----
...
-------
-cLLIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE
A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY
J1
OF
IDENTITY CRISIS AND SELF-CONCEPT
MAJOR FACTORS IN THE HIGHER EDUCATION
OF NATIVE AMERICANS
A project submitted in partial satisfaction
of the requirements for a degree of Master of Arts
ln
Education,
Educational Psychology
Counseling and Guidance
by
Floyd.Maurice Henley
.........·
June, 1979
.
-~----···-----~-------
- .. ·---·-·-.
T~e
Thesis of Floyd Maurice Henley is ipproved:
Carole Bare, Ph.D.
7
California State University, Northridge
ii
--~------~--------~-------~
I.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ABSTRACT
. . . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
INTRODUCTION •••••••••••..... ·· . . . . . . . . .
~
v
.........
1
THE PROBLEMS IN EDUCATION WHICH FOSTER
NEGATIVE SELF-CONCEPT AND IDENTITY CRISIS
AMONG NATIVE AMERICANS .... -. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5
Basic Assu.mptions .
~
.........................
5
Methods Used in Assimilation ................
7
Degrees of Assimilation
9
The Decline of Academic Performance ......... 12
School Attendance ........................... 13
THE CAUSE OF PROBLE11S IN INDIAN EDUCATION . . . . . . . 16
Isolation and Alienation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
The Question of Indian Intelligence ......... 17
·Prejudices that Effect Indian Education ..... 21
Awareness of Cultural Differences ........... 23
Stereotype vs. the Truth About Modern Indians.27
THE NATIVE AMERICAN IN HIGHER EDUCATION .......... 30
Profile of the Indian College Student ....... 31
Social and Personal Problems ................ 33
Negative Self-Concept ........................ 34
Programs that Perpetuate Negative Self-Concept.35
Identity Crisis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
CONCLUSION
39
REFERENCES
42
iv
ABSTRACT
This project was intended to identify specific problems
effecting Native Americans in higher education.
was placed on the historical background
Emphasis
in elementary and
'
secondary education, identifying the effects of
~he
problem,
'
determining the underlying causes and recorrunending solutions.
An extensive review of the literature was conducted,
and Native American college students and.ex-students in four
states were interviewed.
Some personal observations and
personal experiences of the author, an American Indian, were
included.
The desired results were obtained.
Two major factors
effecting successful education among the Native American
population in higher education were identified -- identity
crisis and negative self-concept.
The background, problems,
effects and possible solutions are discussed.
Areas for
further research are suggested; and an extensive reference
list is included to aid further research.
v
INTRODUCTION
The greater part of literature concerning Native
Americans deals with Indians as they used to be.
The trend
has been to focus on their origin and antiquity, their arts
and crafts, their history and archaeology, their wars and
migrations and their diverse and colorful cultures.
in
contempor.a~y
Indians
society have developed sociological problems
that are far less popular with the media and public than is
the history and culture of their ancestors.
Vice and des-
pair, poverty and disease, discrimination and exploitation,
dominant problems among Native American society, attract a
very limited audience.
This project was concerned primarily with Indian education at the college level.
The focus was on Indians from
reservations and rural backgrounds.
One cannot understand
the difficulties encountered by Native Americans in higher
education without some understanding of American Indian
education at the primary and secondary levels.
For the most
part, the history of Indian education is a record of frustration, dissatisfaction and disappointment.
This history must
be examined in order to give some understanding of the problems and the causes of difficulties to provide some guidelines for new directions for research in Native American
1
2
Education.
New research is particularly needed 1n the areas
of self-concept and identity crisis.
Throughout this paper, I have used the terms "Indians,"
·"Native Americans" and "American Indians" synonymously.
The material for this project was gathered by extensively surveying literature on the education of Native
Americans in the United States and by informally interviewing
Native Americans who are currently, enrolled, or have been
enrolled on university and college campuses in Arizona,
California, New Mexico and Utah.
The feelings expressed by those I interviewed were
astonishingly similar, reflecting the same feelings that I,
as an Indian, have expressed also.
However, I have come to
believe that most reasons given for dropping out of college
are not•the true reasons, and that the true reasons II\ay not
be known even by those who. have dropped out.
As an undergraduate, I never seriously entertained the
idea of dropping out until approximately two months prior to
graduation.
It was then that I was faced with the realiza-
tion that I was on the verge of succeeding at something that
was socially acceptable in a white man's world.
This realiza-
tion was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life.
My thoughts were, "What in hell do I do now?"
Had I been
unable to draw from a few meaningful relationships developed
during my college experience, I would have run to the farthest
corner of the reservation and in all probability would still
3
be there today.
In retrospect I can conclude_:
At that period in my life
my self-concept was not such that I could realize that I had
worth as a college graduate, not only t-o my own people, but
also to society at large.
I have also shared the feeling that something more than
just being another student was expected of me.
In the class-
room, after being identified as Indian, many non-Indian
students viewed me as if I had recently been yanked from my
pony at full gallop, while 1n hot pursuit of buffalo, and
dragged kicking and screaming into a life of academia.
In addition to interviewing numerous students and exstudents, the aid of various professors and college officials
was solicited.
Those professors and college officials have
been involved in programs ostensibly designed to aid in the
higher education of Native Americans.
In spite of the efforts of professors, students and the
U.S. Government, education of the Native American has failed
miserably.
It is the hope of this writer that this project
will point out the need for further research in the areas bf
self-concept and identity crisis.
The inexhaustible amount of mimeographed material pertaining to Indian education consists of committee reports,
term papers, proceedings and sem1nar and workshop reports.
Hopefully this material will be available for broader review
in the future.
4
The majority of the research on Indian education has
been done by graduate students and submitted in partial
satisfaction of the requirements for their degrees.
Most
of the books and journal articles Legan as graduate theses.·
Many of these works were completed in the departments of
anthropology.
Although a few were completed in the depart-
ments of sociology and psychology, the bulk of the material
was done in the field of educ'ation.
Most of the authors
have first-hand exper1ence with Indian pupils in the classroom, which adds a measure of validity to even those theses
of lesser merit.
Based on the assumption that the major
portion of research on Indian education will be continued by
graduate
students~
this project is addressed to that
audience of students.
PROBLEMS IN EDUCATION
WHICH FOSTER NEGATIVE SELF-CONCEPT AND
IDENTITY CRISIS AMONG ANERICAN INDIANS
Before inquiring into the cause of
~he
failure of
Indian education, it is necessary to define the'problem.
In
defining the problem, we must consider one basic assumption
upon which virtually all educational efforts among the Indians
rested.
That assumption is that the purpose of educating
the Indian is to insure assimilation into the
b~oader
culture.
Basic Assumptions
Those who have been involved 1n the formal education of
Indians have assumed that the main purpose of school is to
facilitate assimilation into the broader culture.
-The Indian
would be better, it was believed, if he or she could be
encouraged to adopt the white man's habits, skills, knowledge,
'·
language, values, religion, attitudes, and customs.
Assimila-
tion, to be sure, is a reciprocal process; and in the course
of it the white man has learned much from the Indian.
Today
American culture is immeasurably enriched by items adopted
from the Indian.
But it was always the white man's way of
life which set the pattern.
Formal education has been re-
garded as the most effective means of bringing about such
assimilation.
5
6
Formal education, however, has not brought about the
I~dian's
assimilation into the
~ajority
culture.
Certainly
the Jesuits, whose contributions to exploration and politics
are well known, failed to reach their objective of Frenchification and Christianization.
The Franciscans, while success-
ful for a time, discovered as soon as they departed from the
Southwest that their Indian converts were unprepared either
to keep their mission community going or to resume their
traditional way of life.
John Elliot's autonomous Indian
villages came to a sad end (Layman, 48), Eleazar Wheelock's
experiments failed, the efforts of the Virginia colonists
were disappointing (Layman, 48), and various Protestant
missionaries could seldom poirit to any solid educational
achievements.
