Tepee incident upsets Indian students

By GAIL SCHONTZLER, Chronicle Staff Writer

Dusty Rose Hirsch was mad Monday when she found out that the Plains Indian tepee that she and other American Indian students had erected on the Montana State University campus had been defaced.

"I'm kind of outraged," said Hirsch, 23, a Blackfeet and senior in elementary education.

The tepee has stood for about three weeks on the north side of Wilson Hall, near the door to the American Indian Council Resource Center, the support center and hangout for MSU's Indian students.

Someone had written the F-word on the tepee canvas, followed by "IN," which the students speculated was intended to mean Indian, said Campus Police Chief Robert Putzke.

The graffiti was small -- only about 12 inches long -- but it upset several of the Indian students who gathered Monday at the resource center.

"I love it here," said Brad Hall, 19, American Indian Council co-president, and other students agreed.

Still, the incident underscored their unease at being a minority on campus -- even a campus that's working hard to make them feel welcome and comfortable.

"We do want this campus to be warm and inviting for all students, particularly students of diverse backgrounds," said MSU President Geoff Gamble.

But according to the Indian students, slurs and slights aren't uncommon.

Mary Lee Not Afraid, 22, a nursing major and Crow, said she got an ugly series of instant messages recently while working on the Internet at her home in married student housing.

An anonymous writer, using the name psychoticserenity, called her a "welfare bunny," "prairie nig" and "you stupid f---ing indian."

"It got worse and worse," she said. "I clicked off."

Other students recalled getting the cold shoulder from girls on a dorm floor, gruff treatment from store clerks, racial insults from guys yelling from passing cars downtown, and having no one talk to them in a class of 300 students.

Hall said it's tough to go from being in the majority on a reservation to being in the minority on campus.

The tepee is a symbol of Indian people, Hall said. "My grandparents, their grandparents were all taught to be ashamed of themselves. It's things like this that (make us wonder) -- Should we be ashamed of ourselves?"

"There are a lot of folks who aren't prejudiced," said Dustin Walter, 30, a nursing student and Blackfeet. "We want to place shame and guilt on people who pull these kinds of stunts."

Jim Burns, MSU's Native American student advisor, sees the tepee incident as isolated.

"It's small, but when people are hurt it doesn't have to be large," he said. On the other hand, "We've come a long ways on this campus. Overall, I think we've got a great campus with a lot of support."

One of Gamble's goals is to make MSU the "campus of choice" for Montana Indians. He is hoping to form a Council of Elders to advise him, and raise money to build a new Native American student center.

Gamble is proud that Indian freshman enrollment doubled this fall, although he conceded it had started low.

"We have a lot more to do yet," Gamble said.

Gail Schontzler is at gails@dailychronicle.com

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