The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 42, No. 2 - 106

Verna J. Kirkness * Ray Barnhardt

which organize them become destabilized and
reshaped.
For universities that are seriously committed to ﬁnding ways to create a more hospitable
climate for First Nations students, the institutional implications of such border negotiations
can be far-reaching. Tierney (1991), building
on Giroux's form of critical analysis, outlines
what he sees as some of the steps that need to
be considered:
I am suggesting that organizations need to be
constructed where minority students' lives
are celebrated and afﬁrmed throughout the
culture of the institution. The point is not
simply to have a Native American Studies
Center or a course or two devoted to Native
peoples. Minority students need institutions
that create the conditions where the students
not only celebrate their own histories but also
are helped to examine critically how their
lives are shaped and molded by society's
forces. Such a theoretical suggestion has
implications for virtually all areas of the
organization - from how we organize student
affairs, to the manner in which we construct
knowledge, from the role of assessment, to
the role of the college president.
Clearly, such "theoretical suggestions" for
comprehensive reform are not likely to spread
like wildﬁre through college campuses, but
that does not mean that systemic changes are
not possible; in fact, they are already happening. The most promising sign on the horizon
of First Nations people exercising responsibility and increasing participation in the arena of
higher education is the burgeoning number of
First Nations post-secondary/adult education
initiatives, both within and outside existing institutions across the U.S. and Canada. Examples
range from the 24 Tribal Colleges in the U.S. to

106

the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College, the
Nicola Valley Institute of Technology, the Secwepemc Cultural Education Society, the James
Bay Education Centre, the Gabriel Dumont
Institute, the First Nations House of Learning,
and many other similar First Nations institutions across Canada, all of which are having a
marked effect on the level of participation and
success of First Nations students (Boyer, 1989;
Chrisjohn & Mrochuk, 1990).
The structure and focus of each of these
institutions vary greatly, with services aimed
at clientele ranging from the local community
to national levels, and with program emphases
ranging from adult and vocational education to

. . . First Nations people are
creating a more comprehensive
deﬁnition of "education" and
reafﬁrming their right to respect
and self-determination.

graduate level programs. Typical program offerings are in the areas of band/tribal/municipal
self-government, rural/community/economic
development, Native/Indian/Aboriginal law,
land claims and natural resources management, Native teacher education, First Nations
health and social services, Native language
revitalization, First Nations performing and
creative arts, and adult education/literacy development. Underlying all of these programs

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 42, No. 2

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