FALCON 1

Think. Be Informed 2

SSC Eagle Aviary 3

Making of Warrior Women

4

Plants and Medicine 5

USD visits NICC 6

Door Winners 7

NICC BOD 8

Good Neighbor 9

12 Years of Service 10

NICC 13

Pumpkin Give-Away 14

SSC Study Lounge 15

Professors Published 16

Orientation 17

Decolonizing at

NICC

18

Alumni Update 19

NICC’s Quilt Maker 20

Charles Lonewolf 22

AIHEC 24

Speak Your Lan-

guage

25

Santa Claus 26

Learning from Past 27

Last Village 28

Omaha History 29

Inside this issue: Dec 2015

Nebraska Indian Community College

Newsletter

Students Represent

NICC at FALCON

KZYK 88.9

Jim Hallum

On November 7th-9th, the

2015 FALCON (First

Americans Land-Grant Con-

sortium) conference was

held in Denver, CO. Two

NICC students, Christina

Coffman and Arlaina

Zavala, attended. The stu-

dent day was November 8th.

In the morning other tribal

college students presented

their research projects vary-

ing from DNA analysis of

buffalo to using geothermal

imaging to map fracking

wells. In the

afternoon Ms. Coffman and

Ms. Zavala presented their

poster that represented NIC-

C’s research pertaining to

three weather stations that

have been put at each cam-

pus. The students did a great

job of answering questions

from other students and fac-

ulty on NICC’s research and

they enjoyed meeting stu-

dent researchers from TCUs

all over the nation.

continuing barriers in the

trust relationship with the

federal government and its

responsibility to Indian

Country.

Here are several areas of ex-

cerpts found in the 2015 ad-

dress, by current President

Brian Cladoosby:

“. .The same goes for

adoption. State courts

say that a parent who adopts

a child with special needs is

eligible to receive a tax credit

to help with care. Yet, if a

parent lives on a reservation

and adopts a child with spe-

cial needs, they don’t get a

tax credit. It’s not an over-

sight – its bad policy. It’s

outrageous and discriminato-

ry, and it needs to change. . .

.

And take an especially

close look at technolo-

gy. The rural broadband de-

velopment project regularly

reviews technology access in

rural America. Yet, the last

technology census of tribal

nations took place before

Google, Twitter, or smart

phones even existed. The

best data we do have indi-

cates an ongoing digital di-

vide. While 73 percent of

Americans have access to

broadband, in Indian Coun-

try, it’s only 10 percent.

Think Indian: Be Informed!

Page 2 Volume 2 Issue 1

The Annual State of Indian

Nations Address – submitted

by Darla Korol

Have you ever read or

watched the annual State of

Indian Nations address?

Make a note of the upcoming

January 2016 address.

In 2003, the National Con-

gress of American Indians

(NCAI) took a historical step

in Indian Country by deliver-

ing an address after the Presi-

dent of the United States

gave his State of the Union

address. This first historic

address was aired only on C-

Span and was delivered by

the then NCAI President Tex

Hall (Mandan, Hidatsa, Ari-

kara.) All subsequent

speeches are now available at

the NCAI website to read or

watch. The address is now

streamlined live and is also

available on YouTube, reach-

ing an ever increasing audi-

ence in Indian Country. It

has yet to be acknowledged

by mainstream media. I re-

quire the students in the HSC

program to read or view this

address.

The State of the Indian Na-

tions address highlights the

positive accomplishments

and significant legislative/

economic tribal milestones.

Its focus, however, is on the

Or take law enforce-

ment. Despite an act of

Congress, the FBI continues

to effectively deny tribal po-

lice access to the same Na-

tional Crime Information

Center database that they

make available to state, local,

and even some campus po-

lice. What does that

mean? It means that if a pro-

tection order is issued in a

domestic violence case, the

tribal court often cannot en-

ter that order into the federal

database. It means that pro-

tection might not follow the

survivor off the reserva-

tion. It needs to change.”

Visit: www.ncai.org

Control&Click

Think Indian and be in-

formed and I hope you will

look forward the NCAI’s

State of the Indian Nations

address in January!

For NICC employees and students

who drive to the Macy or Santee

campus sites it is a blessing to see

eagles, either in route (Macy) or

along the river (Santee.) With no

windows at the urban SSC campus

site and no opportunities for em-

ployees or students to see eagles

there – an eagle “aviary” has been

attempted along one of the hallway

walls.

Currently seven tribes are

“permitted” by the Federal Gov-

ernment to provide sanctuary for

injured or non-flying eagles and

three of those tribes – the Zuni

Pueblo, the Iowas (Ioways) and the

Comanche – are highlighted on

individual knowledge boards in the

“aviary.” Each board contains the

cultural language of the tribe for

the word eagle; a picture of a tribal

member or specific quotes from a

tribal member regarding eagle re-

habilitation, and one fact that high-

lights the uniqueness of each

aviary.

A memorial board to Chief Wa-

basha (who died on the Santee

Reservation) is included on the

National Eagle Center Board as it

is located in the town named for

him - Wabasha, MN.

You are invited visit the “SSC

Aviary” and look for: 1) an ea-

gle perched up high on a branch -

watching all who enter 2) “who

on the food chain “(in this geo-

graphical region) can become the

eagle’s breakfast, lunch, dinner or

snack and 3) the eyes of an eagle

to learn how human vision would

need to change to become “eagle

eyed.”

The eagle holds sacredness in

many tribal cultures as it flies the

highest and is believed to have

seen the face of the Creator. It is

important for all to know that the

federal government’s paternalistic

and restrictive approach towards

tribal nations becoming

“competent eagle caretakers” is

lessening. Tribes are successfully

petitioning to take responsibility

to provide rehabilitative care or

sanctuary for injured non-flying

eagles.

The eagles at the SSC campus

aviary may not be free in the out-

doors near the Macy or Santee

campus sites, but the pictures of -

The Inquisitor, Tomovah, and

Was’aka (the Dakota word for

strength) - are waiting for your

visit to share the blessing that

they are alive and thriving under

Page 8 NICC Newsletter

SSC’s Campus “Eagle Aviary”

respectful tribal care!

PS: In the spring 2016 se-

mester, I will be holding a

“knowledge competition”

from the eagle aviary. Stay

tuned for more details and a

chance to win some nice

eagle related items!

