Sometimes, life isn’t fair.

Alta and Alicia Malchoff’s mother, Linda Norman, died two years ago knowing she wouldn’t be able to see her daughters graduate from Haskell Indian Nations University.

“My mom was the Head Start teacher in Port Graham (Alaska) for, gosh, a long time,” said 24-year-old Alta Malchoff, shortly after receiving her bachelor’s degree in elementary education Friday.

“Education meant everything to her,” Malchoff said. “The last time my sister and I left her on Christmas break, we knew we probably wouldn’t see her again, but we knew we were doing what she wanted us to do — she wanted us to get an education.”

Norman died Feb. 6, 2003. She had cancer.

“I thought of her a lot today,” Malchoff said. “She would have loved it.”

Alicia Malchoff, 22, earned an associate’s degree in arts and sciences. She hopes to be a nurse.

“We wouldn’t have made it if it weren’t for all the support we got from Haskell,” Alta Malchoff said. “This is our second home. It really is family here.”

The Malchoffs weren’t alone. More than 170 students — most in purple gowns and waving to smiling relatives in the bleachers in Coffin Sports Complex — received their diplomas during the two-hour ceremony.

From left, Jeffery Emerich, Kristan Norman, Alicia Malchoff, Wayne Norman, Alta Malchoff and Blaine Wise gather for pictures after graduation at Haskell Indian Nations University. Alicia and Alta both graduated on Friday and had many relatives and friends close by to celebrate. The Malchoffs' mother, Linda Norman, died two years ago. Emerich is Alicia's boyfriend; Wise is Alta's boyfriend; Kristan is the Malchoffs' brother; Wayne is their father.

“I want you to remember two things,” said Haskell President Karen Swisher, “keep learning and help others.”

“It is time for you to assume your role in Indian Country,” said Haskell Board of Regents President Gil Vigil.

Honorees included:

• Jessie Branson and Marigold Linton, recipients of the Friend of Haskell Award.
• Joseph Claunch, American Indian Higher Education Consortium Student of the Year.
• Leroy Silva, Haskell Brave.
• Julie Sharp, Haskell Student of the Year.

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• Dempsey Micco and Barney Old Coyote, Outstanding Alumni of 2005 Award.

Old Coyote, now in his 80s, attended Haskell Institute in 1939-40. He joined the U.S. Air Force in 1941, later flying 50 combat missions during World War II.

Haskell graduate Tashina Nazbah Benally, an elementary education major from the Dine' Tribe in Kirkland, N.M., smiles as she looks towards the stands for friends and family at the commencement ceremony on Friday at Coffin Gymnasium. Benally was one of about 170 who graduated from Haskell on Friday.

He founded the American Indian Studies Department at Montana State University in Bozeman in 1970.

Throughout the commencement ceremonies, Old Coyote, a Crow, wore an attention-grabbing war bonnet that belonged to his grandfather.

“He was a signer of the Treaty of 1868,” Old Coyote said, referring to his grandfather.

Old Coyote said he appreciated witnessing Haskell students furthering their education while strengthening their ties to their tribal cultures.

“It hasn’t always been that way,” he said. “It used to be when you came back from Haskell, you weren’t Indian anymore. They said the Indian had been taken out of you.

“Now, it seems, when students leave Haskell they are more Indian than when they came in. This is a good thing.”

Commencement coincided with a reunion of Haskell Institute’s Class of 1955.

“The students today, they have so much more freedom,” said Angie Cadue, 69, a member of the Class of 1955. “When we were here, you had to have a pass to go uptown. You had to say what store you were going to. There were a lot of restrictions.”

Barney Old Coyote, a Crow from Crow Agency, Mont., left, and Dempsey Micco, a Seminole-Creek from Weleetka, Okla., visit while preparing for the Haskell Indian Nations University commencement ceremony. Coyote and Micco were honored as outstanding alumni of the year for 2005 by the National Haskell Alumni Assn.

“Oh, we had no freedom at all,” said Cadue’s classmate, Rose Allen, 68. “Of course, the students today are older. We were high-school age.”

Steve Cadue, chairman of the Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas, presented an honorary high school diploma to George Whitewater, who attended Haskell Institute from 1936 to 1939.

“I didn’t get my diploma back then because I enlisted in the Army on May 20, 1939,” said Whitewater, 85. An artilleryman, he served in New Guinea, Corregidor and the Philippines.

“I served six years, six months and nine days,” he said. “I’ll never forget it.”

Later in the day, members of the Haskell Veterans Club and Auxiliary dedicated the “War Mother Memorial” statue during a ceremony at Coffin Sports Complex.

The statute, sculpted by Barry Coffin, pays tribute to mothers whose children served in the military. It now stands outside the university’s Cultural Center and Museum.

In the evening, Haskell alumni, faculty, students, friends and family members gathered in Coffin Sports Complex for the annual graduation powwow, which continues today with grand entries at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.