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Stoll, Amy, Ed.Reclaiming Native Education: Activism, Teaching andLeadership.Cultural Survival, Cambridge, MA.Massachusetts Cultural Council, Boston.ISSN-0740-32911998-00-0069p.; Theme issue. Photographs may not reproduce adequately.Cultural Survival, 96 Mount Auburn St., Cambridge, MA 02138.Tel: 617-441-5400.Collected Works Serials (022)Cultural Survival Quarterly; v22 n1 Spr 1998MF01/PC03 Plus Postage.Activism; *American Indian Education; American Indians;Culturally Relevant Education; *Educational Change;Elementary Secondary Education; Foreign Countries; HigherEducation; *Indigenous Populations; Language Maintenance;Maori (People); Maya (People); Mexicans; *Self Determination

The bulk of this theme issue of Cultural Survival Quarterlyconsists of a 41-page "focus" section on indigenous peoples' efforts toregain control of their children's education and on the role of indigenouseducators as agents of change. Following an introduction by NimachiaHernandez and Nicole Thornton, the articles in this section are: "Contextsand Challenges of Educating Tibetan Children in the Diaspora" (NawangPhuntsog); "The Educational and Cultural Implications of Maori LanguageRevitalization" (Linda Tuhiwai Smith); "Our Children Can't Wait: Recapturingthe Essence of Indigenous Schools in the United States" (Cornel Pewewardy);"Teaching Tribal Histories from a Native Perspective" (Lea Whitford); "NativeHawaiian Epistemology: Exploring Hawaiian Views of Knowledge" (Manu AluliMeyer); "Indigenous Rights and Schooling in Highland Chiapas" (MargaretFreedson Gonzales, Elias Perez Perez); "Chanob Vun ta Batz'i K'op of SnaJr7lihAinm: An Altp.rnativim Reinr,atinn in nfl-r N=riv= L=1-1T,=g=Q11 Acs 1=

Torre Lopez, translated by Bret Gustafson); "Who Can Make a Difference?Everybody Can! Sharing Information on Indigenous Educational Success--A CaseStudy from Australia" (Roberta Sykes); "Maya Education and Pan Maya Ideologyin the Yucatan" (Allan Burns); "Indigenous Legal Translators: Challenges of aUniversity Program for the Maya of Guatemala" (Guillermina Herrera Pena,translated by Nicole Thornton); "What Exactly Is It That You Teach?Developing an Indigenous Education Program at the University Level" (DeirdreA. Almeida); and "Historical and Contemporary Policies of IndigenousEducation in Mexico" (Salomon Nahmad, translated by Nicole Thornton). Thisissue also contains brief notes on educational, cultural, political, andhealth issues of indigenous peoples worldwide; book reviews; listings ofresources and events; and updates on special projects. (SV)

Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be madefrom the original document.

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Cultural Survival Quarterly Spring 1998 Volume 22 Issue 1

FOCUS:

Reclaiming Native EducationActivism, Teaching and Leadership

Students horsing aroundat the Mounds Park All-Nations Magnet Schoolin St. Paul, MN.

CONTENTSIntroduction

22Reclaiming Native Education: Activism, Teaching and Leadership

by Nimachia Hernandez and Nicole Thornton, Guest Editor

Articles

24

27

29

35

38

41

44

46

50

53

57

59

Contexts and Challenges of Educating Tibetan Children in the Diasporaby Nawang Phuntsog

The Educational and Cultural Implications of Maori Language Revitalizationby Linda Tuhiwai Smith

Our Children Can't Wait: Recapturing the Essence of Indigenous Schools in the United States

by Cornet Pewewardy

Teaching Tribal Histories from a Native Perspectiveby Lea Whitford

Native Hawaiian Epistemology: Exploring Hawaiian Views of Knowledgeby Manu Aluli Meyer

Indigenous Rights and Schooling in Highland Chiapasby Mat:garet Freedson Gonzales and Elias Perez Perez

Chanob Van ta Batz'i K'op of Sna Jtz'ibajom: An Alternative Education in Our Native Languages

by Antonio de la Torre LOpez, translation by Bret Gustafson

Who Can Make a Difference? Everybody Can! Sharing Information onIndigenous Educational SuccessA Case Study from Australia

by Roberta Sykes

Maya Education and Pan Maya Ideology in the Yucatanby Allan Burns

Indigenous Legal Translators: Challenges of a University Prograinfor the Maya of Guatemala

by Guillermina Herrera Pena, translation by Nicole Thornton

What Exactly Is It That You Teach? Developing an Indigenous Education Program at theUniversity Level

by Deirdre A. Almeida

Historical and Contemporary Policies of Indigenous Education in Mexicoby SalomOn Nahmad, translated by Nicole Thornton

