Post by blackcrowheart on Feb 19, 2006 21:39:45 GMT -5
Stories by Sherry Posnick-Goodwin
www.cta.org/CaliforniaEducator/v10i4/Feature_1.htm
There was so much discrimination against Indians when Palmdale teacher
Marty Meeden was a child, he hid his Paiute and Washo roots and told
people at school that he was Mexican. "It was easier to blend in."
Del Norte social studies teacher Don Steinruck, a member of the Shawnee
tribe, recalls feeling "alienated and segregated from everyone else"
when he was in school in the 1960s and '70s. He was never taught Indian
history or heard the Native American viewpoint expressed in any of his
classes. "I didn't like that feeling at all."
Eureka third-grade teacher Pam Malloy was almost removed from her
college-preparatory English class when administrators realized that she,
a member of the Yurok tribe, had been placed there by mistake.
Thankfully, an enlightened teacher went to bat for her. Still, when she
asked her counselor for college information, she was instead given an
employment application for a local grocery store and told she wasn't
college material.
"Things have definitely improved" since then, says Malloy, who went on
to graduate from Humboldt State University's pilot program for Native
Americans and now serves as president of the Humboldt Bay Teachers
Association. "We're taking small steps."
For Meeden, things were already beginning to change by the time he got
to high school. "It was easier to be yourself and be proud of who you
were." He's now a member of the Palmdale Elementary Teachers Association
and chair of the American Indian/Alaska Native Caucus of CTA.
Steinruck, a member of the Del Norte Teachers Association (DNTA) and
secretary-treasurer of the CTA caucus, makes sure that the Native
American viewpoint is part of the curriculum at Smith River School. "I
let students hear interpretive speeches by tribal elders and leaders. I
talk about how reservations got established and affected people." In
history classes, he shares the little-known fact that Ben Franklin got
the idea for the U.S. Constitution from the Iroquois Confederacy, which
unified tribes and gave them equal representation.
"The education field has become more aware of diversity, but Indians are
still pretty edgy in a big way about the educational system," says DNTA
member Loren Bommelyn, who operates a charter school for Native American
students. "The system has not treated us well. And the wound is still
there, which may be why Native American students are not achieving
across the board."
Studies show that Native American students have lower academic
achievement, attend school less often and have a higher dropout rate
than other students. Some educators estimate the dropout rate is as high
as 40 to 50 percent in California. Less than 1 percent of American
Indians are college-educated.
Native Americans had reason to feel resentment. Historical records show
that 300,000 Indians lived in California before the Spaniards arrived.
They were forced into slave labor, and their conquerors spread disease
that decimated their population. Thousands were killed deliberately for
their land. When California's Gold Rush era began in the 1850s, the
state's Indian population had dwindled to 20,000. And just a few
generations ago, Native American children were taken from their families
and enrolled in boarding schools where they were assimilated into white
culture, whether they wanted to be or not. Some have likened the
practice to "cultural genocide."
Native American educators say diversity training is necessary for
teachers, and it should include discussion of tribal sovereignty and
residual anger over the attempt to rob them of their land and their
heritage.
"More knowledge is needed," says Malloy. "I just went through CLAD
[Crosscultural, Language and Academic Development] training about how to
teach multicultural children, and very little about Native Americans was
even mentioned. Less than 20 minutes was spent on talking about the
needs of native children, and this was in Humboldt County. To me, it's
very important that they be included."
The 2000 census indicates that California has the largest American
Indian population of any state. According to the California Department
of Education, there are 51,350 Native American students in grades K-12.
Some attend schools on reservations, which may be public schools or
schools operated by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, but the rest
are scattered around the state.
In many cases, say Native American teachers, their needs are not being
met, nor are schools treating them with sensitivity. For example,
Columbus Day, which Native Americans see as a day of mourning, is
celebrated as a holiday. Not only are history and social studies books
woefully inadequate in their view, but teachers sometimes inadvertently
select literature that is offensive and hurtful to Native American
students. Many schools still have Indian mascots that mock the heritage
and traditions of native students. And schools may not be actively
involving parents in their children's education because they haven't
attempted to overcome the parents' mistrust of the education system.
In many schools, Native Americans are often overlooked until
Thanksgiving, at which time students portray Indians by wearing fringed
vests crafted from paper bags. "Why depict people in bags associated
with trash?" asks Meeden. Also, since the holiday commemorates the
beginning of the Europeans' near annihilation of native people, it may
not be viewed as a celebration by all students.
Casinos have had a big impact on Native American education. The public
may be under the wrong impression that all Indians are "rich" from
casinos and that Native American students no longer need help.
