[ti:For Native Americans, Harvard and Other Colleges Fall Short] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]When Samantha Maltais arrives at Harvard this autumn, [00:04.96]she will be the first member of the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe [00:10.60]to attend its law school. [00:13.04]In some ways, she will be joining an ancestor. [00:17.28]More than 350 years ago, an Aquinnah Wampanoag man [00:23.60]named Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck became the first Native American [00:28.96]to graduate from Harvard University. [00:32.44]He attended because of its 1650 charter [00:37.00]calling for the education of "English and Indian youth of this country." [00:43.96]Maltais says she understands "Harvard's impact" [00:48.48]because she has always lived nearby. [00:51.64]And she is the daughter of her tribe's leader. [00:56.36]Harvard is "a symbol of New England's colonial past, [01:01.24]this tool of assimilation that pushed Native Americans [01:05.68]into the background in their own homelands," she said. [01:09.68]Maltais will arrive on campus at a time when Native American tribes, [01:16.00]students and University teachers and officials [01:19.76]are pushing the famous university and other colleges [01:23.84]to do more for Indigenous communities. [01:27.40]Many feel the schools need to admit their past wrongs. [01:32.12]It is similar to the call for states and other communities [01:36.60]to admit to the wrongs of slavery and discrimination against Black people. [01:42.52]In Minnesota, 11 tribes have called on the state university system [01:48.56]to return some of the lands taken from tribes. [01:52.64]They have also asked for Native American students to attend without payment [01:58.12]and to increase the number of Native Americans in the administration. [02:03.48]Tadd Johnson is the University of Minnesota's director [02:07.88]of tribal relations and a Chippewa tribe member. [02:12.60]He said the university will create a "truth and reconciliation" process [02:18.12]to investigate the historical wrongs and find ways to correct them. [02:24.24]"We're listening," he said, adding the university system [02:29.12]is acting on "everything that has been thrown at us." [02:33.32]Meanwhile in Colorado, state lawmakers are considering legislation [02:39.28]to permit students from certain tribes [02:42.32]to pay much less to attend the state university system. [02:46.88]And in California, Native American students also want lower costs. [02:53.68]Most California state schools have released statements [02:58.04]that admitted their past wrongs against Native Americans and their lands. [03:03.72]Tori McConnell is a 21-year-old member of the Yurok Tribe [03:09.12]who graduates from the University of California, Davis in June. [03:13.92]"It's only right that they do these things," she said. [03:18.32]"Actions speak louder than words." [03:21.68]University spokesperson Ryan King [03:24.72]said officials are working hard to continue supporting [03:28.52]Native students and tribal communities. [03:31.76]He pointed out that the school created an advisory board [03:36.68]that includes tribal leaders and others. [03:40.44]Many American universities are a product of an 1862 law [03:47.08]that paid for the creation of public universities [03:50.88]through the sale of federal government land. [03:54.00]But a study found that much of that land [03:57.68]had been taken from about 250 tribes of Native Americans. [04:03.68]At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, near Harvard, [04:09.96]Native American students looked into the school's past [04:14.40]as one of the original federal land universities. [04:19.24]Luke Bastian is a 22-year-old Navajo student from Phoenix. [04:24.96]He says he and other students presented the results of their class project [04:30.40]to MIT's president earlier this month. [04:34.24]The students also asked him to create a Native American studies program. [04:40.16]University officials say conversations with Native students continue. [04:46.04]Bastian believes they will make progress. [04:49.52]Native American students asked for, and received, a meeting place [04:54.48]for themselves, say Indigenous community backers. [04:59.32]South Dakota State University uses private donations [05:03.60]to provide scholarships to local tribal members. [05:07.56]It also uses money earned from the land [05:10.88]to improve Native American programming, research and other efforts. [05:16.92]"We can't change the past, [05:18.76]but we can change the future for these young people," says Barry Dunn. [05:24.36]He is the university's president [05:27.04]and a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe [05:30.76]who started the Wokini Initiative in 2017. [05:36.32]Native Americans have the lowest graduation rates in the country, [05:41.40]said Cheryl Crazy Bull. [05:44.12]She added that the pandemic has made it [05:46.68]even harder for Native American students. [05:49.76]She is president of the American Indian College Fund, [05:54.28]which awarded Maltais her scholarship. [05:58.00]At Harvard, there is a concern that Native students [06:01.64]are being asked to withdraw from the school [06:04.64]for poor grades at higher rates than other students, said Emily Van Dyke. [06:10.92]She is president of Harvard's Native American alumni group. [06:16.16]Students and alumni are also pushing Harvard to admit [06:20.48]that it stands on land where Indigenous peoples once lived, Van Dyke said. [06:26.16]MIT and the University of California, Davis [06:30.72]have both admitted to being on land once owned by Native Americans. [06:36.32]Harvard spokespeople refused to comment. [06:40.12]However, Joseph Gone heads the school's Native American program. [06:46.28]He said the university is in talks with local tribes [06:50.76]and plans to release a statement in the future. [06:54.64]For her part, Maltais says Harvard and other schools [06:59.16]should help Native students coming from distant tribal communities [07:03.56]adjust to university life with counseling and other services. [07:10.16]She also supports the idea of free education for Native Americans, [07:15.44]but thinks it is not enough. [07:17.96]"Sometimes the only reparation for land is land," she said. [07:24.48]I'm Susan Shand. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM