Native Injustice: The Education System in Indian Country - Part 4

Education is fundamentally important and vital to the growth of many people around the world. We used it to expand our everyday knowledge to create infrastructure, save lives, build better environments to enjoy, and live healthy, comfortable lives. It is a fundamental human right bestowed to all of us regardless of where we are and who we are and look like. However, on the other side of that coin, there are people around us that do not receive the quality education needed to succeed in this world. According to Article 26, Section 1 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, “Everyone has a right to an education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit”(www.un.org). This means that everyone has a right to access good quality education especially in the elementary and secondary levels of education.

For many decades in many Native American communities, access to quality education has been very far reaching for Native and Indigenous children. The question I must ask: Why are Native American students left behind in getting a good quality education? If we look further back into history, the first Native American schools were mission schools established by religious orders in 1819 under the Indian Civilization Act. The issues with these schools are they broke Native American students by having them forgo their Native language, culture and way of life in order to assimilate them in the Western way of life. Even though some of the religious missions who established the schools meant well, they were misguided in educating Native children and as a result caused abundant amounts of trauma.

These factors have also caused the quality of education among Native students to be not so great. The other factors that come into play such as lack of funding, resources, poor quality of educational materials, and lack of qualified educators willing to teach in Native communities. The quality of education in Native and Indigenous communities can be improved. The following recommendations will make change and better the quality of education in Native American and Indigenous communities.

Here are the following recommendations:

Ensure Native American communities and tribal nations have sufficient funding to rebuild schools, provide better equipment (i.e. newer school buses, fuel, maintenance facilities, newer resources for the classrooms and technology).

Increase pay for teachers and support staff, offer bonuses so they stay in classrooms within the schools they are teaching.

Allow educators to create a curriculum that will embrace Native customs, traditions, and language.

Foster a school environment which embraces Native customs, traditions, and language.

Provide resources such as counseling services and holistic support programs for students in need of extra help.

Hire and retain personnel that are dedicated to create a positive impact in the lives of many students attending respective schools on a daily basis.

Offer technical and trade career pathways at the secondary (high school) levels so students are given alternative options if they decide that college is not for them.

By implementing these changes, Native students are receiving a quality education that will allow them to become not only productive members of society but also successful future leaders, world changers, peacekeepers, healers, artists, creators, and architects. They will have resources and tools needed to build their communities and the rest of the world for many generations and families to come. These may have already been implemented slowly but there are more changes to make in order for the quality of education to reach not just adequate levels but to reach to the levels of proficient and excellent. It is something we can look forward to the future of education in Indian Country.