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Native American student finds UW-Stevens Point 'a really good fit'

Rainer Miller thought he wanted to be a police officer, but after interning with the Stockbridge-Munsee Conservation Department he changed his mind.

"I decided I liked being outdoors better than being a cop," said Miller of Bowler. So he transferred to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in fall 2014 from UW-Milwaukee, where he had studied criminal justice. He's now majoring in forestry ecosystem restoration and wildland fire science.

"I knew that Stevens Point is known for its natural resources program," said Miller, who quickly became involved on campus. He joined the UW-Stevens Point Fire Crew and is working toward being certified to assist the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources with wildfires. He's also gotten involved in the group Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences at UW-Stevens Point.

Miller found that his credits transferred but not all classes were an exact match between the two campuses. He is working with his adviser, Ron Masters, associate professor of wildland fire science, to take the courses he needs for his double major in the most efficient way.

"The professors I have are friendly and helpful. They already know me by my name. I like that," Miller said. "UW-Stevens Point is a really good fit."

Miller carries a proud Native American heritage to UW-Stevens Point, being part Menominee, Stockbridge-Munsee and Sioux. Many people don't understand that each Native American tribe is sovereign and has its own history, language and culture, he said. An average of 45 Native Americans have been enrolled at UW-Stevens Point in the past five years.

When the UW System Board of Regents met on campus in October, Miller was part of a ceremonial tobacco offering to welcome the first Inter-Tribal Council's participation in the meeting.

He is vice president of AIRO (American Indians Reaching for Opportunities), the oldest Native American student organization on campus.

Outside the Native American Center office, where Miller works, are plaques listing the names of Native Americans who attended UW-Stevens Point. They begin with Dorothy Winona Davids, the first member of a minority group to graduate from UW-Stevens Point in 1945 and for whom the Multicultural Center is named. Davids taught Miller in Bowler and was a family friend. She died in October 2014.

"I'm looking forward to finishing and finding my name there," Miller said. Then he hopes to work on a fire crew and for the National Park Service.

He is the first in his family to attend a UW campus. And when he chose UW-Stevens Point, he did not know it was built on ancestral lands of the Menominee and Ho-Chunk tribes.

He combines cultural knowledge and Native American tradition with science-based academics. When studying forestry, he's intimately aware a tree has lived longer than he has. "Everything has its own spirit," Miller said.

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