Submitted by Darla Korol

Tuesday September 28,

NICC Santee student

Christina Coffman was

informed by a family

member that there was go-

ing to be a very interesting

Hubbard Lecture titled

The Making of Warrior

Women at University of

Page 4

Nebraska-Lincoln that

Thursday. With little time to

plan Christina contacted

professors and advisors to

try and arrange a trip for any

and all students interested in

going. Unfortunately it was

too short notice and NICC

wasn’t able to arrange the

trip, but Christina decided to

go on her own. This lecture

gave her the opportunity to

hear a woman’s point of

view of the American Indian

Movement along with many

other major events in Native

American history as told by

Madonna Thunder Hawk.

Dr. Elizabeth Castle and

Christina King are in the

process of making a film,

The Making of Warrior

Women, which not only fo-

cuses on Madonna but on

Volume 2 Issue 1

many Native women of the

1970’s and their experienc-

es. Madonna shared many

stories including some from

the 1969 occupation of Al-

catraz and the 1973 stand at

Wounded Knee. Madonna,

along with her daughter

Marcy Gilbert, seemed open

and willing to talk about

their experiences and the

many great things they are

trying to do for their com-

munity. For example, in

1974 Madonna established

the “We Will Remember

School”, an alternative

school for Native American

children who were forced

out of the public school sys-

tems. Marcy hopes to rein-

troduce sustainable tradi-

tional foods and organic

farming to her reservation.

Making of Warrior Women at

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lecture

Madonna Thunder Hawk ( Center) Marcy Gilbert (right)

NICC Newsletter Page 5

Plant Medicine Workshop Presented

at NICC Santee Campus

Uses of Plants by the Indians of the Mis-

souri River Region by Melvin R. Gilmore

Medicinal Plants of North America:

A Field Guide by Jim Meuninck

On October 13th a one day

Plant Medicine Workshop

was presented at the Santee

Campus site. It dealt exclu-

sively with plants medicines

of the upper Missouri River

region that were utilized by

the Native people of the ar-

ea. The workshop was at-

tended by students and staff

of the Santee, Omaha and

South Sioux Campus sites.

We are hoping that this

workshop can be a precursor

of NICC offering a two se-

mester course in plant medi-

cines which could maybe be

tied into Indian studies and

botany. The reasoning being

that some plants are gath-

ered in the spring and others

in the summer and fall.

Part of the workshop was

the construction of a medici-

nal garden that is in the

shape of the Medicine

Wheel. These were complet-

ed at the two reservations

based campus sites in San-

tee and Macy and a third to

be constructed at the South

Sioux site. Inside the medic-

inal garden will be plants

that were used by the Native

people in the past to the pre-

sent.

My feelings on this work-

shop are that it is needed for

the people because these

were tried and proven meth-

ods that worked for the peo-

ple. They were also a very

important part of our culture

and way of life.

Who knows what the future

holds in store for us and we

may well have to fall back

on these medicines. Also I

feel the culture and

knowledge are being lost

and needs to be taught in

order for us to survive as a

people.

James Hallum Tribal Ex-

tension PD

Medicine Wheel

Garden, Santee

Campus

Page 6 Volume 2 Issue 1

University Of South Dakota Biology Class Visits

Nebraska Indian Community College

On October 13 at 12:30

pm the Nebraska Indian

Community College had

visitors from the Univer-

sity of South Dakota.

This was a visit arranged

by Hank Miller Professor

of Natural Resources at

NICC. The visitors were

27 students of all nation-

alities that attended Uni-

versity of South Dakota.

They came here to visit

the college and from here

to the Ponca tribe to see

the Earth Lodge there.

They were here from a

biology class and are

studying environmental

and social justice of the

Missouri River and the

impacts the dams had on

the Missouri River tribes.

While they were in San-

tee they had a chance to

hear a talk on the seven

dams built or the Pick

Sloan Plan and the im-

pact it had on the seven

tribes that were flooded

due to them being built.

The two speakers were

James Hallum, Santee

Tribal member and also

extension at NICC and

Perry Little of the

Ihanktuwan or Yankton

Sioux Tribe. The two

told stories of how it was

for the people before the

dams were built. The

lifestyles that were lost.

The plants and food

sources that are gone

today. To the sustainable

economy that was re-

placed by a cash econo-

my due to the lifestyle

change. This meaning

being not being able to

live off the land any-

more to now having to

pay for food instead of

growing your own

Meaning no more gar-

dens and raising live-

stock. Paying rent now

for your housing and for

heating supplies and

mostly to nonnatives,

having to move to clus-

ter housing. Also the

despair the people feel

now from the trauma

that was inflicted by the

move that is still felt in

the communities today.

Perry spoke of White

Swan a Ihanktuwan

community that com-

pletely flooded. How

the cemeteries that were

supposed to be moved

by the U.S. Army Corps

of Engineers weren’t.

The erosion on the river

banks to the looting that

takes place when the

water is low by

nonnatives.

The students were also

informed of the U.S.

Governments unscrupu-

lous actions and the vio-

lations of the treaties

when land was con-

demned through emi-

nent domain and taken.

Promises not kept and

why the sites were cho-

sen and not placed else-

where. (The dams flood-

ed mostly Indian lands)

The students did not

know of this and were

told to read Damned

Indians revisited by

Mike L Lawson for

more info as it is a good

resource. They also had

a chance to see firsthand

the siltation that is tak-

ing place to the river on

the Santee Reservation.

The two said it was

good to tell of injustices

to the people and to also

tell them that when the

dams were built they

weren’t to benefit the

tribes. Also that envi-

ronmental and social

justice has a brand new

meaning to the tribes

affected. As Jim Hallum

says it, (Just us) mean-

ing U.S interests and not

Natives.

James Hallum Tribal

Extension PD

Page 7

Halloween Door Decoration Winners

Walking down the halls

of each NICC campus,

one could see the Spirit

of Halloween depicted

in the door decorations.

Students surpassed their

creative skills again this

year in the second annu-

al Halloween Door Dec-

oration Contest.

