In this interpretive analysis elucidating fundamental tensions of the implementation of the 2001 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act within Native-serving schools, we point to ways in which NCLB further limits the already contested sovereignty tribes exercise over how, and in what language their children are instructed. We discuss issues related to…

Standardized testing, mandated by NCLB, can act as a barrier to prevent Indigenous students from entering teacher training programs and achieving "highly-qualified" certification upon exiting. Such regulations work against the nation-to-nation trust agreements that would place Indigenous teachers within Native school systems. Although…

Traces tribal colleges' struggle for funding in the 1970s and 1980s. Discusses the passing of P.L. 95-471, continuing opposition by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Reagan administration's assertion that education is not a federal government trust responsibility. Describes financial support provided by private foundations. (SV)

Educational exchange between American Indians and outsiders is examined in three periods. From first contact to the mid-1800s, knowledge was exchanged relatively equally. From the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s, acculturation was imposed upon American Indians. The political liberalism of the 1960s spawned renewed interest in Indian culture and rights,…

Native students must be taught to deconstruct their history of assimilation in order to understand their current struggles and to strengthen their cultural identity. As an example of this, the paper considers how community education was justified, carried out and implicated in Inupiat assimilation practices during the first 20 years that the U.S.…

The development of an alternate model of colonization--one that allowed greater autonomy and self-determination for the Native American people--may explain the greater degree of success on the part of the Catholics in the field of Indian education than that of the Federal government. (Author)

Assistant Secretary Gover apologizes for the Bureau of Indian Affairs' (BIA) actions in the ethnic cleansing of American Indian tribes and the destruction of Indian cultures. He asserts the agency's moral responsibility of putting things right and proposes that a healing process begin and that the BIA work to reinvent itself as an instrument of…

Based on interviews conducted on the Mohawk Reservation at Akwesasne in 1980, this article focuses on some of the spiritual values which have deep roots in Mohawk culture. (CM)

Native American education received little attention until after the Civil War. Landmarks in Indian education since then include the Carlisle Indian School, the Meriam Report, the Johnson O'Malley Act, the Navajo Community College Act, and the Indian Education Act. This Congressional legislation survey mirrors the changing motives for Indian…

Arizona, 71 Hopi pupils left their families and homes to attend Sherman Institute, an off-reservation Indian boarding school in Riverside, California. Accompanied by their Kikmongwi (Village Chief), Tawaquaptewa and other Hopi leaders, the Hopis embarked on an adventure that forever changed their lives. For the majority of Hopi students, the…

Analyzes news, articles, and editorials published in the "Cheyenne Transporter," 1880-86, about mission boarding schools on the Cheyenne-Arapaho reservation in Indian Territory (Oklahoma). Discusses conflict between the two tribes, enrollment, assimilationist policies, discipline, Indian resistance, and innovative teaching methods. (SV)

Anticipated budget cuts will challenge Indian educators to maintain and improve educational quality with less funding. Academic standards, staffing, inservice and preservice training and the possible consolidation or elimination of supplemental programs are items of concern. (CM)

Reviews the recent growth of Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) schools and enrollments, the increased tribal control over BIA education, the success of BIA school reform efforts and of tribal colleges, and major facilities problems due to inadequate funding. Suggests that enthusiasm for school improvement is endangered by a political environment that…

Interviews with and surveys of administrators, teachers, and school board members at 12 American Indian schools in Arizona examined their opinions about the extent of tribal self-determination and local control in the design and implementation of educational policies. Respondents from tribal contract and grant schools reported greater local…

Reviews the history of American Indian education since 1889, focusing on the development of educational leaders and administrators. Discusses changes in federal educational policies concerning administrator training for American Indians. Contains 11 references. (SV)