me was “distinctly alien and unfriendly.” The message, as stated by Jon Reyhner, was “subtle but clear, you are not welcome here.” It had reached the point, after a number of years, where I was consulting attorneys for a possible racial discrimination lawsuit against the university. Then, a new president took over and reinstated my program, American Indian Studies and Dakota Studies (AISDS) and my position as associate professor. What I propose to do in this article is recite and comment on some of the horrible racist acts that happened to me over the past ten years; mention the sources of support for my program, positions, and for me personally; and discuss what it is like now in the year . Another purpose of this account is to serve as encouragement for younger Native faculty and to convey the message that it is possible for Indigenous faculty to survive in a hostile and racist environment such as higher education institutions are.