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Minnesota Commissioner of Education Heather Mueller, from left, tribal liaison for the Minnesota Department of Education Melanie Franks and assistant commissioner for the office of teaching and learning Bobbie Burnham observe the Introduction to Indigenous Nations course at Yellow Medicine East High School in Granite Falls on Oct. 25. Students earn both high school and college credits in the course.
Linda Vanderwerf / West Central Tribune
Minnesota education commissioner visits Yellow Medicine East to observe college course on Indigenous nations
Students who take Introduction to Indigenous Nations and an accompanying study skills course at Yellow Medicine East High School will earn four college credits. School officials hope the course will give a foot in the door for some students who would be first-generation college students.
GRANITE FALLS — A group of high school students in Granite Falls are learning the authentic story of the state’s Indigenous nations while taking a new course at Yellow Medicine East High School.
Minnesota Education Commissioner Heather Mueller and members of her staff visited the school to observe the class this week, part of a state government effort to expand relationships and understanding with Minnesota’s indigenous communities.
A total of 17 students are enrolled in Introduction to Indigenous Nations. Students who complete the course will earn both high school and college credits.
Taught by Adam Savariego, the students are learning the different views through history of how Indigenous people came to be in what would later be the United States.
Savariego formerly taught at Southwest Minnesota State University. and is now on the faculty of Minnesota West Community College in Granite Falls. He is also a board member of the Upper Sioux Community near Granite Falls.
During a class period this week, Savariego talked with the students about the different stories about how the Dakota came to what is now Minnesota.
“There have always been non-Indigenous people writing Dakota origin stories,” he said.
He talked to them about how researchers dug up Dakota burial mounds to do research beginning in the 19th Century. That continued for about 100 years, until the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act went into effect in the 1990s.
Mounds that remain are protected and are not to be disturbed, he said.
Savariego talked about the roles both sexes played in Dakota culture and explained the symbolism related to the roles.
For example, only women set up a tipi. It begins with three poles, symbolizing mother, father and children, “the foundation of the home itself,” he said.
Four poles are added next, and the buffalo robe or wrap is added, symbolizing unconditional love of grandparents.
Students in the course said they have enjoyed it.
“I wanted to learn more about my history,” said senior Nevaeh Chaparro. “All this is important knowledge that we should know but were never taught. When this class showed up, I knew it was the time.”
A lot of people should take the course, said senior Atrinity Tipton.
Studying the culture “opens your mind to other things you never knew,” she said. “I thought I knew a good chunk of my history, but I didn’t.”
Leah Schueler, the district’s success coach and integration coordinator, said the course offers a college-provided instructor in Savariego and gives students a first step toward college.
“We worked hard to bring it to YME,” said Berta Bjerkeset, the district’s Indian education director.
Superintendent Rich Schneider said the district had been looking for more opportunities to introduce students to higher education, especially for those who would be the first generation in their families to attend college.
The three-credit course is paired with a one-credit freshman seminar, a course that covers study skills and other information that can help students make the transition to college.
The courses provide the equivalent of one high school credit in social studies for the students. It meets for two hours three days a week. The freshman seminar meets one day a week.
Bringing college courses to the high school eliminates the need for transportation to the Minnesota West campus on the other side of town, which is not practical at times, Schneider said.
Mueller said courses like Introduction to Indigenous Nations are important to engage Indigenous students and expand access to the information for all students.
“The ability to expand access means that more students have the opportunity to participate, not only our students who are Dakota or Ojibwe,” Mueller said, “but also our students who are non-native students, who need to be able to learn not only the historical but the current context of the tribal nations in the state.”
Mueller said it’s important for the state to “make a purposeful decision” to be sure that the state’s tribal nations have their histories be recognized and be taught accurately.
Instructor Adam Savariego talks with students during the Introduction to Indigenous Cultures class Oct. 25, 2022, at Yellow Medicine East High School in Granite Falls. Students in the first-time course will earn both high school and college credits on completion.
Linda Vanderwerf / West Central Tribune