Departments

3

4

EDITORIAL

BRIEFLY NOTED

9 CS BULLETIN BOARD

10

12

14

16

BOOK REVIEW

Kenneth M. GeorgeDavid MayburyLewis

SOURCES

SPECIAL PROJECTS UPDATE

UPDATE

Native North America

90 NOTES FROM THE FIELD

Bret Gustafson

IN MEMORY OF ALSELMO PEREZ62

64 SPECIAL: UPDATE FROM CHIAPAS

On the coverStudents at school in Katsel, Tibet

Photo: Courtesy of the Tibetan School Project

Cultural Survival Quarterly Spring 1998 1

CULTURAL SURVIVAL

Her Majesty Queen Margretheof Denmark,Honorary Member

David Maybury-Lewis,Founder

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

David Maybury-Lewis, PresidentDepartment of AnthropologyHarvard University

S. James AnayaUniversity of Iowa Law School

Harvey CoxHarvard D'Arinity School

Wade Davis

Sarah FullerDecision Resources, Inc.

Elizabeth GradyThe Cambridge Publ c Schools

Jean JacksonDepartment of AnthropologyM.I.T

Richard Lee

P Ranganath NayakThe Boston Consulting Group,

Cambridge

Orlando PattersonDepartment of SociologyHarvard University

Marguerite RobinsonHarvard Institute for International

Development

Ruben ShohetMeridian Partners, New York

Sylvia ShepardDavid Smith

Harvard Law School

Lynn StephenDepartment of Anthropology and SociologyNortheastern University

John W TerborghCenter for Tropical ConservationDuke University

Barbara Wilk

ADVISORY BOARDRoberto Cardoso de Oliveira,Philippa Friedrich, John Marshall,Francesco Pellizzi , Louis B. Sohn,Stefano Varese, Evon Z. Vogt, Jr.

STAFFMaria Tocco, Managing Director

Publications:

Cultural Survival QuarterlyAmy Stoll, Managing EditorBartholomew Dean, Book Reviews EditorSofia Flynn, Distribution

Cultural Survival Series on Ethnicityand Change

David Maybury-Lewis & TheodoreMacdonald, Jr., General Editors

Center for Cultural Survival:David Maybury-Lewis, Senior FellowPeter Wogan, Editor, Active Voices:The Online journal of Cultural Survival.

Special Projects:

Maria Tocco, Sofia Flynn, Coordinators

Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco(formerly Chinchero Culture Project)

Nilda Callanaupa, Coordinator

Ersari Turkmen Vegetable Dye WeavingProject and Tibetan Rug Weaving Project

Chris Walter, Coordinator

Garifuna journeyAndrea Leland, Kathy Berger,Coordinators

Gwich'in Environmental Knowledge ProjectGleb Raygorodetsky, Coordinator

Burl Forest People's FundDavid Wilkie, Gilda Morelli, BryanCurran, Robert Bailey, Coordinators

FOMMAMiriam Laughlin, Coordinator

-7 /di

-If

iS4trrii

-

c

.114 0

Indigenous children in Mexico have suffered from assimilationist educational policies toMexicanize' the Indian, but some states, like Oaxaca, have passed progressive educational lawsthat provide bilingual and intercultural education to all indigenous peoples.

7rif '

Maya Manche Scholarship Fund (for-merly Kekchi High School ScholarshipFund)

Richard Wilk, Coordinator

Orang Asli Assistance FundKirk Endicott, Adela S. Baer, Coord nators

Sna jtz'ibajom, Chiapas Writers'Cooperative

Robert Laughlin, Coordinator

The Suyd ProjectAnthony Seeger, Coordinator

Tibetan School ProjectNancy Mayo-Smith, Coordinator

Xavante Education FundLaura Graham, Coordinator

Education and Outreach:Nicole Thornton, CoordinatorHeather Armitage, Library Coordinator

Interns, Bazaars & Local Affairs:Pia Maybury-Lewis

Interns: Marcela Betzer, FelisaBrunschwig, Soo Sun Choe, LynneCurran, Julia Dickinson, AllisonDonald, Matthew V Goodwin, A.David Hendricks, Yuki Kuraoka,Shamali Kuru, Sabine Pust, SeemaSharma, Nancy Silva, Lara Zielen

