Hello and welcome to the Institute of American Indian Studies's website. Special thanks go to Bruce Chandler who has worked so hard in getting this site online. I must also mention Dr. Larry Zimmerman, the webmaster who gave Bruce excellent advice on what a website should entail. Dr. Zimmerman and his wife Karen have moved to Iowa City, Iowa, where she is employed at the University of Iowa. Thank you both for all your efforts on behalf of students, the University, and the Institute of American Indian Studies.

Through this column, I will attempt to keep website visitors appraised of our activities here at the Institute. We have several ongoing projects and I invite you to check each one out as it interests you. The subjects are highlighted and all you need to access them is click with your mouse at the appropriate places. We invite your comments to help improve our offerings.

American Indian Research Project:
Transcriptions are the continuing activity with the American Indian Research Project (AIRP). Approximately ten per cent of these interviews have not been transcribed because they are either music, somewhat unintelligible, or in the Indian language. Mr. Jerome Kills Small, Instructor of Dakota/Lakota/Nakota language and culture here at the University, is currently working on several interviews giving the English translation and also typing out the respective dialect the interview was recorded in. We are excited to have Mr. Kills Small working here this summer.

Also working on the AIRP is Mr. Travis Holiday, a young Dakota who matriculated at the University of South Dakota this fall. Travis is very familiar with the project as he roamed the halls of Dakota Hall (the Institute's home) back in the early 1980s when his parents, Arthur and Cheryl Honomichl worked for the South Dakota Oral History Center (SDOHC). They graduated in 1986 and happily Travis is walking in their footsteps, not only working here but studying to receive his degree as his parents did.

South Dakota Oral History Project:
One big undertaking is in place with this project this summer. Finally, an index for this holding is being constructed for publication in the near future. Bruce Chandler, along with Mrs. Fern Marvin (A Green Thumb employee here at the Institute), are working diligently in duplicating the pathway set by Suzanne Julin when she put together the American Indian Research Project's index published in the 1970s. Mrs. Marvin has become a valuable member of our team both with her attention to detail and expertise gained during her career.

Institute of American Indian Studies:
This summer we have 9 University students working on a wide variety of projects as they contribute to the Institute's archives and enhance their own knowledge. Under the auspices of the University of South Dakota's Bush Grant Program, I am working very closely with Ms. Shari Bell under a faculty development grant. While the Institute and I will gain from collecting demographic data on the nine reservations located in South Dakota, Shari will also build on her research and writing skills. One part (and an important part) of this venture also entails collecting data on Dakota/Lakota/Nakota tiospaye located in surrounding states as well as in Canada. This is part of a larger project that the Institute will pursue in becoming a center of knowledge surrounding Indians who have their roots in our region. Ms. Terri Crawford has come back aboard and will be assigned to a task that tests her area of expertise.

Ms. Melanie Ulrich is working under an internship tendered by the Political Science Department here on campus. She has finished a questionnaire that requests tribal entities to furnish us with information that will allow the Institute to enhance our services to our constituents.

Beverly Fortner (recently married to Bruce) is also working this summer on several different projects. She and Bruce are in their last year of graduate studies here at the University. Their professional skills and positive attitudes have added immensely to the Institute's commitment to excellence through their many years of service to the Institute and the people of South Dakota. Ms. Angela Dominiack and Ms. Yvonne Whitman, have continued valuable transcription services. Angela has finished her first year of graduate studies and Yvonne is currently contemplating whether she will continue into graduate school. Ms. Ursula Kennedy has translated our Institue homepage into German and French so that our European friends will have a better understanding of our University and the Institute.

Thanks to many "friends" of the Institute, we have managed to upgrade all our computer equipment which has increased our ability to respond quickly to requests and, I might add, seems to have increased our individual workloads about 100%. It seems the harder we work, the "behinder" we get. (Just an observation!)

This summer of 1996 seems to have been busier than usual. Both Margaret "Meg" Quintal (IAIS administrative assistant), and I have been involved in several different projects here on campus. Meg put quite a bit of time into the groundwork surrounding this summer's highly successful Oscar Howe Summer Art Institute and the Elderhostel gathering the Institute of American Indian Studies co-hosted with USD's State-Wide Educational Services Center. She also works with the Vermillion Area Arts Council and the Northern Plains Tribal Arts Council while continuing her normal duties at the Institute.

I am quite excited about the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument Advisory Committee's national design competition. Finally, after 120 years, the Indian participants in the battle at the Greasy Grass will have a memorial to commemorate their participation in that conflagaration. Datelines and other information will be found on that page of this website. I urge everyone to read the guidelines and submit their ideas to the competition committee.

I Am also quite gratified to see our children's parents continue their support of the various programs offered by the University. For instance, it is nice to see approximately 75 Indian students participating in Mr. Chuck Swick's Upward Bound Program. This outstanding program has been the major factor in attracting students to this campus.

One of my self-assigned projects this summer has proven both rewarding and disappointing. Because my uncle Mahlon "Fuzzy" Blaine passed on this year, I decided I would take on a duty he has performed for many years, mainly, cutting and trimming grass on our relatives's graves on the Yankton Sioux Tribe's cemeteries. It has been gratifying to go out in the country and take care of maintenance and the rewards are listening to meadow larks singing and other creatures living their lives. What has been disappointing is the sad state of repair of many headstones. Some have fallen to the ground while others are slipping from their bases. It would be tragic if families lost track of their departed relatives as marked by headstones. One can learn much of our history by walking through the grounds and studying and thinking about those who have passed on.

I will be teaching one course solo this fall and team teaching another. In the Dakota Language Section of the Fall 1996 Schedule of Classes, it lists me as 460 Native American Thought, and 490, Independent Study in Lakota. In addition, I will be working with Dr. David Aronson with POLS 317 American Indian Government and Politics through the Political Science Department. We have not finalized the readings for the political science offering; when that is done I will list it in this column.

Am at a loss of words right now. If you are in our part of the state, stop in, drink a cup of coffee, and let us know what is happening in your world. I intend to keep this column informal and invite your comments. With good thoughts for you and yours, I remain, Mitakuye Oyasin--All My Relatives.

To send me an e-mail: bruguier@usd.edu

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17 December 1999, lrb