Churchill, Ward (1993). Naming Our Destiny: Toward a Language of American Indian Liberation. This essay provides teachers and others with an awareness of the social and political implications of words used to designate indigenous peoples of North America. How a group is seen by others and how it sees itself in many ways define the conditions under which the group will live, and the options it can exercise to affect these conditions. The distinction between identifying American Indians as members of "peoples" that constitute "nations" in their own right, and casting them as members of groups that comprise something less–a community, a clan, a "minority group," or a "tribe"–incurs a decisive meaning. Words such as "nation" and "tribe" are not interchangeable in either political or legal contexts, all protestations of government officials and "responsible tribal leaders" notwithstanding. Evidence drawn from dictionaries, Native-language terminology, historical documents, treaties, federal legislation, Supreme Court decisions, and international law is used to demonstrate: (1) the inappropriate emphasis on blood lines suggested by "tribe"; (2) the lack of a Native-language equivalent to "tribe"; (3) the animalistic and subordinate connotations of "tribe," as opposed to the strictly human meaning of "people"; (4) the meaning of "nation" and implications for government-to-government relations; and (5) how these words relate to the rhetoric of extermination. Pursuing a language of liberation is the first step in ensuring that indigenous peoples are accorded the inherent rights of self-determination possessed by peoples and nations. Contains 116 endnotes.    [More]  Descriptors: American Indian History, American Indians, Consciousness Raising, Definitions

Commission on Civil Rights, Washington, DC. (1973). Constitutional Status of American Indians. U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Staff Memorandum. The paper discusses the legal, political status of American Indian tribes, the relationship of Indians to their tribes and to their States, and the relationship of tribes to the States and to the United States (U.S.) Government. The U.S. Government has excercised plenary power over Indians for approximately 200 years. Indian tribes have traditionally been viewed by Federal courts as dependent or tributary nations possessed of limited elements of sovereignty and requiring Federal protection. Congress has alternatively viewed tribes as sovereign political entities or as anachronisms which must eventually be extinguished. The result has been 2 conflicting Federal policies–separation and assimilation. The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 made all Indians born in the U.S. citizens of the U.S. As such, they are also citizens of the State in which they live, even though they may reside on a reservation. Indians are therefore citizens of 3 separate political entities, subject to Federal laws, civil and criminal laws of the tribe when they are on the reservation and within its jurisdiction, and State laws while off the the reservation. This document presents a general study of the constitutional status of Indians, rather than a complete analysis of the unique and complex field of Federal Indian law.   [More]  Descriptors: American Indian Reservations, American Indians, Civics, Civil Rights

Mabery, Marilyne Virginia (1991). Right after Sundown: Teaching Stories of the Navajos. Understanding of the traditional Navajo world view and philosophy is ultimately centered on their origin story of emergence into the present world. All stories stem from this basic one. This collection of 12 Navajo stories includes origin stories, coyote stories, and a fairly recent one that describes a recognizable place. In the Anglo sense, these stories may seem unrelated, but to the Navajos, they are all connected. These stories are not colorful folk tales or a writer's creative imagination, but are, for the Navajos, actual events. In their humor and graphic descriptions, the stories seem to be folk tales. In their supernatural reality, they take on the quality of legend. In their association with the complicated Navajo ceremonies, they explain and justify the moral values and cultural norms of traditional Navajo society. In their moralistic character, they represent the height of parable. Repetition, so customary in American Indian stories, is a reflection of the rhythms of daily life and the power of continuity. Rather than lecturing their young people about right and wrong, the Navajos tell stories such as these to illustrate what they desire to teach, allowing the children to grasp for themselves what is appropriate behavior. This book includes 20 references, a glossary, and a prayer from the Navajo Beauty Way.   [More]  Descriptors: American Indian Culture, American Indian Literature, Cultural Education, Ethical Instruction

McCabe, Carol J.; Lewis, Hester (1975). The Navajo Nation: An American Colony. A Report of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. The major portion of this report is devoted to the Anglo and American Indian testimony from the 1973 Commission on Civil Rights Hearings on Navajo economic development, employment, education, and health care. Among the major recommendations cited are those calling for: (1) legal recognition of the Navajo Tribal Council to provide for favorable tax classification and Federal Agency grant and loan qualification; (2) a system by which the Tribal Council could make decisions with greater independence from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA); (3) legislation to support program development until tribal revenues are adequate to maintain both infrastructure and development investments; (4) a program to provide superior technical expertise in planning and decision making; (5) a Department of the Interior policy providing for joint enterprises on a 50/50 (tribal and contractor) basis; (6) Federal augmentation of the Navajo Revolving Credit Fund; (7) BIA enforcement of the Navajo preference policy in Federal employment; (8) creation of a tribal agency with jurisdiction over employment discrimination complaints; (9) full Navajo representation in the educational decision making process; (10) curriculum development to include Navajo cultural awareness; (11) elimination of the Navajo teacher shortage; and (12) appropriation of funds for the Indian Health Service to make Navajo health care comparable to that of the U.S. in general.   [More]  Descriptors: Agency Role, American Indian Reservations, American Indians, Civil Rights Legislation

