Native American students currently enrolled in K-12 schools across the United States face a variety of challenges unique to their ethnicity and often silenced by a majority culture which fails to recognize key, intrinsic factors critical for the students' success in academic settings. Evidences of said challenges include disciplinary statistics, attendance and assessment data, and graduation rates. In order to realize quantifiable gains in measurable objectives, it is critical that educational institutions recognize the value and necessity to respect and maintain the students' language and culture in order to preserve the tribal sovereignty while expanding the students' 21st century knowledge base. This research provides historical context as well as present day case study evidence to personalize the sentiments of Native American parents within a tribal community in the southeastern United States. Their detail and impressions and historical context provide the reader with a powerful glimpse into the world of institutionalized education from a rarely captured paradigm.