Membership:Pamela Wells, Coordinator

Bookkeeping/Personnel:Sofia Flynn

The Program on Non-ViolentSanctions and Cultural Survival(PONSACS)

A Joint Program of The Center forInternational Affairs at HarvardUniversity and Cultural Survival

David Maybury-Lewis, DirectorDoug Bond, TheodoreMacdonald, Jr., Associate Directors

GENERAL INFORMATIONCopyright 1998 by Cultural Survival,Inc. Cultural Survival Quarterly (ISSN0740-3291) is indexed by Alternative PressIndex (API) and Environmental L'eriodicalsBibliography Cultural Survival Quarterly ispublished four times per year for $45 peryear by Cultural Survival, Inc., 96 Mt AuburnSt., Cambridge, MA 02138. Periodicalspostage is paid at Boston, MA, permit no.8-189. Postmaster, send address changesto: Cultural Survival, 96 Mt. Auburn St.,Cambridge, MA 02138. Printed on recy-cled paper in the U.S.A. Please note thatthe views in this magazine are those ofthe authors and do not necessarily repre-sent the views of Cultural Survival.

Designer, Jason Gross

WRITERS GUIDELINESView the writers' guidelines at ourweb site (wwwcs.org) or send a self-addressed, stamped envelope toCultural Survival, Writer's Guidelines,96 Mount Auburn St., Cambridge,MA, 02138. Requests sent withoutproper postage cannot be fulfilled.

ADDRESSCultural Survival96 Mount Auburn StreetCambridge, MA 02138tel: (617)441-5400, fax:(617)441-5417Web site: www.cs.orgE-mail: [email protected]

THIS ORGANIZATION IS FUNDED IN PART BY

MASSACHUSETTS CULTURAL COUNCIL....OMNI WM. projearns Me arts. hunlanNeS, and acersa

Corrections to CSQ 21(4):On page 44, the last sentence of the first paragraph inthe second column should read: Currently TimEricson, an American from Modesto, California is inthe process of developing Syriac (not Islamic) fontsfor use on-line. We apologize for the mistake.

2 Cultural Survival Quarterly Spring 1998

EDITORIAL

The Context of Educationby David Maybury-Lewis

The recent passionate debates concerning teaching historyand representing minorities in American classrooms havemade us all aware that education is not a culturally neu-

tral process. It is not simply amatter of teachers drilling theirstudents in the three Rs and then going on to fill their heads withprogressively more advanced levels of knowledge. What is taught,the perspective from which it is taught, the language in which itis taught, and the cultural context of teaching are all importantaspects of education, and this becomes abundantly clear whenthe teachers do not share the same cultural background as theirstudents. This has traditionally been the case in the education ofindigenous peoples who, when they received any education at all,were normally taught by aliens who considered their studentsinferior, thought they needed to be trained to despise their ownlanguage and way of life, and accept the language and culture oftheir conquerors. The articles in this issue summarize that bitterhistory, but they also show the difficulties of establishing differenteducational systems once it has been decided to do so.

The histories of indigenous educational experiences differ intheir particulars but are sadly similar in their generalities. TheMaya, for example, have fought for centuries to maintain theirancient culture in the face of attempts, first by the Spanish andlater by the governments of Mexico and Guatemala, to eradicateit. The indigenous peoples of the U.S. and Australia had theirchildren forcibly taken from them and thrust into schools thattried to educate them away from the languages and customs oftheir ancestors. The Tibetans have only recently come to theexperience of being indigenous, that is to say being marginalizedin their own country by conquering outsiders. Their traditionaleducational system has been abolished by the Chinese and it isonly refugee Tibetans who can try to revive it in the diaspora. Inall these instances the alien education systems sought to eliminatethe cultures of the people they were educating. Indigenous edu-cation systems, by contrast, are as much concerned with culturalsurvival as they are with the transmission of knowledge; yet thisis easier said than done.

The Tibetan refugees, for example, face an uphill struggle asthey try to maintain their monastic educational system abroad, oralternatively, to develop a new and secular system. They wanttheir educational institutions to keep Tibetan language and cul-ture alive among their children while at the same time preparingtheir children to cope successfully with life outside Tibet. Even

peoples who do not face the double burden of being indigenousin and refugees from their home countries face difficult problemsas they try to devise educational systems that can overcome theprejudices and injustices of the past. The Maori, for example, arenow receiving considerable support from the government of NewZealand for Maori language educational programs, but they arediscovering that the revitalization of Maori culture is more difficult.

