Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School is a K-12 tribal school in unincorporated Cass County, Minnesota, near Bena. It is affiliated with the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE).[1] Located on the Leech Lake Indian Reservation,[2] it serves the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. It is nicknamed the "Bug School".[3]
History
editThe school first opened in 1975. A new facility opened around 1985. It was built as a bus barn and school for automobile mechanics, and it got the name "pole barn".[2] This facility served as the high school, while K-8 classes were in a separate facility that, by November 2014, was in a better condition.[4]
Circa the 2000s the school community began advocating for a new school. In winter 2014, due to snow, a section of the roof collapsed. By 2015 the editorial board of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune advocated for an urgent replacement of the school.[2] The editorial board cited a sewer system that fails during periods of extreme cold and periods of rodents causing infestations.[5] Jill Burcum, the writer of the editorials, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize due to these stories.[6]
In 2016 the United States Department of the Interior got a $12 million grant for a new school for Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig.[3] The current $14,500,000 44,000-square-foot (4,100 m2) facility opened in 2018.[7]
Student body
editThe high school building had about 100 students,[5] and there were 200 students total for all of K-12, both in 2015.[2]
Curriculum
editIn addition to traditional subjects, Native culture is heavily integrated into the school's programs, while school district-operated public schools mostly follow dominant Euro-American curriculum with some Native cultural units.[2]
References
edit- ^ "Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School". Bureau of Indian Education. Retrieved 2021-08-11.
15353 Silver Eagle Drive NW, Bena, MN, 56626
- Despite the "Bena, MN" postal address, it is outside of the Bena city limis. - ^ a b c d e "'We're going to school in a tin can'". Minneapolis Star Tribune. 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2021-08-11.
- ^ a b "A welcome end to classes in a Leech Lake Reservation pole barn". Minneapolis Star Tribune. 2016-04-06. Archived from the original on 2016-04-13. Retrieved 2021-08-11.
- ^ "'Enigok. Nimisiwendaamin ji ayaamaangiban Oshki gikinoo-amaadiwigamig.' ('We really need a new school.')" (PDF). Minneapolis Star-Tribune. 2014-11-30. Retrieved 2021-08-11.
- ^ a b "Separate and unequal: Indian schools, a nation's neglect". Minneapolis Star Tribune. 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2021-08-11.
- ^ "Finalist: Jill Burcum of Star-Tribune, Minneapolis". Pulitzer Prize. Retrieved 2021-08-11.
- ^ "New Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig school is complete but Bureau of Indian Education system is still crumbling". Minneapolis Star Tribune. 2018-07-31. Retrieved 2021-08-11.