> Skip to content
FEATURED:
  • The Evolution of Race in Admissions
Sign In
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
Sign In
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
Sign In
ADVERTISEMENT
News
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Show more sharing options
Share
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Copy Link URLCopied!
  • Print

Leaving the Reservation

Photographs by Rebecca Drobis for The Chronicle
July 26, 2016

Charnelle Bear Medicine, 18, just graduated from Browning High School on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Northwest Montana. Her childhood wasn’t easy – she was raped by a family friend at age 4, and later molested by a female cousin – but she’s made it through high school on time, and is feeling hopeful about the future. This fall, she’ll head to the University of Montana, where Native Americans make up about 3 percent of the student body, according to the Education Department. She plans to return to the reservation after college to become a counselor. “I want to be a safe haven for kids,” she says.

We’re sorry. Something went wrong.

We are unable to fully display the content of this page.

The most likely cause of this is a content blocker on your computer or network. Please make sure your computer, VPN, or network allows javascript and allows content to be delivered from c950.chronicle.com and chronicle.blueconic.net.

Once javascript and access to those URLs are allowed, please refresh this page. You may then be asked to log in, create an account if you don't already have one, or subscribe.

If you continue to experience issues, contact us at 202-466-1032 or help@chronicle.com

Charnelle Bear Medicine, 18, just graduated from Browning High School on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Northwest Montana. Her childhood wasn’t easy – she was raped by a family friend at age 4, and later molested by a female cousin – but she’s made it through high school on time, and is feeling hopeful about the future. This fall, she’ll head to the University of Montana, where Native Americans make up about 3 percent of the student body, according to the Education Department. She plans to return to the reservation after college to become a counselor. “I want to be a safe haven for kids,” she says.

Blackfeet-h

Charnelle competes in hurdles at a track meet in Polson, Mont. “Sprinting is like therapy for me,” says Charnelle, who hasn’t had much luck with traditional therapy. Running is big in Browning; the gymnasium is filled with banners celebrating the high school’s cross-country championships. Harry Barnes, chairman of the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council, thinks running is in Browning students’ DNA, a legacy of the tribes’ buffalo-hunting past.

ADVERTISEMENT

Blackfeet-e

Between her races at the Polson High School track meet, Charnelle crams for her coming precalculus exam. Charnelle does OK in math, but her real passion is poetry. “She’s a really good poet,” says Katherine Bell, her AP English teacher.

Blackfeet-g

Charnelle shares her anxiety about the coming weeks with her AP English teacher, Ms. Bell. This fall, she’ll head to the University of Montana, four hours from home. Though she feels academically prepared for college, she knows she’ll be homesick and worry about her mom, Charlene, who suffers from a painful joint condition that recently forced her to quit her jobs as a kitchen worker and part-time firefighter. Charlene, who struggled with alcohol in the past, refuses to take pain pills because she “wouldn’t want to get addicted.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Blackfeet-f

Charnelle discusses her coming precalculus final exam with her teacher, John Parente.

Blackfeet-d

ADVERTISEMENT

Charnelle and her boyfriend, Sean Lewis, a distance runner, wait to take their official varsity track team photograph. Before the couple started dating, Charnelle checked with her mom to make sure they weren’t related. “We have a joke around here: ‘Don’t date your cousin,’” she said. Sean, 17, will be a junior at Browning High School next year, but the couple is hoping to make the long-distance relationship work.

Blackfeet-c

After track practice, Charnelle hangs out in her kitchen with her mother, Charlene Cadotte, 55, and her niece, Angel, 5, who lives with them because her father (Charnelle’s older brother) is incarcerated. Charlene says her mom, a high-school dropout who got her associate degree two years ago, is an inspiration to her. “She makes me see what’s possible,” said Charnelle.

ADVERTISEMENT

Blackfeet_b

Charnelle gazes out across her yard and laments that there is nothing to do in Browning except get into trouble. She estimates that 70 to 80 percent of her peers smoke pot or use meth. For fun, she and her friends will cruise around, play pool, or go bowling. She is looking forward to a fresh start in Missoula in the fall.

Blackfeet-a
Rebecca Drobis for The Chronicle

Charnelle stays after track practice ends to jump extra hurdles in preparation for the coming Montana state divisional competition. She plans to return to Browning after she graduates college, to work as a counselor to children who have been abused. But her mom, who has spent her whole life on the reservation, is urging her to “explore the world.”

ADVERTISEMENT

A version of this article appeared in the August 5, 2016, issue.
Read other items in this From the Reservation to College package.
We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.

Related Content

  • For Native Students, Education’s Promise Has Long Been Broken
  • For Native Students, a Deepening Divide
  • Explore
    • Get Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Blogs
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Find a Job
    Explore
    • Get Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Blogs
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Find a Job
  • The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • DEI Commitment Statement
    • Write for Us
    • Talk to Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • User Agreement
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Site Map
    • Accessibility Statement
    The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • DEI Commitment Statement
    • Write for Us
    • Talk to Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • User Agreement
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Site Map
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Customer Assistance
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise With Us
    • Post a Job
    • Advertising Terms and Conditions
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
    Customer Assistance
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise With Us
    • Post a Job
    • Advertising Terms and Conditions
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
  • Subscribe
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Institutional Subscriptions
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Manage Your Account
    Subscribe
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Institutional Subscriptions
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Manage Your Account
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037
© 2023 The Chronicle of Higher Education
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • facebook
  • linkedin