BESS program aimed at Aboriginals

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In the 10 years since the University of Lethbrtidge's BESS program started, about 100 students have graduated. An equal number are currently attending, says Kate Chiste, one of the rapidly growing program's co-ordinators.

BESS, short for Business Enterprises and Self-Government Systems for Indian, Inuit and Metis People, is an innovative attempt to provide training in administrative skills, finance and tourism to Aboriginal people.

"We have a unique curriculum, developed by our faculty and our students," Chiste says. "A good number of our students hold key positions in their communities."

Though there are now several administrative training programs for First Nations people in Canada Chiste says the BESS program is the only one which is a regular accredited program in a faculty of management. Students may opt to enter for either a certificate -or a three-semester course of study - or for a full 4-year degree program.

"Many of our students have started in the certificate program, then gone on to the degree program," Chiste says. "They come from all over, from Ontario west."

Graduates of the program include an MLA from the Northwest Territories, administrators with the Assembly of First Nations, land claims negotiators and managers of successful small businesses.

Former Peigan Band Councillor Nelbert Little Mustache says he wishes he'd had the training provided by the BESS program 15 years ago.

"The information would have been very useful. There would have been a lot of power for the guy who knew all this."

Little Mustache is typical of many of the program's students. After spending 14 years on the band council, he decided to return to school, taking upgrading courses at Lethbridge Community College, then entering the BESS program.

"It was pretty tough going because I was coming back as a mature student," he says. "But I really enjoyed it."

In addition to the BESS training, he's also taken courses in resource management at the University of Calgary and he's taken training classes at the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump Interpretative Centre.

He partly credits the BESS program for landing him a one-year position with Alberta Education, working as a management assistant on a tourism training course.

And he's also been offered a position for this summer, working with Browning, Montana Cultural co-ordinator Curly Bear Wagner on his Blackfeet interpretative tours.

Little Mustache's real goal is to get into museum work. He's already done a lot of volunteer work at Head-Smashed-In, and with the Oldman River Cultural Centre on the reserve at Brocket, Alta.

"I also did a six-month internship at the Buffalo Bill Museum at Cody, Wyoming," he adds. "They wanted to give me a regular jog there, too."

"The BESS program seemed to be geared mainly for band administrative work, with some stuff on business and tourism. But it was really good. I think it will open a lot of doors for me."

BESS co-ordinator Chiste says one of the most successful aspects of the program is the focus on case studies that show how Aboriginal people have actually solved practical management problems. In fact, Chiste is currently organizing the program's second case writing competition.

"We need new case studies to accompany the textbook materials."

Though she says there's little pre-conceived focus, they would welcome case studies of Aboriginal small business and self-governance initiatives.

"We want studies from all across Canada. These could be written up by academics, students or the business managers themselves," Chiste says.

(Those wishing to enter the competition must submit formal notification before March 31. Call (403) 329-2768 for more information. The competition is open to Natives and non-Natives, with prizes of $6,000 at stake.)