Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 41

Sunday, June 13, 1999 11C Northern Nevada at the turn of the century MILLENNIUM (0)0)0) School provides a focal point for community Reno Gazette-Journal 000 W.vR-!S.. Keeping the classroom doors open for 18 students is a struggle. But the Duckwater Shoshone Elementary School is the heart of the Indian community surrounding it, so tribal leaders wage an ongoing battle for the school's survival. "We argue our case," said Jerry Millett, manager of the Duckwater Shoshone Reservation. "It's almost a yearly thing." The school's ultimate governing authority is the U.S.

Bureau of Indian Affairs. Every year, reservation leaders must justify the school's existence to the BIA. "We get money from the BIA," Millett said. "There was a time when the BIA sent a representative here and met with the education committee and the Tribal Council and said this is The school, sus- r'v the last year of the school because there weren't enough kids." But somehow the school, remodeled in 1982, survives. Teachers have been added.

The school is an interesting place and even has a zoo. "Sometimes the goats will chase the llamas and the llamas will chase the ostriches," said Robert Coggan, one of the school's three teachers. "Everybody chases everybody." The kids are studying the animals. Inside one classroom, four large ostrich eggs sit in an incubator made by students. The kids are waiting for the eggs to hatch.

Outside, the students observe ostrich behavior. "Doesn't he get tired?" asked Sheena tained by a Variety of federal and nonprofit funding sources, was established in 1973 after a revolt by reservation parents. Unhappy with their children's progress, they pulled their kids out of the Nye County School District and brought them home. "They wanted more involvement in the school," Millett said. "Oir kids weren't doing as well as the parents thought they should be doing.

There were threats about them having to go to jail if they pulled their kids out." I But the parents pushed ahead. On July 26, 1973, they formed the Duckwater Shoshone School Board. Next they got a A- A woman and her dog walk at sunset in Duckwater six," Coggan said. "You're teaching skills." Coggan, who served 1 3 years in the Army, enjoys the teaching freedom he has in Duckwater. He lives on the reservation because he has to the nearest town, Ely, is a 90-minute drive.

That's a long commute. He doesn't mind the isolation. "I was in the Army so long," Coggan said. "In the military, you're in the field nine or 10 months a year." Still, Duckwater took some getting used to: "I just got television after a year of living here. I read a lot." voice recognition and color recognition," said Coggan, who taught in Arizona public schools before coming to Duckwater.

"We test their eyes, their hearing. We have recorded some of their vocalizations and mapped out some of their voice variations. We couldn't have done that in a public (school) setting." The teachers use what they call an "integrated format" with the kids, taking one theme such as ostriches and building an entire curriculum around it. Along with science, Coggan employs the bizarre bird to teach reading, writing, arithmetic and variety of other subjects. "We can put in 17 subjects a day instead of Thompson, 1 3, as Brutas, one of the ostriches, pranced rapidly around the animal enclosure.

Joshua Baca, 1 1, has learned something about ostriches. "It doesn't hurt when they peck you," he said. The ostriches and llamas were given to the school by farmers in Utah. "It was quite a shock for the cattle and horses to see ostriches," Coggan said. "I wanted to get some more animals, but they told me to stop for a while." The students do more than watch Brutas.

"We worked out 30 experiments based on $35,000 grant from the U.S. Office of Education. The tribe bought a church building on the reservation and turned it into a schoolhouse. One teacher was hired. On Nov.

26, 1973, the elementary school opened. Most Duckwater children from kindergarten through eighth grade attend; a few go to the public school near the reservation. Once they're in high school, all the kids ride a bus off the reservation to Eureka and back. "The community has hung tough over the years to support the school," Millett said. "It's one of the highest priorities here." Artist preserves tradition, keeps some secrets VVjfn each community profile, we ask an artist, poet or essayist to contribute a piece of their work to the series.

Steven Mike will show you his paintings and he'll talk about them up to a point. But Mike won't go into a lot of details about how he creates the artwork on traditional Indian drums made of elk skin, deer skin and rawhide. "That's my secret," said Mike, who works at his home on the Duckwater Shoshone Reservation. "I don't tell anybody. I learned this by i I (i "fYts 1 if- i iii i mil iri i.

nl-Tlfi- niMlfif -i II i til 1863: U.S. signs Treaty of Ruby Valley with Western Shoshone Nation. Oct. 10, 1932: Chiefs of Western Shoshone Nation meet in Elko to discuss enforcement of treaty rights. 1 934: Indian Reorganization Act allows Indians without land to acquire property.

1 937: Angelo Florio tells two Shoshone men working for him, Wagon Johnnie and Brownie Sam, that he is willing to sell his ranch to federal government for Indian reservation. 1940: Florio sells ranch to government, which becomes Duckwater Shoshone Reservation. 1941: School is opened in old Florio bunkhouse. Stockmen's Association formed to manage livestock on reservation. 1 942: Government builds first brick houses.

1 946: Indian Claims Commission authorized by Congress. 1 949: Public and government schools combined. 1 955: New school built south of reservation. 1971: Reservation gets electricity. 1 973: Parents withdraw their children from public school and form Duckwater Shoshone School Board.

Nov. 26, 1973: Duckwater Shoshone Elementary School opens on reservation. 1 981 Tribe refuses to pay fees to Bureau of Land Management for grazing cattle on 350,000 acres. 1 984: Tribe contracts for its own law enforcement. 1 986: First low-rent houses built.

1 991 Tribe becomes self-governing, receiving funds from federal government, but controls own operations and programs. Steven Mike's buckskin drums and pipes reflect nature and American Indian themes. myself. "Why should I teach somebody? I'll teach it to my grandchildren, maybe if I'm still alive." You've got to have the right wood for the drum frame. Mike doesn't use wood from the reservation because it breaks easily.

He comes to Reno for his wood. The skin has to be prepared for stretching over the frame. Of course, you have the painting. "What you see, you draw," said Mike, who spends eight to 10 hours on a single painting. "You see a mountain, you draw it in your mind.

Then, you come home and draw it." When Mike paints, he's careful. "You can't make a mistake on them," he said. "You can't erase it off." In Steven Mike's Duckwater home, he makes drums of elk skin, deer skin or rawhide on wooden frames. mm SPRING Do You Have Ugly Concrete? Call us for all of your resurfacing needs food specials CUSTOM -CURB Concrete ano Resurfacino tor oniy on all Reupholstery Custom Furniture acrr 746-2315 31066 AU work is done in our xsorkroom for the finest quality and the 7 DINNER BRADLEY DRENDEL JEANNEY Lt ll CUM OUPrCT lovxst prices. (acq- EXftWKMl.H PEW -M- ISJ'HY LWVKRS Handling Persona! Injury Claims for Over 40 Years 401 FUST STREET REXO 329-2273 I I ii Li a 'a cu jt a jt a 9 vj 275 E.

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