Case Study 18B

Educating American Indian Students: Creating a Prosocial Context

Hollie Mackey

Culture seems to be those words, artifacts, social phenomena, and ideas that one cherishes, that one builds belief systems and values . . . that people feel they must protect. . . . Cultures are not static. They are not momentary, like the bolt of lightning across the evening sky, but last as long as the people they encompass endure.

—Richard Littlebear (2009, p. 89)

The ideal of multicultural education in American schools, that is, education for, by, about, and inclusive of all, often falls short in regard to the lived experiences of American Indians. Cultural pluralism has become a norm for the American education system, which represents progress from the Anglo-conformity goals espoused by educational leaders of the early 1900s. However, American Indian groups are not fully represented or adequately included in the curriculum. This poses special problems for educators’ ability to teach American Indian students and include them in school life.

There are a number of challenges that arise when it comes to meaningful inclusion of American Indians into contemporary school culture. Most notable is the fact that there are 565 federally recognized tribes listed on the Federal Register as of 2010, along with a host of tribes that have acquired individual state recognition. While similarities exist among tribes, each has its own unique set of customs and history. Public school curricula commonly group tribes into regional categories that overlook the possibility of several hundred different tribal perspectives and contributions. From a curricular standpoint, inclusion of each individual tribe would be overwhelming; however, omission of individual differences is obvious to members of the very people targeted for inclusion. Another critical challenge includes the common misunderstanding of the context of the American Indian experience throughout American history, specifically as it relates to the sovereign status of tribes and the unique relationship defined within the U.S. Constitution regarding the status of American Indians within this country. This can lead to the perpetuation of stereotypes such as the notion that all American Indian students are provided a free college education and health care or that all native people receive a check from the government each month. The reality is that college tuition waivers and scholarships are dependent upon state legislatures and each respective tribal group to determine, and in many instances, there are contingencies for qualification and maintenance of such waivers and scholarships such as course load and GPA minimum requirements. Health care is typically available to American Indians living on or near reservations; however many live outside of the home reservation boundaries and designated nonreservation boundaries, which prohibits them from receiving care at no charge. Each tribe has the autonomy to determine the allocation of funds stemming from obtained revenue, whether that be from federal use of resources on tribal lands or gaming money, and while some tribes do receive a monthly check, many do not. The sovereign status afforded to American Indians allows for tribal leaders to make such decisions through tribal legislation. Additionally, American Indians tend to be relegated to a historical context that is devoid of contemporary issues and experiences, and often there is a lack of knowledge of the resources available to classroom teachers to help them facilitate or fully explore nuanced regional and tribal differences. These challenges can have a detrimental effect on the education of American Indian students and on native communities as a whole. In this case study, I explore a few of the ways in which many American Indian communities have chosen to address these issues through their schools. Moreover, I try to look beyond the strategies that educators of American Indian students have incorporated and seek to provide meaning as to why these strategies are important for supporting and improving American Indian education in general.

Walking in Two Worlds

It is important for those who are unfamiliar with American Indian education to understand the basic notion of “walking in two worlds” as it can often be heard described in native communities. Under this premise, students must be taught to understand and negotiate the social rules, norms, and expectations of both the native and nonnative environments that they will inhabit in order to fully realize successful adulthood and become a contributing member of society. While seemingly neutral facially, the phrase has the potential to be heavily value laden and can be viewed either as an asset or from a deficit perspective. For example, political voice at the state and federal levels requires American Indian leaders to interact and communicate citizens’ needs beyond the confines of the tribal boundaries while maintaining the confidence of those they represent. Tribal leaders who cannot communicate effectively between tribal and nontribal members run the risk of alienating one or both sets of people, so it is imperative that they can walk in and out of both worlds fluidly. Conversely, when cultural differences become an extraordinarily heavy burden, walking in two worlds can be perceived as an additional and unfair responsibility that American Indians should not have to bear any more than non-Indians. In this respect, we are forced to confront an institutionalized system that requires nondominant cultural groups to conform to the dominant group while there is no requirement for reciprocity. Regardless of where an individual falls on the spectrum, the basic premise of “walking in two worlds” acknowledges existing cultural pluralism and ethnic differences.

Similarly, native communities recognize and respect that cultural pluralism exists between nondominant ethnic groups as well. Many American Indian students identify with more than one tribal or ethnic affiliation; for example a student might identify as Cheyenne-Arapaho, Afro-Seminole, or any number of tribal and ethnic combinations based upon family history. Schools serving American Indian students typically identify all ethnic affiliations represented within the school and strive to include each distinct group into conversations of multiculturalism. In this sense, students are taught respect for all racial and ethnic groups and are provided prosocial instruction that develops skills for navigating through the similarities and differences among all people. One example of this is the use of restorative justice practices for resolving disputes or repairing relationships among students. These practices include participation of all stakeholders involved in a particular dispute and promote conversation and subsequent actions that work to promote healing and harmony for both the victim and the offender. The use of restorative justice practices is effective because they allow students to voice thoughts and feelings while acknowledging the thoughts and feelings of others. Through mutual understanding, students learn to discern the differences between themselves and others while developing strategies for getting along with one another. This allows students to effectively walk in multiple worlds in and across a number of ethnicities.