"All of a sudden, people think we're rich and advantaged," says
Bommelyn. "There are more than 100 tribes and more than 600,000 Indians
living in California, and maybe four or five tribes have wealth." He is
especially incensed at the governor's commercials telling Indians to
"pay their fair share" when so much has been taken away.
"We can hardly get donations for scholarships and other things anymore
because people have the idea that Native Americans are rich," says Dale
Fleming, program specialist for Stockton's Title VII program. A member
of the Stockton Teachers Association, he estimates that out of 1,943
Native American students in the district, just a handful receive casino
money.
Some say the job opportunities the casinos provide have given students
more incentive to graduate from high school and attend college. However,
on a few reservations, many students opted out of attending school since
they already had an income. In response, tribal elders decided to extend
the age of income eligibility and make it contingent upon high school
graduation.
"I think casinos have been helpful to California in general and have
made the public aware that we are here," says Meeden. "Casinos also
offer a place where higher education can be used and instill a sense
that people can come back to the community and work for their people.
These days kids no longer have to say, 'When I grow up, I'm never coming
back.'"
Cultural and language programs that made school relevant for many native
students have been dwindling as a result of the federal No Child Left
Behind Act and standardized testing. (See related story.) However,
taking up much of the slack have been state-funded American Indian
Education Centers (AIEC), often located on reservations or rancherias.
They assist schools with professional development, counseling, tutorial
services, parent education programs, and mediation between schools and
tribal leaders. The nearly 30 centers provide supplemental instruction
programs as well as cultural presentations and native language classes.
They are also getting parents to take a more active role in their
children's education.
Using such a center as a resource was an extremely positive experience
for Lynelle Romero, who teaches at Keith Bright Juvenile Court School in
Independence (Inyo County). With most students coming from surrounding
reservations, her class is nearly 75 percent Native American.
Romero, a member of the Owens Valley Teachers Association, approached
AIEC when she decided her students needed to develop a sense of pride
and learn more about their culture. "They also needed to learn Native
American customs, such as respecting their elders."
Gerald Lewis, an elder from the Paiute reservation, agreed to schedule
eight two-hour visits to the school site to provide language lessons and
cultural presentations. Romero, whose great-grandmother was Mohawk, says
she's learning the language right along with her students.
"The reaction of students has been very good," she reports.
"It helps students to have good role models. And it helps us, as
teachers, because we can't teach everything."
www.cta.org/CaliforniaEducator/v10i4/Feature_1.htm
There was so much discrimination against Indians when Palmdale teacher
Marty Meeden was a child, he hid his Paiute and Washo roots and told
people at school that he was Mexican. "It was easier to blend in."
Del Norte social studies teacher Don Steinruck, a member of the Shawnee
tribe, recalls feeling "alienated and segregated from everyone else"
when he was in school in the 1960s and '70s. He was never taught Indian
history or heard the Native American viewpoint expressed in any of his
classes. "I didn't like that feeling at all."
Eureka third-grade teacher Pam Malloy was almost removed from her
college-preparatory English class when administrators realized that she,
a member of the Yurok tribe, had been placed there by mistake.
Thankfully, an enlightened teacher went to bat for her. Still, when she
asked her counselor for college information, she was instead given an
employment application for a local grocery store and told she wasn't
college material.
"Things have definitely improved" since then, says Malloy, who went on
to graduate from Humboldt State University's pilot program for Native
Americans and now serves as president of the Humboldt Bay Teachers
Association. "We're taking small steps."
For Meeden, things were already beginning to change by the time he got
to high school. "It was easier to be yourself and be proud of who you
were." He's now a member of the Palmdale Elementary Teachers Association
and chair of the American Indian/Alaska Native Caucus of CTA.
Steinruck, a member of the Del Norte Teachers Association (DNTA) and
secretary-treasurer of the CTA caucus, makes sure that the Native
American viewpoint is part of the curriculum at Smith River School. "I
let students hear interpretive speeches by tribal elders and leaders. I
talk about how reservations got established and affected people." In
history classes, he shares the little-known fact that Ben Franklin got
the idea for the U.S. Constitution from the Iroquois Confederacy, which
unified tribes and gave them equal representation.
"The education field has become more aware of diversity, but Indians are
still pretty edgy in a big way about the educational system," says DNTA
member Loren Bommelyn, who operates a charter school for Native American
students. "The system has not treated us well. And the wound is still
there, which may be why Native American students are not achieving
across the board."
Studies show that Native American students have lower academic
achievement, attend school less often and have a higher dropout rate
than other students. Some educators estimate the dropout rate is as high
as 40 to 50 percent in California. Less than 1 percent of American
Indians are college-educated.