They face a poignant and familiar dilemma where young Maorihave been taught the Maori language, but have drifted away fromMaori culture, while older Maori are trying to keep Maori culturealive, even though they no longer speak the language.

The whole point of indigenous educational systems is tokeep both language and culture alive, to teach people to see theworld from the special vantage point that their culture provides.The cruel irony is that now, as nations are increasingly willing topermit indigenous peoples to develop their own systems of edu-cation, those systems and the cultures that give them meaning arethreatened with erosion by national or even global forces. Theteachers who strongly resist teaching Mayan children in their ownlanguages are themselves Maya who feel that the children wouldbe better off with a stronger grounding in Spanish. Meanwhilethe children risk being alienated by an overly Hispanic curricu-lum or isolated by an overly Mayan one. But the risk of isolationis more than offset for the Maya by the exhilaration of recoveringtheir culture, its world view, its calendar, its literature, and mak-ing them central to the education of their children. NativeAmericans in the U.S. are likewise experiencing the excitement ofdevising curricula that seek to express their holistic and syntheticthinking rather.than the piecemeal and analytical approach previ-ously imposed upon them.

The good news therefore is that indigenous peoples aretaking control of their educational systems in so many parts ofthe world. The sad news is that this does not solve all their edu-cational problems. Now their systems and the people educated inthem have to compete for acceptance in societies that may bedubious about multiculturalism or that accept it in theory but notin practice. Still, as the nations of the world struggle towards amulticultural future, their acceptance of the cultural context ofeducational systems is a giant step in the right direction.

David Maybury-Lewis is Professor of Anthropology at Harvard University.He is also Founder and President of Cultural Survival


6

BRIEFLY NOTED

The Native AmericanPreparatory School

by Allison Donald

In 1988, The Native AmericanPreparatory School (NAPS) was establishedto enrich the education of AmericanIndian children in seventh, eighth, andninth grades in preparation for highereducation. Located in Rowe, New Mexicoon a 1600 acre campus, NAPS has evolvedfrom a challenging five week summerschool for junior high school students,to include a highly prestigious four yearcollege prep school which admitted itsfirst class in September, 1995.

Now in its third year, the collegeprep school includes a student body thatrepresents 13 states, 33 tribal entities,and two countries-the U.S. and Canada.Compared to the 50 Navajo youths thatmade up the first summer school pro-gram in 1988, NAPS' expanse, both inits programs and its student body, islargely due to the philosophy on whichit was founded.

NAPS is dedicated to providing arigorous and challenging environment inwhich American Indian students can

maintain and strengthenboth their traditionalvalues and native identitieswhile enriching their acad-emic experience through aWestern education. Thiscombination enablesstudents to meet the chal-lenges of higher education through aunique and culturally rich experience.

At comparable college prep schools,average yearly tuition per student canrange around $20,000 a year. NAPShowever, is the first privately fundedschool for American Indians and whileneed-based financial aid is available, theaverage student tuition is $900 annuallyFoundation grants and individual dona-tions are also a source of financial aid.Students are admitted through an appli-cation process on the basis of academicmerit and personal achievement.

One of the goals of NAPS is to rede-fine the Native American educationalsystem. As founder and chair of NAPS,Richard P Ettinger states:

"the youth who are educated at theNative American Prepatory School willbe the leaders not only of their owntribes and states, but will also become

FOR MORE INFO

Contact Native American PrepatorySchool PO Box 160, Rowe, NM 87562,tel (505) 474-6801, fax (505) 474-6816and Elizabeth Martin Public Relations,

411-B Paseo de Peralta,Santa Fe, NM 87501-1938,tel (505) 989-1733, fax(505) 989-3928.

Teacher vorking with NAPS students.

17-N

/111.11

effective architects ofUnited States policy Wehelp our exceptionalstudents recognize theirown abilities, and preparethem to wrestle with for-midable societal chal-lenges that face all of us.With quality education,American Indian people

will regain their rightful place inAmerica-proud of their culture andtraditions, and confident in their abil-ity to succeed at any endeavor."

Sources:

The Native American Prepatoty School:

www.gse.uci.edu

Press Release from Elizabeth Martin Public Relations, Ltd.

The Interconnection BetweenCulture and Medicine

by Lara Zielin

According to panel members ofAlternative Systems of Medical Practice,70-90% of global health care systemsconceptualize and interpret sickness dif-ferently than through the schema ofmodern medicine. Interestingly, thesealternative schemas (often termed 'folk'practices or illnesses) are beginning toinfluence medically advanced societies-particularly the U.S.-which haspreviously ignored these seeminglysuperstitious medical methodologies.

