SCHOOL, EDUCATIONAL POLICY AND CULTURAL SURVIVAL: NATIVE AMERICANS OF THE UNITED STATES

Abstract

Native Americans have historically been subjected to strong cultural assimilation processes at school. American settlement colonialism deprived them of their essential resources and much of their intangible heritage. Thus, education has become instrumental to erode their cultures and justify the plunder of their lands, but Native American peoples have confronted assimilative educational policies, developed important strategies of resistance, and created educational experiences consistent with their own realities and aspirations. This article addresses the resistances and demands of Native Americans in the American educational system and their impact on the school curriculum, analyzing how their demands were made concrete. The responses of current multicultural education and critical pedagogy to the challenges of Native American educators in influencing educational content and methodologies are also addressed. Given that these contributions to the educational field are inserted in larger struggles for the sovereignty of these peoples, this article goes beyond the multicultural lens by addressing the causes of Native American peoples’ oppression and how it impacts schooling.