Below are some facts from the web site of the National Indian Education Association regarding the history of American Indian education. For those who have never studied the history, the below information may be shocking. However, it shows very clearly where the high drop out rates of native children began and how the effects of early problems are perpetuated when a teacher does not understand where the problems lie.

One hundred years ago, American Indian education was based on assimilation. When a teacher does not understand or respect the cultural differences between themselves and their Native student, all of the original problems resurface. The results of the report from the 1960s are exactly the problems that continue today. It's a classic case of Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it.

The rest of our web site will guide you to learn how to change these problems and work together with your Native community to lead the children to success. For those without a visible Native population, the reason to teach in culturally appropriate ways is to encourage your students to Respect all peoples, and that racism against Native Americans was a historical problem that must end now.

EDUCATION FACTS & HISTORY
Excerpted from The History of Indian Education on the National Indian Education Association website. www.niea.org

The subsequent Kennedy Report, published in 1969, recommended increased Indian control over education. The report also recommended a National Indian Board of Education and an exemplary federal school system for Indian education. The report further stated that:

The coercive assimilation policy has had disastrous effects on the education of Indian children. It has resulted in:

1. The classroom and the school system becoming a sort of battleground in which the Indian child attempts to protect his integrity and identity as an individual by defeating the purposes of the school.
2. Schools that fail to understand or adapt, and-in fact-often denigrate cultural differences.
3. Schools that blame their own failures on Indian students and reinforce their defensiveness.
4. Schools that fail to recognize the importance and validity of the Indian community, causing both the community and its children to retaliate by treating the school as an alien institution.
5. A dismal record of much absenteeism, many dropouts, negative self-image, low achievement, and, ultimately, academic failure for many Indian children.
6. A perpetuation of the cycle of poverty, which undermines the success of all other federal programs.

All of the above was excerpted from The History of Indian Education from the web site of the National Indian Education Association. The entire article can be read at www.niea.org.

Today

All of those problems listed above continue to exist to some degree wherever there are Native students in public education, even in schools that have an almost 100% Native enrollment. The American interpretation of education has always imposed itself on Native people. It has rarely considered who Native children are or what they need.

Happily, in the last few years, many of the problems of Indian Education have begun to be addressed, especially in areas where the Native population is substantial. The Native languages are now being celebrated and promoted in Montana, South Dakota, and New Mexico and certainly other states as well. Cultural training and historically correct curriculum has become mandatory in those states as well as Wisconsin and Maine.

However, what has yet to be addressed is the way American Indians are portrayed outside of these areas, in the parts of the country that continue to maintain an archaic view of American Indians. Even museum and educational web sites still say, "Indians were ... ," as if they have disappeared and negating the fact that Indians Are.

Mainstream educators in areas that lack a visible tribal presence within the school systems are hungry for appropriate materials, but without a good working knowledge of the Native American perspective, it is almost impossible to understand the effects of inappropriate materials which are still widely used in classrooms everywhere. Many teachers are unsure of where to turn to find local speakers and presenters.

Children still ask, "Do Indians still live in tipis?"

Does your school use Little House on the Prairie, The Indian in the Cupboard, The Sign of the Beaver or Brother Sun, Sister Sky in your curriculum? How would you know why they are all considered terrible materials without training? And how can you get around using them when they are required by your school?

The average American attitude has never wavered from the point of view that this land was won fair and square, the souls of the millions who died long forgotten ... but not by the people whose ancestors and even relatives were there. They still remember.

No one has ever made the announcement to the American public,

The wars are over.
You can stop using the Anti-Indian propaganda now.

The books listed above are residual propaganda from a wartime point of view.

To purchase books for your classroom that reflect the Native American perspective, shop from from our Tribally approved materials. Click Here for our Wish List for all schools.

Also be sure to visit Debbie Reese's Blog, The American Indian in Children's Literature to see which books are NOT approved and are considered discriminatory, stereotypical, and inaccurate.

You will also find an excellent selection of school materials including posters, DVDs, books, tapes and more at Oyate.org.

You can also visit our sections for media, comics, lesson plans, and tribal contact information in the section Indian Education so you can get information about your own local region directly from the people who would like to have a say in the way they are portrayed.

Educators need to be inspired to find the truth, and it needs to be easy, with a minimum of research. We know teachers work hard and that they have a curriculum to follow, and we want to help you do that, even while exploring another perspective and even while using materials that are outdated and even offensive to the American Indian communities. (Yes, it can be done well. Anti-stereotype curriculum now available on this web site, visit Lesson Plans and Curriculum.)

The links on our site will lead you to a multitude of resources that will not only provide you with teaching materials, but also state by state tribal contacts (NCAI.org), laws pertaining to American Indian Education funds, (Office of Indian Education), the best group to help dismantle racism in your school and to bring students closer (InterWest and of course our own speaker, Richie Plass, visit him at Indian 101), links to lesson plans for all ages (STAR's Lesson Plans and Curricula collection) and SO MUCH MORE! So go ahead, have a peek at the 21st Century perspective of the original people to this land.

If there is something you need and can't find it here, let us know and we will gladly find it for you.