Ben Yawakie, right, Zuni/Ojibwe, and Beartracks Calanche Flathead, work on a model during the U of M Native American Math and Science Camp.

Minneapolis, Minnesota (Akiing)

Native Americans have always been mathematicians and scientists. Despite this proud history, one look at enrollment figures for the nation’s top universities tells a much different story: young Native Americans just aren’t studying math and science.

That’s the reason University of Minnesota General College instructor Mark Bellcourt and his colleagues this year again hosted the Native American Math and Science Camp. The 15-year-old camp for Native American high school students was sponsored by the University of Minnesota’s General College.

Bellcourt says he and his colleagues hope to turn more Indian kids on to careers in math and science. The way to do that, Bellcourt explains, is by spelling out the connections between Native culture and scientific exploration.

“We Indian people are proud of our history, sure,” he says. “But somehow, over the years, many of us have decided that math and science are Western disciplines and we stay away. Our mission at this camp is to make Indian kids excited about math and science again, to show them that it’s not just for white people.”

Bellcourt explains that most Native Americans learn about math and science from a nature based perspective. Once children are old enough to go to school, he adds, teachers use a more experiential approach to teaching basic mathematical and scientific concepts in the younger grades; as children age, the approach becomes more Westernized, focusing instead on numbers and abstract concepts.

At the camp, instructors make connections between math, science, and Indian life. The curriculum is hands-on, focusing on science in nature and Native American history.

“Math and science are braided together with our history,” says Jim Rock, one of the camp’s instructors. “We give our students experiences that combine those disciplines and put them into a Native cultural context.”

This year, 15 participants came from Minnesota and from as far away as Alaska, Hawaii and Guam.