Tribes take education very seriously. As described in the Resource Guide in this issue, members of the Lummi Tribal School Board found it necessary to get involved in evaluating teachers because of their concern about the under-education of the Lummi people. The board developed a comprehensive teacher evaluation process considering instructional capacities as well as cultural issues. During the process, the board underwent training to prepare them to be effective teacher evaluators. While this might be an appropriate role for the board, tribal governments sometimes politicize college decisions, such as hiring and firing.
Some tribes ask their colleges to start programs without sufficient resources.
A documented dream Tribal colleges are among the youngest educational institutions in the nation, and they have tackled huge educational problems with less resources than any other institutions. Gradually, they are building their credibility in the accreditation process. In August, NCA notified Bay Mills Community College in Michigan that it will not have to be reviewed for another 10 years, a strong indication of the association's confidence since 10 years is the longest re-accreditation cycle possible. Bay Mills joins an elite group of tribal colleges on 10 year review cycles, including Turtle Mountain Community College, Sitting Bull College, and Fort Berthold Community College in North Dakota and Salish Kootenai College in Montana. Eventually tribal colleges may develop their own accrediting organization to assure that they are being judged by peers who are knowledgeable about Indian education, as Canada's First Nations have done.