Tribe loses long-time education advocate

Longtime Indian Education advocate Karen Cornelius Fenton passed away Sept. 12 in Missoula, at the age of 63.

Karen served on the first Board of Directors for Salish Kootenai College. During her tenure she also served as Chair, and was a strong supporter during the college's important early years.

She also held the position of Director of Tribal Education for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. "The mission of the Salish Kootenai College must be to serve the Tribes and Indian people," Karen said when she was SKC Board Chair in 1978. "We must teach in new ways that will help every student to be proud of being Indian and to graduate. We must help the Tribes with research and education so that the Indian people will have a better life. We must keep our culture alive."

She touched the lives of many, urging people around her to look to education as a great way to improve their lives. Her own education took place at Harlem High School, Eastern Montana College, the University of Montana, and Penn State.

Karen's career included working as: an Upward Bound Counselor at EMC; a Counselor with Special Services at the University of Montana; Administrative Assistant with Tri-States Tribes Incorporated in Billings; Director of Tribal Education for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes; Director of Native American Graduate Fellowship Program at Montana State University; and Special Assistant to the President at MSU, serving as Tribal Relations Liaison.

She also served on boards for the Chemawa Indian School, Montana Committee for the Humanities, and Montana Commission on the Status of Women.

In addition, Karen served as President for the National Indian Education Association and the Montana Indian Education Association, and helped found the Montana Advisory Council on Indian Education.

Karen's family is asking that instead of flowers, people contribute to the Cornelius Scholarship Fund c/o Salish Kootenai College. The fund was established in memory of her parents in 1991.

Obituary on page 5