Summarizing the period 1778-1871, when mission-
ary teachers and federal .subsidies provided the Indian with
their schooling, Layman says:
The net results of almost a hundred years
of efforts and expenditures of hundreds of thousands of dollars for Indian education were a
small number of poorly attended mission schools,
a suspicious and disillusioned Indian·population,
and a few hundred products of missionary education, who, for the most par-t, has either returned
to the blanket or were living as misfits among the
Indian or white population (48: 312).
Unfortunately, these 9ismal appraisals have continued,
with only minor improvements into the 1970's.
In the 1920's
the Meriam report (56) found shortcomings in Indian education
numerous and serious.
A more recent survey concludes, "The
majority of Indian pupils today are either above the general
7
age level for their respective classes or are below academic
norms and they drop out of school more frequently than do
their non-Indian classmates."
(Brophy, 12:138).
While those engaged in education have always been committed to assimilation, this was not originally the policy
of the political and military leaders.
As exemplified in
the literature pertaining to the settling of North America,
extermination appealed to the foreign settlers as a w1ser,
more efficient course of action (Dennis, 22).
The early
Puritans made a practice of giving rewards for Indian heads
(Dennis, 22).
The Dutch in New Amsterdam refined the prac-
tice and began paying bounties for Indian scalps in 1641,
and the other colonies followed suit.
In 1717, a prominent
figure in the colony of South Carolina
o~enly
declared that
the colonists must adopt a policy of·turning one tribe
against the other in order that their foothold in the New
World survive (Dennis, 22).
They felt that if they could
not destroy one Indian nation with another they were lost.
Somewhat later, a more humane policy of driving the Indians
across the Mississippi River was adopted.
Methods Used in Assimilation
During the 19th century, when settlers began to penetrate those regions where the Indians had been driven, the
government realized that assimilation was the only feasible
alternative to extermination (Fritz, 24).
As conflict with
8
western tribes increased, pressure from both the military
and the humanitarians forced the U.S. Congress in 1876, to
pass a bill creating a commission to make peace with the
Indians.
The members of the commission agreed that assimila-
tion was inevitable; but immediately the commission formed
two schools of thought.
One point of view, held by General
William T. Sherman, was that assimilation would have to be
forced with bayonet (Fritz, 24).
Indians would not work
unless forced to do so, Sherman maintained, and it was the
military who was prepared to apply such force.
Nathaniel G. Taylor,
Commissioner of Indian Affairs,
however, representing the humanitarian point of view, insisted
that Christian teachers should be provided for Indians to
prepare them for life in the new American society (Fritz,24).
InGchis way, coercion and persuasion came to represent
the extremes of assimilation policy.
Autobiographical records
abound with descriptions of the kinds of pressures utilized
to get Indian children to schools (e.g., Qoyawayma, 64:
Simmons, 71).
The records also depict physical and psycho-
logical methods used to get Indians to set aside their own
culture.
There is evidence of coercive measures employed ln
education for 70 years among the Makah of Minnesota in an
effort to "civilize the Indians and to obliterate all cultural differences between Indians and whites,". (Colson, 18)
Su.ch coerciveness, revolting as they may seem to us today,
was not entirely ineffective ln bringing about the altera-
9
tion of Indian culture.
Byrd (14), in his study of the Sac and Fox of Iowa,
contrasted the early coercive educational policy with the
later cooperative policy, showing the greater effectiveness
of the latter.
Such reports as we have on the Rough Rock
experiment indicates that cooperation, local autonomy and
responsibility, rather than coercion and paternalism have
more effectively educated the American Indian (Conklin, 19);
Fuchs, 25: Rossel, 68).
The experiment at Rough Rock, Ari-
zona, was conducted at the Rough Rock Demonstration School.
It was the first community school serving Native Americans.
Since the school belongs to the people in the community,
emphasis is on local autonomy.
All curricula and community
projects must be responsive to the wishes of the School
Board and the local chapter of Tribal Council.
Because the
chapter is the local political unit of the Tribal Council,
all community and school projects must be instituted with
an emphasis on human resources development with the cooperation of all parties concerned.
The American experience with
the absorption of millions of European immigrants, upon whom
no deliberate and conscious assimilative pressures were
exerted, would support this v1ew.
Degrees of Assimilation
Moreover, there are degrees of assimilation of Indians
into the broader culture.
The process is complete, we may
10
V
r''
'
{
say, when "reciprocal identification" occurs; that is when
o~e
no longer thinks of himself, or is thought of by others
as German, Indian, Italian, Canadian, Navajo, etc., or even
as a "hyphenated" American.
No doubt thousands of persons
of Indian ancestry have become completely absorbed into
white society or the Mexican and Black communities in this
way.
At i:he same time there are many persons having small
"quanta" of Indian "blood," who could readily cease to
identify with their Indian heritage but prefer to retain
their Indian identity.
Often they hold their Indian identity
beriause of pride, or because they believe there are values
in Indian tradition which are preferable to those of the
broader society.
But, in some instances, retention of
Indian identity rests on more practical considerations.
In
some parts of the United,States it is more desirable to have
the status of Indian than of other non-whites.
Many would
choose to be regarded as white if that alternative were open
to them, but proclaim their Indian identity as the lesser of
two evils (Berry, 9).
That is to say, in some areas it is
to one's advantage to be considered Indian as opposed to
Black or Mexican.
There are also certain, material advantages for which
Indians are eligible. Lloyd (51) describes the Chumash of
Southern California, who have long since lost their Indian
language and culture, and who have been virtually absorbed
into the Mexican community.
The Chumash cling to their
11
Indian identity because of a very modest financial benefit
w~ich
accrues from their reservqtion lands.
The situation
is similar with the Makah, who are almost completely
absorbed into white society, but who cling to Indian status
because of certain privileges to be gained by doing so
(Colson, 18).
Indians have gone on record as desiring assimilation
up to a point, without loss of
of Indian Purpose, 21).
plish this objective.
~heir
identity (Declaration
They look to the schools to accomAt the American Indian Chicago
Conference ln 1961, the 460 representatives of 90 tribal
groups issued their Declaration of Indian Purpose in which
they stated, "It would be well if all our children would
avail themselves of academic training,'' (Declaration of
Indian Purpose, 21).
They proceeded to stipulate such goals
as adequate counseling and guidance opportunities, vocational
training, better housing and medical facilities, employment
opportunity, revolving loan funds, industrial development of
the reservations, etc.
Similar aspirations have been ex-
pressed by prominent leaders of the Indian community (e.g.,
Jose, 39).
Even at Rough Rock Demonstration School, where
the least possible pressure is exerted to impose a foreign
culture upon the Indians, we are told, "We want to instill
in our youngsters a sense of pride of being Indian.
We
want to show them that they can be Indian and American at
the same time, that they can take the best from each way of
12
life and :co::mb:ine it into something viable" (Conklin, 19).
The DeclinE
~£
Academic Performance
There is no denying the fact that academic performance
of Indians rl£cl:ines as they move through school, but the
cause of -:the so-called "cross-o'{er" phenomenon, i.e., the
decline o:f .academic performance at about the fourth grade,
is difficul-t -:to determine.
Some maintain that it is charac-
teristic o£ .adolescents, and not peculiar to Indians.
Kay-
ser (41) d:id a .study of 207 students--Ute, Anglo, and Spanish-Amer:Lcan---:in a Colorado public school, and found that
the three groups, while unequal in performance, followed
roughly -:the .same pattern.
A few maintained that superlor
performance £or Indians in the early grades is a tribute
to the sk:Lll of the teachers of those grades.
Peters (63),
seeking -:to account for the "cross-over" phenomenon among
Hopi, supposed it is a result of the acculturation process:
"The Hopi have become partly acculturated,
especially in the most general aspects of
American culture.
