Two American Indian Experts to Speak

AMERICAN INDIAN PROFESSOR, COMPANY PRESIDENT TO VISIT

     COLUMBUS -- Duane Champagne, director of the American Indian 
Studies Center and associate professor of sociology at the 
University California at Los Angeles, and Karen Radney Buller, 
president and chief executive officer of National Indian 
Telecommunications Institute (NITI) of Santa Fe, N.M., will speak 
at The Ohio State University on Nov. 14 about their work in a 
program titled "American Histories: Native Nations."

     The free, public event will be held in the River Den of the 
Drake Union, 1849 Cannon Drive, with Champagne speaking at 1 
p.m., and Buller at 3 p.m.  A reception will follow.

     Their appearances are co-hosted by two Ohio State units --
Native American Student Programs in the Office of Student Life, 
and American Indian Initiatives in the Office of Minority 
Affairs.

     The event is an opportunity for the community to share the 
unique perspectives of two outstanding American Indian leaders in 
the academic and business arenas, said Marti Chaatsmith, 
coordinator of Native American Student Programs.

     Champagne will discuss the interdisciplinary nature of 
American Indian studies, how the studies contribute to learning 
about the place of Indians in U.S. law and history, and the 
government policy toward Indians.

     Butler will discuss the impact of telecommunications 
applications in American Indian schools, colleges and businesses.

Duane Champagne

     Champagne, a member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Band, 
received his doctorate from Harvard University.  He is the author 
of more than 40 scholarly articles about American Indian issues.  
Most of his writings focus on social, cultural and political 
change in American Indian societies as they adapted to European 
political, cultural and economic incorporation.  He has published 
in both the sociology and American Indian fields, including the 
books The Native American Almanac, American Indian Societies: 
Strategies and Conditions of Political and Cultural Survival, and 
Social Order and Political Change: Constitutional Governments 
Among the Cherokee, the Choctaw, the Chickasaw, and the Creek.

Karen Radney Buller

     Buller, a member of the Comanche nation, is an expert in 
electronic networking, math and science curriculum development, 
and school funding equalization and how these issues relate to 
Native American communities.  She is an advocate for children's 
issues.

     She has a master's degree in child and developmental 
psychology from the University of Nebraska, and has completed 
coursework for a doctorate in social psychology, also at 
Nebraska.

     Through Buller's leadership, the National Indian 
Telecommunications Institute provides Internet connections and 
training to Indian communities, with support of the National 
Science Foundation and corporate sponsors.  The goal is to use 
advanced technology to serve American Indians and Alaska natives 
in education, economic development, language and cultural 
preservation, tribal policy issues and self determination. 
Current projects include developing culturally relevant curricula 
through the Internet or training for teachers of American Indian 
students at all grade levels.  NITI also offers instruction on 
use of the World Wide Web and how to design web pages.

                            #

Contact: Marti Chaatsmith, Native American Student Programs, 
(614) 292-7521. 


[Submitted by: Von Reid-Vargas (ereid@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu)
               
Tue, 5 Nov 1996 08:38:34 -0500]
All documents are the responsibility of their originator.