You know the saying, it’s better late than never.  After struggling to post last Wednesday and not being successful, I set the idea of blogging aside until I had more time to figure out how the system functions.  I made several failed attempts and finally read the entire string of emails much more carefully.  Thank you Molly for the instructions.  Success!

Many of you know I’m in the process of transitioning from life in the corporate world with the goal of working for a nonprofit.  I enrolled at U of O with a general sense of where I’m wanting my career to go but didn’t fully understand the universe of options.  During Winter quarter Doug Blandy recognized my interest in using cultural development as a tool to strengthen my community, but I didn’t have the vocabulary to put my interest in those terms.  I don’t remember ever seeing the phrase “community cultural development” before registering for this class, and never imagined or understood the depth of research on the subject.  I’m thankful Doug recommended I take this class.

My interest stems from having witnessed the devastation that results when a dominant culture attempts to strip away the very essence of another culture. To borrow the terminology from Paula Freire, I have seen the native community in Alaska discard the status of “object” and reclaim the role of “subject.”  Alaska Natives have taken control of important aspects of life, such as economic development, health care, and cultural preservation and rejected being dependent on the Bureau of Indian Affairs or the Indian Health Service.  I never realized the effort by Alaska Native leaders to take responsibility for solving the community’s is properly labeled “community cultural development.”  My eyes are open!