The younger children are
qu:Lck :in learning these most obvious elements
o£ -:the culture, in school, movies, radio, and
tn:rough occasional visits to the city.
However., £or the older children, the broad cultural experience, with their varied nuances,
are not available.
Furthermore, the increasing
Hopi cultural emphasis denies the children of
-tlle general population ( 6 3: 31).
Still ot.he:rs suspect that the explanation for the "crossover" phenomenon lies in the language.
Blossom (10) add-
resses herself to the problem, suggesting that there must
13
p
be some
und~rlying
reason for the
starts at the fourth grade level.
beli~f
that retardation
Retardation here refers
to the decline of academic performance and not to suspected
lower ability.
She suspects that
~he
cause may lie in the
fact that people have two vocabularies, one composed of
words used in speaking and a much larger hidden one called
a recognition or comprehension vocabulary.
Elementary texts,
she explains, are written in carefully controlled "talking
vocabulary. 11
This shift affects the bilingual pupil par-
ticularly, and Blossom hints that there may be a relationship between this shift and retardation.
Perhaps the most plausible explanation of the 11 crossover11 phenomenon is psychological.
Bryde (13), among others,
maintains that alienation is the central concept for explaining that problem.
Conflict between white and Indian
cultures reaches a peak at adolescence and causes severe
personality disturbance which blocks achievement.
Bryde
also· suggests that due to the fact that Indian pupils tend
to be over age for their grade level, that it may be that
adolescence arrives during the intermediate elementary
grades, bringing with it problems of identity, alienation,
and negative self feelings which manifest themselves in low
achievement.
School Attendance
Apparently there are a few communities where school
'
14
attendance is not a problem and where Indian children do
r~main
in school until graduation.
The Rough Rock Demonstra-
tion School would be an example of such a school.
Perhaps
these schools warrant closer study in the hope of learning
their secret for success.
Nevertheless, the dropout rate
for Indians is a national scandal.
Bass and Burger (7) put
the figure at 50 percent, as compared with 29 percent for
the general population in 1967.
Kelly (41) places the drop-
out rate at 22.3 percent of all Indians between the ages of
16 and 18.
In California the Commission on Indian Affairs
reports a dropout rate as high as 70 percent (California
Indian Education, Ad Hoc Committee on California Indian
Education, 15: State Advisory Commission on Indian Affairs,
35).
The Summer, 1978 Survey, of off-reservation residential
schools puts the dropout rate at 35.3 percent for all areas
of the United States (United States Department of Interior,
78).
Although the statistics on the extent of the absenteeism and dropout rates are extensive and readily available,
the causeB are.elusive and complex.
Atkinson (5) maintains
that many full-blood Utes "become involved
in parental
responsibilities at a verY. early age" and are forced to discontinue their schooling.
Anduri (3), discussing a number
of reasons for early dropout, cites lack of interest in the
subjects taught, poor health, marriage, necessity to earn
money, academic failure, and "feeling that teachers are not
15
./
,./
l//
interested in them."
Bonner (11), ln her study of the
Cherokees, attributed the high dropout rate to lack of
interest in school, military service, marriage, ill health,
and "needed at home."
Miller and :::aulkins (57), believe
that as the student advances in school, he or she confronts
increasingly foreign expectations from teachers, and education becomes.more irrelevant to everyday concerns.
reiterates most of the causes mentioned above.
Ray (65)
He found
that the school personnel failed to realize the cultural
differences of their pupils, that school facilities were
inadequate, and that parents and pupils alike perceived
little relation between school curriculum and their village
way of life.
At this point one can conclude from a survey of the
literature, that formal education is failing to meet the
Indian's needs, that there is widespread dissatisfaction
with the results, and that schools are falling short of
their goal of preparing the Indian to participate effectively
in American society.
THE CAUSE OF PROBLEMS IN INDIAN EDUCATION
Isolation and Alienation
An extensive rev1ew of the literature indicates that
'those involved in Indian education recognize that the rnajority of Native Americans do not benefit greatly from
their school experience.
This problem is well documented,
but if an effective alternative to the current system is
to be implemented, the causes must be determined.
With few
exceptions,everyone who has done research on Indian education
or has had experience as a teacher of Indian students has a
personal theory.
Many attribute the problem to a lack of
motivation, and parental apathy.
Also included in the causes
are: irrelevance of curriculum, inadequacies of teachers,
"shyness" of the Indian child, early marriage, laziness,
chronic absenteeism, poverty, mental deficiency, stubborn
resistance to the white man's culture, and any number of
combinations of the above mentioned.
makes a cogent case for isolation.
Wax (81), however,
He states:
Isolation -- lack of communication,
social distance -- is the cardinal factor
in the problem of Indian education on the
Pine Ridge Reservation.
Because the
isolation affects so many contexts -- the
community as a whole, the school within
the community, the pupil within the classroom, and the teacher within the educational
16
17
system -- its effect is greatly intensified.
The Sioux community is isolated from the
mainstream of national life and isolated
especially from the current where literacy
and education are important and common.
(81:47)
On the other hand, Bryde (13) argues convincingly that
the concept of alienation (from the mainstream of society)
appears to be central in explaining the behavior of the
Indian students studied.
Hobart (32) maintains that there
are four reasons for the under-achievement: (1) damaged
self-concept, (2) inadequate motivation, (3) unawareness of
employment opportunities, and (4) resistance by peers and
the community to self-advancement.
At the All-Indian Con-
ference on Education in the late 60's, sponsored by the
Ad Hoc Committee on California Indian Education, the underachievement of Indian children was attributed to a multiplicity of causes, including the following:
(1) unqualified
teachers, (2) inadequate textbooks, (3) poverty, (4) poor
home environment, (5) anti-Indian prejudice of classmates,
(6) unsympathetic administrators, and (7) lack of communication between races (California Indian Education, 15).
The Question of Indian Intelligence
In spite of the legion of theories pertaining to the
cause of educational failure in the Indian population, the
most fundamental question of all has to do wit.h the Native
American's inherent capacity to acquire the knowledge made
18
available to him.
There have always been those who doubt
that the Native American has the necessary intelligence to
benefit from formal education (Rowe 70).
The psychology of
the Nativt: American has always been an enigma to the white
man.
From the earliest contact, there have been many who
have held the Indian in low esteem.
In the literature of
the 16th century,white men of profound theological ideas
and great education debated whether Indians were humans
with souls or whether they were sub-human (Highwater, 31).
On the other hand,Colombus himself described the Indians
as loving and generous people (Highwater, 31).
E. C. Rowe (70) was the first to apply intelligence
testing to Native Americans.
In 1914, he administered the
Binet-Simon Test to Indians and white children at Mt.
Pleasant, Michigan.
He concluded:
The striking difference .
. cannot be
explained by hygenic, social and educational
differences.
It seems therefore that
the only satisfactory explanation of their
inferiority in terms of the test is to be
found in the inferiority of native ability.
(70:456).
Literally thousands of Indians have been administered
intelligence tests since 1914.
one of the principal
T. R. Garth (27), who was
inves~igators
1n the late 20's, con-
ducted many studies with his pupils.
It would serve no
purpose to review the vast literature concerning the
intelligence testing of Native Americans here.
Testing is
mentioned only because it is important to point out how
19
damaging to the self-concept intelligence tests are to groups
of people who are not included in the mainstream of society.
However, for those who are interested, summaries of the published research have been made by Garth (27), Holdsworth
(33), Uhlman (70), and Havinghurst (30).
Invariably, earlier tests proved the Indian to be
inferior to whites.
Furthermore, it appeared that any infu-
sion of white "blood" however small, improved the Indian's
intelligence.
This gave r1se to the many studies of the
relative intelligence of white, mixed-bloods, and fullbloods.
