A bridge between continents:

By Lailani Upham

German exchange student Ann Grob stands outside on the Salish Kootenai College campus on a chilly morning the day before leaving to go home to Germany. Grob said her research was on the impacts social and cultural development have on a tribal community, and how these two aspects strengthen a community by responding to the economic needs. (Lailani Upham photo)

PABLO — Some might not think Germans and Indians have similar ways or humor, but it's a fact, they do, according to Ann Grob, German Foreign Exchange graduate student working on her doctoral dissertation at Salish Kootenai College.

Grob is a graduate from the University of Leipig in Germany with two masters degrees in Cultural Anthropology and American Studies. The University of Leipig is about and hour and half east of Berlin and one of the oldest universities of Germany and was founded at the beginning of the 15th century. According to Grob the Leipig just celebrated their 600th anniversary. "I realize how young the country is when I saw that SKC had just celebrated their 30th anniversary," she added.

This was Grob's second time coming to Flathead to study tribal colleges and their impact on communities. This five-month visit consisted of focusing the research on the role of individual empowerment of students in a tribal community.

"She is very accurate in her work and fits in very nicely here at SKC," Joe McDonald, SKC President stated on her stay and work at the college.

Grob had arrived on the Flathead Reservation community in June and recently returned to Germany.

Tonka Howard, SKC “Imagi – Native” producer and Ann Grob work diligently at the last hour to finish the editing of the upcoming episode called, “The SKC Tribal and Individual Community Empowerment Project” that is due to air on the SKC public television station this month. (Lailani Upham photo)

In addition to Grob's project there will be a short documentary due out on the college's "Imagi - Native" program, produced by Tonka Howard. It will be aired on November 24 on the local public broadcasting station, (stations vary according to location). The episode is a two-month collaboration with the college and Grob's own research. The program is called, "The SKC Tribal and Individual Community Empowerment Project."

Grob has been working on two cases in tribal communities the past several years: one here on the Flathead Reservation and the other in New Zealand, both concerning the effects in tribal communities as a result of social and cultural language preservation. Grob's research will entail how tribal communities are a part of the economy and what it means.

Grob's contact with the tribal community has been not only an educational experience but a social one. She came to know many of the people in the community and had her fixed spot at the SKC library for the five months of research. "The day after she left I called her to tell her someone was sitting at her table, 'it didn't look right,'" Mary Lou Mires, SKC library staff said.

Grob shared how similar the cultural characteristics were compared to Germans and Native Americans. "We are very quick with our responses and I found that Native people are the same way," Grob added with a chuckle. She compared how people and the language accents are different in Germany as they are in Native communities, "We make fun of the each other's accents over there, and its funny. We ask each other why do they talk like that," she says laughing. Grob noticed that making fun of accents is a typical topic of entertainment amongst Montana Native tribes as well.

Grob spent a lot of her time volunteering with the SKC community. Josh Brown, Director of the Native American Language Teacher Training Institute, said she was instrumental in getting the audio and video portion of the program recorded through interviewing staff, students, and the community.

Preserving language is at the heart of Grob, it is not only a research project to her, but it is a personal ambition that comes from her deep appreciation and fascination with Indian Tribes.

Grob admitted that Flathead was like another home to her and plans on returning in the next two years for either research or simply to visit all the friends she met on the Rez.

"We look forward to seeing her again," said McDonald.
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