In her dreams Cindy Peterson sees the creation of an American Indian Center at Augsburg College. It would be a place for both Augsburg students and the broader Native American community to come together to learn, to share, and to find new and exciting ways to provide much-needed outreach services to the Indian community.

"A few years ago, College officials were contacted by someone who said they were giving the American Indian Student Services Program (AISSP) $11 million," Peterson, who is director of the program, commented wistfully. "The offer turned out to be a hoax, but it gave me some time to do some 'fantasy dreaming,' and in that dream was the creation of this American Indian Center—a structure or space that would accommodate AISSP, American Indian Studies, and serve as a meeting space. Of course, there also would be additional staff including a full-time recruiter and a full-time administrative assistant," she added with a smile.

The personnel issue, in fact, might be even more important than the center, Peterson pointed out, in terms of helping her program grow beyond where it has been and is today—the longest-running program of its kind in the upper Midwest and one of just a few headquartered at a private college.

During these 25 years, Augsburg has been fortunate to have the program operate under just two directors—Bonnie Wallace, who served from the founding in 1978 until 1996, and Peterson, who was Wallace's assistant for nearly 10 years before succeeding her when Wallace left to return to a position at the Fond du Lac Reservation in northern Minnesota.

"This program has had success, I believe, because of that stability," Peterson said. "Stability, consistency, and continuity, along with scholarship and grant support, have been the keys."

Founded by a grant from Honeywell, the program has been on the receiving end of corporate and foundation grants that have now brought it to the point where a full-blown American Indian Studies major will be implemented in the coming year. The major is just the latest step in what has been a 25-year series of successes, including a three-year grant from the Joyce Foundation to make Augsburg's the only endowed American Indian Student Services Program in the five-state region.

In 1990, an American Indian Studies minor was implemented—"a huge attraction for both native and non-native students alike," Peterson said. And, Augsburg is the only private college in Minnesota to be designated an official Minnesota Teacher Training Partner, offering grants and loans to Native American students interested in becoming teachers.

The in-the-classroom leadership for American Indian Studies is directed by Eric Buffalohead, a member of the Ponca Tribe who wrote his Ph.D. dissertation on "The Life Story of a Dakota Man," which chronicles the life of a 20th-century urban Indian. He is assisted this year by instructors Robert Danforth, Dale Weston, and Sophia Jacobson.

"I think scholarship money has been a key to the success of students here," Peterson said. "Bonnie [Wallace] was aggressive in finding such dollars and helped create some big endowed scholarship funds. A Joyce Foundation grant helped hire my position, and at one point we had two people working with up to 65 students each year. Now we're in the 30-35 range, which is about as many as one person can handle."

Another major boost for the American Indian program came from the efforts of comedian Louie Anderson, who performed two benefit concerts in the early 1990s—one at Augsburg, the other at Northrup Auditorium—to raise money for a scholarship in the name of his brother Kent.

The program has had about 150 graduates and a similar number who have taken courses. Many graduates have continued on to earn advanced degrees. Several students have returned to Augsburg for a Master of Social Work degree after first completing Augsburg's bachelor's degree program in social work. One such student is Noya Woodrich, who also serves as a mentor for Augsburg¹s newly-created Scholastic Connections program. And, a recent grad, Ben Burgess, is at the University of California-Davis working toward a Ph.D. in Ojibwe language. When he completes that program, he'll be the first in the nation to hold such a degree.

The Augsburg program also has been home to family connections, including Burgess and his sister Meredith Gaulden; sisters Carole (Moran) Renner and Gail (Moran) Warzyniak; mother and daughter Yvonne Leith and Nicole Funaro; and the Bruce and Ertl familes who had brother, mother, and daughter—Richard Bruce, Shirley Ertl, and Michelle Ertl—all graduate in 1992. The Genia brothers, Tony Jr. and Jim, went on to successful careers in law and medicine, respectively; and one other mother-daughter combination, Angie O'Keefe and Anne O'Keefe, earned the long-distance commute award when Angie commuted from Morton in western Minnesota to earn her degree from the Weekend College program.

