Leader finds common tie in Dalai Lama

By Susan Simpson

Published: April 27, 2008

An Oklahoma tribal college president says she was wowed this month by a once-in-a-lifetime meeting with the Dalai Lama.

Henrietta Mann, president of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribal College, was invited by the Lummi Nation of Washington to meet privately with the Dalai Lama when he was in Seattle two weeks ago.

Mann also went to several public events where he was honored.

"What a responsibility that man carries,” Mann said. "He always just insists he is a simple Buddhist monk. And yet, he is such an icon for those of us in this time and this place.”

Mann said the Tibetan leader wanted to hear how American Indians have preserved their cultures after being displaced from their ancestral lands. The Dalai Lama has been displaced since his exile to India in 1959 after the Chinese government in Beijing tightened its grip on Tibet.

Lummi Nation members danced, chanted and presented native crafts to the Dalai Lama, who spoke to them about safeguarding their culture.

"You should have seen it,” Mann said. "He was so happy. I think he could see then that there are compassionate people in our country and that the spirit of indigenous peoples is alive and well.”

Mann said American Indians and Tibetans have much in common.

"We have survived in much the same way the Tibetans have survived,” she said. "We are still identifiably here. We hold on to our traditions and still speak our languages and we still have hope for tomorrow.”

The tribal college is on the campus of Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford.

Roger Bromert, a professor of history at the college, said he was not surprised that Mann, a nationally known American Indian scholar, was selected.

"She is a great representative of tribal peoples trying to hold onto, retain and build on their tribal cultures,” he said.

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