When Kurt Peters first came to Oregon State University 10 years ago to take a position in the ethnic studies department, he felt that OSU had one of the most positive and open relationships with Native American tribes of any university he'd been to. Peters, of Blackfeet/Powhatan descent, wanted to be part of a university that recognized the importance of building and maintaining relationships with Native American groups.

While Peters' belief that OSU was supportive of its Native students and staff didn't diminish, he soon realized that the university was lacking an important ingredient in its relationship with tribes.

"The university didn't have any comprehensive approach to its government-to-government relations with the tribes," he said. As a land-grant institution, it seemed to Peters that it was in the university's best interest to create a more formalized relationship with willing tribes.

Out of that need, the university began creating an organization that would become the Native American Collaborative Institute. For four years, Peters and other OSU staff and administration worked with tribal representatives to craft the institute, but changing administrators at OSU, as well as budget concerns and other issues, put the institute on hold, to the point that some participants wondered if it would ever get off the ground.

But this January, OSU Provost Sabah Randhawa signed the institute into being, and Peters, who is the director of the program, moved into an office in Ballard Extension Hall and set to work. The institute is under the direction of the OSU Office of Research, which allows the program to work with all colleges at the university without being tied to a specific one.

The institute's main interest is collaboration. Unlike other OSU programs, where a department will reach out to a tribe for research purposes, the institute will allow participating tribes to share their needs with the university, and will collaborate on projects that can bring the resources of OSU to Native populations.

"The mission of NACI is to enhance the relationship between the tribes and OSU," Peters said.

NACI will listen to the specific needs of tribal communities and connect them with people within the university who can provide assistance, and sometimes, grant money.

Two of the projects already in the works include mapping the resources of land on the Umatilla Reservation and working on natural-resource issues with the Burns Paiute Tribe.

By formalizing relationships with Oregon tribes, the partnership is viewed as respectful and collaborative, and it increases the presence of the university in tribes around the state that are interested in participating.

"One of the great advantages NACI has is we're going to bring this different groups of people together to meet a specific need," Peters said, "and then together discover the funding needs and become partners in attaining funding. We think that's a very healthy approach."

The institute has an advisory board that includes tribal members and OSU staff. The organization supports the Indian Education Office on campus, and will provide internships for faculty and students interested in Native issues.

The institute's office coordinator, Clarissa Bertha, is an anthropology graduate student of Native descent. She believes the program will encourage Native students and faculty to come to the university, because the institute is a signal that the OSU administration takes Native issues seriously.

"I feel that NACI is something that can move those (Native) ideas beyond social science into major projects that will benefit the tribes as they grow and move into the 21st century," Bertha said, "while still maintaining their full ties to their traditions."

ON THE NET: To learn more about Oregon State University's new Native American Collaborative Institute, go to the Web site http://naci.oregonstate.edu

Podcast

To hear an interview with Kurt Peters, associate professor of ethnic studies at Oregon State University, go to http://www.gazettetimes.com/ and click on GT-To-Go.