Summary Of Native American Education

Another difficulty many Native American students are faced with is high absent rates. “In 2005 Native American eighth graders had the highest rate of absences of any race or ethnic group in the preceding month- 66 % of Native American students had been absent, and 30 % had been absent three of more times in the past month.” (Doak 37) It boils down to the fact that students need to be in school to succeed in school. These absences can be attributed to a uninviting school setting. Often times Native American students are overlooked in classrooms in favor of other students who are seem more likely to do well. A school environment that is unwelcoming can be a strong deterrent for any student. These students need to feel that their education is helping them, and that it is worthwhile.

The modern American society is best defined by its education. The “American dream” is founded on going to school, getting a good job, and becoming successful. Ironically, the actual native peoples of this country are actually the least likely to attain this dream. The largest obstacle they face is lack of proper education. The standard educational practices being used for the instruction of Native American peoples is not effective. There are many pieces to this road-block, and many solutions. This can be rectified by having more culturally aware teachers and parents, and by teaching the general population more about the Native American cultures.

I recently read chapter 1 of the book Next Steps: Research and practice to advance Indian education, edited by: Karen G. Swisher and John W. Tippeconnic III. This chapter is titled: The unnatural history of American Indian Education. The chapter was about the colonial education and stereotypical beliefs about the culture and capability of Native Americans. I noticed the words natural and true showed up quite often, natural to me means not human made and true meaning the truth with facts. It was stated that there are four tenets of colonial education (the reculturing and reeducation of American Indians by the secular and religious institutions of colonizing nations). 1. Native Americans were savages and had to be civilized. 2. Civilization

Our Spirits Don’t Speak English provides insight into Indian boarding schools in the United States. Children of Indian tribes were mandated by the U.S. government to attend boarding schools. The purpose of these schools were to educate Indians in Western ways and language; thus, making these children “civilized.” From a trauma lens, children of these boarding schools could be viewed as victims. Indian children were forcibly removed from their homes and stripped of their Native American identity. Upon arrival, Indian children were forced to cut their hair in the Western fashion and were only allowed to wear European-style clothing.

The article “American Native Studies Is For Everyone” by Duane Champagne, which is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles. This article addresses about some various issue between Indian and Non Indian Scholars that who should be studying about Indians, how the media distribute the information about Indians and the importance of American Native Studies.

So many Native Americans are dropping out of school because of the indignities that they are dealing with and not feeling like they are welcome at school. Not many of the Native American families are giving the students the guidance that they need to be successful either. A quote on page 53 really struck me "Everyone in the school knew that if a white kid and an Indian kid got into a fight, the Indian kids would be forced into signing an affidavit and hauled away." I think that this quote bothered me so much because the Native Americans know for the beginning that they will not have the opportunity to tell their side of the story if they when up against a white kid in a fight. Some issues that they still face today would include racial discrimination

numerous reforms, it remains unsuccessful. Let me tell you why it’s running schools down into

Throughout the 1925-1975 period, the Native American population of the United States has faced many obstacles. Just a few years before, they had been suppressed by the federal government’s “Anti-Long Hair” policy for all Native American males. This would set the stage for future cultural restraint on the Indians. However, they continued to fight for equality. All through this time period, the experience of the Native American culture has been a struggle for equality in their homeland.

Since the beginning of time, conquering other societies has been a common occurrence. Almost every battle that has taken place has been documented. When stories of past battles are retold, only one side of the tale gets told, the victor’s side. In history, the ones who have been defeated never get to present their perspective of the tragic quarrels. Most never even lived to tell the stories, but the ones who do survive are not thought of as important accounts in history. The Native Americans suffered tyranny far a plethora of years, and still do. When learning about the indigenous people of America, it is taught through the “white man’s” prospective, never through the eyes of the sufferers. By not telling both sides of the story, the facts get skewed, skewed enough to have lies become the truth. So what is the real story behind Native American oppression?

There are 529 federally recognized Indian Nations in the United States (National Congress of American Indians, 2003). The United States Constitution currently recognizes these Indian Nations as sovereign nations; but this was not always the case, especially regarding education of Native American students. According to PBS, a program of assimilation education began on the reservations. This was in the hopes that the assimilation of the children would translate to assimilation of the parents. However, this didn’t work in the way that was hoped, so education reformers pushed for Native American boarding schools. Children were taken from their parents (with no legal backing other than assimilation) and sent to boarding schools, where they were

I agree with you that the beginning of the chapter seemed to be positive. I liked the fact that as a teacher you would not have to learn the culture of the Native Americans because you are already aware of it since you are a Native American yourself. When they let Charles in little did they know that it was going to open a huge can of worms to allow more whites and eventually African Americans into the school as well. The Native Americans had a special thing going for them when they opened the school which only took a few short years to destroy that. I could not agree with you any more about the parents they knew from the moment that they enrolled their students in the Native American school that there was only Native American teachers

Native Americans do not experience enough social, political, and economic equality today because their stereotypes are portrayed in media, they do not have enough government representation, and they are not as well off as most Americans.

Children were taken away from their homes and told everything they knew was wrong. They were sent to boarding schools to change their culture. These boarding schools were run by the United States government. The government's goal was to civilize Native Americans. They sent children to these schools against their will. Native American children were educated like Americans and they had to change their native ways to be more like whites (Cayton 266). Teachers abused their students and beat their native ways out of them. They were not allowed to see their families so they would try to escape, but their attempts were unsuccessful. The United States government’s Boarding Schools of the mid-late 1800s irreparably changed Native American culture.

Native Peoples Magazine, which was published in the year 1987, is an American Indian magazine that is distributed bi-monthly with the cost of $19.95 for 6 issues or $36.00 for 12 issues. The goal of this magazine is to reach out to people all around the world. Native Peoples Magazine portrays the arts and lifestyles, Native American artists, cooks, fashion designers, and their culture. The magazine can be used as a travel guide for many people. According to the Mailing List Finder of Native Peoples Magazine, it is said that the majority of the audience is college-educated readers and mostly occupy positions such as professional managers. The other percentages of readers are those of American Indian descent. However, after analyzing the

Personally, I think that learning about American Indians in school is a good thing. Especially in Minnesota, since this is our home, we should learn about how they lived and were treated before we modernized the land. In the last few weeks we have learned about 2 of the strongest, most noble American Indians know to Minnesota. I have learned that they were treated poorly, and that our government had promised them safe land to use and practice their beliefs. As we found out, our government did not uphold their promises and basically were stealing the land right out from under them.