| For the American Indian community, when one student advances, the entire community advances. And while the student should be proud of his or her accomplishments, it is also important for them to remember from whence they came and received support and guidance. And so, when American Indian students graduate, it is time for the entire community to celebrate. On May 5, the first Madison All-City American Indian & Alaskan Native Graduation Ceremony was held in the MATC H. Douglas Redsten Gymnasium. The Native American staff and their supporters from area educational institutions under the auspices of an American Indian Council established by MATC planned and implemented the event. Opening songs were presented by the Thundercloud Singers and Winnebago Sons. After an invocation by Wilfrid Cleveland of the Ho Chunk Nation, Sandra Whitehawk, co-founder of First Nations Orphan Association and former MATC multicultural services advisor gave the keynote address. "Community is central to any student achievement and success" Whitehawk said in an interview after the ceremony. "The Madison Indian community is the first Indian community that really nurtured me and took me in and brought me into that first phase of my journey toward healing, having been raised outside of culture. I was adopted and raised by a White family." "It is important to understand and know four essential questions in life," Whitehawk continued. "Who am I? Where do I come from? Where am I going? And what am I doing? When we understand those questions, we know that we come from a place where our ancestors have brought us and we have a sense of history. And when we do anything, we should keep that in mind and everything we do in our personal career or personal lives, we always make sure that we're adding to pride and dignity and those values that make us strong. I hope that if you're in balance, there will be a natural balance between you as an individual and community. You know your limits and what you can and can't do. And truly, if everyone is doing what they are called to do, then there just should be that balance." One of the students honored at the ceremony was Jake Swamp, an East High School senior graduating with a 3.7 GPA who received some serious attention from high-powered schools, especially because Swamp loved math and science and had taken classes like calculus BC. Last summer, he attended the College Horizons program that connects promising American Indian students with higher education opportunities. Representatives from Cornell University were impressed with Swamp. "During the school year, I was flown out to Cornell University," Swamp said. "They paid for the flight and everything. They were sort of my first choice after that. They actually had a dorm for Native American students. It had wampum belt symbol on it because that is the Iroquois area there. All of the Iroquois tribes share the wampum belt. I also liked the classes that I sat in on." Swamp will be attending Cornell University's engineering program this fall. After deciding what his parents can pay, Cornell University will be taking care of all other educational and living expenses. The American Indian community does indeed have much to celebrate. |
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| Madison All-City American Indian & Alaskan Native Graduation Community achievement By Jonathan Gramling |
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