Fowler was leader in Wisconsin tribal education
Tribal flags across the Menominee Nation Reservation are at half staff until Aug. 23 in memory of Dr. Verna Fowler, a longtime leader and advocate who was the College of Menominee Nation’s founding president.
Fowler passed away Aug. 12. She was 81.
Fowler, along with other Menominee rights activists such as Ada Deer, led the movement to return federal sovereignty to the Menominee people.
Federal recognition had ended for the tribe in 1961 as part of a set of policies that became known as termination. The reservation became the poorest and least populated county in Wisconsin, lacking the tax base to support basic services, and its accounts from businesses, such as lumbering operations, were quickly drained.
Fowler and others eventually created the new Menominee Nation in 1973, reversing termination.
As a teacher, school administrator and advocate, Fowler dedicated her life to advancing educational opportunities for American Indians in northeast Wisconsin and throughout the country.
Only 19% of Native Americans ages 18 to 24 are enrolled in college compared with 41% of the overall U.S. population, according to the Postsecondary National Policy Institute.
Fowler, who earned a doctoral degree from the University of North Dakota in educational leadership, wanted to help change those statistics.
She founded the College of Menominee Nation in 1993 and served on advisory committees helping to advance tribal education in the U.S., including on the White House Initiative on Tribal Colleges and Universities under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
Thomas Davis, who was part of the early tribal college movement and worked with Fowler in helping to establish the College of Menominee Nation, published a book of poems about his experiences in 2021. The book’s first poem, “Meditation on the Ceremony of the Sturgeon,” is a letter to Dr. Verna Fowler and the inspiration they had.
Today, the number of students enrolled at the College of Menominee Nation is about 200 in undergraduate studies. It is one of 37 tribal colleges and universities in the U.S.
College organizers pride themselves on helping to address contemporary problems through modern science, informed by ancient knowledge.
Education focuses on sustainable development practices, drawing on Indigenous resource management philosophies tested over centuries in the Menominee Forest.
Native and non-Native students and visitors from around the world come to College of Menominee Nation to learn the history, systems and strategies of the Menominee and other Indigenous peoples.
“In talking with Dr. Fowler, I found comfort in learning from her experiences,” the college’s president, Chris Caldwell, said in a statement. “Resources are always limited, problems and challenges never end, and communication can sometimes be difficult. But the rewards are countless when you see the impact on our students’ lives and those of their families and communities.”
A funeral mass for Fowler was Thursday.
Fowler’s obituary includes a quote from her: “One day I hope the Menominee will be as well-known for their education, as they are for their forest management.”