The Texas Medical Institute hasemphasized that understanding the cul-tural context from which a patient comesis as important as understanding thesickness itself. In Texas, overwhelmingnumbers of Hispanic immigrants seekingeffective health care simultaneously drawfrom folk or traditional medical practicesand beliefs. For example, susto, a 'frightsickness,' illustrates the relationshipbetween the social and physical realmsand is common among Mexican orHispanic populations in Texas.According to Dr. Rodriguez, Director of


BRIEFLY NOTED

the Center for Immigration Rese.arch atthe University of Houston, "if you'refrightened or shocked by something sothat your body or your spirit is believedto be in disequilibrium, you're in a stateof susto...For us, it would be comparableto anxiety or depression." Some symp-toms of susto can include sleeplessness,apathy, crying easily, or weight loss.However, according to anthropologistFrank Lipp, susto's symptoms and diag-

nosiscannot be"reducedto andembeddedinto" a sin-gularly sci-entific

framework without understanding theways in which it is "culturally designedand experienced." Treating susto is notas simple as prescribing pills and waitingfor them to take effect. Rather, treatingthe sickness may entail understandinghow the sickness is culturally designed,experienced, and translated.

Robert Carlson, author of "Flourfrom a Different Sack" featured in TexasMedicine, indicates that modern medi-cine must expand its analysis of sicknessand treatment to meet the needs of theburgeoning Hispanic population, forwhom susto embodies much more thanan individual with certain symptoms.When a person is affected by susto, "thewhole community is believed to be indanger. Therefore, the treatment mustaddress the entire community ratherthan just the patient." Medical anthro-pologists Nancy Scheper-Hughes andMargaret Lock believe that modern med-icine is often incapable of defining illnessas anything more than just a physicalmalfunction. According to Scheper-Hughes and Lock, those who practiceand partake in modern medicine oftenlack a precise vocabulary to deal withmind/body/society interactions. Thus, a

FOR MORE INFO

Rubel, O'Nell and Collando-Ardon, "The Folk Illness CalledSusto" in The Culture Bound

Syndromes. 1985.

Texas Medical Institute:www.texmed.org.

Cartesian mind/body dualism pervadestreatment and illness is analyzed andtreated apart from the social context inwhich it is found. The Texas MedicalInstitute is quickly discovering that thisanalysis of sickness is not always effec-tive. Consequently, the interplay betweenthe biological and the social is worthy ofinvestigation, not only in cases of sustobut also in sicknesses more commonlyprevalent in dominant United States culture.

Sources:

www.texmed.org/home/news_events/texas_medicine/ne_t

exmedfeatureoct96.htm

www.nlm.nih

www.naturalhealthvillage,com/uctreportlaltsysterns.htrn

Lipp, Frank. 1987. "The Study of Disease in Relation to

Culture: The Susto Complex Among the

Mixe of Oaxaca." Dialectical Anthropology 12:4. pp.435-442.

Scheper-Hughes, Nancy and Loch, Margaret M. 1987.

"The Mindful Body: A Prolegomenon to Future

Work in Medical Anthropology." Medical

Anthropology Quarterly 1:1. pp. 6-41.

Web Site Highlights Strugglesof India's Hill Peoples

by Rap Rawat

The hill districts of India's largest state,Uttar Pradesh, have attracted interna-tional attention from environmentalists'efforts to safeguard the Himalayanforests. As the source of the Ganges Riverand home to India's highest peaks andholiest shrines, deforestation in this areacalled Uttarakhand has led to environ-mental deterioration. This process hasmade living even more precarious,adding to the already difficult conditionsof hill life. Chipko, India's first modernenvironmental movement, began in thesehills as did other awareness campaigns.Involving thousands of mostly womenvillagers, these movements have foughtsocial ills brought on by the exploitationof natural resources as a result of thenation's industrialization and development.

