Alyce Spotted Bear (

Mandan The Mandan are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains who have lived for centuries primarily in what is now North Dakota. They are enrolled in the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation. About half of the Mandan still res ...

: Numakshi Mihe, December 17, 1945 – August 13, 2013) was a Native American educator and politician and an enrolled member of the

Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation The Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation (MHA Nation), also known as the Three Affiliated Tribes (Mandan: ''Miiti Naamni''; Hidatsa: ''Awadi Aguraawi''; Arikara: ''ačitaanu' táWIt''), is a Native American Nation resulting from the alliance of th ...

Early life and education

Born in Elbowoods on the

Fort Berthold Reservation The Fort Berthold Indian Reservation is a U.S. Indian reservation in western North Dakota that is home for the federally recognized Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, also known as the Three Affiliated Tribes. The reservation includes lands on ...

of the

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

, Spotted Bear received her bachelor's degree in Education from

Dickinson State University Dickinson State University (DSU) is a public university in Dickinson, North Dakota. It is part of the North Dakota University System. It was founded in 1918 as Dickinson State Normal School and granted full university status in 1987. History Di ...

Dickinson, North Dakota Dickinson is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 25,679 at the 2020 census. Dickinson is home to the Ukrainian Cultural Institute, which has a museum and holds events year round for the ...

in 1970.

Career

Spotted Bear served as chairwoman of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Tribe from 1982–1987. Environmental issues were a key focus of her term in office. One of her major initiatives involved seeking compensation for lands flooded by the construction of the

Garrison Dam Garrison Dam is an earth-fill embankment dam on the Missouri River in central North Dakota, U.S. Constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from 1947 to 1953, at over in length, the dam is the fifth-largest earthen dam in the world. The res ...

in 1953; this initiative was ultimately successful, with the tribe receiving $149.2 million in 1992. Her administration also strongly supported the passage of the Fort Berthold Mineral Restoration Act. Some of Spotted Bear's other policies included revising the tribal constitution to increase the Tribal Business Council's authority and providing scholarships to Fort Berthold Community College. Cultural revival was another of Spotted Bear's priorities; in 1983 she re-established a buffalo herd on the

starting with 56 animals from

Theodore Roosevelt National Park Theodore Roosevelt National Park is an American national park of the badlands in western North Dakota comprising three geographically separated areas. Honoring U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, it is the only American national park named direct ...

. After her time as chairwoman, Spotted Bear obtained a masters degree from

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

in the American Indian Leadership Program and subsequently began PhD studies at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

. She also taught at the

Fort Berthold Community College Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College is a Public college, public Tribal colleges and universities, tribal Land-grant university, land-grant community college in New Town, North Dakota. It is chartered by the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthol ...

, now Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College, in

New Town, North Dakota New Town is a city in Mountrail County, North Dakota. The population was 2,764 at the time of the 2020 census, making it the 18th largest city in North Dakota. New Town was platted in 1950 as a replacement site for the residents of Sanish and ...

, where she was the vice-president of the Native Studies department and instrumental in the establishment of degree programs in Native Studies. She also advocated for

Mandan language Mandan (Mandan: ''Nų́ų́ʔetaa íroo'') is an extinct Siouan language of North Dakota in the United States. Use and revitalization efforts By 2009, there was just one fluent speaker of Mandan, Dr. Edwin Benson (1931–2016). The language is ...

preservation and directed a project to produce digital records of

Edwin Benson Edwin James Benson (; ''Ma-doke-wa-des-she'', modern Mandan orthography: ''Wéroke Wáatashe'', Iron Bison) was a Native American educator and the last native speaker of the Mandan language. He was born in Elbowoods, North Dakota, on the Fort Ber ...

, the last native speaker of Mandan. In 2010, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

appointed Spotted Bear to the National Advisory Committee on Indian Education. In this capacity she was an advocate for language immersion schools.

Death and legacy

Spotted Bear died in

Bismarck, North Dakota Bismarck () is the capital of the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Burleigh County. It is the state's second-most populous city, after Fargo. The city's population was 73,622 in the 2020 census, while its metropolitan popula ...

of cancer. In 2016, Congress created the Alyce Spotted Bear and

Walter Soboleff Walter Alexander Soboleff (November 14, 1908 – May 22, 2011) was a Tlingit scholar, elder and religious leader. Soboleff was the first Native Alaskan to become an ordained Presbyterian minister. Early life Soboleff was born in Killisnoo, Alask ...

Commission on Native Children, through a bill co-sponsored by

Heidi Heitkamp Mary Kathryn "Heidi" Heitkamp ( ; born October 30, 1955) is an American politician who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from North Dakota from 2013 to 2019. A member of the North Dakota Democratic–Nonpartisan League Party, ...

and

Lisa Murkowski Lisa Ann Murkowski ( ; born May 22, 1957) is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States senator for Alaska, having held that seat since 2002. Murkowski is the second-most senior Republican woman in the Senate, after S ...

. The commission is charged with examining the challenges faced by Native children, cataloging existing programs and grants available for these children, and making recommendations for improvements to existing services. In 2021, the deadline for the commission's report was extended to 2023.

Works

References

External links

Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spotted Bear, Alyce 1945 births 2013 deaths People from McLean County, North Dakota Female Native American leaders Dickinson State University alumni Pennsylvania State University alumni Cornell University alumni Educators from North Dakota American women educators Obama administration personnel Mandan people Native American women academics Native American academics American women academics Native American women in politics 21st-century American women 20th-century Native American women 20th-century Native Americans 21st-century Native American women 21st-century Native Americans