Maxine Crouse Dowler ( Quaker Bridge, 4 February 1933 -

Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

, 23 December 2015) was a teacher, Federal program administrator, member of the Board of Directors of the

Seneca Nation The Seneca ( ; ) are a group of Indigenous Iroquoian-speaking people who historically lived south of Lake Ontario, one of the five Great Lakes in North America. Their nation was the farthest to the west within the Six Nations or Iroquois Leag ...

Educational Foundation, member of the school board of the

, New York City Central School District that provides educational services to Seneca and other native American children residing on or near the

Allegany Reservation Allegany Reservation () is a Seneca Nation of Indians reservation in Cattaraugus County, New York, U.S. In the 2000 census, 58 percent of the population within the reservation boundaries were Native Americans. Some 42% were European Americans; the ...

of the

Seneca Nation of Indians The Seneca Nation of Indians is a federally recognized Seneca tribe based in western New York. They are one of three federally recognized Seneca entities in the United States, the others being the Tonawanda Band of Seneca (also in western New ...

, Dowler was the first Seneca member of the Board of Education of the Cattaraugus-Allegany BOCES (Board of Cooperative Educational Services).

Biography

Born and raised on the Allegany Reservation, and an enrolled member of the Seneca Nation of Indians, her "watch" regarding the education of native American children included the two decades following the construction of the

Kinzua Dam The Kinzua Dam, on the Allegheny River in Warren County, Pennsylvania, is one of the largest dams in the United States east of the Mississippi River. It is located within the Allegheny National Forest. The dam is located east of Warren, Penns ...

to prevent annual flooding of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, downstream; the forced relocation of hundreds of Seneca from rural farms into principally two relocation areas (one just west of Salamanca at Jimersontown; the other 15 miles west of Salamanca and two miles north of the hamlet of Steamburg). Maxine spearheaded educational programs designed to help the Seneca adjust to very dramatic life changes, while at the same time retaining their Seneca language, culture and heritage. Because of programs she helped to initiate and shape, and extraordinary personnel she was able to recruit Thomas E. Hogan, published historian of Seneca 19th-century history (Thomas E. Hogan, "City in a Quandary: Salamanca and the Allegany Leases," New York History 55 (Jan. 1974)), who served as a teacher, home school coordinator, grantsman and planner, and administrator; small college NCAA Lacrosse All Americans James Burnet and Tony "Mac" Diange who developed the first interscholastic lacrosse program in the school district's history; Peter Peterson, Michael Green and Kevin Reed who planned and provided community outreach, counseling, financial aid for higher education, and coordination across numerous programs through the Seneca Educational Foundation, and Avery and Fidelia Jimerson, leaders from Coldspring Longhouse who helped the Seneca children develop a Seneca social dance music and dance program that included the production of a 33 record album entitled "Seneca Social Dance Music," the production of the "You Call It Corn, We Call it Maize" Mazola Margarine Commercial of the 1970s that was seen throughout the US, and participation in the

Tournament of Roses Parade A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

, the Seneca language was taught for the first time in the Salamanca Public Schools, a 78% drop out rate of Seneca children was reduced over a 10-year period to 11%, and the educational progress of the Allegany Seneca leapfrogged over decades of failure and stagnation caused by poverty, neglect and institutional discrimination.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dowler, Maxine Crouse School board members in New York (state) Seneca Nation of New York people Iroquois women 1933 births 2015 deaths 20th-century Native American women 20th-century Native American people 21st-century Native American women 21st-century Native American people Native American educators American women educators Educators from New York (state) Native American people from New York (state)