Tribal colleges provide veterinary training to solve rural labor shortages
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Sitting Bull College offers a veterinary assistant program in North and South Dakota to train students for the livestock industry.
The college provides a diploma and certificate program that gives students hands-on experience caring for animals and running equine clinics for local ranchers. Joe Dunn, the director of the Agriculture Division at Sitting Bull College, says the program prepares students to work as veterinary technicians or continue their education at veterinary schools.
The Native American Agriculture Fund provided grants to help Sitting Bull College expand and improve this program. It is currently the only program of its kind at a tribal college in the Northern Plains. These classes address a nationwide shortage of large-animal veterinary services in 43 states. Students at the college provide services to community members who have animals in need at a reduced cost while they complete their training.
Toni Stanger-McLaughlin, the CEO of the Native American Agriculture Fund, says these colleges act as educational hubs for both Native and non-Native students. The organization has invested more than $3 million in tribal colleges to support students and local farmers. Stanger-McLaughlin notes that tribes often support infrastructure and work with neighbors to manage land, as 82% of tribal land is leased to non-Natives.
