When University student Carina Miller came to campus from the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Central Oregon, she experienced the culture shock of a lifetime. Born and raised on the reservation, Miller left behind the only life she ever knew in exchange for a college education.
“I came straight from 18 years of knowing nothing but reservation life to college,” Miller said.
It wasn’t until last year that Miller got involved with the University’s Native American Student Union. When she finally found a home away from home, she couldn’t believe it took her so long to join.
“Though we always say we are the minority of the minorities, people don’t realize how true that is,” Miller said.
Miller served as the co-director of NASU last year, which opened up a world of opportunities for the ambitious student-leader. While she claims she got nudged into the position, Miller admitted that without the job experience she never would have become involved with the ASUO Senate, of which she is currently a member, the United States Student Association or the Multicultural Center, where she works.
Now a fourth-year student, Miller said graduating from college is considered to be a great success on many reservations.
“NASU isn’t just for Native students,” Miller said. “It’s a community for us and we’ve become a family. But I think we particularly need education for students that don’t know about us. Native American issues are not always taught in the classroom. I feel like it’s our responsibility to teach people about conditions of reservation life, because if we don’t, who else is going to?”
Miller recalled an incident from her freshman year when her anthropology professor asked her to take over lecture. The class focused on Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest, and when her professor asked her to teach a lecture, Miller had mixed feelings.
“I appreciated that they realized I probably knew more about it than they did, but still…” Miller trailed off. “Then kids in the class started asking if I ride horses and live in teepees, and I’d say, ‘Do I look like I do?’”
Miller stood at the front of the room, amazed students didn’t realize she lived in a house and shopped at Safeway, just like the rest of the student body. Once she explained Native Americans are not an extinct population, the interrogation evolved into a learning process.
“I’ve never felt more Indian than I do here,” Miller said. “I’m always pointed out as Indian and people sometimes ask me to speak for the whole Indian nation.”
University student and NASU Ambassador Rachel Cushman joined three years ago and has been an officer with NASU ever since. In her leadership role this year, Cushman hopes to preserve many of the cultural traditions.
NASU meets on Thursdays at 6 p.m. at the Many Nations Longhouse behind the School of Law. The cultural nights include potlucks, mingling and other various activities such as beadmaking.
Cushman added that NASU differs from many other student groups because of the diversity of its members and inclusion of community members and values. NASU includes elders, children, faculty, staff and students.
Assistant Vice Provost Tom Ball, a Klamath tribal member who works in the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity, serves as the liaison between the University and the nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon. Ball said University President Dave Frohnmayer implemented an advisory board comprising representatives from each tribe.
Ball also said he helps implement the University’s diversity plan with the units he oversees, such as the College of Education, the School of Law, and the Lundquist College of Business.
“I think the diversity plan is brilliant in the way it’s set up,” Ball said. “It allows the units to go at their own pace, issue a self report card and assess where they are at.”
Ball agreed with Miller and Cushman that preserving ethnic diversity needs to be a high priority.
“You’ve got people who weren’t before now talking about diversity,” Ball said. “The plan is not perfect. We have a long way to go. But with ripple effects, it’ll work. It’s alive and continuing; it can’t just sit on a shelf. We need to review it every year.”
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