Native Education Resources for the Southwest Region

Training, Technical Assistance, Information, and Support Resources

The organizations in this section offer professional development, curriculum materials, and other supportive services on a broad array of topics. Some of the organizations here target their services specifically to the education of American Indian students while others concern themselves with the educational needs of all culturally and linguistically diverse students.

American Indian Institute

Anita Chisholm, Director
American Indian Institute
University of Oklahoma
College of Continuing Education
555 Constitution Ave., Suite 237
Norman, OK 73072-7820
http://www.occe.ou.edu/aii
aii@cce.occe.uoknor.edu
(800) 522-0772 ext. 4127 / (405) 325-4127 / Fax: (405) 325-7757

Established at the University of Oklahoma in 1951 as a nonprofit Indian service, training, and research organization, the institute promotes Indian education and research; promotes training and career development opportunities; supports the development of human and natural resources; helps perpetuate tribal/band cultures, traditions, and histories; and facilitates the use of the University of Oklahoma's resources by tribes, bands, organizations, and groups. The institute delivers its services on a state, regional, national, and international basis via workshops, seminars, conferences, on-site consultation, and technical assistance. This institute also is under contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to provide assistance to Head Start Programs in New Mexico, Oklahoma, and 23 other states not in SEDL's region.

American Indian Law Center

Heidi H. Nesbitt, Administrative Director
American Indian Law Center
P.O. Box 4456, Station A
Albuquerque, NM 87196
(505) 277-5462 / Fax: (505) 277-1035

The American Indian Law Center, established in 1967, provides training and technical resources in the areas of Indian law and policy to tribes, Indian organizations, and other governmental organizations. It also helps develop management capabilities and information systems, specializing in such areas as Indian child welfare and tribal-state relations. The center's pre-law summer institute is an eight-week program designed to prepare students for the rigors of law school. Applicants must be members of a federally-recognized tribe, have a bachelors degree, have taken the LSAT, and applied to an ABA-accredited law school. A small living allowance and some travel assistance are provided.

American Indian Library Association (AILA)

John Berry, Vice President/President-elect (1998-99)
Assistant Professor
Humanities/Social Sciences Reference Department
Edmon Low Library
Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, OK 74078
BerryJ@okway.okstate.edu
(405) 744-9772 / Fax: (405) 744-5183

AILA is a membership action group that addresses the library-related needs of American Indians and Alaska Natives. Members are individuals and institutions interested in the development of programs to improve Indian library, cultural, and informational services in school, public, and research libraries on reservations. AILA is also committed to disseminating information about Indian cultures, languages, values, and information needs to the library community. Established in 1979, AILA cosponsors an annual conference and publishes the American Indian Libraries Newsletter.

American Indian Research and Development, Inc.

Stuart Tonemah, President or Mary Ann Brittan, Vice President
American Indian Research and Development, Inc.
2233 West Lindsey, Suite 118
Norman, OK 73069
airdsat@ionet.net (Stuart Tonemah) or airdmab@ionet.net (Mary Ann Brittan)
(405) 364-0656 / Fax: (405) 364-5464

This nonprofit organization conducts research and provides technical assistance and education training services to American Indian gifted and talented students, parents, tribes, and others serving American Indian students. It helps with proposal development and conducts evaluations. Established in 1982, AIRD, Inc. also offers leadership training for Indian students and parents, and recruits American Indians and Alaska Natives to the National Marrow Donor program.

Common Thread Educational Resources Foundation

Jean Yoder, President
Common Thread Educational Resources Foundation
P. O. Box 1114
Espaola, NM 87532
(505) 747-1072 / Fax: (505) 747-1107

Common Thread Educational Resources Foundation is a nonprofit entity that conducts workshops for elementary school teachers and administrators. This foundation also is available for consulting and program development, particularly with regards to cultural preservation, heritage and tradition, and the wide social environment. Common Thread Educational Resources Foundation is the nonprofit arm of Juniper Learning, Inc.

Community Development Institute (CDI)

Paula Pesits, Coordinator
Community Development Institute
3812 Central Ave SE, Rm 205
Albuquerque, NM 87108
cdiworks@aol.com
(888) 854-5867 / (505) 265-8344 / Fax: (505) 265-8344

CDI is a nonprofit organization established to provide consultation, technical assistance, and training on topics such as early childhood education, management, and social services to public and private agencies. In particular, CDI provides training and consultation for the development of community-based early childhood education programs. CDI provides these services by conducting training on-site or at its central facility and by organizing and sponsoring conferences.

