Indigenous Montanans in Tech
Explore the content and resources below featuring stories of Indigenous Montanans leveraging opportunities in the high-tech industry.
Content & Resources
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Webinar: Know Your Neighbors feat. Misty Kuhl
Understanding Montana’s Indigenous people feat. Misty Kuhl, Aaniiih Member of the Fort Belknap Indian Community. Recorded Aug. 20, 2020.
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Article: UM Leaders Prepare Students for Tech Jobs of the Future
Learn how innovative programs like MT AIMS are helping students launch high-tech careers.
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Article: Mapping the Course for Montana Native American Students in STEM
MT AIMS is a two-week program designed to excite Montana’s Indigenous middle and high school students about STEM fields.
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Article: MHTBA Welcomes Zach Oxendine to Bozeman
Zach Oxendine shares his story as an indigenous, rural, Air Force veteran in technical and leadership roles at Microsoft and a STEM champion with Natives Rising.
More than 8 percent of Montanans are Native – the 5th highest ratio in the U.S. And Indigenous young people are a cornerstone of our future workforce. About 14 percent of Montana’s school-age population is Native American compared to about 1 percent nationally. Montana’s diverse tribal communities play a vital role in Montana’s history, culture, and economy.
Additional Resources
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The American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) is a national nonprofit organization focused on substantially increasing the representation of Indigenous peoples of North America and the Pacific Islands in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) studies and careers.
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American Indigenous Business Leaders (AIBL) strives to increase the representation of American Indians and Alaska Natives in business and entrepreneurial ventures through education and leadership development opportunities. AIBL was founded in Missoula, Montana, and has chapters across the U.S.
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The Center for Indian Country Development supports the prosperity of Native nations and Indigenous communities through actionable data and research that make substantial contributions to public policy.
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The Montana American Indians in Math and Science (MT AIMS) program serves Native American students from6th – 10th grade. The long-term vision of the AIMS program is to provide linked STEM programming to Native American students across the country, from sixth grade through their freshman year in college, and continued support through the pursuit of a Ph.D. The program utilizes Field Initiated Innovations to improve and expand STEM learning and engagement.
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The Office of Indian Country Economic Development (OICED) programs provide all of the business resources available to Native American businesses and Tribal governments in Montana under one office.
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The Montana Native Growth Fund is a Native Community Development Financial Institution with a mission to promote sustainable Tribal homeownership. The institution also creates opportunities to improve the economic outlook for Native Americans by offering access to credit and capital blended with culturally empowered education.
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Natives Rising is a holistic career accelerator for indigenous founders and indigenous in tech.
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The Tribal Computer Program Boost Scholarship program from the Montana Department of Labor & Industry supports the development of computer programming courses at schools located on Indian reservations in Montana or that serve members of the Little Shell Chippewa tribe. The scholarship provides up to $2,000 per teacher for professional development coursework obtained through a Montana university, two-year college, or tribal college that leads to an enhancement of programming courses at the teacher’s school.
Applications for the scholarship must be submitted by the school employing the teacher to verify employment. Funding is available for three licensed teachers (two high school and one K-8) from each of Montana’s seven Indian reservations and from schools serving members of the Little Shell Chippewa tribe. Scholarships are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Contact TribalScholarship[at]mt.gov to learn more.
Recommended Reading
Misty Kuhl, director of the Governor's Office of Indian Affairs and Aaniiih Member of the Fort Belknap Indian Community, shares her recommended reading list below.
Mean Spirit by Linda Hogan
Synopsis: The story of a government official who learned to honor his Native American heritage and fall in love with its people through the investigation of Grace Blanket: a young woman who was once the richest person in her territory, until the greed of white men led to her murder and a future of uncertainty for her family.
Counting Coup: A True Story of Basketball and Honor on the Little Big Horn by Larry Colton
Synopsis: In this extraordinary work of journalism, bestselling and award-winning author Larry Colton journeys into the world of Montana's Crow Indians and follows the struggles of a talented, moody, charismatic young woman named Sharon LaForge, a gifted basketball player and a descendant of one of George Armstrong Custer's Indian scouts.
“I Am a Man”: Chief Standing Bear's Journey for Justice by Joe Starita
Synopsis: In 1877, Chief Standing Bear's Ponca Indian tribe was forcibly removed from their Nebraska homeland and marched to what was then known as Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), in what became the tribe's own Trail of Tears. "I Am a Man" chronicles what happened when Standing Bear set off on a six-hundred-mile walk to return the body of his only son to their traditional burial ground.
A Poverty of Nations: A Sustainable Solution by Barry Asmus and Wayne Grudem
Synopsis: Speaking to the importance of personal freedom, the rule of law, private property, moral virtue, and education, this book offers a clear path for promoting economic prosperity and safeguarding a country's long-term stability--a sustainable solution for a world looking for the way forward.
Indigenous Montana Writers
Debra Magpie Earling - Novelist & Short Story Writer
Novels: Perma Red and The Lost Journals of Sacajewea
Debra Cecille Magpie Earling is a member of the Bitterroot Salish. Earling has received a National Endowment for the Arts grant, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Montana Book Award. Her work has appeared in Ploughshares, the Northeast Indian Quarterly, and many anthologies. She retired from the University of Montana where she was named professor emeritus in 2021.
M.L. Smoker - Montana Co-poet Laureate & Education Advocate
Poetry Collection(s): Another Attempt at Rescue and I Go to the Ruined Place: Poems in Defense of Global Human Rights (co-editor)
Novels: Thunderous
Poet and education advocate M. L. Smoker, born Mandy Smoker Broaddus, is a member of the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes of Montana’s Fort Peck Reservation. She holds a BA from Pepperdine University and an MFA from the University of Montana in Missoula, where she received the Richard Hugo Memorial Fellowship. She lives in Helena, Montana, where she works in the Indian Education Division of the Office of Public Instruction.
Chris La Tray - Métis Storyteller & Montana Poet Laureate
Novels: One-Sentence Journal: Short Poems and Essays From the World At Large, Becoming Little Shell
Poetry Collection(s): Descended From a Travel-worn Satchel: Haiku & Haibun
Chris La Tray lives in Missoula, Montana. He is a member of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana and also identifies as Métis. His first full-length book, One-Sentence Journal: Short Poems and Essays From the World At Large won the 2018 Montana Book Award and a 2019 High Plains Book Award. La Tray has published numerous freelance nonfiction and short fiction pieces as well as photography. He was also a regular contributing writer for the Missoula Independent.
James Welch - Novelist & Poet; Founding Author of the Native American Renaissance
Novels: Winter in the Blood, Fools Crow, The Death of Jim Loney, The Indian Lawyer, Killing Custer, The Heartsong of Charging Elk
Poetry Collection(s): Riding the Earthboy Forty
James Phillip Welch Jr. grew up within the Blackfeet and A'aninin cultures of his parents. He was a Native American novelist and poet and considered a founding author of the Native American Renaissance. Welch studied under Richard Hugo at the University of Montana and graduated in 1965 with a B.A. in liberal arts. In 1997 Welch received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers' Circle of the Americas.
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