Volume 15 Number 2
January 1976

Susanna Hayes and Kenneth A. Ames

As was true of the educational practices in many European countries that established colonies within nations of culturally different populations, the federal government of the United States relied upon the zeal of religious organizations to begin the work of educating the aboriginal people away from their own culture. This process of education is frequently referred to as "systematized deculturalization" in the literature of federal policy reports. When federal boarding schools and day schools were established under the authority of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Native American students learned that being Indian and being educated were two incompatible phenomena. If they wanted to be educated they could not be Indian.

It was under the term of John Collier as Commissioner of Indian Affairs that the rationality, morality, and effectiveness of the federal government of the Indian policy was brought to task. Laws which prohibited Native Americans from partaking in their social and cultural traditions were revoked. Tribal leaders and representatives were delegated some of the authority over their communities which had been governed by the federal employees and military "guardians" of the peace. Commissioner Collier could be considered the initiator of the policy of self-determination which is currently endorsed by the federal government in education as well as in politics. Officially, the era of systematized deculturalization has ended. Communities of Native Americans have recognized that their cultures, histories, and traditions are a vital part of their individual and collective identity. Rather than submitting to deculturalization in the schools, Native American students are asking the schools to include aspects of their cultures in the on-going curricula. In a few instances some communities of Native Americans have organized their own learning centers and are meeting the challenge of providing their children with an Indian education.

As the movement continues for Native Americans to assume a role of increasing responsibility for their own education, it seems appropriate, if not vital, for present educational institutions or agencies to focus their attention towards the preparation of professional personnel to support Native American efforts to participate more actively in education. Following is an account of a collaborative program which provided in-service training for teachers of Native Americans and members of Native American communities.

The project, funded through Title IV, Indian Education Act, was jointly planned and conducted by personnel from Advocates for Indian Education: Northwest Tribes, and Gonzaga University, both located in Spokane, Washington. Plans were set for a social studies workshop to be held July, 1974. Goals for the workshop were developed by persons from both agencies as well as by Native American members of the Advisory Board to Advocates. Input for planning the structure and content of the workshop was also obtained from Robert Havighurst, Kenneth Ames, and Susanna Hayes.

The purpose of the workshop was to provide a structured learning experience in which teachers and Native American community members could work together to develop curriculum units and materials about American Indians for use in the schools from which they came. The teachers and community members also developed new teaching strategies that could be used to enhance the instructional impact and effectiveness of the curriculum units. Through the workshop the teachers were expected to develop an increased understanding and sensitivity to the needs of Native American youth; this understanding and sensitivity was to be incorporated into the social studies programs which teachers and resource persons constructed.

The instructional staff for the workshop were selected and involved in planning and project Workshop participants were selected primarily from Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and included 15 members of Native American communities and 25 teachers. The Native American participants represented the following tribes: Nez Perce, Squaxin, Skokomish, Klamath, Pitt River, Colville, Sioux, Blackfeet, Yakima, Clallam, and Suquamish. All of the Native Americans who participated in the workshop had some experience working in the schools in their local communities. The community members who served as resource persons represented both the older and younger populations. Some had earned college credits and several had participated in various civic and professional organizations.

The 25 teachers selected for training in the workshop also came from a number of western and northwestern states. Tribes represented by students taught by the group of teachers included Paiute, Clallam, Suquamish, Coeur d’Alene, Yurok, Quinalt, Chippewa, Cree, Klamath, Shoshone-Bannock, Warm Springs, Navajo, Sioux, Yakima, Swinomish, Modoc, Quillayute, and Cheyenne-Crow. The teachers ranged in years of age from 23 to 54. Fifteen teachers had fewer than five years’ teaching experience. All teachers participating had college degrees with majors and minors in the humanities or social sciences. Twenty-three teachers were non-Indian; two were Indian. Their collective experience included many professional and community activities. Prior to the workshop a number of items of information were sought from both teachers as well as from Native American resource people. Questionnaire surveys sought to identify participant pre-workshop perceptions and attitudes regarding such matters as are represented in the following questions:

Responses to these questions were examined by workshop personnel, and in the evaluation of these data, consideration was given to such matters as age and experience and whether or not responses were made by teachers or Indian resource people. Considerable additional data were collected including biographical information, identification by workshop participants of educational needs of Native American students, and descriptions of social studies curriculum units and materials being used (prior to the workshop). A general evaluation of pre-workshop information suggested that workshop goals were consistent and valid objectives as seen by the participants.

Examples of most frequently mentioned participant expectations were:

At the outset of the workshop, instructors met with participants to evaluate and clarify individual and group goals. Special library and other resource materials were arranged in the conference rooms of the University dormitory where most participants lived for the duration of the workshop and where a majority of the instruction, discussion and individual learning activities occurred.

Following are illustrations excerpted from the workshop daily schedule:

July 3 - Morning: Speaker: Linton Winishut, Warm Springs Resource Person, "Capture of Captain Jack: Modoc War"; Film: "The Loon’s Necklace"; Fenton’s Approach - Indian Minorities; "The Indians’ America"; Discussion.

July 3 - Afternoon: Preparation of Units; Films: "Treaties Made, Treaties Broken"; "Red Man and the Red Cedar Pd."; "Chief Spokane Garry."

July 5 - Morning: Speaker: Virgil Vogel, Mayfair College Noted Historian and Author; "Indian Medicine, Plants and Herbs"; Filmstrip/record: "Minorities Have Made America Great" (Warren Schloat); Discussion and questions and answers: Virgil Vogel.

July 5 - Afternoon: Preparation of Units; Film: "How the West Was Won and Honor Lost."

July 22 - Morning: Presentation of Tribal Units; Yvonne Peterson, Teacher/Resource, Skokomish - "Skokomish Tribal Government"; Lorene Lee, Teacher/Resource, Navajo, "Navajo Clothing"; "Other Indian Tribes"; Fritz Roos, Teacher, Sioux; Dale DeCoteau, Resource Person, Sioux, "Indian Celebrations"; Slide Presentation; Greg Dickinson, Teacher, Quillayute; "Pawnee Hero Stories/Folk Tales"; Dave Nilsen, Teacher, Quinault, "Quinault Tribal Government"; Rosella Moseley and Linton Winishut, Resource Persons, and Sandra Tierney, Teacher, Warm Springs.

July 22 - Afternoon: Sound Filmstrip: "Legal and Illegal The Dispossession of the Indians."

During the last half of the workshop, considerable time was allotted for the presentation, sharing and discussion of each participant’s newly constructed curriculum unit and materials. This procedure provided an immediate source of clarification and information for all participants, and tended to strengthen the commitment of each person to implement the new social studies unit in their school and community setting. Copies of all specific units and materials, as well as of bibliographies and audiovisual listings, were made for each participant. Plans were set for follow-up evaluations during the ensuing school year.

The workshop participants generally indicated their having found the workshop experience valuable in their efforts to expand and enrich their school’s curriculum. The teachers were particularly appreciative of the sharing of information which occurred through discussions in workshop sessions, formally and informally, with instructors and Native American community resource persons.

Thus, the program presently described, collaboratively planned and implemented, appeared to be a viable means for promoting development within the profession and within the Native American community towards the goal of improving social studies education with particular reference to Native American history and culture.