In recent years, agitation for sepa-rate statehood within the Indian unionhas mobi-lized thehill peopleas neverbefore, ashopes for abetterfuturehave found expression in calls for self-determination and local control overgovernment and resources. This past falloverseas friends of these social move-ments established a web page highlight-ing the issues confronting the Himalayas-and its peoples. Located athttp://www.geocities.comf-karnavati, thesite offers a wealth of information on the

FOR MORE INFO

For more info on Uttarakhandand the Himalayas, please contactRajiv Rawat at [email protected]

vard.edu or (617) 623-4226or check out the websiteat w.geocites.com/kar-navati.

vi

Hill women foraging for fuel wood, an activity that

often consumes 16 hours a day.

history, geography, and current events ofthe Indian Himalayas. As such, support-ers hope to educate Uttarakhandis, otherIndians, and world citizens alike, as thefirst step to raising support for the ongo-ing struggle of the hill people to deter-mine their own destiny

HIV/AIDS Funding Denied forNatives

by Seema Sharma

In the 29 years of its existence, theAmerican Indian Community House(A1CH) of New York City has developedculturally sensitive approaches to manag-

8 Cultural Survival Quarterly Spring 1998 5

BRIEFLY NOTED

ing, counseling, and educating NativeAmericans about job training and place-ment, health services, HIV/ AIDSreferral and case management, and coun-seling programs for alcohol and substanceabuse. In addition, the AICH HIV/AIDSProject has established an OutreachProgram to assist NativeAmericans living withHIV/AIDS. Since its incep-tion in 1991, the OutreachProgram has provided over17,000 people with infor-mation about its services and primarycare services throughout the greater NewYork area.

Until recently, this program receivedits funding from Medical Health ResearchAssociates, Inc. (MHRA) with Ryan WhiteTitle I funds. However, as of November 14,1997, the AICH HIV/AIDS Project was de-nied approval of two grant applicationsfor promoting access to early interventionand case management services. The MHRA of

New York City, the very agency allocatingfunds for Ryan White ComprehensiveAIDS Emergency Act Title I, was respon-sible for repealing funding. This decisionwill result in the shut down of the AICHProject by the end of February, 1998.

The implications of this project termi-nation are profound as thousands of NativeAmericans surviving with HIV/AIDS willbe left without culturally appropriatemeans for dealing with HIV/A1DS and theaccompanying hardships. Further, in atime when HIV/AIDS studies-conductedby the Center for Disease Control (CDC)-exclude or underrepresent Native Americans,any services benefiting and or support-ing this population are imperative. Inaddition, according to Teresa Diaz, MDof the CDC, the number of AIDS casesamong Native Americans is likely to bean underestimation due to ethnic mis-classification. In fact, the percentage ofcases mis- or underrepresented amongNative Americans may be as high as 21%.

In a 1994 issue of AIDS Weekly,. pub-lisher Charles Henderson writes that as ofAugust 1994, there have been 818 reportedAIDS cases among Native Americans nation-wide. It is believed that many cases gounreported due to denial and the fact thatmany tribal leaders do not consider AIDS

education a priority TomLidot, coordinator of an AIDS

education program forCalifornia-based Indian Health

Council Inc., says "You aretalking about a community

that is isolated in the world, a place thathas its own values and traditions. And wehave leaders-leaders chosen for their ageand wisdom who dictate values. If theyfeel that AIDS is a threat for any reason,then, yeah, the blockades go up."

According to the Phoenix IndianMedical Center, AIDS cases among NativeAmericans increased by 20% during1996-a rate 20% higher than the generalpopulation. Further, once diagnosed,Native Americans with HIV/AIDS have ashorter life span by 50% compared toany other ethnic group reports ConstanceJames, the medical center spokeswoman.

The conservation of protective ser-vices for Native Americans is required tosustain this dwindling population.Unfortunately, one vital service providedby AICH functioning to preserve NativeAmericans has been expunged and willlead to further decline of the NativeAmerican population. As RosemaryRichmond, Executive Director of theAmerican Indian Community Housearticulates, "the ability of the AmericanIndian Community House to conductoutreach, for the purpose of accessingHIV related services to our communityhas been dealt a devastating blow. Manylives of our community are now at stake."

FOR MORE INFO

Contact theCo

(2

American Indianmmunity House, Inc.,iana Gubiseh-Ayala12) 598-0100 x.255.

Sources:

www.abest.com/@aichnycihtm

AIDS Weekly, September 26, 1994, p. 10(2) andDecember 16, 1996 p. 5(1).

The Educational Future of Cree

by Marcela Betzer

The Cree School Board recently intro-duced Cree as a language of instruction,a huge step forward from the mentalityof the residential schools of previousyears. Residential schools that instructedCree children in English or French,believed that Cree was not a sufficientlanguage to study Former Chairman ofthe Cree School Board, Luke MacLeod,asserts that the Cree should learn andstudy in their own language and thatFrench and English should also belearned, but as secondary languages.

