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Dr. Chris Campbell,
Director, UI School of Communication
Native culture rich, important stories to be told
Lori Edmo-Suppah,
UI Journalist in Residence, 2001 -02
Cooperation key to gathering information
Leah Andrews
Tribes hold tot he way of their ancestors		 Kathrin Podbrecnik
American movies help perpetuate European stereotypes
Morgan Winsor
Changing 's-word' controversial but needed to make a difference
Strength of Native culture overpowers oppression

by Kathrin Podbrecnik

Europeans always have a clear picture of what things they have never seen before will be like. Therefore, I knew that the reservations we would visit in southern Idaho would be located in the middle of the forest, fenced in and hidden from the world. So you can imagine my surprise when we got there: there was open, dry land, mountains and no fences to be found.
As an exchange student from Austria, I had the opportunity this spring to participate in the Native American Journalism Project in the School of Communication at the University of Idaho and to visit the two Indian reservations in southern Idaho. Though none of the stereotypes I had had in my mind had become true, I was not disappointed at all.
Despite the remarks of my friends from northern Idaho ("southern Idaho is ugly"), I immediately liked the beautiful emptiness that surrounded us on both the Duck Valley and Fort Hall reservations. I am fond of wide views, mountains and the wilderness of dry land that is mixed with lakes and rivers; thus, I really appreciated the southern Idaho landscape. Besides, the reservationsí emptiness was so different from crowded Europe; it felt like a relief for the eye to see almost nothing but land and nature.
As for the people who live on the reservations, I was even more amazed about them and their friendliness than I was about the landscape. Their kindness and willingness to give us in-depth information about their history and their life as both tribal members and citizens of the United States made me even feel ashamed; ashamed for what we Europeans did to Native Americans a few centuries ago. If I were Native American, I would be so angry with Europeans and white people in general, I would not be willing to spend hours explaining tribal issues to them. I think that the hospitality of the Native Americans testifies to their ability to realize how to improve their situation: Only if Native Americans and white people communicate with each other, they can solve their conflicts.




After the days we had spent at the reservations, I realized that generosity and hospitality are the characteristic features of Native Americans: the tribe in Duck Valley organized a powwow especially for us and we even got beautiful beadwork and T-shirts from tribal members at Fort Hall. Listening to the impressive Native American songs and the vivid legends that they shared with us helped me to imagine the strength of their culture and their faith.
Now I understand that only a very powerful culture like the Native American one can survive oppression and expulsion. This and the strong bonds between tribal members enabled them to keep on fighting for their rights for several centuries. In Europe, some people consider aboriginal cultures as underdeveloped, but I think that Native Americansí close relationship to their environment is the correct way of life because they try to live in harmony with the things that surround them. I think that our European culture is sometimes so much developed that it starts to get underdeveloped, when one thinks of all our material or financial values and beliefs.
When we returned to Boise, we suddenly realized that this city was built on aboriginal Native lands. I looked at all the skyscrapers, highways and cars and, once again, I felt completely ashamedÖ
UI communication students Crystl Murray (2nd left), Kathrin Podbrecnik, and Leah Andrews
do a round dance with Duck Valley community members in April, 2002.
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