Transcripts

LAURA WITTSTOCK: The reason for the school is to maintain and to nurture Indian culture and heritage.

JIM RAGSDALE: Laura Wittstock, administrator of Heart of the Earth Survival School, is talking about the original meaning of the word survival in the school's title. heart of the Earth in Minneapolis and the Red School House in Saint Paul were founded as a means of keeping that culture and heritage alive.

Heart of the Earth is not strayed from that goal in its 11 years. But this year, it is taking a step toward the mainstream of public education by seeking formal accreditation. And school officials are making plans to survive economically as well by trying to lessen the school's dependence on federal money.

Hilda Erickson, curriculum director at Heart of the Earth for the past six years, says the desires of Indian parents are similar to those of other parents.

HILDA ERICKSON: I think what the parents and the community really want is for their child to have the opportunity to be just as well educated as any other child, but with dignity.

JIM RAGSDALE: Heart of the Earth has about 190 students enrolled in preschool through the 12th grade, a figure expected to increase during the school year. Although enrollment is free and open, it is almost exclusively Indian.

Students can and do transfer to Heart of the Earth from the public schools and back again. Because it is now unaccredited, its diploma does not carry the weight of a public school diploma, a condition school officials hope to change this year.

The curriculum is rooted in the culture of the Ojibwe or Chippewa and the Dakota Sioux, the two tribes represented in the student population. History and civics courses, for example, begin from the perspective of the Indian nations and move outward to cultures and institutions affecting the Native Americans.

The school survives largely on federal money, and each year staff members hold their breath while Congress debates various budget cutting proposals. So far, the school has maintained a steady flow of federal money. But administrator Laura Wittstock is thinking of ways the school can earn money on its own.

LAURA WITTSTOCK: We've just completed our kitchen and dining room project. And that was a very large project. That we did as a non-profit organization. We will now incorporate as a for profit organization and develop a catering business using the same kitchen facility in partnership with the school for those hours when the cafeteria is not in use for the school program.

At the same time, we will train students. And that's why we have a very highly qualified chef to come in and do our food program. So that's just one of our ideas. Another one is a retail store.

JIM RAGSDALE: As school opened this week, parents gathered for a traditional pipe ceremony and feast in the school basement cafeteria. It was a proud moment for David Walker, whose four-year-old grandson was beginning at Heart of the Earth Preschool.

DAVID WALKER: We as parents are automatically teachers when we come into existence. As a parent, you are already a teacher. In our past, this is the way it has been. So the teaching goes down from generation to generation. And as I sat here this morning, I was very proud of my grandson that he is going to be going to a school such as this and to be part of what is going on here.

JIM RAGSDALE: The Heart of the Earth survival school has many needs. The facilities are modest at the school building near the University of Minnesota campus. There is no science lab. And many materials are in short supply. But administrator Laura Wittstock says the school has resources that money can't buy.

LAURA WITTSTOCK: The traditions and culture of Indian people have an oral base. And so we're very rich in that. We have resources in people that the public schools could never have in what they bring to the school, their knowledge, and their heart, really.

JIM RAGSDALE: This is Jim Ragsdale reporting.