"Our alumni have been active, but I would like to get more of them involved. We need more networking; we need an alumni scholarship fund; and we need an alumni advisory board," Peterson said. "With that kind of support alongside our current students, we could do more outreach to the native communities, particularly to reservations that are near to us."

Peterson also envisions a nursing outreach program, similar to the one Augsburg currently runs at Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, which could be set up at the Indian Community Center to serve the urban Indian population. And, of course, there are the never-ending needs for scholarships of all kinds.

"I think we need scholarships to help graduate students, to help provide for living expenses so more students could live on campus, and to grow our endowed scholarship fund (currently at about $600,000) up to at least $1 million."

Peterson also would love to see the program play host to more conferences and seminars such as the American Indian Religious Freedom conference that attracted such luminaries as Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Daniel Inouye, and Paul Wellstone; and another exploring the use of American Indian mascots in the media.

"We've served a wonderful purpose with our program and helped a lot of students take a step forward, both for themselves and for other native people," Peterson said. "Now I hope we can take another step and be of even greater service to even more people and communities. There's so much to be done; and so much we can do if we can find a way to expand our program."

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BONNIE WALLACE:
Building the strong foundation

Bonnie Wallace has long been known as the first director of Augsburg's successful and long-running American Indian Student Services Program, but she says that "technically" it's not true.

"Believe it or not, I was not the first director," she noted. "I did serve on the task force chaired by then-dean of the College (and soon-to-be president) Charles Anderson, formed by President Oscar Anderson to explore the possibilities of creating an Indian presence on campus." That two-year study recommended the establishment of the program, which was funded by a three-year grant from the Honeywell Foundation.

Wallace was serving as a talent search counselor in the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe's TRIO program at the time, and agreed to continue helping the College by serving on the search committee for a director.

"We hired a native person with a strong connection to the National Indian Lutheran Board," she said. "Once he was hired I thought my work was done, but a week later, Charles Anderson (now president) contacted me to tell me the person worked one day and changed his mind. I half-heartedly said 'is it that dreadful over there?' I appreciated the fact that he was seeking my advice, though, and suggested several options. Finally, he said, 'What I really want is for you to come and work for me!' I about fell over and respectfully declined."

Wallace said the basis for her surprise and initial rejection was that she and Anderson had butted heads on many issues during the task force discussions, rarely agreeing on anything. However, after several months of continuing the conversation, she accepted the offer in 1978.

"The first month I was here I actually found two Indian students on campus and was thrilled," she said. "But that was short-lived since both were in the process of withdrawing from school."

However, Wallace soon developed a thriving, ever-expanding program. During her 18-year directorship, the program was recognized as having the highest retention and graduation rate (85 percent) for Indian support programs in the five-state region. Among the more than 100 graduates during those years was her own daughter, Melissa, who eventually returned for a second Augsburg degree as well. "Cindy Peterson's coming on board as my assistant was a huge factor in that success. It also afforded me the time to recruit and, again, our numbers increased."

During those formative years and yet today, Wallace attributes the success of the program to a host of factors: "Commitment of the College to the Indian community; generous scholarship donors; cooperation of other student support services; in- and outstate tribal support; qualified American Indian faculty; and 'individualized attention' given to dedicated, bright students combined with having expectations of them," she said. "We never enabled our students; rather, we taught them how the College system worked, what role each office played in their academic and personal lives."

Wallace also cited the strong support of people like Dr. Mildred Mueller and Pat Parker, and the efforts of Herald Johnson, assistant to the vice president for enrollment and market services. "His willingness, understanding, support, patience, and genuine respect for our work will always be something special to me," she said.

And, ultimately, despite their early differences, she points to Charles Anderson's support. "[It] was critical to our success, and in due time he and I simply had to agree to disagree on some issues. He is probably the only college president who supported the fact that Indian people do not consider themselves a 'minority.' He understood our status as 'political entities' and did not include our program under the guise of 'minority programs.' I will always be grateful for that autonomy that continues yet today."