Garth conducted several such investigations of the
relative intelligence of white, mixed-blood, and full-bloods
( 26 ) •
In 1922, Hunter and Somrnermier (34) adminstered the
Otis Intelligence Test to some 700 students at Haskell, the
degree of blood ranging from one-fourth to full, and there
were seven subjects who were less than one-fourth white.
They found a positive correlation between the degree of
white blood and test scores.
Cox (20) tested 2,585 pupils
in 22 Oklahoma public schools, finding whites super1or,
mixed-bloods having the next highest scores, and full-bloods
having the lowest scores.
Conversely, Jonasson (38) in 1937,
gave a variety of tests to students at Whapeton Boarding
School in North Dakota, and refuted the
theor~
of Inferiority
of the full-blood.
Prior to the 1930's, confidence in the validity of the
20
l
intelligence test began to wane.
Jamieson and Sandiford
(36), in 1928 discovered that the verbal tests most commonly
employed discriminated against Indians, while performance
tests showed them appreciable better.
In that same year,
Klineberg (44, 45), demonstrated the importance of cultural
factors in test scores with white and Indian children on the
Yakima Reservation.
A few investigators began pointing out
that on certain kinds of intelligence tests, the Indians
actually proved themselves superior to the whites (Barnes,
6; Roher, 69; Telford, 74).
stated
in 1928:
The Meriam report (56:452f),
"The .record by Indian children in the
tests, while usually lower on the average than that of the
white children, has never been low enough to justify any
concern as to whether they can be 'educated'."
Many informed people, as early as 1928, suspected that
low scores on intelligence tests, especially those of verbal
type, failed to prove the Indian uneducable or inherently
inferior.
Since 1940, no responsible scholar has maintained that
Indians are intellectually inferior to others.
Testing
done in the early 1940's under the Indian Education Research
Project, an endeavor undertaken jointly by the Committee
on Human Development of the University of Chicago and the
Bureau of Indian Affairs, acquitted the Indian of any charge
of inferiority.
Joseph wrote concerning the Papago:
•
21
In average mental ability as indicated by
tests, the Papago groups studies revealed
differences between one another, on one
hand, and between themselves and white
children, on the other hand, and specific
differences seem to be tied up with the
specific tests.
This casts some doubt on
the wisdom of accepting the test results
at face value and suggests certain hypothetical explanations, of which the influence
of a different way of life appears to be of
primary importance (40:190).
Thompson (76:101} wrote of the Hopi:
"From our tests
we have the impression that the Hopi children on the average
are very intelligent, highly observant, show a remarkably
balanced mental approach and apparently very capable of
complex and abstract thinking."
Prejudice That Effects Indian Education
The data on Indian cultures and Indian intelligence
has brought most social scientists to conclude that the
Native American of today has about the same innate equipment
for learning as does his white counterpart.
Regrettably,
there are many white people with whom Indians come into contact, that are not aware of what psychologists and social
scientists have concluded regarding Indian intelligence.
There are those who are aware but sometimes have refused to
accept it.
As a result, there comes into operation what
psychologists call "the self-fulfilling prophecy."
The
4!::::::;___.,
theory states that., if a teacher or other members of the
dominant society are convinced that someone is inferior
and incapable of learning, such attitudes will be conveyed
22
in var1ous and subtle ways.
A child will come to think of
himself in that negative way and set for himself lower standards of achievement.
The teacher's expectations and pre-
diction that the Indian pupil will do poorly in school and
later life, becomes a major factor ln lowering his or her
performance.
Much attention has been g1ven to the attitudes of the
teachers and it is apparent that many do not hold their
Indian pupils in high regard.
How many teachers are con-
vinced that their Indian pupils are inherently inferior
intellectually is not known, but undoubtedly the number lS
great.
Rist (66) queried the teachers of Shoshone children,
finding that 81.5 percent held the Indians to be equal to
the whites in intelligence, and 18.5 percent regarded them
as inferior.
Other investigations have reported similar
opinions among teachers regarding intelligence.
On the
other hand, negative opinions among teachers regarding
characteristics other than intelligence are more common.
Parmee (62) found many who believed Apaches.to be "hostile,"
"lazy," and "dumb," but say,
"It would have been difficult
to say hov·l many . . . share these views."
In regard to the
Porno, Kennedy (43:113) says, "No teacher has charged the
Indian with lack of capacity, but rather with lack of interest and incentive for education."
Goodman (28) reports that
of the public school teachers he interviewed, "some were
sympathetic, but many regarded their Indian pupils as infer-
23
1or and dirty," and preferred not having them in their
classes.
At Pine Ridge, Wax (82) found that very few of the
Day School teachers actively disliked their pupils; quite
a few seened fond of them; very fe\1 respected them ... The
most common attitude is condescension, sometimes kindly,
often well-meant, but always critical.
Awareness of Cultural Differences
The negative attitudes and opinions of teachers could
very well be caused by the teachers 1 lack of awareness of
the cultural differences that separate them from their
Indian pupils.
This is certainly a major obstacle which
needs to be overcome.
Furthermore, behavior which the non-
white interprets as apathy is actually a widespread and
traditional reluctance on the part of the Indian to interfere
in the affairs of others, including their own children.
Wax and Thomas (82), furnish an excellent analysis of the
pattern, pointing out that the Indian .... from earliest
childhood, is trained to regard absolute non-interference
in interpersonal relationships as decent and normal, the
}
lesson being taught by precept and example.
It is manifes-
ted in the child-rearing practices of so many Indian societies that Driver (23:458) is able to reach a generalization
that, "No-rth American Indians were very permissive with
their children as compared with Europeans."
Such permissive-
ness has been reported by many students of Indian cultures,
24
including Willcott (8), Joseph. (40), Leighton and Kluckhohn
( 4_6) , Macgregor (53) , Leighton and Adair (50) , Thompson ( 7 7) ,
Chance (16), and others.
Garcia (26) found that most of
the Arapaho parents whom he interviewed thought their
child-
ren would have to "make up their own minds" as to whether
or not they wanted to continue their education beyond high
school, and Rist (66) concluded that the permissive atmosphere of the Shoshone home was not conducive to academic
achievement.
Growth among the Apache and the limitations of the
reservation~s
resources are making it necessary for young
men to make wise vocational choices.
Thus, Bernardoni (8)
undertook to assess the role that parents play in the
process.
He found that most parents play a minimal role,
and were hesitant about even mentioning the subject to
their sons.
Bernardoni recognizes a number of factors
responsible for this situation, one of which is the Indian's
reluctance to interfere.
In addition to what the white man often reports as
apathy and indifference, there is the understandable presence of downright hostility, or at the very least suspicion
and fear.
This was especially true with respect to the
boarding school a few generations ago, and the attitude has
persisted and is prevalent even today.
Many Utes so dislike
the white man and all his ways that they invariably convey
to their children negative feelings toward the schools, with
25
the result that they will not try to succeed.
(Atkinson,5).
Indians who desire to retain their identity and to perpetuate
their traditions are perceptive enough to see that the
white man·s school presents a serious threat.
Zintz commen-ts
on the trend in New Mexico to transfer Indian children to
public schools, saylng:
This transfer confronts many Indian elders
with many philosophical problems about the
future of their cultural heritage.
Interactions with non-Indians may facilitate
learning the English language, acquiring
skills for competing economically in the
labor market, and attaining a middle-class
standard of living.
However, the elders
must face the possibility that their
children will not learn their mother tongue,
the nature lore, the moral values, the ceremonial rites, and the prayers of their people,
and to them these are more important. (87:73).
Competition, a prominent feature in the American value
system, is strongly emppasized ln the educational system.
Because the competitive spirit is not in keeping with most
Indian value structures, the Native American faces external
pressures that create internal personal conflict.
