Relatives and loved ones packed the seats at Salish Kootenai College’s Joe McDonald center Saturday for the 44th commencement ceremony as 130 students earned degrees, with 12 earning double degrees.

Mike Kenmille, head man dancer, and Linda King, head woman dancer, led the 2024 Salish Kootenai College graduates into the “Joe” as Chief Cliff drum played. 

Commencement speaker Angelique Albert, an SKC graduate who went on to found Native Forward, told graduates, “... I am part of the 84.3% of Native American women who have experienced violence in their lifetime. I am part of the 56.1% who have experienced sexual violence; I know the pain of bearing a child.” 

Albert remembered a cold February morning when she showed up for Mike Dolson’s algebra class with “my huge pregnant belly.” She felt people were talking about her, a young woman, pregnant, with a young child at home; and they were using the words “living on welfare.” 

Later that day she gave birth to her son, but she still showed up for the next algebra class (even though Dolson urged her to go home and care for herself) and the next. She was driven to beat the stereotype. 

Then she listed some of the positives of her life.                           

“I grew up with a love of Elmo and Arlee powwows; falling asleep to the stick game songs was my favorite,” Albert said. “... I grew up seeing a tribal government that taught me Mother Earth, my environment, was more important than money. I grew up with a culture that taught me there was a place for me as a woman in leadership. More than anything I was blessed to be the product of my ancestors and the sacrifices they made for me to be here.” 

“These are the moments that shaped who I am,” she told graduates. “These are the things that have shaped me; these are the things that have given me my super powers – compassion, cultural grounding and, as my friend Carson Auld taught me, confidence that nothing I go through can be as hard as what I already experienced.”

Albert said she was moved “by the energy, the fire, the power coming from the graduates,” and encouraged them “to see failure as a part of success ... Just beyond failure is where your greatest accomplishment happens.”

“... The impact each of you will make on the world will be profound. I cannot wait to see what you will do,” she concluded.

The 2023-24 SKC Student of the Year was Bryce Norling who was introduced by Dr. Anthony Berthelote. He graduated with a bachelor’s in Forest Management. 

Norling is one of six siblings, one of whom also graduated from SKC on the same day as her brother; another teaches in St. Ignatius, and a third works in Tribal Law Enforcement.

Berthelote also introduced the staff member of 2023-34, Jason Nentwig. 

“He’s the one who keeps our campus beautiful,” Berthelote said.

Finally came the long-awaited presentation of diplomas by Drs. Michael Munson and Berthelote.

A group of young singers and drummers from Nk̓ʷusm Salish Language School closed the ceremony with a Salish prayer and song, and Yamncut drummed the new graduates out of The Joe. 

    Two singers/drummers from Nkwusm, the Salish language immersion school, sing a Salish prayer at SKC graduation on June 8. (Berl Tiskus/Leader)
  

    SKC commencement speaker for graduation on June 8 was Angelique Albert, who also earned her undergraduate degree at SKC. (Berl Tiskus/Leader)
  

    2024 SKC graduate Quincy Williams waves his hat in celebration of the day; Williams earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education. (Berl Tiskus/Leader)