Goals

To understand true complexity and diversity of Natives as people

To get a sense of how Native students are doing in school today

To understand where Native people reside

To understand that you can make the difference

Phases of American Indian History

Pre-history, Pre-contact (<1491) Early Colonization (1500-1700) Treaties, Conflicts & Indian Wars (1700-

1815; 1850-1880) Removal Trends and Reservation (1815-

1900) Coercive Assimilation (1900-1960s) Termination Period (1950-1970s) Self Determination (1960 – present)

American Indian Population <1491: ~6,000,000 people in what is now the United

States by current anthropological debate.

1900: 237,000 American Indians survive colonization, disease, warfare, and genocide. (95% population decrease, varies by tribe)

2000: 2.4 million (1%) reported American Indian and/or Alaskan Native in census, a subset included in the 4.3m (1.5%) reporting as AI.AN and one other race.

1970-1990, US census increase of 1.2m Indian people, with growth due to more self-identification by individuals with their Native American Heritage.

American Indians & Alaska Natives today

562 Federally-recognized American Indian & Alaska Native Nations, including 12 WI Indian Nations.

~200 State-recognized Indigenous Nations.

Of the over 300 languages spoken pre-contact, ~175 languages survive today, although the majority are spoken only by middle-aged or grandparent generations, an outcome of assimilation policies.

98% English monolingual speakers in WI

Wisconsin

- 13 American Indian nations / bands within the state

- 12 are federally recognized- 1 is currently seeking

recognition- The most nations in one state east

of the Mississippi.

Tribes

Wisconsin

1/3 of the population is on-reservation, 1/3 in nearby towns, and 1/3 in urban areas.

Milwaukee is the largest Native community in the state (9,116).

Outcomes of Indian Removal & Relocation, map by U.S. Census Bureau, 2000

Tribes Represented in MMSDApache, Blackfeet, Brothertown, Calista, Chilkoot, Cherokee, Chilkoot, Choctaw, Colville, Comanche, Dakota (Spirit Lake) Delaware, Haudenosaunee,

Ho-chunk, Lumbee, Menominee, Muskogee, Navajo, Ojibwe (Bad River, Grand Portage, Grand Traverse, Lac Courte Oreilles, Lac du Flambeau, Little Shell, Red Lake, St. Croix, Turtle Mountain,

White Earth), Oneida, Onondaga, Pawnee, Ponca, Potawatomi (Forest County, Prairie Band)

Shoshone, Sioux (Crow Creek, Fort Peck, Lakota, Rosebud, Standing Rock, Yankton ) Tlingit, Three

Affiliated Tribes, Tununak/Calista, Ute, Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, Wyandotte, Yupik and many

more!

Typical Native student

There isn’t one!!!

**There is so much diversity not only within the tribes but also with level the of connection to the tribe, blood quantum, amount of assimilation, family, SES, and many, many other variables.

Racial and Ethnic Identity Theories Pertaining to Native American Students

Traditional—these individuals generally speak and think in their native language and know little English. They observe “old-time” traditions and values.

Transitional—These individuals generally speak both English and the native language in the home. They question basic traditionalism and religion yet cannot fully accept dominant cultures and values.

Marginal—These people may be defensively Indian but are unable, because of their ethnicity, to live the cultural heritage of their tribal group or to identify with the dominant problems.

Assimilated—Within this group are people who, for the most part, have been accepted by the dominant society. They generally embraced the dominant cultures and values.

Bicultural—Within this group are those who are, for the most part, accepted by the dominant society. Yet they also know and accept their tribal traditions and culture. They can thus move in either direction, from traditional society to the dominant society, with ease.

A quick history…

Over the past 500 years, the government has used various tactics in an attempt to either annihilate and/or assimilate Native peoples including warfare, genocidal warfare, reservations, Treaties, forced removals from lands (Trails of Tears) and homes through adoptions, relocation acts and Indian boarding schools.

Today

Although the government and people of the United States express outrage at oppression and abuse of indigenous people in other countries, Native Americans continue to be a dispossessed and disenfranchised minority in their own land.

Native students in MMSD

Account for approximately 1% of the student population.

Approximately 45% are eligible for free or reduced lunch-about the same for the district as a whole.

Approximately 18% are special education-slightly higher than the district as a whole which is 16%.

What can we do? Even with the best teacher preparation,

very little is known about the ways Native American children learn. Non-natives don’t recognize the chasm that

exists between the needs of Native students and mainstream accepted curricula and methods.

Little is known about the history, culture, and communities of the students’ tribes-and what is known has been derived from mainstream education.

Strategies

Native students tend to be holistic or whole-to-part learners. They learn best when presented with the whole concept before focusing on segments and details.

Native children learn best when hands-on, experiential teaching and learning approaches are used

Strategies

Native children achieve and retain at higher levels and developed more positive attitudes when they learn through collaborative processes.

Learning is also enhanced when dialogue, open-ended questioning, and inductive reasoning are common classroom practices.

Knowing what not to teach

Goals

To understand true complexity and diversity of Natives as people

To get a sense of how Native students are doing in school today

To understand where Native people reside

To understand that you can make the difference

Resources

www.niea.org www.wiea.org www.oyate.org http://

americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/

http://encarta.msn.com/sidebar_701509578/perceptions_of_native_americans.html

Local Resources

American Indian Curriculum Services http://aics.education.wisc.edu

Cooperative Childrens Book Center http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/books/native.asp

Wisconsin Department of Public Instructionhttp://www.dpi.wi.gov/amind/

References and resources

http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/sig/index.html

http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg98.html

http://www.nwresd.k12.or.us/instrserv/indianed/index.html

What We Don’t Know Can Hurt Them: White Teachers, Indian Children -by Bobby Ann Starnes