Coopera-
tion rather than competition is characteristic of the~---~--------Indian 1 s 1tJay of life.
This conflict of values impairs the
Indian child's academic success.
Jules Henry, in his book,
Culture Against Man, says:
I deplore the fact that elementary school
pitches motivation at an intensely competitive
level, but see no sense in altering that
approach, because children have to live in
a competitive world.
26
One finds frequent reference to the fact that Indian
children are reluctant to enter into competition with classmates, hesitate to answer teacher's question when others
are unable to do so, are embarrassed to be singled out for
pra1se or to receive higher grades, etc.
Roessel (67)
describes the traumatic experience of a Navajo pupil
who,
because of his superior classroom performance, found a gold
star placed beside his name on the class roll.
Joseph (40)
says of the Papago, "They do not feel the urge to out-do
their neighbors."
It is the same among the Hopi, according
to Thompson (76) and also among the Sioux (Macgregor, 53),
and among the Navajos, according to Kluckhohn and Leighton
(46).
Kutsche (47), who studied the dropout problem among
the North Carolina Cherokees, lays the blame partly on the
competetive atmosphere of the school.
He states (47:24),
"The Cherokee are noncompetitive; they resist competition
in school, even 1n the most innocent forms."
Perhaps it 1s unfortunate that most Americans have no
contact with Indians, and the stereotype of the "Noble Red
Man" is widely held.
In those communities, however, where
the two races are in contact, the whites have quite a different image of the Indian.
image is far from flattering.
It should be noted that this
In areas where there are
large concentrations of Indians, i.e., in towns and cities
on or near reservations, the Indian is viewed as something
less than human.
27
Stereotype vs. the Truth About Modern Indians
One popular stereotype of the Native American is that
:he is proud, strong, courageous, independent, stoical, and
:Self-sufficient.
Often there is a small degree of validity
in recial stereotypes, and this holds true in the case of
Indians.
The Spindlers (72), after combing the psychologi-
cally oriented studies and autobiographies, concluded that
there were certain features widely distributed among the
Indians of North America, including a positive valuation
of bravery and courage, reserve and self-control, ability
to endure pain, and a sort of fatalistic dependence upon .
supernatural power.
There are other studies, however, which point to the
presence of still other personality traits which have a
direct bearing upon education (Tefft, 73).
Not only are
these personality traits prevalent in Indian children and
adolescents, but these traits are most probably the reason
behind the fact that few Native Americans ever obtain
degrees in higher education.
Terms often used to describe the modern Indian's attitudes and feelings are "alienation 11
,
"hopelessness", "power-
lessness", "rejection", "depression", "anxiety", "estrangement", and "frustration".
Tefft (73) found among Arapaho
youth, despair and disillusionment with their social environment.
Kennedy (43) said the Porno
themselves.
appear to be ashamed of
Bryde (13) reported that the Sioux revealed
28
themselves as feeling more rejected, depressed, withdrawn,
paranoid, as well as more socially, emotionally, and selfalienated than whites.
Ablon (1) speaks of a prevailing
attitude of suspicion and fear of Pejection which Indians
in the San Francisco Bay Area feel for the white community,
and West (84), himself an Indian, notes that even long
residence in Detroit fails to dispel the sense of inferiority.
The Spindlers (72) maintain that the personality type which
they call "reaffirmative native" is ambivalent about whites
and white culture .
adequacy.
. and has doubts about his personal
Vogt (80) describes that faction of the Iroquois
which he calls "native modified" as alienated from the
dominant culture and making "no attempt to identify" with
either Canadian or American society.
The Coleman study (17)
discovered that Indian students have far less conviction
than whites that they can affect their own environments and
futures.
In light of the above, it should be obvious that the
attitudes of the dominant white society and the school systern therein are greatly responsible for fostering a negative
self-concept among Native Americans.
Much research needs
to be done on the self-concept of Native Americans.
lS
There
evidence, however, that the problem of the Indian's loss
of iden~ity is of primary importance for research.
Indians
are plagued with feelings of alienation, anxiety and inadequacy, which greatly impair their ability to function well
29
in the broader culture.
1{gative self-concepts and
identity crlses appear to be maJor factors in the reasons
that few Native Americans ever obtain degrees in higher
education.
THE NATIVE AMERICAN IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Now, more than ever before, Native Americans are
attending college, despite the obstacles Indian students
encounter in their elementary and secondary school experlence.
In the early 60's there were at least 4,000 Native
American college students in the United States (McGarth,54).
This number represents a marked increase over previous
years.
Havinghurst (30) notes that in 1937, only one out
of 50 high school graduates went to college, while in 1950,
of 579 graduates of federal high schools, l in 6 entered
college.
A similar trend is reported for the Navajos,
largest of the Indian tribes (Johnston, 37; Navajo Yearbook,
59 ) •
Although Indian college student enrollment is increaslng, the percentage of American Indians who enter college
is low in comparison with the non-Indians.
As of January
1961, 2 per cent of the national population was enrolled
in colleg2, whereas the percentage of Indian population was
only l/2 of l percent (Nix, 60).
In 1967, still only one
per cent of the Native American population was enrolled in
colleges or universities (Thomas, 75).
Although Indians are increasingly seeking higher
education 1n our society, they are not doing so at the
same rate as other Americans.
30
Whatever the reason might be
31
for this discrepancy, lack of interest is not the explanation.
Hamblin (29) administered a questionnaire to Apache
and Navajo high school sen1ors and found a large majority,
91.1 per cent in fact, desired to further their education.
Adams (2) reported similar findings at Union High School
in Roosevelt, Utah.
The Native American, like other
Americans, has a desire for higher education.
He differs,
however, from non-Indian college students in a number of
respects.
Profile of the Indian College Student
A profile of the Indians enrolled 1n higher education
reveals that they are somewhat older than their fellow
students, are more likely to be male than female, and are
usually unmarried.
The Indians pre-college educational
experiences have included a greater variety of schools and
more frequent change in schools attended (Artichoke 4;
McGarth, 54).
Also, the Indian college student is likely
to have been born and reared on a reservation, to have
parents whose educational level is lower than that of nonIndians, and is more likely than non-Indians to have older
siblings.
They are less likely than non-Indians to have
older siblings who have graduated from college.
In regard
to academic background, the Native American if? more likely
tQ have attended a smaller school than the non-Indian, to
have received less individual counseling, and to have fewer
32
.
.
.
.
.:"/"/:'
.
.
un1ts 1n mathemat1cs and more un1ts 1n vocat1onal subJects.
According to McGarth (54), Indians participate
le~s
in
extra-curricular activities and received fewer awards than
the comparison sample.
Despite the financial aids provided to the Indian
college students, research indicates that they are usually
unsuccessful in their ef£orts to complete a college education.
(Zintz, 86).
While few studies make adequate com-
parisons between Indians and non-Indians in regard to
academic adjustment, the evidence
are less well adjusted.
sugge~ts
that Indians
They have higher dropout rates
and they receive lower grades.
In studying the records of 100 Indians enrolled at the
University of New Mexico between 1954 and 1958, Zintz (87),
found that 70 per cent dropped out with low grades, 20 per
cent were enrolled at the time of his study, and only 10
per cent had received degrees.
The attrition rate of
Indians was compared with the overall attrition rate of 49
per cent of college freshmen at the University of New
Mexico.
Furthermore, of the 30 per cent who remained at
the University or received degrees, the majority had been
placed on probation at one time or another.
Also, Zintz
(87) studied the records of 31 Indian students enrolled at
the University of New Mexico in the fall of
1~58,
and
found that 84 per cent of these failed to finish the first
semester with an average grade of "C" or better.
33
Ludeman (52) examined the records of Indian students
e~rolled
at Southern State Teachers College, South Dakota,
from 1925 to 1958.
