HSU will host the 35th Annual California Conference on American Indian Education (CCAIE): Turning Vision Into Action, featuring vendors, presentations and performances by state and local experts, HSU students, faculty and staff.
Two leaders in American Indian education will be the keynote speakers: Mary Jane Oatman, President of the National Indian Education Association, and James C. Ramos, the first Native American member of the California State Board of Education. Tom Torkalson, California’s 27th Superintendent of Public Instruction, has also been invited to speak.
“Humboldt State University is proud to host the CCAIE for the first time it has been held on a university campus,” HSU President Rollin Richmond said. “HSU has a number of programs that support American Indian students, and we value the opportunity to learn more from our colleagues around the state about how to make these programs even better.”
The conference kicks-off at 10 a.m. Thursday, Mar. 15 with a series of workshops on indigenous languages hosted by the Live Your Language Alliance. Vendors will be on display from noon to 5 p.m. exhibiting American Indian arts and crafts. At 1 p.m., children are invited to participate in a hand game tournament. An opening reception will take place that evening from 6-11 p.m. at Blue Lake Casino, featuring local rock-and-roll legend Merv George. The cost is $10 and free for conference participants.
The conference wraps up Saturday, Mar. 17 with an evening of American Indian music, dance and storytelling from 6-11 p.m. Community members are invited to share their songs and stories.
The annual conference recognizes the achievements of educators, parents and students, honors American Indian elders, promotes academic excellence and educational opportunities and provides a networking forum. For information, visit humboldt.edu/ccaie.
For full and single day registration, visit humboldt.edu/ccaie/register (PDF).
HSU meets American Indian education needs with numerous academic and mentoring programs. The university’s graduate program in social work emphasizes tribal and rural communities and its Native Studies major is unique in the California State University system. HSU offers the Indian Natural Resource, Science & Engineering Program (INRSEP) for American Indian students in the natural resources and sciences and the Indian Teacher & Educational Personnel Program (ITEPP) for students in all majors.
Humboldt State also supports North American Indian scholarship through its extensive library collections, housed in the Library’s Humboldt Room and the ITEPP Resource Center. For more information on HSU’s Native Studies programs, visit humboldt.edu/indianprograms.
For more information on the conference, call Irma Amaro at (707) 464-3512 or Rachel McBride at (530) 895-4212 ext. 110.