More Than One Culture or Timeframe

American Indian communities have a distinct strength when it comes to promoting multicultural ideals. That strength stems from the innate understanding that there is not one native culture, but rather American Indian tribes create a rich tapestry of traditions and values that may or may not overlap with other tribal groups. American schools attempt to delineate differences by categorizing Native American curricula into regional constructs such as the Plains tribes or the Southwestern tribes; however there are differences and similarities in and among these categories that, if ignored, prevent full inclusion.

To date, there are two states, Montana and New Mexico, that have passed legislation mandating that their public schools fully recognize and teach about specific tribal affiliations within the state rather than group all represented tribes into one category. Not only does this respect the full sovereign status afforded individual tribes by the U.S. Constitution, but it also allows the space for individual tribal members to be meaningfully included and feel valued. The goal is not to place stress on educators by demanding they know and teach every tribe in the nation, but to encourage them to (1) help students understand that these individual differences exist and (2) provide greater understanding of specific tribal groups within the students’ home state.

Omission of unique tribal affiliation can have the opposite effect. I distinctly recall one experience that illustrates this point clearly. Upon moving to a new school in another state, I watched as an American Indian boy was introduced into his new classroom. He was excited to learn that they would be engaged in a nine-week Native American curriculum, something familiar and comfortable for him. I watched as he excitedly scanned the classroom, taking in the themed bulletin boards, artifacts, and books spread throughout the room. His eyes lit up when he noticed a big map of the United States that designated the federally recognized tribes. Wanting to share his “home” with his new teacher, the boy pulled her toward the map, and as he pointed to where his tribe should have been located, his face fell with dismay. The little boy’s tribe was not included on the map. I listened as the teacher explained to the boy that his tribe was actually included because it was considered a Plains tribe (this general territory was labeled), even if the specific name was not on the map due to lack of space. The boy shook his head and said very quietly, “No, I don’t belong to the ‘plain’ tribe; according to your school, I don’t exist.” It was a truly profound experience to hear an eight-year-old Indian boy discuss with greater understanding than a professional educator the importance of belonging and inclusion for historically marginalized ethnicities.

It is an understatement to point out that it would be impossible for the lay educator to incorporate every ethnicity and minority group into the limited amount of time provided for social studies. The critical issue for American Indians is not necessarily centered on full individualized content for instruction, but rather providing culturally appropriate curricula, instructional materials, classroom activities, and supplemental resources that recognize the broad concept of inclusion. Understanding this, a number of organizations such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Census Bureau, and Montana’s Office of Public Instruction have created resources available at no charge to educators. These resources include the K–12 Diabetes Education in Tribal Schools (DETS) curriculum, tribal land maps, statistics, demographic trends, and an extensive compilation of lesson plans created by each of the Montana tribes spanning multiple subject areas (both online as PDFs and through iTunes).

A number of steps can be taken to ensure that American Indian students are not excluded by default. First, school librarians should review all books containing content about native people. Even within schools serving American Indian students, a number of books have been discovered and removed because they contained inaccurate or stereotype-perpetuating content (i.e., Indians referred to as “savages” and described as impediments to westward expansion). Moreover, librarians should seek to locate books and other references for both students and teachers that address the inaccurate portrayal of this population. One very reputable source for locating appropriate books (and a list of books to avoid) can be found at http://www.oyate.org. Second, while teachers do not have the ability to learn about and teach all tribes, they can verify that the teaching resources they use such as maps and other bulletin board materials are current and reflective of a modern understanding of native people. Last, many state and tribal departments of education have developed fully vetted instructional materials to ease the burden many educators feel in trying to compile information on their own. These materials can be found with relative ease through an Internet search engine. I encourage those who are not familiar with local or regional tribal affiliations to contact their state departments of education since most have the ability to connect educators to personnel in regional tribal offices.

American Indian communities are also careful to discuss and reinforce both historical and contemporary native issues. The key difference I have observed between schools serving Indian students and those who serve predominantly non-Indian students in terms of teaching social studies is the general tone and context of the supplemental teaching materials. Images, books, and content of the curriculum in non-Indian schools often portray American Indians as a singular culture that once existed in the not-too-distant past. Omitted are references to contemporary American Indians from many tribes who continue to help shape contemporary culture in native communities. Educators in schools serving American Indian students have found ways to integrate native and nonnative elements almost seamlessly and are as proactive in teaching the historical context of American Indians as they are a more contemporary context.