Santee Winners:

First Place: Shel-don Whipple

Second Place: Whitney Hoffman and Jazmin Thom-as

Third Place: Eliza-beth Brandt

Macy Winners:

First Place: Crystal Ross

Second Place: Lola Kearnes

Third Place: Ashley Coons

South Sioux City Win-ners:

First Place: Mykai Grant

Second Place: Laken Redowl

Third Place: Falon Torrez

NICC Newsletter

Sheldon Whipple

1st Place Santee

Whitney Hoffman and

Jazmin Thomas 2nd Place

Santee

Elizabeth Brandt 3rd

Place Santee

Ashley Coons

3rd Place Macy Crystal Ross

1st Place Macy

First Place Door

Mykai Grant

South Sioux

2nd Place Door

Lake Redowl South Sioux

1st Place Door

Mykai Grant South Sioux

2nd Place Door Laken Redowl South Sioux 3rd Place Door

Falon Torrez South Sioux

Page 8 Volume 2 Issue 1

Comments from NICC Board of Directors

I was born in Wagner, S.D.

and grew up in Santee, NE;

I was raised by my grand-

parents, Phillip and Hazel

White. My biological par-

ents are Carolyn White and

James Dotter. I am an Isanti

Dakota on my mother’s side

and Ihanktwan and

Isanti/Dakota on my father’s

side. I’m a descendant of

Chief Feather Earring Neck-

lace and Chief Ring Thun-

der on my father’s side and

a descendant of Chief Little

Crow on my mother’s side.

I am a proud mother and

grandmother.

Growing up on the Santee

Reservation most of my life

I attended Santee Communi-

ty School up until my Sen-

ior year. I did not graduate

but a year later I returned to

receive my GED from

Northeast Community Col-

lege. From there I went on

to NICC to receive my AA

Degree in 1992. In 1999 I

attended Northeast Commu-

nity college and successful-

ly graduated from their

Nursing Program. I spent

half of my life working as a

nursing professional for

tribes and HIS. I decided to

go back to school in 014 at

the University of South Da-

kota and received my Bach-

elor of General Studies in

May of 2015. I am current-

ly pursing my Masters in

Public Health at the Univer-

sity of South Dakota. My

goal is to receive my Doc-

torates in Epidemiolo-

gy/Infectious Diseases.

I bring to the Board my love

for my people, knowledge

of my culture, my traditions,

and my ambition for my

field of study. I am blessed

to be part of the NICC

Board of Directors!

Pidamaya ye!

Kimberly White

NICC Newsletter Page 9

Acknowledging a Good Neighbor

SSC Campus ex-

tends an “Attitude

of Gratitude” to a

good neighbor! Mr. Kent Broyhill is the

President of Studio B

Graphics a printing ser-

vice that is across Dakota

Avenue from the SSC

campus. During the fall

2014 and spring 2015

academic year, he had

been exceptionally kind

in assisting with the print-

ing of oversized posters

for the “Honor the Trea-

ties” and “Steel Ponies”

culture boards. (These

boards have been placed

in all three NICC campus-

es.)

Alvin Parker of SSC Stu-

dent Services suggested

sharing food with Mr.

Broyhill as an “attitude of

gratitude” for his generosity

to NICC. On November

2nd, when Garden Class In-

structor Dawn Hair and stu-

dents were cooking and can-

ning salsa made with vege-

tables from SSC’s Sover-

eignty Garden- it was

agreed that a jar would be

taken to Mr. Broyhill.

Alvin presented Mr.

Broyhill with a fresh jar of

the “medium” NICC salsa

the next day.

Mr. Broyhill said: “This

will be gone by tomorrow!”

He also received freshly

picked brussel sprouts, to-

mato, pepper and squash

from the SCC’s Sovereignty

Garden.

Thanks again to our “Good

Neighbor” Mr. Broyhill for

supporting the learning en-

vironment at NICC!

We cannot live on-

ly for ourselves.

A thousand fibers

connect us with

our fellow men.

Herman Melville

12 Years of Service! Jus-

tin Kocian - “Tech Team

of One” Extraordinaire!

In 2003, NICC was seek-

ing an individual highly

qualified in computer sys-

tems. When Justin Kocian

was hired - they also found

the perfect match for

someone who could ad-

vance the Video Tele Con-

ferencing technology in

use at NICC today. Stu-

dents and employees may

know Justin as the “go to

guy” as he provides NICC

e-mail and computer ac-

counts upon request. What

students and employees

may not know is how dili-

gent Justin has been in

keeping NICC’s education-

al processes through Tech-

nology and Video Tele

Conferencing one of “the

best” in the region.

Prior to 2005, delivering

education to three different

campus sites required fac-

ulty to drive to each site to

deliver face-to-face cours-

es. Fuel costs were increas-

ing and faculty-drive time

was consuming teaching

time. NICC wanted a “state

of the art” video teleconfer-

encing system so that the

students at all three sites

could receive their educa-

tion. This type of technol-

ogy was used by the Federal

Government and Justin had

been a government contrac-

tor in Denver, CO oversee-

ing their computer and VTC

systems. His experience

would be just what NICC

needed once the decision

was made to implement the

VTC systems.

Justin explained: “A VTC

demonstration was provided

to the NICC faculty and

staff on how the system

worked and eventually it

was a general consensus to

use it for classes.”

As Chief Information Of-

ficer, Justin began his em-

ployment with NICC on No-

vember 3, 2003 and by the

spring of 2005 he success-

fully launched first VTC

classrooms. VTC classes

were held at each campus

from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

A second VTC classroom

was added for the fall of

2005 and in the spring of

2013 a third VTC unit was

added to provide classes in

the Science and Computer

Page 10 Volume 2 Issue 1

Labs the third VTC is a mo-

bile unit allowing us to

move it in between the

classrooms. Since imple-

menting the VTC system,

Justin has been the “tech

team of one” consistently

upgrading the system that

he considers ‘top-of-the-

line’ equipment for the

classroom environment.

“With the high volume of

use, we need something that

can perform a high level for

12 hours per day.”

The University of Nebraska

received an NSF/EPSCOR

grant to assist in getting

various Universities and

Colleges networked for re-

search and education pur-

poses. A portion of that

grant was used to get a

higher bandwidth network

connection to the NICC

campuses in Macy and

South Sioux City. In partic-

ular, the grant was used to

pay to get fiber infrastruc-

ture installed. Further grant

funds supported upgrades to

the current 100 mega bites

(MB). South Sioux City

and Macy are connected at

the 100 MBs and Santee is

connected at 20 MB hope-

fully we will be able to in-

stall fiber to the campus in

the near future to allow us

to expand the internet con-

nection at that campus. Pri-

12 Years of Service at NICC

Page 11 NICC Newsletter

Continued from page 10 Justin Kocian

or to receiving the upgrade

to the networks NICC only

had a single T1 at each

campus for internet access

providing a mere 1.5mbs of

internet for the staff, facul-

ty, students, and library to

share.

