IAIA and New Zealand Begin Student Exchange Program

Santa Fe—With the resolve of Tumatauenga, the Maori god of war, three warriors advance with deadly concentration, focusing their utmost attention on the group of foreigners that now stand on Maori land.

These foreigners come to share their similar struggle with the native people of New Zealand, but must first prove their true intentions to the skeptical nation whose warriors they now face.

These visitors are not white tourists, empty politicians with false promises, or hopeful conquerors. They are from various tribes and nations in the United States; they are American Indians, and representatives of nearly a dozen tribal colleges. With the acceptance of the Rautapu, the fern offered by the Maori warriors, the visitors welcome the challenge with humility, prove their honorable intentions, and are welcomed into Te Wananga O Aotoearoa, the tribal college of New Zealand.

Among the visitors to TWOA in February 2002 was Della Warrior, president of the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This was not her first time meeting the representatives of TWOA, and definitely not her last. This historic meeting was one of many that led IAIA and TWOA into a student exchange program and beginning native language retention. Beginning such a program has been no small feat, but today, this accomplishment can be summed up by the formation of a new international organization known as the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium, or WINHEC.

Formed Aug. 5, 2002 in Kananaskis, Alberta, WINHEC currently consists of members from Australia, the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, the First Nations Higher Education Consortium of Canada, the Association of Te Wananga of New Zealand, Hawaii and Alaska. The mission of WINHEC is to pursue common goals for indigenous people through higher education.

According to their mission statement, which supports the UN Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, indigenous people have "the right to teach cultural traditions, the right to establish and control their own educational systems and the right for indigenous children living outside their communities to be provided with a form of education in state schools and to have their culture and traditions reflected in the life of the school."

Della Warrior points out that what is being learned from TWOA is revitalization, and retention of native languages. "Thirty years ago, 70 percent of the Maori people couldn't’t speak Maori. So they had this very intensive language program for the past 30 years, and [those figures have] just reversed. Now 70 percent of the Maori people can speak Maori." These language retention classes, pioneered by native islanders and often referred to as "language nests," have been used before in the United States.

In 1980, Mohawk parents and individuals concerned with the lack of traditional education their children were receiving founded the Akwesasne Freedom School. By 1985 the Akwesasne Freedom School had adopted the New Zealand and Hawaiian models of language immersion, and within a year Akwesasne had begun to create fluent speakers of the Mohawk language.

Based on the success of the Akwesasne, Hawaiian and New Zealand programs, the Blackfoot tribe of Montana founded a school known as the Nizipuhwahsin Center in 1995. Students are immersed in the Blackfoot language from kindergarten through eighth grade, receiving English only as a second language. Currently, IAIA is exploring the possibility of bringing such models of language revitalization to its students.

"We were very intrigued by how the Maori had managed to reverse the language loss," Warrior stated. "I have been trying to figure out how we can do something like that here. At our school we have so many different tribes, it’s hard to do that." According to Warrior, adopting such a program would involve setting up a teacher-training program for Native language instructors. Instructors would acquire teaching credentials, teaching techniques, and help in adapting technology to their teaching styles.

Currently the exchange program is only open to IAIA museum studies graduates. IAIA hopes to send four students this summer to New Zealand to assist with TWOA’s development of a museum studies program. TWOA will provide room and board while IAIA will pay for half the airfare. Because of the aggravation of obtaining international work permits, students will not be able to work while in New Zealand, and TWOA will most likely provide a living stipend of some sort for visiting students.

Exchange students must produce one piece of artwork for the respective campus they are visiting. Internees must participate in all school activities, including cultural ceremonies and activities when appropriate. Students cannot perform any action that will bring either institution any disrepute, and "cannot enter into any relationship or partnership on an emotional basis, i.e., matrimonial type relationships etc., for the duration of the internship," according to current criteria. Students must also have a diploma, but it is unclear whether this is for the two-year or four-year program.

While students from IAIA will be helping to create exhibits and assist in the pioneering of a museum studies program in New Zealand this summer, in the future, Maori students will hopefully be able to share some of their many art forms, ideas, and stories with IAIA students.

"It’s all about self-determination, and being in charge of our own future," Warrior says.