Native ambassador: St. Ignatius man chosen for prestigious national program
By BETSY COHEN of the Missoulian
A St. Ignatius man has been selected for a landmark program that helps develop the nation's brightest and most promising young American Indian leaders.
Joshua Brown, a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, is one of 18 individuals picked to participate in the American Indian Ambassadors Program, which draws upon traditional indigenous values to empower new generations of Native leaders.
The program, which began in 1993, is designed around four core cultural values: Relationships, responsibility, reciprocity and redistribution.
Brown, 31, holds a master's degree in public administration from the University of Montana, is co-founder of the Salish Language Immersion School, and works at Salish Kootenai College designing a language teacher training program.
Brown said he is honored by the recognition, and looks forward to meeting and working with like-minded individuals.
“I'm really excited about this,” he said. “For me, it is an opportunity to network and hopefully develop more of my skills to do my job much better.
“Each ambassador has to have some kind of community initiative, and part of what the program does is to help make it happen - to help with the follow-through.”
American Indian languages are Brown's passion, and his goal is to develop a program that instructs educators on how to teach languages.
“In order to revitalize a language, you have to have highly qualified teachers who can teach in the language,” Brown said. “I want to focus on helping to improve their teaching skills - teach them how to apply methodology and develop curriculum.”
The American Indian Ambassadors Program is a two-year commitment. During that time the ambassadors will attend four week-long gatherings in New Mexico, Washington, D.C., Hawaii, and Bolivia, where they will meet with leading Native decision-makers, national policymakers and international dignitaries.
Brown said he is particularly eager to attend the trip to Washington, D.C., where he and his fellow ambassadors will lobby Congress on Indian issues.
“For me that's really exciting - to take my message to our country's leaders,” he said.
His message will be about the importance of Native languages and the need to develop effective language education programs.
“I'm sure other things will come up,” Brown said. “There's all kinds of new stereotypes out there about tribes - like all tribes are filthy rich from casinos, and that's just not the case in Montana.
“Poverty is still a huge issue on our reservations.”
The trip to Bolivia is also intriguing, because there, the ambassadors will learn about the country's indigenous peoples.
While the international stop is an exotic agenda item, the ambassadors program has deep connections to indigenous peoples around the globe. While each ambassador is dedicated to developing their own initiative, the program also encourages that they develop an international perspective.
“The idea is to come away with a better understanding of how different indigenous groups around the world are trying to tackle social and economic issues,” Brown said.
“In today's globalized world, the challenges we face are complex and carry dangerous ramifications if we don't develop indigenous leaders with the skills to build politically sustainable Native communities,” said LaDonna Harris, president of the Americans for Indian Opportunity, which help create the ambassadors program.
Of the recent selection of American ambassadors, Harris said: “The 18 individuals chosen already exhibit exceptional leadership skills, so our program aims to further strengthen their talents by reaffirming their cultural values, cultivating their community organizing skills, and build a network of people and resources they can utilize throughout their careers.”
Brown said he is eager to learn and to apply the knowledge and lessons he'll learn over the next two years.
“I'm really excited,” he said. “It's inspiring to be a part of this.”