Days, Drew S., III (1980). Standing in Line for Equality. The late fifties and early sixties were periods of great strides for blacks in America. At the same time, Hispanics, American Indians, women, the aged, and the physically and mentally handicapped came forth to meet the challenge of discrimination. This challenge will continue to face the United States. The argument that Americans need time to adjust to changes has resulted in the pitting of minority groups against each other in the battle for equality. The United States cannot afford such confrontations in the eighties. In a "person-centered" society where concerns for a "higher destiny,""compassion," and "humaneness" guide public policy, there is no need to battle one another over who will be next in line to achieve equality.   [More]  Descriptors: American Indians, Blacks, Ethnic Groups, Females

Clough, Josh (2006). A Victim of Its Own Success: The Story of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian Fair, 1910-13, American Indian Culture and Research Journal. The Indian fair is that rare example of a government program for Indians gone terribly right. Implemented by the Office of Indian Affairs on reservations in the early 1900s, Indian fairs allowed Native people to exhibit their crops, livestock, and domestic handiwork in competition for prizes much the same way whites did at their numerous county and state fairs. From a single government-sponsored Indian fair on the Crow Reservation in Montana in 1905, Native fairs spread rapidly across the country. Little more than a decade later, fifty-eight reservations and agencies could boast of holding one or more of them on a yearly basis. The Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes of Oklahoma held their first fair in Weatherford, Oklahoma in October of 1910. The popularity of the three-day event prompted its continuation for the next three years, and it was held, alternately, at Weatherford and Watonga, Oklahoma. The event attracted between 2,000 and 2,500 Indians annually and at least as many Anglo spectators. Under Commissioner of Indian Affairs Robert G. Valentine's pro-Indian fair administration, the future of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian Fair seemed promising, but a change in commissioners in 1913 along with the growing disillusionment of local Cheyenne-Arapaho agents toward the fair led to its closure after the 1913 event. In this article, the author discusses the history of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian Fair from 1910 to 1913.   [More]  Descriptors: American Indians, Federal Indian Relationship, Exhibits, American Indian History

Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. (1973). Menominee Restoration Act: H.R. 7421–To Repeal the Act Terminating Federal Supervision Over the Property and Members of the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin as a Federally Recognized, Sovereign Indian Tribe; and to Restore to the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin Those Federal Services Furnished to American Indians Because of Their Status as American Indians; and for Other Purposes. Hearings Before…, 93d Congress, 1st Session…. Presenting reports, statements, letters, and additional information, these hearings of the Menominee Restoration Act (HR 7421) deal with restoration of Federal services to the Menominee tribe via repeal of the 83d Congress' (1953) termination policy. Testimony includes statements from representatives of the: Federal Government, National Congress of American Indians; Menominee Tribe; Menominee County Highway Department, Drugs and Alcoholism Program, Housing Authority, and Council of Chiefs; Wisconsin Schools; and the like. Some of the additional information presented includes: (1) an employment analysis for December 1967-June 1973; (2) Lake Moshawquit Property Owners Association agreements; (3) Native American Rights Fund's Memorandum re Restoration Act; (4) Menominee County Community Action Program's Impact Study (table); (5) Menominee Enterprises' financial analysis-ratios for March 1973 and summary of forestry and mill operations for 1961-72; (6) profile chart for averages on the Iowa Tests for basic skills; (7) Report 272 of the 87th Congress on lessening the impact of Federal services termination; (8) Bureau of Indian Affairs' report on termination (1965); (9) tables on: population and economic characteristics of tribes; county population and Wisconsin per capita taxable income (1969); and travel distances from community to service center; (10) Wisconsin Assembly bills, amendments, and fiscal notes.   [More]  Descriptors: American Indians, Demography, Economically Disadvantaged, Federal Aid

Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs. (1977). Meetings of the American Indian Policy Review Commission (Washington, D.C. and Portland, Oregon, June 4, August 10, and September 25, 1976). Volume 3. The purpose of the American Indian Policy Review Commission hearing on June 4, 1976, was to give the Commissioners an opportunity to hear each task force restate and clarify relevant issues and preliminary recommendations. Two points that emerged from the session were: the need for a specific process whereby the Federal Government recognizes tribes and the noninvolvement of the Federal Government in defining who is and is not an Indian (this should be left up to the tribes). One major objective of Task Force No. 2 was to define clearly the relationship between the federal government and Indian tribes, including the political status of Indian tribal governments commensurate with the views of Indian people across the country. One spokesman reviewed the main obstacles of economic development; an example is when reservation resources are developed by others the proceeds are then siphoned off by state taxation. The meeting held in Portland, Oregon, covered the controversy of hunting and fishing rights and several court cases concerned with the controversy.   [More]  Descriptors: Agency Role, American Indian Education, American Indians, Change Strategies

Nicholas, George P. (2006). Decolonizing the Archaeological Landscape: The Practice and Politics of Archaeology in British Columbia, American Indian Quarterly. In British Columbia, Canada, the practice of archaeology has been strongly influenced by issues of First Nations rights and the ways government and industry have chosen to address them. In turn, this situation has affected academic (i.e., research-based) and consulting (i.e., cultural resource management) archaeology, which have had to respond to changes in the provincial Heritage Conservation Act (HCA) and to the implementation of archaeological overview assessments (AOAS) and traditional-use studies (TUSS). In this article, the author explores the situation of British Columbia, where First Nations' contribution to AOAS, TUSS, and the archaeological permitting process have influenced the development of predictive and explanatory models. There, as elsewhere, the increasing role of descendant communities in participating in or directing landscape-oriented studies–in a sense, decolonizing the archaeological process–clearly will influence how archaeologists need to perceive past cultural landscapes in the future. The author presented this article in three sections. First, he examines the nature of archaeological landscapes and their importance in organizing and interpreting evidence of past human behavior. Second, he examines the historical context of archaeology in British Columbia over the past century and discusses how it has contributed to the colonization of First Nations through heritage legislation, archaeological resource management strategies, and the very limited ways in which traditional perspectives of the cultural landscape have been incorporated. In the final section, he outlines four ways First Nations are seeking to decolonize the archaeological landscape, which include educational initiatives and the development of alternative resource management strategies.   [More]  Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Archaeology, Indigenous Populations, Indigenous Knowledge

Shaw, Dagmar Thorpe (1979). Why America Should Support Native Rights, American Indian Journal. The essay discusses Indian rights in the light of national and international law and describes the struggle for Indian rights as part of an international struggle for human rights and social justice. Descriptors: American Indians, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Constitutional Law

Commission on Civil Rights, Washington, DC. (1978). Social Indicators of Equality for Minorities and Women. This report presents newly designed statistical measures ("social indicators of equality") which compare the level of well-being of the minority and female populations to that of the majority (white) male population and assess the nation's progress toward achieving equality. Census and Survey of Income and Education statistics from 1960, 1970, and 1976 are the raw data sources used. The indicators cover different aspects of education, employment, income, poverty, and housing for men and women in the following groups: American Indians/Alaskan Natives; blacks; Mexican Americans; Japanese Americans; Chinese Americans; Pilipino Americans; Puerto Ricans; and, for comparative purposes, whites not of Hispanic origin. Despite some inprovement in many areas, the indicators demonstrate, majority males have continued to enjoy broader opportunities and to reap disproportionate benefits while women and minority males have in many instances fallen even further behind.   [More]  Descriptors: Alaska Natives, American Indians, Asian Americans, Blacks

Akins, Andrew; And Others (1974). Federal and State Services and the Maine Indian. A Report of the Maine Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. Pursuant to its responsibilities to advise the Commission on Civil Rights, the Maine Advisory Committee's hearings, investigations, and recommendations relative to Federal and State services for American Indians in Maine are detailed in this report. Dealing first with policy and law as manifest in: (1) Self-Determination; (2) Federal Indian Services; (3) State Policy and State Services; (4) Conflict in the State of Maine, This report also presents the committee's recommendations for the following: (1) Economic and Community Development; (2) Housing; (3) Health; (4) Education; (5) Welfare; (6) Foster Care; and (7) Law Enforcement and Public Safety. Major conclusions cited in this report are: (1) Maine Indians are being denied services provided other Native Americans by Federal agencies which is not only discriminatory but is also placing a disproportionate tax burden on Maine taxpayers. (2) Half the Indians in Maine are not receiving State Indian services because they live off-reservation. (3) The State should develop an integrated service program to serve all Maine Indians (Maliseets, Passamaquoddys, Penobscots, and Micmacs) regardless of their residency. (4) Current socioeconomic statistics reveal longstanding discriminatory practices (45 percent substandard housing, 65 percent unemployment, severe health problems, nonexistent bicultural education, and 4 out of 136 Indian foster children in Indian foster homes).   [More]  Descriptors: Advisory Committees, American Indians, Civil Rights, Economic Development