Education for Parents of Indian Children with Special Needs (EPICS) Project

Martha Gorospe, Director
EPICS Project
Southwest Communication Resources
P. O. Box 788
Bernalillo, NM 87004
epics@highfiber.com
(800) 765-7320 / (505) 867-3396 / TDD: (505) 867-3396 / Fax: (505) 867-3398

The EPICS Project is a national parent training and information center for American Indian families who have children and youth with special needs. Its two major goals are: (1) to provide training and information directly to Indian parents to facilitate their active involvement in meeting their children's educational and health care needs, and (2) to enhance the capability of institutions and organizations to involve Indian parents in their children's educational and health care programs. The project has provided training and information to more than 2,000 Indian families and developed and distributed parent training modules and videotapes. All EPICS materials are developed by Indian parents or by consultants with assistance from Indian parents. EPICS also has a "mini-grant" program in which it allocates both technical assistance and financial resources to committed parent groups that serve American Indian families. Collaborative activities with these organizations may include community-based parent workshops, mini-conferences, or training for Indian parents who will, in turn, provide training in their home communities.

Educational Native American Network (ENAN)

Eugene Lott, Project Coordinator
ENAN Center for Technology and Education
University of New Mexico
Student Services Bldg., Rm. B-87
Albuquerque, NM 87131-1231
gene.lott@enan.unm.edu
(505) 277-7310 / Fax: (505) 277-5332

The Educational Native American Network (ENAN), which began in 1988, provides networking services to the Office of Indian Education Programs (OIEP) in the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) as well as teacher training and operating systems support (for Microsoft systems). Once nationwide networking was established in 1990, the ENAN Bulletin Board System was built to assist all OIEP programs, BIA teachers, students, and administrators in the assimilation of educational technology. The ENAN BBS facilitates collaboration among educators in curriculum development for mathematics and science education and teacher certification classes in Arizona and New Mexico.

Lannan Foundation

Janet Voorhees, Director
Indigenous Communities Program
Lannan Foundation
313 Read Street
Santa Fe, NM 87501
(800) 499-2253 (New Mexico only) (505) 954-5051 / Fax: (505) 986-3971

In 1994, Lannan Foundation established the Indigenous Communities Program, a national grant program focused on the urgent needs of rural Native American communities. This grant program supports the renewal of Native American communities through their own institutions and traditions. Funding priority is given to projects consistent with traditional values in the areas of education, Native cultures, the revival and preservation of languages, legal rights, and environmental protection. Lannan invites grant applications from federally recognized tribes and from nonprofit organizations for multi-year support. Projects must both serve and be controlled by Native people, including American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians. It is essential that applications show community support for the proposed project.

During 1999, the Foundation will be on hiatus from awarding grants. In the past, grants for language preservation have ranged from technical assistance grants under $2,000 to more than $500,000 for ongoing language immersion programs. In the Southwest, Lannan Foundation has awarded grants to the Comanche Language and Cultural Preservation Committee for its master apprentice language immersion program and to the Linguistic Institute for Native Americans for its work to train Keres-language speakers to become teachers in four pueblos in New Mexico.

Learning Technology Center

Paul Resta, Director
Learning Technology Center
Campus Mail: D5900
The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX 78712
http://www.edb.utexas.edu/ltc/ (Learning Technology Center)
http://4directions.org/ (Four Directions)
resta@mail.utexas.edu
(512) 471-4014 / Fax: (512) 471-4655

The Learning Technology Center (previously known as the Learning Resources Center) has existed for more than 20 years. In collaboration with the Texas Memorial Museum, the center helps American Indian communities and schools to develop and use computer-based materials that integrate current science concepts with traditional Native American wisdom.

Miami Tribe of Oklahoma

Karen Alexander, Library Director
Miami Tribe
P.O. Box 1326
Miami, OK 74355
miami+1@onenet.net or miami+8@onenet.net or kalexander@neonet.cc.ok.us
(918) 542-4505 or (918) 524-1445 / Fax: (918) 542-7260 The Miami Tribe of Oklahoma established a library in 1988. Although it originally served only American Indian elders, it is now open to the general public. The library has a special collection of materials on American Indian culture, language, and other topics; maintains a large selection of books, tapes, and videos; and offers computer classes to both children and adults. The library attracts people as far away as Europe. The Miami Tribe's library is the coordinating library for the CHARLIE Library Network, which joins the libraries of the Miami, Modoc, Ottawa, Peoria, Quapaw, Eastern Shawnees, and Seneca-Cayuga Tribes in northeastern Oklahoma. Some of these libraries are reference libraries; some check out materials.

