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CORVALLIS - A group of 26 Oregon State University students will spend most of their spring break interviewing different community stakeholders who affect the lives of Native Americans living in Eastern Oregon.

The students are part of a special OSU course called "Cross Cultural Issues in Native America: Learning Through Listening." They will spend March 24-29 in Burns, Ore., talking with Paiute tribal leaders, local cattle ranchers, school officials, human health and service providers, casino and gaming officials, high school students, extension personnel, and law enforcement officers.

A primary goal of the course is to help the students gain a better understanding of the complex cross-cultural issues facing Native American populations in Oregon, said Dwaine Plaza, an assistant professor of sociology at OSU and co-director of the course.

"This course takes a non-traditional approach to learning that blurs the boundaries between teacher, student, community and researcher," Plaza said. "We're inviting stakeholders with vested interests in issues facing the Paiute Native Americans in Burns to tell their stories to students, who then will have the opportunity to process the information, reflect on it, and report back in an objective, unbiased way on the different perspectives and social positions they have heard.

"This is the fifth year we have offered a course like this," Plaza added, "and the students - and stakeholders - have found it tremendously valuable."

Last year, Plaza led a class that spent spring break in Portland, Salem and Independence looking at cross-cultural issues affecting the high school dropout rate for African American and Hispanic students in the Oregon school system.

The focus this year on Paiute tribal members in the Burns area will address some of the same issues, including cultural identity and assimilation, economic and social conditions, education, and interactions with the community. Native Americans also face some different issues relating to government treaties and reservations, specific health issues, and the development of casinos and other economic development opportunities, said Kurt Peters, associate professor of ethnic studies and course co-director.

"The Paiutes are the smallest federally recognized tribe in Oregon," Peters said, "and they have a long history of being marginalized or even completely ignored. They once lived on a million acre-plus reservation in the Malheur area until they were removed and left with just a few hundred acres. They now live as an adjunct community to a small town (Burns) that has a primarily ranching and agricultural focus.

"So their relationships over time have been tension-filled, I think it's safe to say," Peters added, "but the Paiutes are very, very interested in this class, and even sought our visit. They see this as the beginning of a relationship with Oregon State University, and finding voice in the discussions of the community at large."

Peters said that four of the OSU students participating in the course are from the OSU-Cascades Campus in Bend.

During their week in the Burns area, the students will conduct a number of interviews at the Paiute Community Center. Among the stakeholders the students will interview are Paiute tribal leaders, social services directors, school board and tribal education officials, the tribal police chief, a community judge, a casino director and others.

The students will also visit a local cemetery to look at historical information on residents dating back to the early 1800s. The OSU course is supported in part by the InterACTION! Project, a W.K. Kellogg-sponsored grant to the university. Helping Plaza and Peters is course facilitator Danette Gillespie. For more information on the course, visit the web site.