Title III Strengthening Insti-

tutions Grant is the primary

funding source for our tech-

nology equipment and inter-

net services.

During its accreditation vis-

its, the Higher Learning

Commission (HLC) has

been impressed with NIC-

C’s VTC system and how

“user friendly” it is.

Justin has also provided as-

sistance to tribal agencies

(such as the Ponca Tribe) to

enable them to successfully

participate in regional tele-

conferencing until they ob-

tained their own equipment.

We are currently testing

teleconferencing with the

Osage tribe.

What is Justin’s worse

nightmare? “When the In-

ternet goes down! It takes

all classes off-line and this

is not usually a local fix that

I can do. NICC has three

to four entities involved to

get internet services to SSC,

Macy, and Santee. I have

to follow a process to find

where the problem is locat-

ed. If it is not local, I go to

the primary ISP to problem

solve or then to secondary

ISP. Weather conditions

may cause issues if a power

line is knocked down, but

we can deliver classes in

blizzards, sleet and wind.”

Justin not only is responsi-

ble for the VTC system, but

for all other computer tech-

nologies at NICC. He re-

builds laptops for use as

loaner laptops by students

and has just completed re-

building 30 laptops (10 ad-

ditional for each campus

site.)

Looking back over his 12

years of service to NICC,

Justin stated: “I enjoy the

relationships with students,

staff, and faculty. I am a

“tech team of one” and I

enjoy the decision making

capabilities of my position.”

Thank you Justin for 12

years of making sure NICC

students can access their

educational opportunities!

Tips to remember from

Justin:

When new students visit the

campus sites, it may be

their first time to encounter

Interactive Video Technolo-

gy. Justin has some tips

for students and reminders

for all NICC employees:

Interactive video technolo-

gy means that you are in-

stantly heard and watched.

Normal voice levels should

be used. Sometimes because

the distant sites seem far

away, people think they need

to talk loud, but the micro-

phones can pick up a whisper

and side conversations.

Students should be consider-

ate in shuffling papers as this

will easily be heard at the

other sites. Try to have all of

your necessary papers acces-

sible before class starts so

you are not disrupting the

others.

Act like you are in the same

classroom with the persons

on the screen but don’t forget

the people next to you.

Sometimes the tendency is to

watch the screens as if you

are watching a program and

forgetting about the people

who are in the room with

you.

Regarding the use of NICC

laptops

Because the college does not

have enough funds for every

student to have a laptop - we

have to share with loaners.

The laptop loaners can be

signed out from Student Ser-

Page 12 Volume 2 Issue 1

Continued from page 11 Justin Kocian

vices for seven days and

should be returned as other

students might be waiting.

Please be considerate of

other students.

The laptops should be treat-

ed respectfully. They have

tracking device software so

that if they are stolen or lost

they can be located.

Computer Careers:

With an AAS Degree in

computer networking, I

have had to utilize analyti-

cal, math, and science abili-

ties to solve problems as a

lot of technical work is

“break fix”. If students are

considering a career in

computers, they must be

interested in knowing the

way things work and how to

keep them working and

how to improve the technol-

ogy.

I recommend working at

entry level positions in the

bigger cities for experience

because even though posi-

tions in small and rural are-

as are growing, they want

people who can “do it all

from the get go!” The ex-

perience I had working for

the federal government in

Denver prepared me to

meet the challenges here at

NICC.

“Find out what you like doing best

and get someone to pay you for doing

it.” Katherine Whitehorn

Thank you Justin for 12 years of serving NICC!

NICC Newsletter Page 13

The Right Direction

For the past 40 years, the Nebraska Indian

Community College (NICC) has been and re-

mains dedicated to planting the seeds of

knowledge through unique and cultural rele-

vant educational experiences. Our aim is to

provide you with a quality learning experience

and to equip you with the skills and

knowledge that you will need in the profes-

sion of your choice. These experiences are

geared toward all Umonhon (Omaha), Isanti

(Santee Dakota), and other learners attending

classes at one of our three campuses. NICC

is open to all who are willing to enhance and

improve their lives.

NICC is accredited by the Higher Learning

commission of the North Central Association

of Colleges and Schools.

Macy (S.Campus) Santee (W.Campus) 1111 Hwy 75 415 North River Rd.

Macy, NE 68039 Niobrara, NE 68760

402-494-2311 402-494-2311

So.Sioux City (N.Campus)

2605 1/2 Dakota Ave.

So.Sioux City, NE 68776

402-494-2311

We’re on the web!

www.thenicc.edu

Nebraska Indian Community College

Page 14 Volume 2 Issue 1

Children Receive Pumpkins

On 10 /23 15 the Nebras-

ka Indian Community

College had the privilege

of hosting the future lead-

ers of the Santee Sioux

nation. The Santee Sioux

Head Start came to visit

and was treated graciously

by the USDA Tribal ex-

tension program with a

visit to the college pump-

kin patch grown by stu-

dents of the gardening

program. They the future

leaders were also given a

tour of the garden along

with receiving a pumpkin

for Halloween and also

given recipes on healthy

foods that could be made

with the pumpkin such as

roasted pumpkin seeds and

pumpkin bars.

The same happened in Macy

and Walthill the following

week with the children

there. It feels so good to

work with our future was a

thought that came to my

mind. To see the happy fac-

es and it made us all the

ones involved feel good

knowing they were going to

have a pumpkin to carve,

cook and also be healthy.

I want to thank Dave Fra-

zier, Nicole Parker, Troy

Munhofen, and Vanessa

Hamilton for helping with

the presentation along with

having the patience and love

for the children, our future.

Also thank you to the rest of

the staff and faculty of Ne-

braska Indian Community

College.

James Hallum USDA Tribal

Extension

NICC Newsletter

Page 15

Study Lounge at South

Sioux City Campus

Please visit

the new study

lounge area at

the SSC Cam-

pus!

When students first attend

college, they are encour-

aged to locate or create a

study space where they

can focus and concentrate

in a distraction-free area.

Reinforcing the im-

portance of a quiet study

space for students - Pro-

fessor Lisa Beans has cre-

ated a study “lounge” area

where SSC students can

study or have some down

time.

“I check often and see

that students are using the

area.” Professor Beans

shared. “They seem to

enjoy the quiet space.”

