Pendleton to Produce Student Blanket Design for the American Indian College Fund

DENVER, Aug. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The horse culture of the Plains is
reflected in the Painted Pony student blanket design by Thomasina Stevens. The
Painted Pony will gain international fame this August when woven by Pendleton
Woolen Mills as part of the American Indian College Fund's (the Fund) limited
edition student blanket line. Stevens' design won first place in the student
blanket contest and will be sold internationally to benefit the Fund's
scholarship programs.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080805/DC29729 )

Stevens, who was raised traditionally and danced at powwows since she was a
young girl, says after her design was chosen, she learned that her paternal
grandfather raised horses, many of them paints. In what she says seemed to be
a fated twist, the Painted Pony was designed to honor her grandfather.

Stevens, 37, is a member of the Three Affiliated Tribes/Ft. Peck Sioux, and is
attending Fort Berthold Community College in New Town, North Dakota. She has
been married for 12 years to Mike Stevens, the director of the technology
department at Fort Berthold Community College and a computer programming
teacher. Stevens has four children, three boys and a girl, ranging from ages 8
to 17. She says she decided to go back to school so that her children and
family would have a better future. Coming from a family of educators (both of
her parents and a sister are educators, her two other sisters are
paraprofessionals in education) in addition to being married to a teacher, she
chose to study teaching, and will enter the field as a high school science
teacher after graduation. She attends a tribal college because "I did not have
to leave home; I could be there for my kids. The school also offers online
courses, which is a big factor. I could not have done this if I had to go
away."

As part of her student teaching and curriculum design programs, Stevens says
that she is required to design curriculum with an American Indian cultural
component. Coming from a family that raised horses, she asked her father why
horses turned their backs to face the wind. He explained that the wind raised
the hair on the horse, creating static electricity, hence energy, thereby
providing warmth to the horse in the windy Great Plains winters. Through
Native observation, Stevens said that American Indians had identified a
property called electron transfer. Stevens works to pass on the Native way of
scientific observation to students so that they can be proud of their cultural
heritage and celebrate their Native intelligence. "If we don't pass this
knowledge on to kids now, we as a culture are going to lose what we know. It
is important to incorporate these lessons into our modern culture," Stevens
says.

Bob Christnacht, the Blanket/Home Division Manager of Pendleton Woolen Mills
and a member of the selection committee, says the contest criteria included
how compelling the design is, how the pattern would look after being woven,
and the artist's background and intent.

Stevens will receive $500 for her design, and her expenses will be paid to
attend the Santa Fe Indian Market or the Fund's Flame of Hope Gala in New York
City in November.

The Painted Pony blanket is available for purchase on the American Indian
College Fund Web site for $185, on the Pendleton Woolen Mills web site, and at
select retailers nationwide. As part of a limited edition series, it will be
retired upon the selection of a 2009 student blanket design contest winner.

The contest is open to all tribal college students, regardless of major.
Richard B. Williams, president and CEO of the Fund, says, "To ask our students
to share with us their artistic talents is to have our relationship with them
come full circle. Our students are our future."

About the American Indian College Fund

With its credo "Educating the Mind and Spirit," the Denver-based American
Indian College Fund is the nation's largest provider of private scholarships
for American Indian students, providing more than 6,000 scholarships annually
for students seeking to better their lives and communities through education
at the nation's more than 30 accredited tribal colleges and universities. For
more information about the American Indian College Fund or to make a donation,
visit http://www.collegefund.org.

About Pendleton Woolen Mills

For other information or samples, contact Debbie Coryell by phone at
503-535-5739 or by e-mail at debbiedc@penwool.com. Pendleton products are
available at select department, specialty stores, and more than 70 Pendleton
retail stores nationwide. Pendleton merchandise can also be ordered online at
the company's web site (http://www.pendleton-usa.com) or in Pendleton's
seasonal catalogs. Order toll free at 1-800-649-1512.

CONTACT:
Dina Horwedel, Public Education Director
303-430-5374, dhorwedel@collegefund.org

SOURCE American Indian College Fund

Dina Horwedel, Public Education Director of the American Indian College Fund,
+1-303-430-5374, dhorwedel@collegefund.org