BLIND DATE
Chapter VIII (B)
Flathead Nation
Extraordinary educator and a distiguished leader of the tribal college system, Dr Joe McDonald is President Emeritus of SKC. Truly a gentleman and a scholar, I will never cease to admire his superb leadership of the college. As of 2022, Joe's son is the Chairman of the Tribal Council.
Brilliant lecturer, mentor, treasured friend, Pat Hurley was also a tireless advocate for the Tribes. My life and career were decidedly enriched with her boundless energy and quiet competence that helped establish SKC as the premier tribal college in the nation. A year younger than me, her recent passing shocked and sadden us all.
Salish Kootenai ("koot-nee") College--Website: skc.edu
Main campus. Joyce taught in the building to the right
The new Math-Science facility. Pat and my offices were at the far end. Note the Mission mountains in the background
The beautiful Bitterroot
Lee Snapp
Bitterroot dig. Note the thickened roots
Drummers and singers practicing for PowWows. The drum is sacred and would be protected with their lives if necessary
A newly constructed tipi
D'Arcy McNickle Library
The three Tribe's, "Seli's, Ksanka, Qlispe', (formally Kerr) Dam" was constructed during the depression. It is on the lower Flathead River below Polson and is fully owned and managed by the Tribes.
Graduation PowWow. Joe McDonald, in his fine dancing regalia, is to the right
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SKC Graduation. Note the graduates wore beautiful beaded shawls or vests. Faculty never wore caps, gowns or hoods. We were celebrating students, not faculty. The 2022 commencement address was delivered by Education Secretary Miguel Cardona
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When the college was given the opportunity to create its own license plates, I grabbed an early one
Polson
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Our first residence was "the barn." The second floor bedroom window provided a nighttime view of many fluttering bats attracted by the outside pole lamp. The bats were living in the many bat houses my father constructed and hung around the property
My father's first house
Snowy owls migrated through every year
River otter I nearly tripped over but never got a photograph
Largest owl in N.A., the great gray, nested for two years on the property. They have no "ears" and sport beautiful yellow eyes. The first time I saw him on the deck, I thought it was a dog
The only stop that can be requested on Amtrak's Empire Builder, at Essex Station. It is across the upper Flathead river from Glacier Park. The small dining area, in the lower right, includes a beautiful stained glass window displaying the symbol of the original railroad
Examples of the deer mouse (field mouse) that carried Hanta virus versus the shorter-tailed vole