By Dr. Constance King Gottschall, Member of the Hidatsa Flint Knife Clan, Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College (NHSC) Education Department Chair, and IECE Grant PI
“It takes an earth lodge village,” and we are so thankful for the American Indian College Fund’s presence in ours! The Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara (MHA) earth lodge village welcomed me more than 14 years ago, first as a guest and then as family. In addition to becoming an adopted member of the Hidatsa Knife Clan, I am wife to an MHA tribal member, mom to one beautiful daughter and her husband, grandma to twin toddler girls and to all who will have me, and sister of too many to name.
In the summer of 2024, the College Fund awarded Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College’s (NHSC) Early Childhood Program the Ihduwiyaypi: Advancing Indigenous Early Childhood Education grant. This wonderful funding opportunity is strengthening our programming, growing our partnerships, enhancing learning for our children from birth through age eight, and promoting the Community of Practice (CoP). This work brings together six geographically separate community segments across the expansive homelands of the MHA Nation!
The traditional homes of the MHA Nation were lodges made of willow branch frames covered in earth and grass with central fire pits symbolizing unity. A remnant of these physical earth lodges is found in sacred village sites throughout the MHA homelands. Beyond the physical earth lodge villages exists deeper and more abstract ways of life that have persisted for centuries.
Our college’s earth lodge model unifies our educational community and branches out to four load-bearing domains representing people, culture, spirituality, and future. The surrounding values include teachings, leadership, community, determination, growth, respect, land, language, balance, humility, and livelihood.
Our grant project, entitled “Those Who Teach the Early Years” (O gii waagabuus in Mandan; Agumaagigu’ukike in Hidatsa; and Niiniitahnaa’iitawihu in Arikara) focuses on three primary goals:
- Embed MHA culture, language, and spirituality into our Early Childhood curriculum
- Build engaging relationships between NHSC and the communities we serve
- Enhance employee recruitment, onboarding, retention, and career development through satisfaction, personal growth, and ongoing training.
We hosted a two-day early learning conference focused on the college’s earth lodge model, trauma-informed healing, knowledge from elders who were panelists, and community resources. A stylized replica of an earth lodge was created on the gymnasium floor made of sticks, rocks, and sacred plants. A ceremony enlisted the help of leaders who picked up the rock with the value that spoke to them. This strong team planned a professional development day for New Town Schools consisting of post-flood resiliency, “We are who we are first” (being yourself and not trying to be someone else), and sustainability.
Our “Visioning with Abundance” gathering celebrated the strengths of the MHA Nation through the beats and songs of a tribal drum group, the accounts of abundance through sustainability in action, and land-based connections.
Several events are being hosted this spring as part of the project and in honor of “The Week of the Young Child,” to include:
- A book club featuring There, There by Tommy Orange
- A Lunch & Learn, “Reading Resources for Families: Supporting Literacy — Birth through Adult”
- “Reading Across MHA Nation Every Day” challenge that asks adults to read with their children
We are also featuring MHA authors and elders as speakers at each of five “Cultural Book-Kit” sessions, in which participants create and add meaningful art and items to folded pizza boxes to represent featured children’s books. In addition, an early childhood educator’s workshop will be led by an MHA member who teaches preschool-aged children.
With leadership and support, strong threads blanket our little ones in the MHA way of life. Courses, culture, connections, and creative internships are nurturing our CoP. We are looking forward to what year three of our grant will bring to “Those Who Teach the Early Years” in our earth lodge village way of life!