Surveying 112 cases in all, Ludeman
found that 36 attended one quarter or less, and nearly half
the total number attended only one full year of school or
less.
The failure of Native Americans to succeed in higher
education becomes more apparent when one considers the
professional status of Indians in the United States today.
Thomas (75) says, that at the latest count there were only
30 nurses, 25 physicians, and 7 dentists from the entire
Native American population of 877,000.
Social and Personal Problems
Studies focusing on the social and personal problems
of Indian · college students are not conducted as frequently
as those dealing with academic problems.
Although too few
studies have been made to draw any definite conclusion, preliminary evidence does indicate that Indian College students
suffer from the same kinds of personal and social problems
as do other students.
the future, and have
Both groups get homesick, worry about
finan~ial
problems.
Indians seem to
have more problems than do non-Indians, however, and they
seem to have more problems of a serious nature.
It is this writer's belief that personal, rather than
academic problems, prohibit the Native American from
34
successfully completing college and obtaining the desired
degree.
Of the numerous personal problems, the literature
points to two areas as being the crux of the problem, the
Indians negative self-concept and identity crisis.
Negative Self-Concept
The vast majority of Nat·ive Americans who. attend
college arrive with an already damaged self-concept.
This
is-magnified tenfold when they are hit with the realization
that they are
curriculum.
~l!i:..P.J2.~:d
for the r1gors of the college
All too often the supportive services on
campuses are not equipped to handle this problem, lacking
not in qualified tutors, but in qualified personnel in the
area of counseling and guidance.
The newly-arrived Indian
student not only needs to make wise choices in class
scheduling, but also in how he must spend his time outside
of the classroom.
Often, study habits must be developed
and future goals linked to present education.
Myers (58), discussed the achievement of a college
education as opposed to the "pull of the reservation."
It
seems that some Hoopa students have come to the realization
that once a college degree was obtained, there was little
chance of applying it on the reservation.
He states:
Thus, unless one were interested in
teaching, or working for the B.I.A. with
the hope of eventually being assigned to
the Hoopa agency, there was some question
about the worth of a college degree. As
35
one dropout said: 'I went to Chico State
because I wanted to be a machine draftsman. When' it dawned on me that I'd never
be able to use this skill on the reservation, I dropped out ' , " (Myers , 58 : 19) .
Programs That Perpetuate Negative Self-Concept
During the course of interviewing Indian students who
are attending or have attended colleges and universities in
four Southwestern states, Arizona, California, New Mexico
and Utah, I found a common theme.
Two very common state-
ments, "What in hell am I going to do with a college degree
back home?" and "The Indian programs on campus are not for
Indians, but to teach whites about Indians."
The feeling that the programs are unsuitable for
Indians is not unfounded.
Medicine (55)
~n
discussing the
three types of programs on college campuses, American
Indian Studies Programs, American Indian Culture Programs
and Native American Studies, and their variations, gives us
a good example of why many Indian students feel that the
programs are not designed for Indians.
She states:
Unfortunately, there is great competion
for funds and for Native American instructors
with proper credentials to meet the requirements to work in colleges and universities,
and for Indian students to fill quotas.
Furthermore, there is great proliferation
of variations of the aforementioned types
(American Indian Studies Programs, American
Culture Programs and Native American Studies)
in both public and private sectors of university life.
Competition is keen with
tremendous duplication of services and a
shrouding of existing courses with fringes
36
for goodness-of-fit into so-called American
Indian Studies Programs (55:80).
Medicine (55) continues by saying that the attempt to
capitalize on these programs
lS
most evident in the smaller
colleges where grant-getting to fill administrative coffers
seems to be the sole aim of their founding.
In order to
establish Indian programs, these colleges are conducting
"surrounds" to capture Indians with at least a baccalaureate
degree to head the Native American Programs.
Furthermore,
the vast majority of these institutions of higher learning
write their proposals for funds without consulting Indians
or anthropologists.
Identity Crisis
Closely related to the notion of the Native American's
negative self-concept, as a deterrent to success in higher
education, is his identity crisis.
There are many who main-
tain that the Indian's 1mage of himself depends, in the
final analysis, on the 1mage held by the dominant white
society.
One becomes most acutely aware of this while
studying the Pan-Indian Movement.
According to Oswalt (6)
Pan-Indianism is a synthesis of elements which are considered
Indian.
The white man's s.tereotype of the Indian exerts a
strong influence upon the selection of these elements.
For
example, the Plains headdress of eagle feathers has become
the symbol of all Indians regardless of their tribal origin.
37
The white man has always displayed a readiness to
generalize about Indians and to force them into convenient
stereotypes.
The truth of the matter is, Indian societies
have always differed widely.
to
genera~ze
It is a precar1ous undertaking
about Indians, since they differ so greatly
one from the other.
fl
This generalizing about Indians has
led to the stereotyping of the white man's schools in
grades K-12.
In this way Indians come to see themselves
through the eyes of the whites.
In addition to having a negative self-concept, the
Indian who is identified as Native American upon arriving
on campus is faced with an identity crisis.
After twelve
years of being educated 1n the white man's school, it is
ludicrous to suggest that the newly-arrived Indian student
is not acculturated, at least to some extent.
In his section on identity conflict, Myers (57) tells
us that the college campus demanded more from the Indian
than just being an individual who grew up on a reservation.
"It demanded concerned if not angry Indians---Indians who
would tell of past and present
injustices~"
say,
On the subject, Myers (58),
identity crises abound.
Needless to
states:
The identity conflict, then, was not so
much of the Indian trying to adjust to the
white world, as this adjustment had been
made on the reservation decades earlier.
Rather, the problem was the acculturated
Indian attempting to adjust to the im~ge
of the new Indian held by the whites on
38
v
/
the Chico campus.
The easiest way to obtain
such recognition was by clothing and hairstyle, and the Hoopa students were soon
wearing long hair tied in braids or ponytail.
Moccasins, fringed clothing, headbands and
beads proliferated (58:19).
Medicine (55) refers to this phenomenon as "culturequesting or identity-questing", saying that it is fostered
in part by· the polyglot of tribal backgrounds that have
appeared on campuses.
The result of the identity crisis
is that more attention is given to identifying with the
white man's image of the Indian than is given to academic
achievement.
If it is true that negative self-concept and identity
crisis are major factors contributing to the underachievement of Indian students enrolled in college, what can be
done to change this situation?
The literature indicates
that negative self-concept and identity crlsls are ultimately
the reflection of the image held by the dominant white
society.
indicated:
To correct this false image, two approaches are
(l) encourage the Indian to develop a better
image of himself, and (2) promote among the whites more
understanding and appreciation of the Indian, in the hope
that their image of the Indian might be improved.
CONCLUSION
After an extensive revlew of the literature, interviewing numerous students and ex-students from institutions
of higher learning and drawing from personal experience,
both on the reservation and while in college, I conclude:
If the Indian is to improve his self-image and resolve the
identity crisis, the proper place to begin the transformation is with the white society.
The problem is one of
educating the whites, of supplanting their ignorance and
their antiquated stereotypes with more knowledge and understanding of the Indian as he really is.
The literature points out that local autonomy and
responsibility, rather than coerclon and paternalism are
more conducive to educating the Native American. Indians
themselves have
s~t
forth goals for developing autonomy
and responsibility in the form of adequate counseling
opportunities, vocational training, better housing and
medical facilities, employment opportunities, revolving
loan funds, industrial development of reservations and
instilling in their young a sense of pride in being Indian.
Furthermore, the literature points out that the goal
of educating the Native American has been attempted with
the idea of assimilation into the broader society.
39
It is
40
this writer's belief that the Indian could best be served
through educational programs which allow the maintenance of
his culture and tribal origins.
Research in this area
should take the form of developing alternative schools at
the primary and secondary levels, schools similar to the
Rough Rock Demonstration school.