National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE)

James J. Lyons, Executive Director
National Association for Bilingual Education
1220 L Street, NW, Suite 605
Washington, DC 20005-4081
http://www.nabe.org/
nabe@nabe.org
(202) 898-1829 / Fax: (202) 789-2866

NABE is a national nonprofit professional membership and advocacy organization dedicated to promoting educational equity and excellence through multilingual, multicultural education. NABE publishes a newsletter and journal and holds an annual conference. The newsletter, NABE News, has a regular column titled "American Indian Bilingual Education," and the journal, Bilingual Research Journal, has featured many articles on Native language issues. The annual conference usually has sessions devoted to Native language issues as well.

National Clearinghouse for English language Acquisition (NCELA)

Joel Gomez, Director
National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education
Center for Language and Education
The George Washington University
2011 Eye Street, NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20006
http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/ (home page)
askncbe@ncbe.gwu.edu
(800) 321-NCBE / (202) 467-0867 / Fax: (202) 531-9347 (800) 321-6223 / Fax: (202) 467-4283

As part of the U.S. Department of Education's technical assistance and information network, NCBE provides information related to the effective education of linguistically and culturally diverse learners. NCBE's web site has an excellent on-line library and links pertaining to education, bilingual education, and languages. NCBE encourages Native American communities to submit materials for inclusion in its database and to contact NCBE to discuss joint publications or Internet activities.

National Indian Telecommunications Institute (NITI)

Karen Buller, President and CEO
National Indian Telecommunications Institute (NITI)
110 N. Guadalupe, Suite 9
Santa Fe, NM 87501
http://www.niti.org/
(505) 986-3872 / Fax: (505) 989-4271

The National Indian Telecommunications Institute (NITI) is a Native-founded and Native-run organization. NITI's services include: (1) Internet training at both the K-12 and higher education levels, (2) web design, (3) web site storage, (4) listserv management for indigenous groups, (5) technical support, and (6) specialized list server set up. Its web site offers many other links to resources for Native Americans and to science, mathematics, or general education resources. NITI has developed technological infrastructures, provided training and teacher support, and assisted in curriculum development of culturally sensitive applications. Teachers of Native American students who live in remote areas may access the Internet through NITI's Internet server and an 800 dial-up modem connection. NITI also offers internships for American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students

Native American Research and Training Center

Robert S. Young, Ph.D., Information Officer
Native American Research and Training Center
Department of Family and Community Medicine
University of Arizona
1642 East Helen St.
Tucson, AZ 85719
rsy@aruba.ccit.arizona.edu
(520) 621-5075 / TDD: (520) 621-5075 / Fax: (520) 621-9802

The primary mission of the Native American Research and Training Center is to conduct research and training projects that help improve the quality of life of Native Americans with chronic diseases and disabilities within a context that emphasizes culturally sensitive and culturally appropriate methods. NARTC's current activities include projects in disability and rehabilitation, diabetes, cancer, substance abuse, and leadership.

Native American Research Information Service (NARIS)

Sue Koskela or Steve Lasko, NARIS Specialists
College of Continuing Education
University of Oklahoma
555 E. Constitution St., Bldg. 4, Suite 237
Norman, OK 73072-7820
http://tel.occe.ou.edu/aii/NARIS.htm (no longer available 9/9/2003)
aii@cce.occe.uoknor.edu
(800) 522-0772, ext. 4127 / (405) 325-4127 / Fax: (405) 325-7757

NARIS is a comprehensive, computerized database containing abstracts of published and unpublished research focusing on Native American human and economic development from 1969 to the present. The studies are classified under topical areas that can be retrieved by computer, and each study reference typically includes bibliographic information, funding source, document location, type of study, tribe, geographic location, index terms, and a brief abstract of the study contents. This literature bank contains nearly 14,000 entries which can be accessed to retrieve specific information of interest to tribal leaders and planners, researchers, government agencies, businesses, and more. With a single search, all available research on a given topic can be accessed and provided for a small fee.

Three Feathers Associates

Antonia Dobrec, President
Three Feathers Associates
P. O. Box 5508
Norman,OK 73070
http://www.Threefeathersassoc.com
Info@threefeathersassoc.com
(405) 360-2919 / Fax: (405) 360-3069

Three Feathers Associates (TFA) is a nonprofit corporation established in 1980 by three Indian women. Having worked in tribal communities for more than 17 years, TFA is dedicated to promoting the health, education, and welfare of American Indians and Alaska Natives. As a Head Start Region XI Disabilities Services Quality Improvement Center (DSQIC), TFA provides training and technical assistance to all Indian Head Start programs with a focus on improving program performance and building staff and program capacity. TFA's Management Consultant Services division provides on-site training and technical assistance, seminars and workshops, conferences, brokerage services, tele-conferencing, and distance learning.

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