Jazzmine Long is a member of the St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin. She grew up on the Maple Plain Reservation, and came to the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) to learn how to build and serve her community.
When Long was still in high school, she connected with a resource through her tribe that helps students with college aspirations through support with applications, help with logistics such as meal plan and housing selections, and financial aid and scholarships. “I was interested in learning law. But I also wanted to learn how I could implement that in my tribal community,” she said.
When she found out that UMD offered a Tribal Administration and Governance major, “it really piqued my interest,” she said, “because it had both of the things that I was looking for.”
It’s still a couple years away, but after graduation Long wants to bring her new skills home to help other students get into college, “the way I was helped by my tribe.” Later, she hopes to run for tribal council, to lead and “serve the community in the best way I can.”
Back when she first arrived at UMD, Long was nervous about this new beginning, and about finding her way in a new place. On her first day of orientation, she connected with the American Indian Learning Resource Center (AILRC) and the Indigenous Student Organization (ISO). “I felt like there was a place for me and I could be someone and make a difference here on campus.”
“I grew up where it wasn't very diverse,” she said, and coming to Duluth, she appreciated the multifaceted community on campus. From the Multicultural Center and Kirby Student Center, to events for the larger UMD community, “it's cool to see how connected everyone is. And it's easy to feel like you do have a place.”
Whether through her AILRC work study position, where she helps people connect with resources both in the Center and beyond, or as one of the leaders of the ISO alongside co-president Sara Troseth, Long’s work focuses on “getting other people involved and building community.”
“We want to welcome our native students that want to learn about their culture, but we also want to fill the gap for non-native students who want to learn about our culture,” she said. “We want to make them feel comfortable in being able to engage as well.”
One of the things she feels most proud of is her role in events like the Ziigwan Powwow at UMD. “You work with a bunch of people that all have a common goal. And when you get together and are able to create something, whether that's just the fundraiser or an event we're doing, being able to see how it progresses and how well it does is just: wow, we did that.”
In some ways, that’s a full circle journey for Long, who previously had the honor to represent her tribe and community at Powwows all across America as a member of the Powwow Royalty. She earned the spot through dancing and demonstrating her ability to speak publicly in both English and her traditional language [Ojibwe], and “just showing that determination and drive to represent,” she says.
Through those experiences, she learned a lot about herself, about how to present in front of large audiences, and about “being a role model to the younger folks that are finding their way,” she says.
“Overall, that also taught me the importance of serving people, because we would do things like serve the elders food during the feasts at powwows.” she said. “I realized that I do like serving people and this is what I want to do.”
One path to service is bringing people together. “In our culture, we believe that in some way, shape, or form, everyone is interconnected,” she said.
She began asking herself, “how do I help people build a good community where we all live in harmony?” That’s a question that ultimately led her to UMD, and that world view of connectedness, of family, is something that’s been reinforced on campus, through both the community she’s found, and the classes she’s taken, including American Indian Studies courses taught by instructors like Associate Professor Carter Meland. Meland, she says, emphasizes the importance of how we see those around us, and when you think of people as something other than a stranger, but instead, “you start viewing them as an actual relative, you do start to treat them a little better.”
That resonates with Long, and it’s something she wants to bring into practice in her future.
“We are all related. Let's treat each other that way.”
