Volume 16 Number 3
May 1977

Melvin Hirschi and Thomas Glass

This coming fall, five secondary programs are opening, and others are in various stages of development. This article will briefly look at some of the problems and considerations of initiating high school programs for Athabascan youths in isolated regions of Alaska.

The school attendance area in which the new secondary programs are being developed for this coming fall is known as Yukon Flats. This area contains nine Athabascan villages ranging from 40 to 650 inhabitants. The total population of the Yukon Flats area is about 1,335 people which does not indicate a large secondary school population. To complicate matters even more, no roads exist between the nine villages and only one, Circle City, is connected by road with the .outside" world. During the short summer months some communication is established by river barge on the Yukon and Porcupine Rivers. However, plane is the only way in and out of these remote villages for the foreseeable future. All supplies and personnel for the schools must be flown in, and communications between Fairbanks and Yukon Flats are extremely unreliable.

Historically, the typical Athabascan family in this area has survived by following the caribou, fishing for the migrant salmon, and hunting moose throughout the area. Just as for his cousins, the Navajo, in Arizona and New Mexico, life has almost always been at the subsistence level.

With the invasion of the whites in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the lives of the native Alaskan populations began to change dramatically because of technology. The gun, snowmobiles, permanent housing, to name just a few items, have changed traditional lifestyles. In regards to Yukon Flats, the Atbabascan population is just beginning to encounter the problems of coping with the modern-day, technical world. Comparatively speaking, the level of integration seems to be where the Navajo people were in the period preceding the Second World War. Fortunately, the Athabascan people in the Yukon Flats still have time to create an orderly process for integrating the outside world into their traditional culture.

From our experiences with the Athabascan people living in the nine villages, it is apparent the elders wish to see the preservation of their society and are concerned its structure and values be passed on to succeeding generations without radical change. These elders will tolerate a limited measure of change from generation to generation, but will not provide intentionally for the disruption of the status quo. Athabascan tribal society, as it is found in the upper Yukon, is committed to the ideals of strong personal integrity and cooperative living. The people expect schools to contribute to the preservation of the old customs even though many of the younger parents have been inwardly shedding considerable parts of their traditional culture.

It does not seem feasible that a single curricular format can assure that certain essential features of the existing culture will be effectively transmitted unless a different type of educational process is developed for these small secondary school programs. The typical high school program with a standard curriculum will not both meet the desires of the elders in preserving the culture, while at the same time prepare the young people for functioning in a technological world. Certainly, the normal high school curriculum can provide the children with a reasonable mastery of the subjects such as the sciences, math and the social studies necessary to understand and function in the modern, progressive, forward-moving, competitive society of the lower forty-eight states. However, the principal question is whether a high school curriculum can be developed for these small rural schools which will guarantee enduring loyalties to the Athabascan society as well as furnish training in the workings of the internal combustion engine. It will not be a small task to construct curricula for these schools which will accomplish these two very important educational and social goals.

The inhabitants of the villages presently look at the establishment of high school programs in their villages as an answer to many problems which have burdened their lives for many years. They look to education to provide teachers, legal advisors, skilled technical workers and to no small degree, to ensure the continuity of their cultural heritage. The establishment of secondary programs at the village level is looked upon as a real beginning point for a better life.

The development of the educational program which will hopefully be the means to a smooth transition into the future for the Athabascan peoples is under way. The search for the elusive realities of native identity in a rapidly changing world is a key aspect of this development. The contradictory problems of maintaining a past culture and adjusting to contemporary trends are being studied by educators in concert with the Athabascan peoples.

The thirst for education is strongly evident even though it is sometimes misunderstood and frequently misinterpreted.

Every effort is being made by the State Department of Education and local administrators to respond to the secondary educational needs of the Yukon Flats area--the needs that have been voiced by the Athabascan people for more and better education.

Commitments at every level of responsibility from local residents to state officials are being established. The feeling of all involved groups is that for a program to be developed which will meet all the needs necessitates that local residents will have to become closely involved in developing the curriculum as well as in participating in the instructional process.

If the desires of the Athabascan people for an educational program at the secondary level which will support cultural retention identity, teach a native language, history, art and hunting skills is going to be met, a total community effort will be necessary. The white teachers can teach about the educational and technological needs of a modern-day existence, but they are unprepared to teach the Athabascan language. The Athabascan people themselves must be meaningfully involved in order to truly affect the educational outcomes of their children.

One possible organizational model, part of which might be employed in the Yukon Flats, is that of the Rough Rock Demonstration Project in Arizona where the school and its program were largely developed and operated by the Navajo residents of the community.

Community control of schools has been a strong movement in most areas of the United States during the past few years. This has been especially true in school districts containing large numbers of minority children. If the Athabascan people of Yukon Flats desire an education for their children at the secondary level which will reflect their cultural as well as technological needs, it seems as if they must assume an active and controlling role.

At this time, it is not clear as to what exact role the Athabascan community will play in the development and operation of the new secondary schools; however, as the schools become a reality, educators and community will begin to establish a working relationship. Hopefully, this relationship will contain positive components which will include active participation by the community in teaching and curriculum development.

Alyeska Reports, Alyeska Magazine, January 1976.

Arnold, Robert D. and others. Alaska Native Land Claims. Anchorage: Alaska Native Foundation, 1976.

Cline, Michael S. "The Ideal and Real Worlds of Implementing an Alaskan Bush High School," unpublished article, March 1976.

"Gwich’in, Athabascan Language Primer." Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska, December 1975.

"Higher and Adult Educational Needs in Alaska." Anchorage: Alaska Native Foundation, 1974.

"It Works For Us." University of Alaska, Fairbanks, June, 1975.

Kleinfeld, Judith, A Long Way From Home. Fairbanks: Center for Northern Educational Research, University of Alaska, June 1975.

Luther, Richard and Ernest Polley. "Two Alternatives for School Accreditation," draft copy, University of Alaska. January 1976.

Murphy, D. M. "A Holistic, and Sequential Approach to Rural Secondary Education." University of Alaska, Fairbanks, 1975.

Schwartz, Audrey James. The Schools and Socialization. New York: Harper and Row, 1975.

"Teacher Certification, Employment and Tenure, Salaries, Sabbatical Leave, Professional Teaching Practices Act, Negotiations and State Agreement on Qualifications of Educational Personnel." State of Alaska School Law, 1976.

The Tanana Chiefs’ Conference, Incorporated Council Magazine, Volume I, No. 1, March 1976.