Thus, setting the pattern
for local autonomy, responsibility and self-reliance.
In the area of higher education, research and program
development should be in the areas of range management,
animal husbandry, marketing, agriculture, civil and mine
engineering, and professional counselors to insure that
students make wise academic choices.
Research and program
development in this area may ultimately enable Native
Americamto establish their own institutions of higher
learning.
The Native American student arrives at the present
institutions of higher learning with a negative self-concept.
This.negative self-concept is largely a product of the competitive school system of the broader society.
As the
literature points out, the Indian is cooperative rather
than competitive.
Research in the area of cooperative
Indian schools might clear the way for an alternative to
the present system and ultimately decrease the Native
American's negative self-concept.
Assuming that the Indian's negative self-concept can
be overcome by removing the elements of competition from
41
the school system, the problem of identity crisis should
resolve itself.
College and universities would receive self-
assured Indian students with a sense of direction.
Cultural
ties would be strengthened and there would be no question
of the usefulness of a college degree.
Fruition will come when the broader society realizes
that the Indian is not only willing but capable of choosing
his goals and directing his own destiny without abandoning
his culture.
REFERENCES
1.
Ablon, John.
"Relocated Amer_i_cans in the San Francisco
Bay Area." Human Organization. XXXIII:4:296..-304,
Winter, 1969.
2.
Adams, Larry L. A Follow-Up. Study of Indian Graduatesof Union High School. Roosevelt, Utah, M.E.
Brigham Young University, 1965.
3.
Andur'i, Carl E. A Study of High School Drop-outs,
M.A. Fresno State College, 1953.
4.
Artichoker, John, and Neil M. Palmer. The Sioux Indian
Goes to College.
Institute of Ind1an Studies,
Un1vers1ty of South Dakota, Vermillion, 1959.
5.
Atkinson, Darrell D. Educational Adjustment of Ute
Indians as compared to the Mixed-Bloods and Native
Whites at Union High School. M.S. Utah State
Agr1cultural College, Roosevelt, Utah, l955.
6.
Barnes, Findlay, A Comparative St~dy of the Mental
Ability of Indian Children. M.A., Stanford
University, Menlo Park, CA., 1955.
7.
Bass, Willard P., and Henry G. Burger. American Indians
and Educational Laboratories.
Southwest Cooperat1ve
Educational Laboratory, Albuquerque, 1967.
8.
Bernardoni, Louis C.
"Apache Parents and Vocational
Choice." Journal of American Indian Education.
II:2:1-8, January, 1963.
9.
Berry, Brewton. Almcst White.
New York, 1963.
The MacMillan Company,
· 10.
Blossom, Grace A.
"A New Approach to an old Problem."
Journal of American Indian Education.
I:2:13-14,
January, 1965.
·.11.
Bonner, Myrtle S. Education and Other Influence in the
Cultural Assimilation of the Cherokee Indians on
the Qualla Reservation 1n North Carolina, M.A.
Alabama Polytechnic Institute, 1950.
42
·~
43
12.
Brophy, William A., and Sophie Aberle. The Indian:
America's Urrfinished Business, Report of the
Gomm1ssion on the Rights, L1bert1es, and Responsibilities of the American Indian. University of
Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1966. ·
13.
Bryda, J.D., S.J. The Sioux Indian Student: A Study
6f Scholastic Fa1lure and Personal1ty Confl1ct.
Ph.D., University of Denver, 1965.
14.
Byrd, John M. Educational Policies of the Federal
Government Toward the Sac and Fox Indians of Iowa,
192D~l92l and 1936-1937, with Resulting Changes
1n Tnd1an Educat1onal Att1tudes: A Study 1n the
Process 6f Assimilation.
15.
California Indian Education: Report of the First
AlT Indian Statew1de Conference on California
Tnd1an Education. Ad Hoc Committee on California
Ind1an Educat1on, 1349 Crawford Road, Modesto,
California, n.d.
16.
Chance, Norman A. The Eskimo of North Alaska.
Rinehart & Winston, New York, 1966 .
. 17.
Holt,
Coleman, James S., et al. Equality of Educational
Opportunity. U.S. Government Printing Office,
Washington, 1966.
18.
Colson, Elizabeth. The Makah Indians. A Study of ~n
Tndian Tribe in Modern American Society.· UniverSlty of M1nnesota Press, M1nneapol1s, 1953.
19.
Conklin, Paul.
"Good Day at Rough Rock."
Education. February, 1967.
20.
Cox, Lionel C. A Study of the Intelligence of Indian
and White Children," M.S. Un1versity of Wyom1ng,
1938
21.
Declaration of Indian Purpose. American Indian
Ch1cago Conference, ll26·East 59th St., Chicago,
Illinois, 1961.
22.
Dennis, Henry C. The American Indian: 1492-1976.
Chronology and Fact Book. Oceana Publ1cat1ons,
Inc. Dobbs Perry, New York, 1977.
23.
Driver, Harold F.
Indians of North America. University
of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1961.
American
A
44
24.
· 25.
;,;
Fritz, Henry E. The Movement of Indian Assimilation:
1860-1890. ·Un1versity of Pennsylvanla Press,
Philadelphia,l963.
Fuchs, Estelle. "Learning to Be Native American:
Innovations at Rough Rock .. " Saturday Review.
82-84,.98-99, September 16, 1967.
26.
Garcia, Tanislado. A Study of the Effects of Education
u~on the Arapaho Indians of the Wind River Reservat~ M.A.
University of Wyoming, 1965.
27.
Garth, Thomas R. Race Psychology: A Study of Racial
Mental Differences.
McGraw-Hill Book Company,
New York, 1931.
28.
Goodman, Basil H. An Investigation of the Adjustment
of the Apache Indians to the Public Schools of the
State of Ar1zona, M.A. Ar1zona State Un1vers1ty,
1951
29.
Hamblin, John R. A Study of Some o.f the Important
Factors which Encourage Indian Students in the
Apache and Navajo Counties in Arizona to seek a
H1gher Educat1on after H1gh School Graduation,
M.E .. Brigham Young University, 1963.
30.
Havinghurst, R.J.
"Education among American Indians:
Individual and Cultural Aspects." Annals of the·
American Academy of Political and Social Science.
CCCXI:l05-115, May, 1957.
31.
Highwater, Jamake.
Indian America.
Inc., New York, 1975.
32.
Hobart, Charles W.
"Underachievement Among Minority
Group Students: An Analysis and a proposal."
Phylon. XXIV:2:184-196, 1963.
33.
Holdsworth, Willie. A Study of the Intelligence and
Reading Ability of Navajo Indians in the Ninth and
Tenth Grades, M.A. University of Minnesota, 1959.
34.
Hunter, vJ. , and E. S6mmermier.
"The Relation of Degree
of Indian Blood to Scores on the Otis Intelligence
Test." Journal of Comparative Psychology.
II:257-272, 1922.
35.
Indians in Rural a·nd Reservai:ion Areas.
State
Adv1sory Comm1sS10n on Ind1an Affa1rs, 1109 Ninth St.,
Sacramento, CA, 1966.
David McKay Co.,
45
36.
Jamieson, Elmer, and Peter Sandiford. "The Mental
Capacity of Southern Ontario Indians." Journal
of Educational Psychology. XIX:313-328, 536-557,
1928.
37.
Johnston, Denis F. An Analysis of Sources of Information on the Populat1on of the NavaJo. Bureau of
'
Amer1can Ethnology Bullet1n, 197, U.S. Government
Printing Office, Washington, 1966.
38.
Jonassen, Ingabora. The Comparative Intellectual
Abilities of Full and Mixed Blood Ind1ans, M.S.
Un1vers1ty of North Dakota, 1937.
39.
Jose, Nelson.