Schreiber, Dorothee (2006). First Nations, Consultation, and the Rule of Law: Salmon Farming and Colonialism in British Columbia, American Indian Culture and Research Journal. Many coastal First Nations communities, particularly in British Columbia, see consultation as a positive way of getting around the firmly entrenched position of both provincial and federal governments on fish farming. Even those Native groups such as the Musgamagw Tsawataineuk Tribal Council (MTTC) and the Homalco First Nation, who are adamantly opposed to any open net fish farming in their waters, eagerly engage in consultation. The Native response to unsatisfactory interactions with the provincial ministry and fish-farming companies is most often a call for further consultation or a declaration that exchanges worthy of being called "consultation" have not yet taken place. In this article, the author explores the gap between the promise of consultation and the ways in which consultation serves to entrench rather than overcome the colonial relationships of the past. She points out the possible pitfalls of a cooperative strategy–"consultation"–that appears to have placed the burden of creating consensus between settlers and First Nations squarely on the shoulders of Native peoples and their continued cooperation with the property and productive arrangements of the status quo. She concludes by recognizing that consultation, as a social practice, often works as a tactic of repression rather than as a means of protecting Aboriginal title and rights, but that the government of Canada may be able to transform the practice of consultation and thereby make progress toward a just and long-term resolution of Native peoples' claims.   [More]  Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Animal Husbandry, American Indian Education, Canada Natives

Satz, Ronald N.; And Others (1991). Chippewa Treaty Rights. Classroom Activities. Bulletin No. 92150. In 1989 Wisconsin legislation mandated the integration of American Indian history, culture, and tribal sovereignty into the K-12 social studies curriculum as a component of multicultural education. This document assists teachers to fulfill that mandate, as well as to meet statutory requirements of instruction on the Chippewa Indians' treaty-based, off-reservation rights to hunt, fish, and gather. This guide is divided into self-contained teaching sections: elementary, middle school, and high school. Each section contains nine specific activities. The elementary level builds concepts and competencies for the middle school level, which does the same for the high school level. Each section: (1) presents a brief overview of the Chippewa (Anishinabe) culture, political structure, and relationship to the environment; (2) discusses the nature of the federal-Indian relationship through the treaty-making era; (3) examines the reservations established for Wisconsin's Chippewas in the mid-19th century; (4) discusses infringements on Chippewa treaty rights and acculturation efforts during the late 19th and into the 20th century; (5) outlines federal court decisions upholding reserved rights; and (6) examines the roles played by the six Chippewa bands and the state in protecting northern Wisconsin's natural resources. Each activity contains necessary background information, objectives, concepts, "fundamentals" (chiefly references to primary sources), and procedures. The 35 fundamentals are the basic elemental materials for the activities. These materials have been carefully transcribed from original documents and include letters, drawings and photographs, charts and figures, texts of treaties, and records of court litigation. Also included are a glossary and a selected bibliography of 87 entries. Descriptors: Activity Units, American Indian Culture, American Indian History, American Indian Reservations

Yamauchi, Elyse M. (2010). Counterstories: Uncovering History within the Stories of Faculty of Color, ProQuest LLC. Through counterstorytelling (Solorzano & Yosso, 2002b), the methodological approach that is informed by critical race theory (CRT), an elegant platform and enlightening lens allows for the amplification of the narratives of faculty of color in predominantly White institutions of higher education (PWIs). Eight faculty of color, four women and four men, who identify as Chicano/a, Native American, Asian, and African American, were interviewed. They represented two institutions of higher education in a western state. Five of the counterstorytellers were tenured full professors, and the other three were non-tenured or tenure-track assistant professors. Their counterstories challenge the dominant master narrative that argues that in a post-racial and post-civil rights nation, issues of discrimination, racism, oppression, and White privilege have essentially been neutralized. However, their counterstories revealed painful historical experiences, legal decisions, and laws that have profoundly impacted their lives and scholarly pursuits. Their counterstories spoke to the racism that they have experienced where racism may not have been apparent to their White counterparts. From the powerful counterstories, the faculty of color revealed their perspectives and lived experiences of existing in divergent cultural worlds (Sadao, 2003), the cultures of their ethnic world and of the university. Their counterstories further reveal that faculty of color not only live in the borderlands between cultures, but often they face a separate reality in terms of mentoring, tenure, white privilege, and institutional racism. Finally, master narratives have an extensive and overarching historical and systemic impact upon their experiences at multiple levels.   [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.%5D   [More]  Descriptors: Critical Theory, Race, College Faculty, Minority Group Teachers

