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Letter from the Editor
I learned several surprising things on this summer’s UI Extension Journey for Diversity and Human Rights—that Idaho was progressive in matters such as giving women the right to vote (24 years ahead of the nation) and electing a Jewish governor (first in the nation). (Take our Idaho quiz).
But most revealing was that issues originating in mid-1840s to 1880s northern Idaho still simmer today. They haven’t gone away in over a century. Shoshone County, home of Wallace-Kellogg silver mining, remains Idaho’s staunchest pro-union county in this right-to-work state. Stories by Bill Loftus
— History-diversity lessons, / May Hutton / Indian boarding schools / neo-Nazis
—help explain why. Tensions between today’s Coeur d’Alene tribe and some white neighbors have resulted in the UI Ex-tension offering workshops on Indian Sovereignty.
Asked about this long life of historic festering, UI historian Katherine Aiken observes, “At least in Idaho—and all the United States—we learn to live with these differences. We wrestle with them in the town hall, newspapers, and at the ballot box.”
In addition to our usual science reports, this issue is packed with human interest. Barbara J. Smith introduces us to UI undergraduate Chelan Pedrow, so touched by Chinese orphans she met that she helped develop the first artificial limb that can “grow." Marlene Fritz follows UI Extension’s Danielle Gunn as she puts Shoshone-Bannock kids through unusual 4-H paces to teach them horse riding that relies more on gentle signals than kicks and jerks.
Have you ever wondered how a Nez Perce Indian might feel about the Nez Perce War, loss of their lifestyle, and other historical traumas? Alum Robbie Paul gives us a rare window into her heart. Equally interesting is her family tree that goes back five generations to Chief Ut-sin-malikin, born 1793 in Kamiah. He was 12 when he first met Lewis and Clark. See photographs and captions about them.
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Happy Holidays!
Mary Ann Reese
Programs & People editor
mreese@uidaho.edu
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