Stone Child dedicates education building to former president

Friday, Stone Child College held a ribbon cutting ceremony for a newly dedicated building, the Dr. Nathaniel St. Pierre Elementary Education Building, The Creator Looks Upon Him, in the memory of the college president who died in 2017.

“A lot of the things that we continue to do were his vision,” college President Cory Sangrey-Billy said in an interview. “We just feel that we owe that to him, to name this after him because he was a big part to a lot of the success we’ve had here on campus.”

She said that the building was the first one constructed on the campus, in 2003, originally designated as the cultural preservation and archive building. But as the campus grew, those programs were moved. She added that the building also held the White Sky Hope health care center offices for a period of time when they had nowhere else to go after their previous building was condemned. 

But in the spring of 2018, Stone Child introduced its first four-year bachelor’s degree program in elementary education, she said. The college moved the program into the building but never had a grand opening ceremony until Friday.  

The elementary education program is a big step for Stone Child, she said, with it being the first bachelor’s program offered by the college. St. Pierre played a large role in creating the program.

“I’m glad that we are able to put it in his name,” Sangrey-Billy said. “He left a legacy, worked with a lot of us and led the campus.”

Sangrey-Billy said at the event that the ceremony marked the culmination of an idea that has been in the community and the college for a long time. The original plans started many years ago, taking hard work and dedication from the staff and faculty members, and were the dream of St. Pierre.

“That dream is now a reality,” she said.

She added that she remembers St. Pierre telling her that the program needed to be done right, so it could serve as the foundation for other bachelor’s programs in the future. 

“I realized how important and valuable life is,” she said he told her. “One of those things in life that should be highly valued, I feel, is education. If we cannot somehow better ourselves in this world, then I do not know how we can ever prepare ourselves for another world or place, let alone understand it. 

“Through pain and suffering, I tried to better myself and not give up,” she retold. “I know there could never be a substitute for learning, nor for human life, but I feel that I was given a chance to do something worthwhile with my life.”

St. Pierre’s brother, Voyd St. Pierre, Rocky Boy’s public school superintendent and Stone Child College board member, said it was an honor to hear the building was going to be in memory of his brother.

“I have a sense of pride,” he said. “I’m very grateful. I thought that was a very kind gesture.”

He said his brother was the middle child of three brothers and remembers growing up with him in Bozeman. Nathaniel St. Pierre moved away for a period of time living with their father after their parents got a divorce, but during St. Pierre’s junior year in high school he moved back to Bozeman to be with their mother, later graduating from Bozeman High School and receiving all three of his degrees from Montana State University.

Voyd St. Pierre added that education was very important to their family, his father being one of the first Native college attendees at Montana State College, later MSU, and his mother, although a high school dropout, pushed them to further their education.

Their mother was a driving force in their lives, he said.

After Nathaniel St. Pierre graduated from college he traveled around the world, promoting culture and language, Voyd St. Pierre said, while he was a consultant for federal grants in the northwest. He moved back to Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation, where he worked for the tribe and the college, eventually becoming the president of the college. He put emphasis on education and pushed for opportunities for all students, not just tribal students.

“I think it’s very key nowadays with the shortage of teachers across the nation and across the state,” Voyd St. Pierre said. “It’s important that we hopefully grow our own.”

Sangrey-Billy said that Nathaniel St. Pierre worked with the college to achieve some grants, did the planning for the program and recognized the need in the community for a four-year bachelor’s program in education. It is not only about the degree, but also about addressing the need in the community for that degree.

He and Kadene Drummer, teaching education instructor, were driving to address that need, she said. 

“We are educating our own to educate our own children,” Sangrey-Billy said. 

The college is also looking at creating more four year bachelor’s degree programs, such as a business degree, in the future, she said.

Many of the college’s students and community members like being home, and growing the college helps bring education to their people so they don’t have to leave the community, she added.

“We are finally doing something, we are promoting our program,” she said. “It’s a good time for us.”

Sangrey-Billy added that the college is also still able to keep the college cost effective as well, with them not raising the cost of attending these programs so it is more available for students.  

This year, the program graduated two students who are already working at the Rocky Boy and Box Elder schools, she said. The college is also on track to graduate six more next year. She added that the college also has a large number of male students in the education program, which is unusual in other areas.

“Nate (St. Pierre) was a driving factor to get this four-year degree through, his efforts came into fruition,” she said.

Voyd St. Pierre said that the program is something to be proud of, not just for the college but for the whole community. It is important to be educated and to hopefully carry that education on for future generations to come, he said.

“This is a place of higher learning and it’s a place of opportunities,” he said. “Education never stops from the minute we are born until, I guess, to the minute where we pass on. We all learn, you’re never too old to learn, we always have to think of future generations of children here in the Rocky Boy area and everywhere else.”

He added that he is grateful for the college to bestow such an honor and hopefully it is something the community can be proud to be part of. He said he knows that people who couldn’t be at the event, such as his late brother and their parents, are looking down at them with joy.

Sangrey-Billy said that this is a milestone for the college and they will continue to strive to accomplish their mission.

“We still have some work to do,” she said.