Native Americans had reason to feel resentment. Historical records show
that 300,000 Indians lived in California before the Spaniards arrived.
They were forced into slave labor, and their conquerors spread disease
that decimated their population. Thousands were killed deliberately for
their land. When California's Gold Rush era began in the 1850s, the
state's Indian population had dwindled to 20,000. And just a few
generations ago, Native American children were taken from their families
and enrolled in boarding schools where they were assimilated into white
culture, whether they wanted to be or not. Some have likened the
practice to "cultural genocide."
Native American educators say diversity training is necessary for
teachers, and it should include discussion of tribal sovereignty and
residual anger over the attempt to rob them of their land and their
heritage.
"More knowledge is needed," says Malloy. "I just went through CLAD
[Crosscultural, Language and Academic Development] training about how to
teach multicultural children, and very little about Native Americans was
even mentioned. Less than 20 minutes was spent on talking about the
needs of native children, and this was in Humboldt County. To me, it's
very important that they be included."
The 2000 census indicates that California has the largest American
Indian population of any state. According to the California Department
of Education, there are 51,350 Native American students in grades K-12.
Some attend schools on reservations, which may be public schools or
schools operated by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, but the rest
are scattered around the state.
In many cases, say Native American teachers, their needs are not being
met, nor are schools treating them with sensitivity. For example,
Columbus Day, which Native Americans see as a day of mourning, is
celebrated as a holiday. Not only are history and social studies books
woefully inadequate in their view, but teachers sometimes inadvertently
select literature that is offensive and hurtful to Native American
students. Many schools still have Indian mascots that mock the heritage
and traditions of native students. And schools may not be actively
involving parents in their children's education because they haven't
attempted to overcome the parents' mistrust of the education system.
In many schools, Native Americans are often overlooked until
Thanksgiving, at which time students portray Indians by wearing fringed
vests crafted from paper bags. "Why depict people in bags associated
with trash?" asks Meeden. Also, since the holiday commemorates the
beginning of the Europeans' near annihilation of native people, it may
not be viewed as a celebration by all students.
Casinos have had a big impact on Native American education. The public
may be under the wrong impression that all Indians are "rich" from
casinos and that Native American students no longer need help.
"All of a sudden, people think we're rich and advantaged," says
Bommelyn. "There are more than 100 tribes and more than 600,000 Indians
living in California, and maybe four or five tribes have wealth." He is
especially incensed at the governor's commercials telling Indians to
"pay their fair share" when so much has been taken away.
"We can hardly get donations for scholarships and other things anymore
because people have the idea that Native Americans are rich," says Dale
Fleming, program specialist for Stockton's Title VII program. A member
of the Stockton Teachers Association, he estimates that out of 1,943
Native American students in the district, just a handful receive casino
money.
Some say the job opportunities the casinos provide have given students
more incentive to graduate from high school and attend college. However,
on a few reservations, many students opted out of attending school since
they already had an income. In response, tribal elders decided to extend
the age of income eligibility and make it contingent upon high school
graduation.
"I think casinos have been helpful to California in general and have
made the public aware that we are here," says Meeden. "Casinos also
offer a place where higher education can be used and instill a sense
that people can come back to the community and work for their people.
These days kids no longer have to say, 'When I grow up, I'm never coming
back.'"
Cultural and language programs that made school relevant for many native
students have been dwindling as a result of the federal No Child Left
Behind Act and standardized testing. (See related story.) However,
taking up much of the slack have been state-funded American Indian
Education Centers (AIEC), often located on reservations or rancherias.
They assist schools with professional development, counseling, tutorial
services, parent education programs, and mediation between schools and
tribal leaders. The nearly 30 centers provide supplemental instruction
programs as well as cultural presentations and native language classes.
They are also getting parents to take a more active role in their
children's education.
Using such a center as a resource was an extremely positive experience
for Lynelle Romero, who teaches at Keith Bright Juvenile Court School in
Independence (Inyo County). With most students coming from surrounding
reservations, her class is nearly 75 percent Native American.
Romero, a member of the Owens Valley Teachers Association, approached
AIEC when she decided her students needed to develop a sense of pride
and learn more about their culture. "They also needed to learn Native
American customs, such as respecting their elders."
Gerald Lewis, an elder from the Paiute reservation, agreed to schedule
eight two-hour visits to the school site to provide language lessons and
cultural presentations. Romero, whose great-grandmother was Mohawk, says
she's learning the language right along with her students.
"The reaction of students has been very good," she reports.
"It helps students to have good role models. And it helps us, as
teachers, because we can't teach everything."