COLUMN: Native studies is falsely advertised

Whenever I tell people I’m from northern Illinois, I tend to hear one of two questions: “What brought you to South Dakota?” or “Is that near the Quad Cities?”

As far as the Quad Cities are concerned, I have no idea. We Illinoisans tend to be more Chicago-central. But the reason I chose the University of South Dakota is simple: There was no better place to simultaneously pursue my interests in media and Native American studies.

Or so I thought.

Google “Native Studies” and there’s USD, second only to Wikipedia. After a few clicks around the page you see an advertisement of the university’s uniquely superior access to Native history and culture, the benefits of a background in the discipline to many career paths and a course catalog of interesting class titles. As a high school senior far removed from the everyday campus atmosphere, it made sense to me that USD was the place to be.

The reality was much more disappointing. Ours is a department with one professor, a handful of students and little credibility in the eyes of the administration. Friends of mine have had to defend the purpose of a major in Native Studies in the first place even to faculty members.

The Oral History Center — housed in the musty and otherwise deserted basement of Dakota Hall — is apparently facing an even worse fate: closure as a separate growing entity and transferal to the campus library’s special collections, which I’ve heard described as “where things go to die.” The Lakota Language Education Action Program (LLEAP) is also rumored to be dissolving because of lack of enrollment.

This isn’t what I signed up for.

I’m naïve, but I’m not stupid. A lot of this comes down to money, and every department in the university wants more of it. Besides, there are shoddy campus apartments to build, statues to erect, MUCs to expand. Why should a department with barely more than 10 students even be considered when there are so many more immediate needs? This isn’t an unreasonable question.

A better question, though, is this: Why shouldn’t USD be the Native Studies capital of the world? We’ve got one of the largest oral history collections in the country, we’re a day’s drive from historic sites like Wounded Knee and history is being made here every day. We’ve joined Division I athletics, our medical programs are expanding, our campus is growing.

Why not take the next step and make the Native Studies department the envy of all others? There is a market for it. I’ve known students who’ve come to USD from as far away as Atlanta, Ga., specifically for the Native Studies program. Heck, I’m only here because of the opportunity I thought I would have: to learn the other side of history and what happened after the writers of the history books stopped paying attention.

Why put money into a system with low enrollment? Let me ask you this: Why would a prospective student enroll in a program with such obvious lack of support? What reason have current students to remain? It could be I didn’t do enough research before choosing USD, but looking back I feel more like I was deceived.

The university has no problem showing pictures from powwows on the website’s front page as a sign of diversity, but one week of Native-centered events a year isn’t going to cut it. As a hardworking student with tuition to pay, I’m discouraged by the worry I may not even attain the degree that led me to this place. I’m discouraged seeing my talented professors worn out by an uncertain future and by watching my classmates — my friends — fight to make not just a student body but an administration understand our discipline is important enough to warrant attention. I’m discouraged because, as nothing more than a hardworking student with tuition to pay, I don’t know what I can do to change it.

Then again, maybe I shouldn’t complain. At least there is a Native Studies department here, unlike anything closer to home. Like I said, that’s why I came to USD. I just wish I didn’t have to spend so much time wondering if it was worth the trip.