When American Indian/Native American studies (AI/NAS) programs began to emerge in the halls of academia during the late 1960s and early 1970s, some who served as faculty and staff questioned whether they would be one-generation phenomena. Would the programs survive, would they continue to draw students, and could they make an impact on…

This article describes the Asian American Studies Program at the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Boston which complements students' career tracks and engages them in the surrounding Asian American community. For many educators, large numbers of graduates are not only a bragging right, but a goal. However, those involved in the Asian American…

The espoused foundation of U.S. society, "E pluribus unum" (out of many, one), is based on the belief that this nation should simultaneously support pluralism and promote unity. The road to making this ideal a reality, however, has not always been smooth. The ever-widening achievement gap highlights how this discordance plays out in our…

In this article, the author talks about native Americans, the national parks and the concept of historical inevitability. The notion of historical inevitability, always a victor's argument, is as old as the stories of the ancient conquerors. It has permeated the history of Indian America, as told by white historians, and people are still today…

June Jordan, a prolific and most-published African American essayist and poet and a professor in the African American Studies department at the University of California, Berkeley, ventured to challenge the institutionalized Ivory Tower traditions and subsequently established a university program called Poetry for the People (P4P) in 1991. Such…

Discusses research, educational, and conservation activities of the Center for American Archeology, focusing on the Native American Studies program at the center's Crow Canyon (Colorado) site. (JN)

Describes an environmental education program which focuses on nature in Indian myths. Instructional strategies used in the program include storytelling, free association, play-acting involving members of the audience, dancing, and sharing of artifacts during a question and answer period about Vermont Indians. (JN)

A national survey found that most Indian-related coursework offered at U.S. colleges and universities was scattered throughout departments, although at least 30 institutions offered majors or minors in American Indian Studies. Included are profiles of seven American Indian Studies programs. (SV)

Although founded in 1769 with a mission of educating Indian youth, Dartmouth College graduated only 19 American Indians by 1970. The Native American Studies program began in 1972 as part of a renewed commitment to recruit and support Indian students. Courses, faculty, visiting scholars, funding, internships, library holdings, and symposia are…

Presents readers' responses to a series of articles in the September 1992 issue of "Young Children" pertaining to teaching children about Native Americans. Responses underscore points made in the articles or introduce additional considerations concerning issues that were not discussed. (BB)

A project to help teachers use technology to enhance learning is tied to the Lewis and Clark Expedition bicentennial, to bring a sense of adventure to learning. A 3-day outdoor workshop emphasizing the Nez Perce role in the expedition and a mapping project tracing changes in Lewiston (Idaho) had 8th-graders using global positioning systems,…

Federally funded, Haskell Indian Nations University serves American Indian and Alaska Native students from federally recognized tribes and villages. Haskell's American Indian Studies baccalaureate program is an interdisciplinary, culturally relevant program that provides students with practical skills needed by tribes. The need for American Indian…

A University of Georgia program developed by several departments and programs offers a fieldwork program in archaeology and American Indian history and culture to elementary and secondary school teachers. Teachers developed their own instructional materials for home classroom use. Workshops incorporated principles of adult and experiential…

A Portland (Oregon) middle school teacher teaches an ethnobotany class using plants identified in Lewis and Clark's journals. After months of learning about native plants, Native American culture, and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the class culminates in a 3-day canoe trip down the Columbia River. A Lewis and Clark Rediscovery grant provides…

A 7-week summer program for college-bound American Indian students prepares them for college and trains them to become leaders. Through role playing a fictitious Native tribe, students encounter realistic dilemmas similar to those facing tribal governments and realize that tribal leaders' decisions involve many social and political issues…