One of the best examples I have observed of this seamless integration is in the sciences. Many schools will integrate multiple ethnic constructs and time frames through the use of a traditional teaching technique such as the use of the buffalo. Students are exposed to traditional ways of hunting and tribal values through an organized buffalo hunt, followed by lessons on ceremonial and modern practical uses for the different parts of the buffalo as students experience the act of skinning and preserving different parts of the animal. Spiritual and moral teachings are often infused through the hunt and dressing of the buffalo. Teachers will then move to connecting to the contemporary biology curriculum, health curriculum (safe handling and preservation of meat), and even social justice concepts. Native science classes are by no means limited to this one tradition, and these classes often use ethno-botany and the spaying/neutering of stray dogs to teach other core cultural lessons that have contemporary applications as well. Schools without American Indian students could learn from these seamless methods and use them in thematic units or apply the same methods for highlighting the cultures of ethnic minorities that are prominent in their school.

To Cherish and Protect

Communities across America choose to address multicultural education in various ways, and understanding the many components of full cultural inclusion can be daunting. American Indian cultures recognize the enormity of the task but seem to have different reasons for making it an important priority. These cultures fully grasp the necessity of nuanced recognition for the multitude of ethnic facets for two specific reasons. First, the majority of American Indian students are of mixed tribal and ethnic backgrounds; therefore, in order to create a space where all students are valued, multiple cultural backgrounds must be incorporated. Second, tribal differences and acknowledging the existence of several hundred perspectives, customs, languages, and traditions is not something that native people have to learn; they simply know that these many differences exist. They also understand that native cultures cannot exist in a vacuum separate from the dominant cultural aspects that guide American schools. These basic understandings have created an approach to multicultural education that blends a myriad of cultures and transitions smoothly between past and present contexts.

Non-Indian educators already demonstrate this thinking through the inclusion of multicultural perspectives within the curriculum; however, these perspectives are often presented in silos or as compact units of instruction. The strength in the approach used in American Indian schools is that it reinforces the commingling of cultures rather than stressing the sense of “otherness” present in the silo approach. If multicultural education is to realize the goal of being education for, by, about, and inclusive of all, schools must step away from a categorical approach to teaching about other cultures and ethnicities and embrace a more holistic and fluid approach.

The Role of Prosocial Education

American Indian communities have endured monumental forces that have tried to eradicate, assimilate, and deny their very existence. This endurance is both evidence of and ammunition for cherishing and protecting the cultural values that have provided core stability for tribes and communities. In a very real sense, multicultural inclusion between both dominant and nondominant groups as well as between equally nondominant groups provides the space to continue to define and teach traditional customs and values without denying the greater societal expectations.

Effective prosocial education in American Indian schools begins with careful identification of community values and stresses the importance of belonging. Students are often provided the opportunity to compare and contrast the characteristics of identified native values to seemingly similar values of nonnative communities. American Indian value sets blend both moral and performance values that complement one another. For example, coupling the moral value of “generosity,” that is, the quality of being kind and generous, with the performance value “perseverance,” or continuing to do something despite difficulty, promotes both a state of being and an action attached to such a state. Similar to the delivery of multicultural education, prosocial education in American Indian schools becomes infused throughout the curriculum and culture of school rather than isolated into specific units of time on specifically assigned days. This prosocial teaching is often shared with the community at large so students see that the values being taught are not just school values but values held in the community at large.

It is through inclusion of all cultural groups that we preserve our own heritage. Multicultural and prosocial education in native communities is not about what we do; it is about who we are and about intentionally moving forward in ways that allow our children to understand how they fit within our own cultures as well as how they fit into the greater society simultaneously. Nonnative schools might find it beneficial to use a similar approach that uses prosocial education as a means of defining a way of being rather than as a means of correcting problems and issues. As the ethnic complexity of American society continues to grow, there will be an increasing need for educators to help all children learn how to develop an identity in a multicultural world; what can be learned from the way in which multicultural education is woven deeply into the education of American Indian children can serve as a very useful, even revolutionary, model. American Indian communities should not relinquish the reins of proactively addressing the importance of local culture, nor will they abdicate the responsibility of preserving the dignity and history of local communities. It is through this approach to multicultural education that we cherish and protect our heritage. It is through this approach that we believe others can cherish and protect their heritages.

Reference

Littlebear, R. (2009). Understanding American Indian cultures. In L. S. Warner & G. E. Gipp (Eds.), Traditions and culture in the millennium: Tribal colleges and university (pp. 89–92). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.