Submitted by: The Roving

Reporter

Sunlight indirectly comes into the new study lounge

area at the SSC campus which is decorated with a

National Geographic photograph of an eagle feather

bustle.

NICC Student Foster

Webster enjoys reading

in the new SSC study

lounge area.

For some Halloween fun – what’s Foster’s

trick in these pics?

Foster comments: “This is really

good reading here.”

Page 16 Volume 2 Issue 1

Article Published in Tribal College Journal

Congratulations to Profes-

sor Wynema Morris! Dur-

ing the 2015 spring semes-

ter at NICC, Omaha Culture

Professor Wynema Morris

taught the NAS Federal In-

dian Law Class. The stu-

dents’ responses to that

class inspired her to write

an article: “Designing and

Teaching an Introduction to

Federal Indian Law” for

the Tribal College Journal

(TCJ.) Congratulations to

Wynema as her article was

one of six published in the

Winter-2015 edition specif-

ic to Federal Indian Law. “I

encourage all NICC em-

ployees and students to take

the class when it is of-

fered,” Wynema stated.

The course provides a good

understanding of how feder-

al Indian law affects all fed-

erally recognized tribes and

their citizens.

Currently, Wynema is writ-

ing an article to submit to

The Great Plains Quarterly

regarding the survival of

Omaha cultural traditions

through feasts.

Submitted by – The Roving

Reporter

“I’m very honored to

be appearing in the

same issue as Mark

Brazaitis, a great

teacher of mine from

West Virginia Univer-

sity,” NICC Professor

Lisa Beans shared.

Both wrote submis-

sions accepted for pub-

lication in the Fall

2015 of the Literary

and Arts Magazine -

Raleigh Review.

NICC Professor Lisa Beans is Published in Literary &

Arts Magazine

Hear Professor Beans read her

poem titled: “So Let’s Talk About Meta-

phors.” http://www.raleighreview.org/

Poetry_Audio_Archive.html

Look forward to the spring

publication of her poem

“Second Snow” in the Briar

Cliff Review.

http://www.bcreview.org/

Click Here.(control+click)

Click Here. (control+click)

NICC Newsletter Page 17

All Campus Orientation

attendees. There is a plan

to get a naming contest go-

ing when student senate is

underway.

The students had lunch with

their Faculty advisors and

met other students in their

career fields. Creating

bonds with Faculty and fel-

low classmates is a great

way to build a supporting

academic environment.

Falon Torrez, Vice Presi-

dent of Student Congress

for American Indian Higher

Education Consortium,

shared with all the students

about the opportunities

available as leaders at the

college. She shared how

each student would have

support from Faculty and

staff if they had a drive to

be successful in the college.

Falon encouraged students

to take an active role in

their education path and

invited them to join her in

student senate and to attend

AIHEC spring conference

by signing up for the AI-

HEC class this fall.

August 26, 2015 Nebraska

Indian Community College

had its first ever ALL

CAMPUS orientation. San-

tee students loaded on the

NICC bus and went to SSC

to pick up the South Sioux

City students, and then they

all traveled south to Macy.

About 80 students, faculty

and staff arrived in Macy to

attend the fall orientation.

It was a time to learn tools

to start out the school year

and also to get to know fel-

low classmates at other

campuses.

Mary Johnson, Interim Aca-

demic Dean, welcomed all

the students to a new term.

She shared her enthusiasm

about the new term. Fol-

lowing her Nicole Parker,

Recruiter for NICC shared

some common tools that

should be used when at-

tending college.

NICC’s new buffalo mascot

received a big cheer – and

handed out cups to all the

Page 18 Volume 2 Issue 1

Decolonizing at NICC!

Not Sioux but Dakota!

As a result of colonization,

the original tribes were giv-

en names (often from incor-

rect interpretations) by the

U.S. government granting

them paternalistic permis-

sion to be “federally recog-

nized.” These names

would be identified on all

legal documents and then

had to be used when tribal

colleges were first created.

One of the first tribally

chartered colleges in the

Unites States was on the

Navajo Indian Reservation.

The Navajo Community

College opened in 1968.

The Oglala Sioux Commu-

nity College on the Pine

Ridge Indian Reservation

and the Rosebud College

Center on the Rosebud In-

dian Reservation (both in

South Dakota) opened in

the 1970’s. Eventually

these colleges advanced de-

colonization by returning

the name of their college to

their tribe’s original lan-

guage, cultural identifica-

tion or by honoring a tribal

leader.

The Navajo Community

College was renamed Dine`

College as in the Navajo

language, Dine` means “the

people.” The Oglala Sioux

Community College became

Oglala Lakota College by

removing Sioux and empha-

sizing Lakota. The Rosebud

College Center was named

to honor a Brule’ Lakota

leader, Sinte Gleska

(Spotted Tail) who sought to

bring education to his peo-

ple. (Sinte Gleska Univer-

sity was the first tribal col-

lege to achieve University

status.)

The word “Sioux” is not

found in the Dakota lan-

guage. It originated with

the Ojibwa (as a term for

snakes/enemies) and then

was translated by the French

as Sioux. “So it is effec-

tively an American English

mistake based on a French

error that was based on an

Ojibwe term for their long-

term enemies.” Click for

more info. (control+click)

NICC, the college has cho-

sen to use the term “Santee

Dakota” when referencing

the Isanti people. The offi-

cial federally recognized

name of the tribe is the San-

tee Sioux Nation, which is

just one example noted

above where the federally

recognized name does not

properly identify a tribe.

However, this is not the

term that is used to self-

identify. The Santee people

are Dakota, not Sioux. At

NICC, in our mission state-

ment, employee handbooks,

college catalog, website and

other sources, we have

made an effort to use the

term Dakota in place of

Sioux when referencing the

tribe. It is not being used in

place of the official “legal”

name of the tribe, but simp-

ly being used to

acknowledge the how tribal

members identify them-

selves.

Submitted by

Darla Korol

Page 19 NICC Newsletter

Greetings my relatives, my

Lakota name is Wohpapi

or Douglas Widow. My

family is Charlie, Rachelle,

Douglas III, Chris, Viola,

and my half side Corey

Widow. I am from Chey-

enne River. Red Scaffold,

South Dakota. My parents

were Douglas and Louise

Widow. My mother’s

family is Yellow Shield,

and my father’s side is

Builds Fire.