"Why We Need Our Education." Journal
·
of American Indian Education, I:3:22~25, May, 1962 ·
40.
Joseph, Alice, Rosamond Spicer, and Jane Chesky.
Desert People. University of Chicago Press,
Ch1cago, 194 9.
41.
Kayser, Joyce.
"Scholastic Performance and Ethnicity."
Journal of American Indian Education! III;l:27-30,
October, 1963.
42.
Kelly, William H. A Study of Southern Arizona SchoolAge Indian Children, 1966-1967.
Bureau of Ethnic
Research, Un1vers1ty of Arizona, Tucson, 1967.
4.3.
Kennedy, Mary J. Culture Contact and Acculturation of
the Southwestern Porno.
Ph.D., University of
Cal1forn1a, Berkeley, 1955.
44.
Klineberg, Otto.
"An Experimental Study in Speed and
Other Factors in 'Racial' Differences." Archives
of Psychology, XV:93:109, 1928.
45.
Klinebert, Otto.
"Racial Differences in Speed and
Accuracy," Journal of Abnormal and Social
Psychology. XXII:273-277, 1928.
46.
Kluckhohn, Clyde, and Dorothea Leighton. The Navajo.
Revised edition. Doubleday and Company, Garden
City, New York, 1962.
·
47.
Kutsche, Paul.
"Cherokee High School Drop-outs."
Journal of American Indian Education. III:2:22-30,
January, 1.964.
48.
Layman, Martha E.
United States.
The
A History of Indian Education in the
Ph.D., Un1vers1ty of Mlnnesota,l942.
46
------
~-------------,
49.
Leighton, Dorothea, and Clyde Kluckhohn. Children of
the People: The Navajo Individual and h1s development. Harvard University Press, Cambr±dge, 1947.
50.
Leighton, Dorothea C. and John Adair. People of the
Middle Place: A Study of ·the Zuni Ind1ans. Human
Relat1ons Area F1les, New Haven, Connect1cut, 1966 .>
51•
Lloyd, Nancy. The Chumash: A Study of the Assimilation
of a California Indian Tribe. M.A. University of
Arlzona, 1960.
"-...._
52.
Ludeman, W.W.
"The Indian Student in College." Journal
of Educational Sociology. XXXIII:7:333-335, March,
1960.
53.
Macgregor, Gordon. Warriors Without Weapons.
sity of Chicago Press, 1949.
54.
McGrath, G.D., et al. Higher Education of Southwestern
Indians with Reference to Success and Failure.
ArJ.zona State UnJ.vers1ty, 1962.
55.
Medicine, Bea. "Anthropologists and American Indian
Studies Programs." Anthropology and the American
Indian: A Symposium. The Ind1an HJ.story Press,
San Francisco, 1973.
56.
Meriam, Lewis, et al.
Problems of Indian Administration.
Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, 1928.
57.
Miller, Frank, and D. Douglas Caulkins.
"Chippawa
Adolescents: A Changing Generation." Human
Organization. XXIII:2:150-158, 1964.
~8.
Myers, James E. Hoopa Reservation College Drop-outs.
University Journal Press, California State University, Chico, Spring, 1978.
59.
Navajo Yearbook: Report No. VII: 1951-1961: A Decade
·of Progress. Navajo Agency, Window Rock, Arizona,
1961
60.
Nix, L.E.
Promotion of Higher Education within Arizona
Indian· Groups.
Ph.D., Arizona State Un1versity.
61.
Oswc,l t, Wendell H. This Land Was Theirs.
& Sons, Inc., New York, 1966.
Univer-
John Wiley
47
62.
Parmee, Edward A.
Formal Education and Culture Change:
A Modern Apache Ind1an Commun1ty and Government
Education Program. Uniyersity of Arizona Press.,
Tucson, 1968.
63.
Peters, Herbert D.
"Performc-,nce of Hopi Children on
Four Intelligence Tests." Journal of American
Indian Education, II:2:27-31, January, 1973.
64.
Qotawayma, Oplingaysi (Elizabeth Q. White). No Turning
Back. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque,
l964.
65.
Ray, Charles K., Joan Ryan, and Seymour Parker. Alaskan
Native Secondary School Dropouts: A Research
Report. University of Alaska, College, 1962.
66.
Rist, Severt R.
Shoshorie Indian Education: A Descriptive Study Based on Certa1n Influent1al Factors
Affecting Academic Achievement of Shoshone Indian
Students, W1nd R1ver Reservat1on, Wyom1ng. M.A.
Montana State University, 1961. _
67.
Roessel," Robert A., Jr. Handbook for Indian Education.
Amerindian Publishing Company, 1826 N. S1erra Bon1ta,
Los- Angeles, California, n.d.
68.
Roessel, Robert A., Jr. et al.
"An Overview of the
Rough Rock Demonstration School." Journal of
American Indian Education, VII: 3:2-41, May, i"968.
69.
Roher, J.H. "Test Intelligence of Osage Indians."
Journal of Social Psychology, SVI: 99-l05, August,
1942.
70.
Rowe, E.C.
"547 White and 268 Indian Children Tested
by the Binet-Simon Tests." The Pedagogical
Seminary, XXI:454-468, 1914.
71.
Simmons, Leo W.(ed.) Sun Chief, the Autobiography of
a Hopi Indian. Yale Un1vers1ty Press, New Haven,
1942.
72.
Spindler, George D., ·and Louise S. Spindler.
"American
Indian Personality Types and Their Sociocultural
Roots." The Annals of the American Academy of
Political and Soc1al Sc1ence, CCCXI:l47, May, 1957.
73.
Tefft, Stanton K.
"Anonomy, Values, and Culture Change
Among Teen-Age Indians: An Exploratory Study."
Sociology of Education. XL:2:145-157, Spring, 1967.
48
74.
Telford, C.W.
"Test Performance of Full and MixedBlood North Dakota Indians." Journal of Comparative
Psychology. XIV: 123-145, August, 1932 ..
'75.
Thomas, Kogee. Unpublished Work on the professional
status of Native Americans.
. 76.
Thompson, Laura, and Alice Joseph. The Hopi Way .
University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1944.
Harper & Bros.,
77.
Thompson, Laura. Culture in Crisis.
New York, 1950.
78..
United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of
Indian Affairs, "Indian Ed1cation Resources Center,n
IERC_ Bulletin, Sept. 1958, Vol, 6, No. 9.
79.
Uhlman, Ester E.A. Comparative Study of Achievement
and Intelligence of Indians and Wh1tes, in the
Public Schools of Lapway, Idaho, M.S. University
of Idaho, 1953.
80.
Voget, Fred. "Acculturation at Caughnagaga:- A note
on the Native-Modified Group." AmericanAnthropologists. LIII:200-23l, 1951.
· 81.
Wax, Murry, et al. Formal Education of the American
Indian Community.
Society for the Study of Social
Problems. P.O. Box 190, Kalamazoo, M1ch1gan, 1964.
82.
Wax, Rosalie H., and Robert K. Thomas.
"American
Indian and White People." Phylon. XXII:4:305-317,
1961.
83. ·Wesley, Clarence~ "Indian Education." Journal of
American Indian Education~ I:l:4-7, June, 1961.
84.-
West, Ralph L. The Adjustment of the American Indian
in Detroit: A descriptive Study .. M.A., Wayne
Un1vers1ty, 1950.
85.
Wilcott, Harry. A Kwakiutl Village and School.
Rinehart and Winston, New York:, 1967.
86.
Zintz, Miles V. The Indian Research Study: The Adjustment of Indian and Non-Indd_ari Children in the Publ:i:c
Schools of New .Mexico. College of Education,
Un1vers1ty of New Mexico, Albuquerque, 1960.
87.
Zintz, Miles V. Education Across Cultures.
C. Brown Book Co., Dubuque, Iowa, 1963.
Holt,
William