Brody, William A., Comp.; Aberle, Sophie D., Comp. (1966). The Indian, America's Unfinished Business; Report of the Commission on the Rights, Liberties, and Responsibilities of the American Indian. The Civilization of the American Indian Series, Vol. 83. Because a 1953 Congressional resolution established the policy of terminating the special relationship between American Indians and the Federal government, a review of historical information on this relationship is in order so that recommendations can be made with respect to the termination of services, funds, and authority. Termination should occur only after adequate information is available and solutions have been found to existing problems of health, education, economy, and government. The Indian must be motivated to participate in solving his own problems, and he should have the right to determine his own form of government. Tribal judicial systems should be integrated with state systems. The Bureau of Indian Affairs should make experts in economic planning available to Indian tribes, as its function should be to counsel and assist, not to control or regiment. The power of the Secretary of the Interior should be reduced to allow tribes to operate to the full extent of their abilities. Tribes should assume greater responsibility for health and sanitation. School personnel should have special training in dealing with Indian children, and adult education programs must be expanded and strengthened. Descriptors: Acculturation, American Indians, Citizenship Responsibility, Cultural Influences

Tiger, Georgianna (1980). An Analysis of Current Indian Legislation and Its Impact On Schools On or Near American Indian Reservations. Significant 1970's federal legislation regarding American Indian education includes the Tribally Controlled Community Colleges Act; the Gifted and Talented Children's Act (Title IX Elementary and Secondary Education Act, or ESEA) which focuses in part on economically disadvantaged children; the Bilingual Education Act (Title VII ESEA); and the Indian Basic Education Act (IBEA) of 1978 (Title XI ESEA). The IBEA, the result of several years of Congressional work, mandates Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) reform in ten areas: academic standards, boarding situations, school construction, educational functions, funding, parental participation, education personnel, information management, technical assistance, and recruitment. The IBEA addresses student rights within BIA schools and Indian control of Indian educational affairs. The law also gives the Director of the Office of Indian Education Programs line authority over all education personnel. Teachers are removed from civil service and placed under local control. Possibly the greatest impact on Indian education would result not from these new laws, but from the transferral of Indian education to the newly created Department of Education. For Indian education to remain under the authority of the BIA the IBEA must be successful.   [More]  Descriptors: Academic Standards, American Indian Education, American Indian Reservations, Bilingual Education

Baker, Catherine A.; Hamm, Russell L. (1980). The American Indian: A Teaching-Learning Unit. Studies in Curriculum Development No. 4, 1980. One in a series of studies of selected aspects of curriculum development, this monograph utilizes an historical approach in a guide for teaching a unit on American Indian background and presents suggestions to use as follow-up measures after the study. Six specific objectives focus on the purposes of the course: (1) to point out the misleading stereotyped white concept of "Indian"; (2) to survey various Indian nations and chart their U.S. geographical distribution; (3) to describe major cultural differences between whites and Native Americans; (4) to outline problems unique to Native Americans and some approaches for their solutions; (5) to trace major historical events in Native American struggles for survival, identity, and freedom; and (6) to take a look at the history and cultural legacy of Native Americans in Indiana. Contents include discussions on the following: eight separate language families (Algonkin, Iroquois, Caddo, Muskhogean, Sioux, Penutian, Dene, Uto-Aztecan); the gulf in world view between white Americans and Native Americans; the Native American struggle for civil rights; and a focus on the history of Indians in Indiana. Questions for research and discussion and a list of activities for classroom use provide suggestions for further study, and a selected reading list includes books about Native Americans in categories of education, the past, and the present. Descriptors: American Indian Culture, American Indian Languages, American Indian Studies, American Indians

