Havre Hometown Humanities hosts 'American Indian Contemporary Issues'

Press release

Havre Hometown Humanities will host the program “American Indian Contemporary Issues” with Wayne Stein, D.Ed., Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 7:30 p.m. in the HRDC building Fireside Room, 2229 5th Ave.

The presentation is open to the public free of charge. Donations of non-perishable food items for the Havre Food Bank are appreciated and can be brought to the program.

Stein discusses contemporary issues facing American Indians today, such as land, water, hunting and fishing rights; economic development, including Indian gaming’s role; and Indian education. He talks about the unique role of federally recognized American Indians as American citizens, touching on sovereignty, federal responsibilities under treaties and how those relate to property rights, and, finally, enrollment issues facing tribes. Stein leads audiences through a conversation about these complex issues.

Stein is a professor of Native American studies and higher education studies at Montana State University in Bozeman. He has researched and written extensively about tribal colleges, and has worked closely over the years with the seven tribal colleges of Montana and several others around the country. He has also consulted with tribes interested in starting their own tribal colleges. Stein has served as president of Sitting Bull College and vice president of academic affairs at Fort Berthold Community College in North Dakota. Stein’s tribal affiliation is Turtle Mountain Chippewa.

The aim of Hometown Humanities effort is to support the particular cultural interests of a Montana community, and by doing so explore the capacity of the humanities to enrich lives, foster inquiry, and stimulate and inform conversations about the human experience.

Havre Hometown Humanities offers a year’s worth of humanities-based cultural programs from the Humanities Montana catalog of public speakers, speakers in the schools, community discussions and more. These programs are scheduled so that every few weeks there will be a new, and free, event available to the public.

In addition to Humanities Montana, organizations supporting Havre Hometown Humanities include the National Endowment for the Humanities, Stockman Bank and the Havre Daily News.