The introduction of Cree as a lan-guage of instruction occurred in themidst of drafting the Cree EducationAct. This act places local schools underthe direction of local communities andextends Cree School Board leadershippositions from one to three years, amongother provisions. The Cree peopleexpressed positive opinions when con-sulted about the Cree Education Act.They see the Cree School Board ashaving a "central role in preserving andstrengthening the Cree language, culture,and values."

The success of Cree as a language ofinstruction is already apparent.Educators within the program agree thatsince the introduction of Cree, childrenhave been able to learn more easilybecause they understand their teacherswithout the need for translation andlearn the Cree values inherent in the lan-guage as they learn to read and write.Children are introduced to French andEnglish in the third grade when they aremore prepared to immerse themselves inanother language.

However, the new program faces afew problems. Cree parents concernedwith their children's inevitable futureinteraction with English and French are


BRIEFLY NOTED

not convinced yet that the change is forthe better. The parents do not under-stand why Cree should be taught atschool if it is spoken at home and are onthe whole more interested in their chil-dren learning French and English, possi-bly a residual impact of the Residentialschools' mentality The program is alsohoping to improve their libraries as theyhave very few texts with Cree syllabics intheir libraries for the students' use.

The Cree School Board is hosting anupcoming conference entitled CreeLanguage and Cultural Conference withthe theme Remembering our Children inhopes of outlining its future goals andproviding evaluation and direction forthe participants. Also, another hope isthat other Native groups in Canada willbe interested in what the Cree SchoolBoard is doing and will generate ideas touse their own languages for instructionfor their people.

Sources:

"Cree Educators and the Language They Love," in The

Nation. October 24, 1997. "Taking EducationSeriously," in The Nation. August 15, 1997.

Yothu Yindi Provides Much-Needed Bridge BetweenCultural Gaps

by Lara Zielin

Out of the continually diversifyingrealm of music, Yothu Yindi (pro-nounced Yo-thoo yin-dee) has emergedas a band which combines traditionalaboriginal Yolngu music with non-abo-riginal Balanda music. The importance ofthe music's cultural amalgamation ismore than just a triumph over cacoph-ony The assimilation of "traditional songcycles of the Gumatj and Rirratjinguclans of the North-East Arnhem land"into mainstream music has helped fostera deeper understanding between aborigi-nal and non-aboriginal cultures. By pro-

moting aboriginal music, YothuYindi also promotes awareness ofissues pertaining to Yolngu cul-ture, including land and resourcestruggles in which the Yolngu areinvolved.

One of Yothu Yindi's foundingmembers is MandawuyYunupingu, the recipient ofAustralia's 1992 Australian of theYear Award and the first personfrom Arnhem Land to gain a uni-versity degree. Yunupingu isresponsible for much of the band'smusic and lyrics, including"Treaty," a song from Yothu Yindi'sTribal Voice album. Treaty, writtenin the Gumatj language is "a pleafor recognition sparked by formerAustralian prime minister BobHawke's commitment to negotiatea [land and resource] treaty"between the descendants of abo-riginal and non-aboriginal peoplein Australia. Yunupingu is familiar withthe process of land and resource negotia-tion. His father was one of the leaders ofthe Gumatj and Rirratjingu clans whopresented petitions to the Australiangovernment in the 1960s asking forrecognition of aboriginal claims to land.The petition, written on bark, led to theestablishment of the WoodwardAboriginal Land Commission Of 1973and 1974 "which prepared a blueprintfor vesting Aboriginal land rights inthe...Northern Territory The blueprint,enacted in 1976, was used to design aland rights law applicable to the historyand conditions in the NorthernTerritory"

Yothu Yindi's ability to promote andaddress aboriginal issues stems from theband's successful navigation betweenaboriginal and non-aboriginal cultures.The band keeps its finger on the pulse ofits clan members through tribal consul-tation, but also utilizes white culture to

,

_Tb4r7 net,Yothu Yindi founder Mandawuy Yunupingu with a yidaki (traditional

aboriginal instrument) player

\

1 0

vocalize the clan's concerns. Yunupinguconveyed to Rolling Stone magazine that,"[Yothu Yindi] operate[s] in two aspectsof reality One is restricted (sacred); theother is unrestricted (public). That iswhy I find it easy to come into the whiteman's world and operate, then go backto my world without fear of losing it. I'musing white man's skills, Yolngu skillsand putting them together for a newbeginning."

