Blogger doesn't know Chippewa

Blogger should learn lesson about Indian lifeThe 15 hours Port spent on the Turtle Mountain reservation gave him a lopsided view of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa. Port gathered a whole group of people into one bundle, tied a dirty, lazy knot around them and tossed them into the national spotlight.What Port missed: Among the tribe's Ph.D. holders are Tammy Jollie-Trottier, Leigh Jeanotte, Viola LaFontaine, Gerald “Carty” Monette, Loretta Delong, Shelly Peltier, Ramona Klein, Denise Lajimodierre, Angie Azure-LaRocque, W. Larry Belgarde, Duane Schindler, Jim Davis, Bill Gourneau, Heid Erdrich, Virginia Allery, Paul Dauphinais, Donna Brown, Lavonne Fox, Betsy Laverdure, Jeff Hamley, Joan LaFrance, Dwight Gourneau and Carol Davis.

Tribal members who are lawyers include Jerilyn DeCoteau, Roxanne LaVallie, Richard Monette, Jeff Davis, Bernice Delorme, Eugene Delorme, Monique Vondall and Jan Morley. Louise Erdrich and Duane Champaigne are nationally known writers; there also are six engineers and one architect.

There are more than 400 people working on the reservation who have bachelors degrees and about 200 with masters degrees, according to a survey taken by the Turtle Mountain Community College.