New England News Releases

USACE, MassDOT, and FHWA Sign Agreement for Sagamore Bridge Replacement
10/4/2024
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) have signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the...
PUBLIC NOTICE OF INTENT TO CONDUCT A FIVE-YEAR REVIEW OF THE OSBORNE POND FORMERLY USED DEFENSE SITE (FUDS) AT JOINT BASE CAPE COD
8/27/2024
Interested parties are hereby notified that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District (USACE) is conducting a five-year review (FYR) of the Osborne Pond Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS)...
HOP BROOK LAKE RECREATION AREA TO REMAIN CLOSED FOR 2024 SEASON
8/26/2024
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District announced that the recreation area at Hop Brook Lake will remain closed to vehicle access for the rest of the 2024 season, through the official...

Top Rotator

Local bird watchers descended upon West Hill Dam armed with pen, paper and a few binoculars to participate in West Hill Dam’s annual Backyard Bird Count.
Construction of the System Management Engineering Facility (SMEF), the 40,000 square foot, 2-story addition, is well underway and progressing rapidly.
For vessels wanting to enter Plymouth waters, dredging to remove shoals from the Plymouth Harbor federal navigation project in Massachusetts is currently underway and on schedule.

News From Around the Corps

Connecting the dots: Annual event educates girls about STEM opportunities
10/15/2024
The U.S. has a long history of promoting science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, in public education going back to the late 19th century. While there have been major pushes for STEM in...
Kentucky Lock Addition Project reaches first monolith top-out milestone
10/17/2024
On Oct. 12, 2024, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District, in partnership with contractor Thalle Construction, marked a major milestone in the Kentucky Lock Addition Project with the first...
Recognizing Excellence: Army civilian honored as 2024 Asian American Executive of the Year
9/29/2024
Jamie Hagio, Construction Division Chief, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Far East District, earned the Asian American Executive of the Year Award during the ceremony held in Renton, Washington, Sept...

Feature Stories

New England District team observes Native American Heritage

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District
Published Dec. 30, 2014
Keynote speaker Shelley Lowe addresses the audience during the Native American Heritage Month observance in the New England District Theatre in Concord Park, Concord, Mass., on November 4, 2014.

Keynote speaker Shelley Lowe addresses the audience during the Native American Heritage Month observance in the New England District Theatre in Concord Park, Concord, Mass., on November 4, 2014.

Lt. Col. Charles Gray presents keynote speaker Shelly Lowe with a Bunker Hill certificate during the Native American Heritage Month observance in the New England District Theatre in Concord Park, Concord, Mass., on November 4, 2014.

Lt. Col. Charles Gray presents keynote speaker Shelly Lowe with a Bunker Hill certificate during the Native American Heritage Month observance in the New England District Theatre in Concord Park, Concord, Mass., on November 4, 2014.

Shelly Lowe, Executive Director of the Harvard University Native American Program, visited the New England District to serve as keynote speaker at the Equal Employment Opportunity's Native American Heritage Month event. Lowe’s presentation, held in the Concord Park theater, was titled, “Native Americans in Higher Education.”

The keynote speaker began by talking about values that are found in the Native American culture. “Identity and location matter,” she said. “Difference is not a problem. Education is important. Our history and future are equally important.”

According to Lowe, Native Americans are diverse. They are practitioners and scholars that fill multiple roles. “We are dedicated to access and success,” she said. “We want indigenous epistemology and methodology.”

Lowe talked about the invisibility of Native Americans in the higher education system. “One percent of total college students enrolled are Native American,” she said. “In the fall of 2009, 0.5-percent of full-time college faculty identified themselves as Native Americans and only 0.3-percent were at full professor level.”

Continual crises that the Native American Community addresses include student retention, loss of language, culture and tribal knowledge, poverty and historical trauma. Lowe said that Tribal colleges and universities, first established in 1968, are starting to offer Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees to Native American students. According to Lowe, the Tribal colleges and universities currently offer community centers and active memorandums of understanding and transfer programs with non-indigenous institutions. “University cultural spaces provide a place to be and student support,” she said. “They maintain community and cultural health and provide history and sense of belonging.”

Lowe concluded the Nov. 4 presentation by challenging the audience to get to know indigenous communities and increase a Native American presence in the District. Lt. Col. Charles Gray, Deputy Commander, New England District, presented Lowe with a Bunker Hill plaque for coming to speak with the District team.

Prior to her work at Harvard, Lowe was an Assistant Dean at Yale University. She is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and grew up on the Navajo Reservation in Gando, Arizona. 

Lowe has served on the board of the National Indian Education Association and as a trustee on the Board for the National Indian Education Association.


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