How Schools Are Dealing With Racism:
What works?

No matter what the population of your school is, Native Americans deserve to be treated, in both subject matter and in person, as if they have relevance in your school.

Schools have a lot on their plates with NCLB requirements, and no group is quite as negatively effected by NCLB as Native American students. For more information on how Native students are truly left behind, visit the report, No Child Left Behind in Indian Country. The testimonials there show how impossible it is to provide everything the Native American child needs within the confines of the Act.

What do Native American children need to thrive in Public Education?

• Cultural recognition in curriculum
• Tribal language instruction
• Educators need cultural education and even immersion to:
  • Understand the learning styles of many Native people, especially those who live on or close to Indian reservations, which may be in direct correlation to their culture, for instance, experiential learning as opposed to learning by rote.
  • Recognizing the disastrous effects of the History of Indian Education and incorporating that knowledge into CHANGE!
• Indian Education Committees need more control of federal funding in order to use the funding that is supposed to benefit Indian children instead of the school using the money for their own purposes
• Tribal representation in the classroom and school including Native teachers and most particularly, guidance counselors who need to be Ambassadors for the Native student whose lifestyle may be nothing like what they learn in school.
• Understanding and RESPECT of Native culture by teachers of the dominant culture
  Elimination of stereotypes
• High expectations
• Patience when awaiting an answer, which may be being carefully considered before answering.

Above all, Native students need you to CARE. Studies have shown that Native children do well when the teacher treats them in a caring way. What student doesn't?

Even if there are no Native American students in your school, there must be a change in the way Native Americans are portrayed. Native Americans are the fastest growing minority group in the country. If your school does not prepare your students to deal with Native Americans as people, there is a chance that your students will go out into the world and become the recipient of a lawsuit of discrimination. We Have Seen It!

How can your school support a positive image of Native Americans?

• Students need to learn that Indians do not say whooo-wooo or dance in a crazy fashion. Native dancing is sacred and filled with meaning. (See Educational No-Nos) If you need suitable classroom materials, go to STAR's collection of Lesson Plans and Curricula and book list of selected materials.

• Students must learn not to call Native people with long hair Pocahontas. They must not adopt fake Indian names and teachers must not ask their students to do so as a project. (See Richie Plass's writings)

• Native students who wear their hair long or celebrate their culture in other visible ways must be protected by the school from children who taunt them. Long hair is sacred and traditional to some people and schools have lost law suits when trying to force Native students to fit within the dress code. Do you want your school to be served a law suit? It can happen. We have seen it!

• Teachers must include material about Native Americans TODAY, not just historically. Buy books from our Teachers Wish List for your libraries. Hang posters with sayings and Native images.

How is all of this CHANGE easily accomplished?

• Celebrate Native American Heritage Month in November. See Native American Heritage Month.

• Use materials that teach children how to recognize stereotypes in curriculum material. Using Little House on the Prairie? Did you know that it says "The only good Indian is a dead Indian," not once, but THREE TIMES? How is your Native student reacting when they read that? Read our report on the Newberry Award winning book, Sign of the Beaver, which contains approximately 36 pages of stereotypical and hateful comments, and is still highly used in classrooms today. What kind of license does this kind of material give your non-native students to commit acts of racism including taunting, and yes, much worse? Did you know that there are more acts of violence committed on American Indians then any other group of people? Click here.

• If you would like to see the kind of discrimination that occurs even today, please visit our Archives.

• Bring in Native speakers to talk about Manifest Destiny, at least one class or an ongoing series of history from a Native American perspective. Talk about your local history. Talk about the effects of the Native American Holocaust. What happened, why, what can be learned from it? Need Native speakers, contact us at CWAdvocacyCenter@aol.com and we will find one for you. Need help finding specific material? We are here to help.

• Discuss famous Native Americans, past and present. Discuss contributions, and how Native Americans were an important part of the development of the concept of Freedom.

Our website has every resource you need to plan a full month of activities for Native American Heritage Month. However, as one mother said to us, "Our children are Native American all year!" Be sure to include Native Lesson Plans in your math and science curriculum and to present the American Indian side of history throughout the year. You will find everything you need here on this site.

Are you having problems with racism in your schools and don't know how to deal with it?

Here are some suggestions:

• When the school takes a position that there is a No Tolerance policy of antagonism towards Native children, the children will respond positively.

• When the school teaches the true history, the children will learn compassion.

• When the schools bring in Native speakers, the children will learn that Native Americans are here today and have much to teach us. As the world goes "Green" many of the philosophies of traditional Native ways are becoming mainstream. Understanding this brings recognition of the on-going presence of Native Americans and breeds respect for their cultures.

• Respect for differences is paramount in this global society. Have your students take this quiz from Tolerance.org to determine the racial climate in your schools. You may be VERY surprised. Click here for the Quiz.

• If you are looking for a way to encourage your students to connect across racial divides, consider a group who specializes in just that kind of a program. You can find at least one on our Indian Education page.

Thank you for your concern and your advocacy!