Harriett K. Light and Ruth E. Martin

CHILDREN reflect their families' strengths, weaknesses, attitudes and values. In order for teachers to meet their students' needs, they must understand and appreciate the values and relationships within the student's family. Over the past 15 years, we have worked closely with Indian agencies and organizations as consultants in North Dakota. During these contacts, it was noted that many Indian women and men were optimistic and hopeful in spite of incredibly difficult living conditions. In order to identify the sources of strength that sustained these Indian people, an empirical investigation was conducted. The purpose of the study was to explore family strengths of American Indian women living in North and South Dakota.

It has been noted that the structure of the American Indian family network is radically different from other extended family units in Western society. The traditional European family network on which most traditional American families are patterned is limited to three generations within a single household. American Indian family networks, however, are more structurally open. The extended family of American Indians includes several households representing significant relatives along both vertical and horizontal lines, thus assuming village-type characteristics (Red Horse, Lewis, Feit & Decker, 1978).

Many white people have not understood and valued the strengths inherent in the American Indian family system. Misunderstandings may have resulted because Indians have been accused of alcoholism, crime, delinquency, and educational deficits (Wrolstad, 1976). Actually, it is encouraging to note that over three-fourths of Indian households have the husband, wife, and children in the home (American Indian Policy Review Commission, 1976; Red Horse, 1981).

Indian families have strengths--respect, generosity, harmony within the context of spirituality--which are often ignored when research studies are designed. This study explored social support, esteem, and communication patterns in a sample of American Indian women from the Upper Midwest.

The central unit of Indian society is the family. The family unit is affected by both tribal culture and tribal structure (Red Horse, 1981). Indian families do not have the rigid structure of relationships found in Western white culture. Instead, Indians relate to people outside the immediate family in supportive and caring ways (Levine & Laurie, 1974).

An example of family involvement outside the immediate parents is found in Sioux families. This involvement begins early in life when a second set of parents are selected for newborn babies (Sandoz, 1961). Therefore, the "total" family involved in child rearing and support includes unrelated members of the Indian community (Ryan, 1981). This community support and protection can be viewed as responsibility for others' actions. Thus, individual behavior is being monitored by the sense of responsibility for other Indian family members (Manson, 1979).

As stated earlier, Indian families have been criticized often, and negative findings regarding their lifestyle appear frequently in the literature. In contrast, investigators seldom include positive aspects of Indian family life in their studies. One exception is a study by Lewis (1981) which identified three strengths of American Indian families: (a) the helping systems that operate within the family, (b) the courage and optimism obtained from spiritual life religion, and (c) the respect for each other and personal relationships which forms the basis for later learning. Lewis concluded that these strengths can help Indian families face poverty and inadequate living conditions.

White teachers have much to learn from American Indians about parent and child interactions (Boseker & Gordon, 1983). When American Indians are forced into the white cultural and social environment, Indians have problems in developing to their fullest potential. To overcome these disadvantages, American Indians seem to rely on family strengths for a source of courage and confidence. The purpose of this study was to identify some of these strengths.

The participants in this study were 32 American Indian women who attended an in-service Head Start program in Bismarck, North Dakota. They responded to the Family Inventory of Resources for Management (FIRM) developed by McCubbin and Patterson (1981). Demographic data were also collected. The mean age of these Indian women was 35 years, and they had an average of four children. The marital status of the participants was delineated as follows: 22 were currently married, 2 were divorced, I was separated, 2 were widows, and 5 were single.

Total scores for the Extended Family Social Support subscale and the Esteem and Communication subscale are reported, followed by an analysis of the response made by Indian women with regard to each individual item. These responses are expressed in percentages. The percentages do not always equal 100% for each item because not all of the possible choices of responses were reported for all items.