I graduated from NICC in

2013 with an associate of

arts degree in Human Ser-

vices. I am a Lakota Cul-

tural Mentor and work for

the administration of San-

tee Sioux Nation.

While attending school and

working here in Santee, I

would take my hat off to

my family for waiting up

for me and encourage me

to keep going. I would

also like to thank Mrs.

Henke, Roger Trudell and

my spiritual family for

being there for me too-

Delray, Trooper, De-

Wayne, Sarge, Cheri,

Casey, Seth, Terri G.,

LeAnne, Little Ken,

Seth and Ina. Woplia!

Advice for others? A

horse would reflect ex-

actly what you need to

see about yourself. Are

you humble enough to

listen? Learn to listen

and listen to learn,

someone once said.

Volume 2 Issue 1 Page 20

I Always Pray While Sewing the Quilts

Meet NICC’s quilt

maker Patty Provost

Since its tribal charters,

NICC has contracted with

various talented quilt mak-

ers to create quilt-gifts for

special acknowledgements.

Each campus site also has

several quilts adorning their

walls - some of which have

the previous college logo.

This academic year, the

NICC star quilter is Mrs.

Patty Provost. Patty is an

NICC alum having received

her associate’s degree in

Early Childhood in 1991.

Patty’s quilts have been

given as NICC honoring

gifts for Don Torgersen’s

retirement, for Dr. Cynthia

Lindquist’s (Cankdeska

Cikana Community College

President) presentations at

the All-Staff meetings, and

for the family of NICC’s

faculty member, Alice

Saunsoci, upon her No-

vember passing into the

Spirit World. Stephane

Shepherd, from Australia,

will be taking back to his

homeland one of Patty’s

NICC star quilts.

Contributing to her quilted

creations is her sister, Den-

ise Lerma. In October, Pat-

ty and the ”Sto-Wahi`” (in

Winnebago Language “to

gather”) quilt guild were

invited to participate in the

Nebraska state-wide “'See

the Byway the Quiltway.”

There the guild proudly dis-

played an NICC star quilt.

“Several years ago, I attend-

ed a quilting class held by

Maria Scott in Winnebago

at Woodland Trails and saw

making quilts as an oppor-

tunity to create income,”

explained Patty. “ Since

then, I take them yearly to

the Denver March Pow

Wow in Colorado. I also

make quilts for Little Priest

Tribal College and for the

Yankton Sioux Tribe. I had

posted several of quilts on

my Facebook page which a

member of the Wright fami-

ly (from the Ponca tribe)

viewed. I was contacted

and have made 25 to 30

quilts yearly for the Ponca

Tribal students who have

graduated from community

colleges in Lincoln, Norfolk

and Omaha. I always pray

while sewing the quilts.”

Sewing machines have al-

ready been purchased and in

the near future Patty will be

teaching an 18 hour star-

quilt class for NICC. Patty

and her husband Sonny had

three sons and now six

grandsons and 2 grand-

daughters and one great

granddaughter. Patty’s

happiest wish? “I hope they

all learn to quilt!”

Dr. Cynthia Lindquist receives one of

Patty’s NICC Star quilts for being the

keynote speaker at tis academic year’s

kick-off meetings in August.

Page 21 NICC Newsletter

Sewing the Quilts continued from page 20

Justin Kocian looks on as Don T wears the star

quilt Patty lettered with “Academic Dean” note for

his retirement celebration. NICC star quilt presented by Omaha students

James Lasley and Alan Harlan (Macy Campus) to

Australian guest speaker, Stephane Shepherd.

Patty’s NICC quilt display at the Nebraska wide

“See the Byway the Quiltway” show.

Page 22 Volume 2 Issue 1

Reminiscing with Charles Lonewolf

This is the

second in a series of sharings

from Warrior & Elder Charles

Lonewolf. Please see page 18

Spring 2015 NICC Newsletter

on his contributions to the Li-

brary of Congress.

Not a hair style

– advocating for

the spiritual

practice!

Do you choose to exercise

your religious right to have

long hair? Are you aware

of the historic and current

assaults against American

Indians for exercising this

religious right?

Although “covered” with-

in the 1978 American Indi-

an Religious Freedom Act

(Public Law No. 95-341, 92

Stat. 469 - AIRFA), the

spiritual practice of Ameri-

can Indians (especially

males) wearing long hair

still is still being challenged

by states, schools and pris-

ons today.

Recent Challenges:

As recently as this year, the

State of Alabama’s 11th U.S

Circuit Court of Appeals

ruled against Native Ameri-

can inmates fighting for the

right to wear their hair long

in Alabama prisons. In

2008, a five year kinder-

gartner Lipan Apache boy

attending school in Texas

was denied admission due to

his long hair and the

school’s grooming policy.

After an exemption request

was denied, his parents sued

that this policy was a viola-

tion of his religious freedom

rights. After a two year

court battle, their son was

permitted to practice his re-

ligious belief.

Federal Government Sup-

pression:

Historically, the federal

government issued orders

for the cutting of hair and if

there was noncompliance,

food would be withheld or

confinement or hard labor

applied. In 1902 the Bureau

of Indian Affairs told all

reservation agents:

"You are therefore directed

to induce your male Indians

to cut their hair."

Under the directive from the

Bureau of Indian Affairs,

Indian men with long hair

were to be denied rations. If

they still refused to cut their

hair, "short confinement in

the guardhouse at hard labor

with shorn locks, should

furnish a cure." (Indians

101: Long Hair@ http://

nativeamericannetroots.net/)

Nebraska State Compli-

ance/Mr. Lonewolf’s Ad-

vocacy:

In 1992, less than 15 year

after the passage of AIRFA,

Mr. Charles Lonewolf was

contacted by a local attorney

Jerry Mooreland, to advo-

cate for a young man want-

ing to wear his long hair at

his Nebraska workplace.

(Attorney Mooreland had

previously attended a train-

ing seminar on spiritual

practices by Mr. Lonewolf.)

He asked that Mr. Lonewolf

to provide an affidavit that

wearing long hair is consid-

ered a cultural or spiritual

religious practice and not

being permitted would be a

violation of this young

man’s cultural practice.

Because of Mr. Lonewolf’s

advocacy efforts, the em-

ployee won the right to

Page 23 NICC Newsletter

Lonewolf Continued from page 22

practice this aspect of reli-

gious freedom. Thank you

Mr. Lonewolf for your con-

tinuing advocacy efforts!

