On September 23, 2019, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) entered into an agreement with Salish Kootenai College (SKC), and the ACHP Foundation to provide educational, personal development, and professional growth opportunities to students in the Tribal Historic Preservation and Tribal Governance and Administration degree programs.
As one of her first official actions as ACHP Chairman, Aimee Jorjani signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with SKC.
“The ACHP has made it a priority to build a more inclusive historic preservation community through partnering with colleges and universities to educate young people and provide pathways into historic preservation careers. This partnership will help the ACHP advance tribal historic preservation and support new Tribal preservationists as they enter the field. We hope this will lead to exciting and new opportunities for the historic preservation students here at Salish Kootenai College.”
The ACHP’s Office of Tribal and Indigenous Peoples (OTIP) launched a Native Youth Initiative in 2015 to introduce Native youth to historic preservation as a potential career choice and to provide Native youth an opportunity to voice concerns regarding historic preservation. As part of the initiative, OTIP has partnered with SKC to provide in-person lectures on historic preservation, to conduct remote learning opportunities, and to participate in field school activities.
The MOU between the ACHP, the ACHP Foundation, and SKC spells out several goals including ACHP staff continuing to provide classroom lectures; development of Section 106 course content; and, co-hosting a tribal summit on historic preservation at SKC in the spring of 2020.