By examining individual items on the Extended Family Social Support subscale, several strengths were identified by the responses in the category "most of the time." Over half (56%) of the Indian women said they looked at the good and bad of each problem solution "most of the time." Over half (55%) also reported that their relatives do and say things to make them feel appreciated "most of the time." Three-fourths of the respondents agreed that they tried to keep in touch with their relatives as much as possible "most of the time." Only 12% reported that their relatives seemed to take from them but give little in return "most of the time."

The average Family Strengths Esteem and Communication score for these American Indian women was 52.6. Since the average norm score established for the general population was 35, the families of American Indian women appear to have significantly more resources and strengths than the average families in the general population.

Over half (56%) said they looked at the good and bad of each problem situation "most of the time" when facing a problem. Almost three-fifths (59%) of the respondents said it was acceptable for family members to express sadness by crying. Other "most of the time" responses included: members of the family respect one another (63%); sometimes decisions are discussed with other family members to show positive feelings about each other (77%); the family tries to look at the bright side of things no matter what happens to them (68%); and working members of the family seem to be respected by their co-workers (84%).

Although the sample for this study came from the upper Midwest, was relatively small, and was not randomly selected, the results are striking and indicate that Indian families have some family strengths that far exceed strengths of families in the general American population.

From our results, it appears that helping systems that function within families and personal relationships are based on mutual respect. The overwhelming majority of Indian women reported that their family members respected each other, and that they in turn received great satisfaction from helping family members. These positive relationships appear to serve as a foundation of strength for Indian people.

In our review of the literature, we found little mention of the optimism and courage of Indian women. Nevertheless, the majority of American Women in this study reported that they looked at the bright side of things no matter what happened to them; they were "certain they could make plans work."

Perhaps this optimistic outlook is one strength that has fostered the survival of American Indian families in the face of incredibly devastating attitudes of many persons in the white culture. It seems logical to assume that positive feedback about their family strengths would provide motivation and encouragement to American Indian families, and especially due to Indian families, due to the fact that one's self-concept and self-esteem are largely built upon the amount of positive feedback received from significant others such as family members (Coopersmith, 1967).

Although the findings of this study are noteworthy, an expanded research project that would study a broader array of strengths in a larger sample of American Indians throughout the United States could provide additional support for programs which focus on the strengths rather than weaknesses of Indian families.

Indeed, such a project might uncover a wealth of positive strengths operating in the American family structure. By implementing programs which build on these strengths, American Indian people could also become more aware of the positive components of their family system.

American Indian Policy Review Commission in Red Horse. (1981).

Boseker, B. J., & Gordon, S. L. (1983). What Native Americans have taught us as teacher educators. Journal of American Indian Education, 22 (3), 20-24.

Coopersmith, S. (1967). The antecedents of self esteem. San Francisco: Freeman.

Levine, S., & Laurie, N.O. (Eds). (1974). The American Indian today. Baltimore, Maryland: Penguin Books.

Lewis, R. (1981). Patterns of strengths of American Indian families. In F. Hoffman (Ed.), The American Family: Strengths and Stresses. Isleta, NM: American Indian Social Research and Development Associates.

Manson, S. P. (1979). Indian family and kinship systems: With special reference to the Northwest Coast. White Cloud Center: Unpublished paper.

McCubbin, H., & Patterson, 1. (1981). Family Stress, Resources and Coping. St. Paul, MN: University of Minnesota, Department of Social Science.

Red Horse, J. (1981). American Indian families: Research perspectives. In F. Hoffman (Ed.), The American Indian Family: Strengths and Stresses. Isleta, NM: American Indian Social Research and Development Associates.

Red Horse, J. G., Lewis, R. G., Feit, M., & Decker, J. (1978). Family behavior of urban American Indians. Social Casework, 67-72.

Ryan, R. A. (1981). Strengths of the American Indian Family: State of the art. In F. Hoffman (Ed.), The American Indian Family: Strengths and Stresses. Isleta, NM: American Indian Social Research and Development Associates.

Sandoz, M. (1961). These were the Sioux. New York: Dell.

Wrolstad, D. E. (1976). A review of Indian self-concept. Master of Science, North Dakota State University.