Lawton, Stephen B. (1993). The Impact of Gaming Revenue on American Indian Education: A Case Study. This paper reviews historical and legal factors contributing to the development of gaming as a source of tribal revenue, and assesses the impact on education from revenue generated from the Mystic Lake Casino near Minneapolis, Minnesota. Corporate shareholders of the casino are members of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community. Although U.S. law supports the status of Indian tribes as sovereign nations, the state of Florida took the Seminole tribe to court after the tribe opened a bingo parlor in 1976. In this case and a similar case in California, the Supreme Court upheld the rights of reservation American Indians to establish their own ordinances for regulating bingo games, but dissenting justices argued that unless Congress authorized and regulated tribal gaming, the State had a legitimate law enforcement interest. As a result, in 1988 Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act to assist tribes in regulating gambling. Soon thereafter, the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association was established and reached an agreement with the State concerning gaming regulations. Monies generated from the Mystic Lake Casino have funded an after-school program, a cooperative education program, an advocate for students, an alternative school for students with special needs, and adult education training programs. Currently, Canada's First Nations are fighting the provincial government of Saskatchewan to allow a casino to remain open on the White Bear Reserve. Although the future of tribal gaming is uncertain in Canada, developments in the United States could establish a precedent regarding tribal gaming.   [More]  Descriptors: Adult Education, American Indian Education, American Indian History, Canada Natives

National Center for Educational Statistics (DHEW/OE), Washington, DC. (1973). The American Indian in School: Answers to Questions–Advance Statistics for Management. Graphs, maps, and data tables are used to answer various questions about the elementary, secondary, and higher education of the American Indians. Answers to the following questions are given: (1) How many Indian children are in school? Public? Private? Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)? (2) Where are the Indian pupils enrolled in the public schools? (3) What is the concentration of Indian enrollment in each state at the elementary, secondary, and college levels? (4) How do patterns of "racial isolation" differ for Indian and Black pupils? (5) To what extent are Indian pupils in our public schools racially isolated? (6) What is the concentration of Indian enrollment in the large cities? (7) How well do Indian pupils score on achievement tests? (8) In which states are the BIA pupils enrolled? (9) How many Indians are in college? and (10) Where do the Indians go to college? The data used to answer these questions were collected by the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare's Office for Civil Rights.   [More]  Descriptors: Academic Achievement, American Indians, Black Students, Elementary Education

Anderson, Owanah P., Comp.; Verble, Sedelta D., Comp. (1981). Resource Guide of American Indian and Alaska Native Women, 1980. A resource listing of 678 prominent American Indian and Alaska Native women representing 159 tribes throughout the United States provides the following information: name, address, date and place of birth, tribal membership, field of interest, current occupation, Indian activities, women's advocacy, educational background and professional interest. The following are the majority of professional and advocacy skills the women possess: administration (federal, tribal and urban), cultural advocacy and arts (arts and humanities, traditional arts and crafts), economic development (program planning/management), education (adult/vocational, bilingual, curriculum development, early childhood, educational equity, higher education, Native American studies, teacher training, tribal education), employment (affirmative action/EEO, women's employment advocacy), health (administration, alcohol/drug abuse, Indian health advocacy), legal advocacy (legislative change/testify/lobby, treaty rights/legal advocacy/sovereignty, tribal council membership), media and communications, social and human services (child advocacy, domestic violence, Indian Child Welfare Act), skills for change (commission on status of women, conference/workshop speakers, published authors). Also included are indexes by tribe, state, and resource skills.   [More]  Descriptors: Advocacy, Alaska Natives, American Indian Education, American Indians

Warner, Linda Sue (1994). The Impact of Federal Legislation on the Education of American Indian Students. This paper discusses some of the ramifications of federal laws and associated court decisions that provide the legislative foundation for education of American Indians. The legislation reviewed includes the Johnson O'Malley Act, Impact Aid laws, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Indian Elementary and Secondary School Assistance Act, the Indian Civil Rights Act, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, the Indian Self-Determination and Educational Assistance Act, the Indian Child Welfare Act, the Elementary and Secondary Improvements Amendments, and the Native American Languages Act. The effects of these laws on Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) schools and the level of control permitted to tribes and parents are evaluated. Most federal legislation that impacts the education of Indian children has been targeted at educational policies and practices for all children. This includes the Goals 2000 legislation because it requires the BIA to establish a panel to oversee implementation in BIA schools. While authority for overseeing the federal trust responsibility for Indian people remains with the BIA, contemporary education agendas have been directed to include laws and regulations that impact public school districts as well. References include 11 public laws, 7 court cases, and 7 books and articles.   [More]  Descriptors: American Indian Education, American Indian Reservations, American Indians, Categorical Aid

