THE AMERICAN INDIAN INSTITUTE
of the
CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
HISTORY
The American Indian Institute of the City University of New York was founded in by John Beatty and Anthony Brown as a research institute. It was to be housed at Brooklyn College.
It was the recipient of a grant from the department of Health Education and Welfare which was involved with the funding of urban Indian programs in cities in New York State that had a population of one thousand or more Indians.(see below)
In 2002, Prof. Beatty's office was ransacked by other members of the department, and when the administration chose not to take any action, Prof. Beatty retired and asked to be kept on as the director of the American Indian Institute. He was informed by Maury Callahan and later by Acting Assistant Provost Mirotznik that the American Indian Institute had never existed. When Prof Beatty was able to produce the evidience that it had in fact been approved by the Board of Higher Education, Maury Callahan then announced that it had been terminated in 1991, without notifying the director of the Institute! This was a rather amazing feat since the college would have been terminating an institute they were claiming never existed!
On May 30th, 2005, Co founder and co director Anthony Brown, Ph.D., died in Nashville Tenn.
PROJECT INVOLVEMENT
Urban Indians (HEW)
At the time, there were four cities, which according to the census had the required population - New York City, Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo.
The regulations stated that after all the cities with 1,000 Indian had been funded it was possible to fund cities with populations of 750. In New York State that meant Niagara Falls could be included. Since all the NYS cities of more than a thousand had been funded, (and because of a mathematical error!) there was an extra $5,000. left in the budget and we were able to get the money allocated to Niagara Falls.
Employment for American Indians
The American Indian Institute served as a site for young American Indians who needed job training to develop skills for work. The project, funded through the American Indian Community House placed several young people in the institute where they worked over the summer.
CREATION OF MINI COURSES
The American Indian Institute has been invovled in the production of a number of mini-courses about American Indian topics. These are offered (usually jointly) by the anthropology department and the American studies department.
American Indian Speeches
Prof. Babcock of the speech department had done research on American Indian speeches and with the American Indian Institute was able to persent a mini course on this topic.
Famous American Indians
This course examines the lives of a number of Native Americans who had an impact on the relationship with the United States at different phases in its history.
American Indian Music and Dance
This course examines the various musical styles found among the native peoples,largely, but not exclusively in North America.
American Indian Languages
This course examines the richness and diversity of the large number of American Indian languages across the country.