Graduation time for celebration

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That sound you hear across the land is a sigh of relief.

Once again, it's time for celebration as junior high schools hold their proms, high school their graduation ceremonies and various training, college and university courses end.

For students, it's time to celebrate arrival at a new level of achievement, and to look forward to the next challenge. For parents, it's a time to be proud of their children's success, and to dust off new hopes and new goals. For teachers it's time to see rewards in evidence for an often thankless job.

For Native people, there is even greater cause for celebration. This year there will be more Native students successfully completing higher levels of education than ever before. And with their success comes reinforced hope for Native self-determination and independence.

It may not be an overused cliche to say that our young people are our leaders of tomorrow, our hope for the future. But in this case it is certainly a true cliche.

One of the major drawbacks to Native self-determination and self-sufficiency has been the shortage of Native people with the training and qualifications required to deal with the increasing complex mainstream society.

The result has been a dependence on non-Native advisors and professionals who are sometimes not in tune with the realities of the Native world. Not only has their contribution sometimes been inadequate, the fees paid to them have reduced the funds available for employment of Native people.

More and more, Native people are gaining the training and experience to take over those important jobs, making Native control of all areas of their lives a more and more realistic goal.

That's a major step forward - a step made only in the past 15 or 20 years. In the light of today's situation, it's hard to believe that 20 years ago that there were only a few Native university graduates; that only a small percentage of Native people attended high school; that most Native people had no formal job training.

Things are different now, but there is still a long way to go.

In today's world, education and training are vital for every individual who hopes to be successful.

They are especially vital for Native people if they want to regain control of their lives and future in this complex world.

The most important thing we can do is to encourage our children to obtain the education they need to make the most of the lives.

That's my opinion, anyway.

What do you think?