Women's Bureau (DOL), Washington, DC. (1978). A Guide to Conducting a Conference With American Indian Women in Reservation Areas. Among the major concerns of the Women's Bureau are the special needs of women of various racial and ethnic backgrounds who encounter double discrimination because of their sex and their racial or ethnic origin. For those who speak English as a second language, a further barrier is added. American Indian women are one group in need of special programs to create an awareness of their job rights and to increase the accessibility of employment and training opportunities for them. In response to a successful conference on "Employment Awareness for Indian Women" held on the Shiprock, New Mexico, Navajo Reservation, this guide has been prepared to aid in conducting similar projects elsewhere. While not intended to be a comprehensive "how-to" instrument, the guide is adapted to the status of Indian women and highlights those parts of the conference program needing special consideration: strong community participation in planning phases, an opening session speaker who is a known leader, availability of bilingual interpreters, minimal or no expense to participants, briefing sessions for resource people, and follow-up mechanisms. In planning such programs, it is essential to have a knowledge of the unique legal status of Indian tribes so that provision can be made to have that issue addressed. Situations and conditions vary from reservation to reservation, making flexibility and adaptability a major requirement for the use of this guide.   [More]  Descriptors: American Indian Reservations, American Indians, Career Awareness, Conferences

Collier, John, Jr. (1970). Film Evaluations of Eskimo Education. The National Study of American Indian Education, Series III, No. 4, Final Report. As a part of the Final Report of the National Study of American Indian Education, the educational environments of schools in 2 Alaskan tundra villages, in a state-consolidated school in Bethel, and in Anchorage public schools were filmed to provide empirical evidence for the evaluation of Eskimo education. This film study was pointed toward ascertaining whether schools operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs are singularly different from other schools educating Indians. In addition, the film sample ranged from the most undisturbed environment to the most un-Eskimo environment in Alaska in an attempt to determine how the relative learning pace of children changed. Among the conclusions in the document, it is noted that there is little difference between the quality of BIA and state-operated schools; there is a need for a more culturally appropriate school curriculum and more relative subject matter; native teachers should be recruited; the number of community school programs should be increased; and there should be a restrengthening of the legal status of Eskimos with social rights and services from the Federal Government. Descriptors: American Indians, Classroom Observation Techniques, Community Characteristics, Community Organizations

Almeida, Deirdre A. (1996). Countering Prejudice against American Indians and Alaska Natives through Antibias Curriculum and Instruction. ERIC Digest. Teaching from an antibias perspective means going beyond conventional multicultural education and introducing students to a working concept of diversity that challenges social stereotypes and discrimination. This digest describes current inadequacies in teaching about Native Americans, suggests ways to avoid common pitfalls, and provides guidelines for detecting anti-Indian bias in instructional materials. Three obstacles to providing better instruction about American Indians and Alaska Natives are lack of training in teacher education programs, ongoing racist portrayals of Native Americans in the larger society, and difficulties in locating sources of trustworthy materials. When teaching about Native Americans, teachers often favor approaches that portray Native Americans as extinct, or that allow students to experience only the exotic components of a Native culture. Both approaches teach simplistic generalizations about other peoples and lead to stereotyping rather than understanding. Teachers must begin by examining their own underlying beliefs about Native Americans and by critically questioning cultural images in books and the mass media, then use this knowledge to develop an antibias curriculum. Antibias learning may be integrated into the entire curriculum through a technique called webbing. Types of instructional materials to avoid are those that make sweeping generalizations about Native Americans, present only colonizers' perspectives, exploit Native American cultural and spiritual traditions for profit, or lack respect for Native intellectual property rights and indigenous knowledge. Contains 15 references and resources.   [More]  Descriptors: Alaska Natives, American Indians, Consciousness Raising, Cultural Awareness

Kochanczyk, Judy (2000). Indiana's Best Practices Celebrating Diversity: Many Communities…One Indiana. A Resource Manual of Diversity Programs & Activities. Update 2000. This updated resource manual of racial diversity programs and activities should help promote racial reconciliation and understanding among diverse communities. It includes 72 new programs, and six new Indiana communities actually embracing this challenge have been included: Crawfordsville, New Castle, Plainfield, Seymour, Valparaiso, and Wawasee. Three new categories have been added to the resource manual: Indian-American Services and Events, Persons with Disabilities, and Sexual Orientation. 14 new resources have been listed. The updated manual is not inclusive of all activities and resources occurring in Indiana, nor does the Indiana Civil Rights Commission endorse one resource over another, but it is reflective of some of the diversity programs developed and practiced by Hoosiers. The manual is divided into the following sections: "Index by Activity"; "Index by Location"; "Description of Best Practices, 1999 Edition"; and "Description of Best Practices, 2000 Update." Appendixes contain "Dialogue Guides"; "Additional Resources"; and "Supplemental Materials."   [More]  Descriptors: Community Involvement, Community Resources, Creative Thinking, Cultural Pluralism