For more information please

visit these websites:

http://

nativeamericannetroots.net/

diary/601

Control&Click

http://www.americanjail.org

/walking-the-red-road-in-

the-iron-house/

Control&Click

“Good Hair Poem” by

Sherman Alexie:

http://www.poemhunter.co

m/poem/good-hair/

Control&Click

Page 24 Volume 2 Issue 1

Bring Home Gold from AIHEC

AIHEC Coach Garan

Coons wants NICC

students to “BRING

HOME THE GOLD!”

NICC is one of the ten

tribal colleges designat-

ed within the

“Woodlands Region” co-

hosting the March 2016

AIHEC conference in

Minneapolis, MN. In

the AIHEC course, five

“coaches” have been ac-

tively preparing stu-

dents for the upcoming

conference competitions.

As coordinator of the

conference’s hand game

competitions, Coach

Wyatt Thomas is requir-

ing all NICC students to

participate in the hand

games competition.

“Our students are decid-

ing what other catego-

ries they want to com-

pete in. We need to pre-

pare for 2 to 3 individu-

al or team categories,”

explained Coach Lisa

Beans.

Paul Fowler has been

coaching the archery

practices and Nicole

Parker is coaching for

the knowledge bowl

competition. Coaches

Garan Coons and Lisa

Beans have been holding

the volleyball practices.

Coach Coons wants

NICC students to “bring

home the gold!”

NICC students are con-

ducting fund raisers

during the holiday sea-

son and will continue

these into the New Year.

These fundraisers will

enable the students to

acquire “team” shirts so

they can be seen as a

unified presence at the

competitions.

The importance of the

37 tribal colleges coming

together is emphasized

by NICC student, Falon

Torrez, who is the cur-

rent Vice President of

the AIHEC Student

Congress. “I would en-

courage each and every

student and supporting

community to be a part

of the voice of advocacy

for AIHEC. We need

your support in keeping

our nations’ voices

alive.”

Please support our

NICC students as they

prepare for the 2016 AI-

HEC Conference and

GOOD LUCK to ALL

STUDENTS IN THEIR

COMPETITIONS!!!!!!!

To learn about AIHEC

please visit their web-

site at: http://

www.aihec.org/

Control&Click

Page 25 NICC Newsletter

NICC’s 2015 Valedictorian encourages 2016

Valedictorian to speak your language at Graduation.

“Wibthahon wagonze Al-

ice. You taught me well. I

dedicate this article to

you.” - Chris Ross

The Valedictorian of NIC-

C’s 2015 graduating class,

Chris Ross, began his

speech by introducing him-

self to the attending audi-

ence in the Omaha lan-

guage.

“Alice and Frank Saunsoci

taught me how to introduce

myself and kept encourag-

ing me to continue doing

this. Then, I attended AI-

HEC and heard the students

from the other tribal colleg-

es introduce themselves in

their languages. That really

pushed me over the edge to

be able to do this.”

Encouraged by Alice and

inspired by hearing the trib-

al languages at the AIHEC

conference, Chris began

practicing. “I have a friend

who is a fluent speaker and

who helped me. I also used

technology with voice clips

to practice with.”

Chris is sending out an

“encourager” to the 2016

Valedictorian to speak their

tribal language during their

speech. “Speaking our lan-

guage at graduation shows

that we are taking our lan-

guage classes seriously and

also are trying to preserve

them.”

To further encourage those

students who are not Omaha

or Dakota Chris recom-

mends: “Find someone who

can help you learn or see if

there is technology available

that can help you. For the

Ponca students, I know that

their language is similar to

the Omaha language. If

you can’t find a way to

speak the greeting – try to

find a way to put language

somewhere into your

speech.”

Although Chris did not have

his Omaha Clan designation

or an Omaha name he spoke

the following introduction

for his Valedictorian

speech:

Ebe bthin the uwibtha

taminkhe – Let me introduce

myself.

Umonhon izhazhe onthinge –

I have no Omaha name.

Shaon izhazhe wiwita the

Tokata Wica – My Sioux

name is “Man of the Fu-

ture.”

Wa’xe izhazhe wiwita the

Chris Ross – My White

man name is Chris Ross.

Thank you Chris for this

encouragement for the 2016

NICC class graduating Val-

edictorian!

Translations: Rufus White,

elicitations/transcriptions:

Vida Stabler@TitleVII/

UNPS, December 4, 2015

Chris Ross came to the Title

VII department at Umóⁿhoⁿ

Nation Public School to re-

quest help from Grandpa

Rufus White in preparing a

speech, December 4, 2015.

Grandpa worked with Chris

Ross and Vida Stabler to

document the following

phrases. VSS Dec. 4, 2015

Wagóⁿze Kahó wíbthahoⁿ,

iⁿwíⁿthakoⁿ.

‘Teacher, Grandma…you

helped me, I thank you.’

Iⁿthégoⁿze.

‘You taught me.’

Wisíthe moⁿbthíⁿ.

‘I’m thinking of you.’

Page 26 Volume 2 Issue 1

Continued from Page 25

Thank you to Grandma Alice Saunsoci

Santa Visits NICC

Santa Claus arrived at

all three campuses—

Santee, South Sioux

City, and Macy. Santee

Campus entertained

Head Start and Santee

Community School,

grades pre-kindergarten

through second grade.

Head Start and the com-

munity attended Macy

Campus’s Santa Day.

The public and families

of students and employ-

ees visited South Sioux

City Campus.

Each child received a

present courtesy of San-

tee Sioux Nation and

Omaha Tribe of Nebras-

ka. An NICC employee

took a picture of Santa

and each child. Chil-

dren were provided

cookies and cocoa after-

ward. The smiles on

the faces of the chil-

dren were worth the

effort of everyone who

helped on this special

day!

Learning From Our Past, Not Just About Our Past!

Students from the Omaha

Tribal History and Oral His-

tory classes went on a field

trip, Wednesday, April 1st.

No, it wasn’t an April fool

trick, but a real learning ex-

perience in the historical

places where the Omaha

Tribe underwent some of its

most difficult and heart-

breaking upheaval events.

