When Native American Scholar in Residence Alyce Spotted Bear isn't teaching, reading or doing research for her dissertation, she spends time tending to the needs of students -- caring for others is what Spotted Bear does best.
Spotted Bear has taken care of her people as tribal chairman of the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota. She has taken care of an acquaintance's children when their mother could not. And now she serves as a mentor to Native American women on campus.
Taking care of others is nothing new to Spotted Bear. When the Fort Berthold Community College could find no one to teach classes, Spotted Bear filled in, teaching everything from English to computer basics. Her desire to help others even prompted her to change her major in college.
"My first love was comparative literature, and I also really liked history," Spotted Bear said. "But in thinking about working on the reservation, I thought that if I had a degree in education, I would be able to work in almost any area."
Spotted Bear's background in education has allowed her to take numerous responsibilities in her North Dakota community. She has served as the adult education director of the Fort Berthold Community College, as Chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes (Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara), as superintendent of the Twin Buttes School District and on numerous national and state committees.
Spotted Bear said she is always interested in seeing her tribe's government strengthened. As tribal chairman, Spotted Bear helped her tribe gain authority formerly held by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
She was also able to change the way people vote on the reservation. Members of the tribe formerly voted for the representatives in every district but their own. Spotted Bear initiated a more direct and representative system.
Under her leadership, the tribe won recognition from Congress. The Supreme Court came to allow state courts to prosecute non-Indians for crimes committed on the reservation. And lands devastated by 1950s damming projects were restored to the tribe.
Spotted Bear described being Tribal Chairman as a "very busy position. For four and a half years I felt like I was in meetings all day long."
Although Spotted Bear was only the second woman to hold the Trival Chair, she said she was never the victim of prejudice.
"What helped me was my education," she said. "I had a lot of respect from the tribal members."
Now retired from the tribal chairmanship, Spotted Bear is on leave from the Trenton School, which serves the Chippewa-Cree tribe along the North Dakota-Montana border.
At Trenton, Spotted Bear is the director of federal programs, where she solicits the school's federal grants and administers its programs. Under Spotted Bear's leadership, the school has gained recognition as a North Dakota Blue Ribbon School.
Spotted Bear said she was chosen as Dartmouth's visiting scholar because she "would be able to give some insight on practical experiences and speak about Native American issues."
She said she visited Dartmouth once before to attend the spring Pow-Wow and wanted to learn more about the College.
"I had always heard that Dartmouth's initial purpose was to educate the Indian people," Spotted Bear said. "I wanted to know more about the history of Dartmouth, and I knew there was a fair-sized Native American population here."
Spotted Bear said she was reluctant to accept the position at Dartmouth because she believed she should work on the reservation. But she said she is glad to be here because of the extensive access to research resources, professors and students.
Spotted Bear said she enjoys working in Dartmouth's relaxed atmosphere. For once, she has enough time to read.
"Finding new books is nice," she said with a huge smile. "Especially when it is involved with Indian studies or pertaining to Native Americans."
Spotted Bear said she enjoys taking a daily walk, unless, she jokes, the temperature reaches eight degrees below zero. But even then, she said, it is not too cold because there is very little wind.
"I am totally amazed that the snow falls straight down," Spotted Bear said. The harsh North Dakota winds she is accustomed to make the snow fall at an angle.
Spotted Bear said she uses her daily walk and uncrowded places for thought and spiritual revitalization.
"It is really important for me to have places to go like that, where I'm all alone," Spotted Bear said. "Solitude is important to people ... it's so healing."
She said the experience at Dartmouth allows her to regroup and to "take a breather."
And if Spotted Bear is happy to be here, students and the Native American Studies Program are just as pleased.
"We're delighted to have her," Native American Studies Chair Sergei Kan said. "She's very friendly and is interested in listening and sharing her own ideas, stories and knowledge with others."
Janet Johnson '98, who lives at the Native American house, said Spotted Bear has been to the house for dinner on several occasions.
"We see her all the time," Johnson said. "She's really cool and we all get along with her. It's great to have a native woman here on campus."
Michelle Fox '98 agreed that Spotted Bear is accessible to students. "I see her all the time -- at the Native American house, walking around campus and in the Native American Program's lounge," she said.
Fox said she sees Spotted bear as a positive influence on the Dartmouth campus.
"A lot of people are really ignorant about Native Americans, and I think she serves as a good role model because she is knowledgeable and well-educated and really down to earth," she said.
Kan said Spotted Bear will appear as a guest speaker for a number of courses, interact with students, serve as a mentor to Native American women and will work on her own dissertation research.
She will be giving a public lecture titled "Inverse Discrimination within the Tribal Judicial System" on Feb. 18.