National Congress of American Indians, Washington, DC. (1978). Official Policy Positions of the National Congress of American Indians for Convention Year 1977-1978. During its convention year of 1977-78, the National Congress of American Indians held an annual convention in Dallas in September, 1977, an executive council meeting in Washington in January, 1978, a special conference on federal recognition and the impact of the Oliphant decision in Nashville, Tennessee in March, 1978, and a mid-year conference in Spokane, Washington in June, 1978. At the Dallas convention sixty-six resolutions were passed in such areas as reservation development, legislation, education, housing, sovereignty, health, and welfare. The January executive council meeting featured resolutions supporting individual tribes in such efforts as distribution of federal funds, land acquisition, educational and health facilities, housing, and disaster assistance. The Native American Economic Stimulus Program was hailed as innovative, creative, and the most promising new program in recent years to further the Indian Self-Determination and Education Act of 1973. The March meeting yielded a Declaration of Principles on Tribal Recognition by the U.S. Government. Resolutions adopted in Spokane included ones on religious freedom, water rights, and public works projects. The official resolutions as well as excerpts from key convention speeches are included in the report. Descriptors: Alaska Natives, American Indian Education, American Indian Reservations, American Indians

Willard, William (1986). The Ninth Inter-American Indian Congress Historical Overview, Wicazo Sa Review. The Ninth Congress of the Inter-American Indian Institute (IAII) was held October 28-November 1, 1985 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and was–for several reasons–a major event in the history of the indigenous people of this hemisphere. First, it was the first Congress held in the United States in the 45 years since the Institute was organized. Second, holding the Congress in New Mexico was an unofficial recognition that the origins of the Institute and Congress are in the Santa Fe- and Taos-based organization of political action to save Pueblo land and water rights in the 1920s. Third, the meeting had a larger contingent of Indian delegates and observers, and Indian participants took a larger role than in the past when non-Indian government representatives controlled the proceedings.  Fourth, the emergence of trans-national political power of indigenous people was apparent in the movement to establish a fifth committee consisting of non-governmental Indian delegates as an official component of the Congress. The IAII is recognized as a specialized Inter-American organization of the Organization of American States. Its primary purposes include dissemination of information to its 17 member nations in planning for the economic, social, education, and cultural improvement of Indians throughout the hemisphere. This paper concludes with results of a brief poll concerning the reactions to the Congress of a sampling of people connected with U.S. and Canadian universities. Descriptors: American Indians, Federal Indian Relationship, Indigenous Populations, International Cooperation

Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs. (1978). Meetings of the American Indian Policy Review Commission (January 6, 7, February 4 and 5, 1977). Volume 5. The meetings of the American Indian Policy Review Commission on January 6, 1977, were concerned with the markup of the first draft of the final report, the status of the Commission extension, training, distribution of task force reports, and transition coordination. The session on February 4 opened with the announcement that the Senate had passed the joint resolution introduced by Senator Abrouzek for an extension of three months for the Commission. The Commission questioned sovereignty and constitutional rights and contemplated the issue of defining "Indian" and "tribe". During the discussion on trust responsibility, Commissioner Whitecrow expressed the Indian's viewpoint of "land–as the Mother Earth, the sustenance of life, giving life with growth and minerals of that specific soil and it gives life and it takes life". He stressed trust responsibility as the Government's obligation to fulfill responsibility in delivery of services and protect those services agreed to provide the Indian tribes. A brief session discussed social services, specifically child placement, health services, and education.   [More]  Descriptors: Agency Role, American Indian Education, American Indians, Compliance (Legal)

Dupris, Joseph C. (1980). American Indian Community Controlled Education: "Determination for Today, Direction for Tomorrow". The reemergence in the 1960's of the traditional Indian philosophy of education as preparation for societal productivity coincided with a movement within Indian communities toward more active participation in and self-control of the education of their people. By recognizing the historical right of American Indians to control their own education, the Basic Indian Education Act (PL 95-561) and the Indian Self-Determination Education Assistance Act (PL 93-638) have made these goals a reality and paved the way for the casting off of the policy of coercive assimilation which has characterized most previous national Indian education programs and led to academic failure among Indians. In the 1980's the focus of Indian community controlled education will center on the consolidation of school contracting procedures in PL 93-638, including obtaining a centralized contractive authority under the Bureau of Indian Affairs; curriculum development in the area of cultural education; and parental and tribal participation in the public schools. This will require a united effort among Indian communities to explore the potential of federal legislation and utilize it to its fullest. Indian communities must also determine how to strengthen community control, sustain educational successes, establish Indian education priorities, and strengthen internal and external resources.   [More]  Descriptors: American Indian Culture, American Indian Education, Community Control, Educational Change