The students left both the

Macy and South Sioux City

Campuses early and arrived

at the same time at the gas

station off Highway 77, near

Homer, Nebraska. The first

stop was to visit the grave

sites of over 90 graves con-

sisting mostly of children,

with some adults. The

grave site was where the

Omahas buried those who

had succumbed to small pox

in 1801. While that is one

grave site, there are others

but they must remain undis-

turbed. During the period of

1930 – ’39, the University

of Nebraska excavated the

90 graves the classes visited

April 1st, for “scientific

study”. The Omaha Tribe

reclaimed the bones and

some funerary objects in

1992 and reburied the 90

individuals in a place known

only to the Tribe in order to

avoid such possible future

excavations.

From there, the classes

stopped at the Nebraska

State Historical plaques lo-

cated on Highway 77. Here

they read the roadside infor-

mation regarding the Big

Village site, which was the

village where the Lewis &

Clark expedition stopped to

meet with the Tribe as they

made their way going north

on the Missouri River in

August of 1804. They had

two Omaha/French recruits,

Pierre Cruzat and Francois

LaBiche, whose fathers

were in the fur trade on be-

half of France at the time.

When Lewis & Clark ar-

rived at the Big Village,

they found it completely

deserted and reported that

“the village was deserted

due to being on their sum-

mer buffalo hunt.” Lewis &

Clark could not have known

this information and while

no credit is given to either

Cruzat or LaBiche, they

were the only ones who

could have given this infor-

mation to these two men

from the east, in charge of

the Expedition. Yet, they

are given no credit.

The last stop was at a natu-

ral spring that was one of

the water sources for the

Omahas living at the Big

Village. It is one of the nu-

merous such natural springs,

bringing fresh, pure water

that the Tribe relied on dai-

ly. The spring is now piped

in and still flows pure and

fresh. After drinking their

fill, students filled their wa-

ter bottles and other contain-

ers of to take home and

share with their families.

Thank you, NICC for

providing us with such a

great day of learning! We

learned from our past, rather

than learning about our past.

We ended our field trip with

a great lunch at the Winne-

bago Casino Star. Thank

you, Jackie Hahn, for driv-

ing the vehicle and students

from Macy Campus and

thank you, Troy Munhofen

for making sure there was a

vehicle for the students from

the South Sioux City Cam-

pus. Another such field trip

is scheduled for Monday,

April 13th to certain histori-

cal sites on the Omaha Res-

ervation at Macy!!

Page 27 Volume 2 Issue 1

Page 28

Volume 2 Issue 1

NICC Classes Visit Last Village of

One Tribal Nation before Forced Removal

Students in the Native

American History to 1890

class, along with students

from the Tribal Government

and Politics and Omaha

Tribal History classes, went

on a field trip to the Fonten-

elle Forest in Bellevue, Ne-

braska this past October

28th. Students from this

class focused on the remov-

al policies of the federal

government built into the

Omaha Tribe’s last treaty of

1854. This was an example

of just one of the federal

policies exercised over

American Indian nations

during the westward expan-

sion of the United States.

During this time, students

actually visited the last vil-

lage of one tribal nation be-

fore being forcibly removed

to the Omaha’s current res-

ervation located in and

around Macy, Nebraska.

This trip served as an exam-

ple of coming face to face

with federal policies during

this time period. The Trail

Guides took the students on

a mile hike down to the ac-

tual sites of where numerous

earth lodges once served as

the traditional homes of the

Omaha People. While

there, the guides offered the

students the opportunity to

go onto the site of a particu-

larly large earth lodge. The

only remaining evidence of

the earth lodge was a large

circular depression on the

ground. The guides offered

the students to enter into the

area. The students, being

aware of their culture, of-

fered two prayers. One

prayer, led by James Lasley

from the Native American

History to 1890 class, of-

fered tobacco.

Michael King, a Dine’

(Navajo) from Utah, also

offered corn pol-

len in the tradition of his

people from the Southwest.

Wynema Morris, the profes-

sor for all three classes fur-

ther instructed the students

as to making the past rele-

vant as historical policies

still resonate and affect

tribes in the present. She

discussed how not only did

the Omaha People get re-

moved, but so too, did the

Dakota from Minnesota as

evidenced by the Isanti relo-

cated in Santee, Nebraska.

After a vigorous hike down

to the earth lodges and back

up the trail, students worked

up a great appetite. The

College bought their long

awaited lunch at the Joe

Tess’s Place Restaurant.

Students were returned to

their respective campuses

thanks to our drivers Paul

Fowler, Nicole Parker and

Wynema Morris.

James Lasley

Michael King

Page 29 NICC Newsletter

Learning about Omaha History

Back Row, L - R: Michael King, Michael

Bates, Alan's daughter, Rose Buffalo Chief,

Mykal Grant, Paul Fowler, and David Walk-

er. Front Row, L - R: another daughter, An-

nalee Morris, Guadalupe Wolfe, Siqoyia Hov-

ing, Mackenzie Grant, and Lola Kearnes.

L - R: Director of Sacred Child Services, Oma-

ha Tribe, student Alan Harlan, James Lasley,

La Tara Tyndall, Guadalupe Wolfe. Back of

NICC Students in all three

of the classes taught by ad-

junct professor, Wynema

Morris, took a very im-

portant field trip to the Ne-

braska State Historical Soci-

ety Museum in Lincoln, Ne-

braska this past September,

28th. The purpose of the trip

was to experience and show

the past from part of the

Omaha Tribe’s history.

While the class served a

purpose for the other two

classes, the Omaha tribal

students were also reintro-

duced to the Sacred Pole.

They learned that the Sacred

Pole is sacred due to the

manner in which it came to

the Omahas in the past.

Some had the mistaken idea

that it was like an “idol” that

the Omahas worshipped.

The true history of the Pole

is that it served then, and to

some extent now, as a politi-

cal unifier. The story be-

hind how the Sacred Pole

came to the Omahas is long

and detailed, but what the

students learned was that the

“myth” is primarily false.

Doran Morris, Jr., (DH),

who inherited the office for

taking care of the Pole from

his father, Doran Sr. who

passed away almost 10

years ago stated that the Sa-

cred Pole is a “political uni-

fier intended to keep the

Omaha people together as

one tribe; as well as for pos-

terity.” All the students

from the three classes: Oma-

ha Tribal History, Native

American History to 1890,

and Tribal Governments and

Politics had their own spe-

cific purpose and focus re-

garding the field trip. After

the visit to the museum and

hearing DJ give a brief ex-

planation of his responsibili-

ties, everyone proceeded to

a great lunch at a near-by

buffet. Thanks to our driv-

ers, Paul Fowler, Nicole

Parker, and Susan Tyndall

for a safe trip!