Consideration of the subtleties in a group of Navajo children's science learning activities provides us with some useful ways of viewing those activities. It also more clearly establishes the elements to consider in valuing or not valuing the use of these kinds of activities that I am calling "games" and other possible kinds of student inquiry…

Since 1975 the Indian Self-Determination and Educational Assistance Act has enabled American Indian communities to enact self-determination through community-based schooling. In this study conducted by a Navajo researcher, the Ramah Navajo community defined self-determination and how it was operationalized within the community and school. The…

Data from a longitudinal survey of families from three reservations (Navajo Nation, San Carlos, and Salt River) in Arizona were used to examine their probability of welfare use. Logistic regression models were used to estimate the effects of individual, family, and structural factors on welfare exit. Results indicate that their probability of…

Historically, among American Indians, the respect for the power of language has been expressed through the oral tradition: stories, myths, folklore, poetry, and song. As life experience has changed for American Indians, they continue to value these stories, recording tribal oral tradition as well as personal biography and life history. The status…

Eleven rehabilitation/independent living counselors in 5 states and the Navajo Nation completed consumer data summary questionnaires on 121 American Indian clients receiving independent living services. The clients lived in Arizona, California, New Mexico, South Dakota, Texas, Colorado, and Utah; 48 were served by the Navajo Nation vocational…

There was no need for feminism in the Navajo matrilineal culture. The author remembers growing up on the Navajo reservation, where her female relatives were valued, honored, and respected, and where women passed on to their daughters not only their strength, but also the expectation to assume responsibility for the family and therefore act as…

Navajo women have been at the core of economic and social control in their traditionally matrilineal society. Interviews with Navajo women in southeastern Utah suggest that the increasing educational attainment and career aspirations of young Navajo women are creating internal pressures for cultural change and modernization. (SV)

Extended interviews with 50 Navajo men, aged 21 to 45, provided information on peer relationships and gang formation among male Navajo youth in the 1960s through the 1980s. Results suggest that gangs are an extreme example of traditional hell-raising among young Navajo men and that most gang members "age out" of their gangs. Suggestions for gang…

Validated the Motivation Orientation scales of the Inventory of School Motivation (ISM) (M. Maher, 1984) across Navajo (n=760) and Anglo (n=1,012) students. Findings show that even though the ISM motivation orientation scales are applicable to students of different cultural backgrounds, meaningful cross-cultural comparisons should use the 30 items…

Since 1995, the National Youth Gang Center (NYGC) has surveyed law enforcement agencies across the nation about youth gang activity. Because tribal police departments were not included in earlier surveys, however, youth gang activities in Indian country have been largely absent from survey findings. This Bulletin describes the nature and makeup…

As the Navajo nation undergoes rapid assimilation and modernization, counseling needs of the Navajo children have changed in ways similar to counseling needs in developing or "Eastern Block" nations. An adolescent sub-culture, full of at-risk behaviors, is epidemic worldwide. The paper states that a multicultural perspective can provide…

Describes Navajo philosophy and implications for teaching and learning. Explains four branches of knowing that provide a framework for conceptualizing teaching content, as well as interrelationships within the framework providing opportunities for critical analysis and reflection. Advocates inquiry-oriented, experience-based instruction that…

Examined parents' participation in early caregiving tasks and social support for involvement with infants in two-parent Navajo Indian families. Found that fathers invested about 60% as much time as mothers in direct caregiving. Parents did not differ on reports of social supports for childcare. Parents received more extrafamilial and/or…

A project developed Navajo norms for the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Third Edition (WISC-III). Urban Navajo students and those who were proficient in English had higher WISC-III verbal scores than rural Navajo students and those who were functional in English. English-language proficiency did not affect scores on nonverbal…

Presents an interview with Luci Tapahonso, professor of English and writer of poetry, short stories, and children's books that depict modern Navajo life. Describes the strong sense of language in her family, her strong sense of herself as being part of a group, the importance of story telling, and how her two children's books came about. (SR)