As a Ball State student, she experienced racism on the streets and in the classrooms. Today, as a teacher at Ivy-Tech Community College, she educates hundreds of students on the importance of understanding. The reason for both is that Pamela Gard grew up listening to her grandmother's tales of American Indian poverty, abuse, and discrimination.
With long blonde hair, Gard does not look like a stereotypical American Indian. Yet those are exactly the thoughts she is fighting against.
"I am fighting oppression directed directly towards Native Americans along with stereotypes and racism," Gard said. "These are what keep our hopes diminished and poverty abundant."
Gard, whose Indian name is Niiba Giiziskwe, was raised on a 106-acre farm in Boston, Ind. Her father, who is part Chippewa Indian, taught her to appreciate the beauty of the land.
"I learned at a young age to survive and respect the earth and the people on the earth," Gard said.
The major influence on her outlook on life, though, was her grandmother.
A Crow Indian, her grandmother suffered many hardships. Her mother was shot and killed right in front of her. She and her brothers were put in sexually abusive homes. Gard says that they were treated like animals.
"(My grandmother) never cries. She's as tough as nails; a lot of Indian women have to be strong," Gard said.
Gard must also be strong while fighting stereotypes and racism in her life. She credits a lot of her passion to her family.
"I believe I get my strength from my grandmother and my brothers," Gard said. "My grandmother used to say 'I am half your heart and you are half your heart.'"
The hardships Gard's grandmother faced occurred during the boarding school era of American Indian history. In the early part of the 20th century, American Indian children were taken out of their homes and placed in boarding schools to "civilize" them. According to Gard, many of the teachers hired to teach were poorly educated, had little experience and were ignorant to the tribal values and beliefs.
"The purpose of the Native American boarding school was to assimilate Native American children into the Western American culture by placing them in institutions where they were forced to reject their Native American culture," Gard wrote in a paper during her time at BSU.
This rejection happens in today's society often, Gard notes. Many teachers who visit reservations are only there for a short period of time and do not take the time to learn about the culture they are immersing themselves in.
"I have been to reservations. I've see the faces of children when teachers put them down ... they learn differently," Gard said.
Gard now volunteers at local schools, giving presentations on American Indian culture. She tries to show the kids the stereotypes they see on cartoons of Indians aren't true. She also discourages teachers from putting on plays and doing artwork that uses stereotypical "looks" for Indians. Gard doesn't find it cute that they are learning about Thanksgiving in a historically inaccurate way.
"The Indian culture is the last one to get any respect. It's 'OK' to make fun of us?" Gard asked. She teaches the kids the truth about Christopher Columbus and the pilgrims. The children often respond to her talks with an overwhelming amount of questions.
"It's wonderful. That's what we want... curiosity and amazement," Gard said.
Life has not always been so full of high-quality education for Gard. As a BSU student, she experienced many instances of racism and is still fighting for American Indian cultural resources on campus. While taking an American Indian history class, Gard claims the professor, Richard Aquila, stated Wounded Knee was not a massacre. Gard often contradicted him and handed out her own pamphlets during class.
Aquila remembers Ms. Gard well. Currently teaching at Pennsylvania State University, Aquila said that he tries to be as objective as possible in his classroom, and although he personally believes that Wounded Knee was a massacre, he likes to look at things from all angles.
"One of the main points that I tried to make throughout that course concerned the importance of cultural relativism and how some terms such as 'massacre' are culturally loaded words," Aquila said.
He wants his students to realize that one person's definition of massacre is the other side's strategic victory. The more important questions to ask are why did it happen and how do we avoid similar events in the future.
"Understanding cultural differences and motives of people who disagree with us can only help us get along better in a diverse world where people don't always agree," Aquila said.
Another obstacle in Gard's education rally is the Multicultural Center on campus. The percentage of self-proclaimed American Indians at BSU is .2 and Gard attributes a lot of this to the fact that they don't feel comfortable in their surroundings. She claimed that the Multicultural Center has no resources for American Indian students. The director of the center, Derick Virgil had, an explanation.
"We have some, but it's limited. The center was initially created for African American students back in the 70s after the civil rights movement," Virgil said. "African Americans were the largest minority group."
He also said that the center is currently working to expand their resources to include Hispanic and American Indian cultures. The center's mission is now larger than originally intended.
"We're always here to support students of color. Our second goal is supporting students period, with the mission to educate," Virgil said.
In response to Gard's accusations, Virgil stated that the center is trying to revive the American Indian group on campus and is bringing in a couple of speakers on the culture for the future.
"We support programming that helps people understand all types of ethnical diversity...but it's population sensitive."
Gard has a degree from BSU in Pre-Professional Creative Writing with an emphasis on American Indian Literature and Film. She has a master's degree in secondary education. She writes poetry as a stress reliever and her book, "The Lands and Rivers Below: A Mixed Blood Walking the Earth," is a compilation of three previous publications. After her graduate degree she taught Multicultural Education at BSU. Her latest project is saving Indian burial mounds. Although there is a law against digging up any human remains or artifacts, people continue to steal the American Indians' past.
"Sometimes money and politics win. That's a major drawback for the Indian culture," Gard said.
In the future, Gard plans to enroll in a doctorate program and set up outreach programs for people on the reservations. She will continue to fight racism and stereotypes for future generations.
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