Anthropologist Helen Ross suggeststhat successful communication betweenaboriginal and non-aboriginal culturesmust begin with an understanding ofboth cultures, which Yunupingu andYothu Yindi possess. Ross maintains thatmiscommunication is all too commonamong aboriginal and non-aboriginalnegotiation processes due to a failure tounderstand cultural norms. For example,timing, consultation, and value systemsare cultural issues which can convolutenegotiations for both aboriginal andnon-aboriginal peoples, pivoting on alack of understanding about how the


BRIEFLY NOTED

FOR MORE INFO

If you are interested in obtain-ing Yothu Yindi'smusic, contactwww.mushroom.com.

issues differbetweengroups.Yothu Yindi,by promot-

ing awareness and understanding of abo-riginal culture with the rest of the world,has helped negotiate tenants betweenaboriginal and non-aboriginal culture,with tangible results.

Sources:

Ross, Helen. 1995. "Aboriginal Australians' CulturalNorms for Negotiating Natural Resources," in

Cultural Survival Quarterly; 19:3. pp. 33-38.

Yothu Yinid's website: www.yothuyindi.com

1986. "Aboriginal Land Rights in Australia," in Cultural

Survival Quarterly; 10:2. Adapted from "Watching

Brief on Land Rights" by Jon Altman and Michael

Dillon in Austrialian Society, June 1985.

Threat of Maya LandDestruction

by Nancy Silva

Tie Maya Itza are one of the Mayanlinguistic groups in Guatemala still inexistence; however, the group is strug-gling with a major threat to their culturalsurvival. The ltza are trying to preservetheir municipal forests that may bedestroyed. In order to save their landsfrom mass destruction, in 1991, theyestablished the Committee of theBiosfera ltza Reserve. With this effort theItza hoped they could banish any plansof demolition of the forests. Though thiswas a great effort on their part, it wasnot enough to halt the grand plans ofgreed already in process. The currentMayor of San Jose decided it would bemore profitable to break up the originalcommittee and replace it with immi-grants who have a strong desire to termi-nate the forests, thus creating room foragricultural plots. In addition, theMayor's new plans include the improve-ment of roads within his municipality Aspayment for the labor the Mayor has

agreed to give the logging company,Barren Commercial, logs from themunicipal ejido lands; ejido referring to acollectively owned land unit. TheBiosfera ltza Reserve is one of the areasof the municipal ejido lands that is stillforested. The logging of these forests willmake this area "accesible, subjectingthese areas to further dis-turbance that is oftenmore severe than the log-ging itself' according to anadvisor to the EnvironmentDepartment of the WorldBank, Robert Goodland's

by the group. Also, the Mayor violatednew Guatemalan laws which allow theMaya people to participate in the man-agement and protection of their lands.According to Goodland, the actions of"the widespread pattern of forestexploitation are both environmentallyand economically costly"

FOR MORE INFO

EcoLogic Development Fund dothe Bio ltza Committee Legal Fund,

P.O. Box 383405

Cambridge, MA 02238-3405 tel.(617)441-6300,

fax(617)441-6307

book, Race To Save The Tropics. If theMayor is successful these lands will soonexperience their last rainfall.

The Bio Itza Committee has hired alawyer tp protect themselves from theillegal actions that the mayor has under-taken, such as accusing the Committeeof acting irresponsibly and attempting toconfiscate all material donations collected

of-

-

In order for this crisisto gain the attention itdeserves your support isnecessary The Maya ltzaare in urgent need of jus-tice for their survival. Thetime of action is now,

please send letters and financial contri-butions to the address below.

Sources:

The Ecologic Foundation: [email protected].

Goodland, Robert. ed. Race To Save The Tropics:Ecology and Economics for a SustainableFuture. Island Press: Washington, D.C.

*4:

Members of the Bio ltza Association working in the reserve.


ILL

/A

.200 ,Wiligaint44,1-01P^

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"440.

CS BULLETIN BOARD

Cultural Survival Welcomes our Newest Members(joined between 10/19/97 and 1/28/98)

Jan AcetiDiane AkulaCole ArbuckleMark & Andrea ArratoonJohn E AustinDiane AustinMaria BakkalapuloHayes BattenStephen BeidnerJ. Christopher BernatMary Jane BomonJeffrey BronfmanDan & Tammy Brotman-WoodwardD. BroudyElizabeth BrownPamela Bruder-FreernanKaren BuddKevin D. ButtRobert & Sharon CamnerAlan CarleAndre CarothersJulia E CarpenterBeth CarterCrystal CarverSteve ColfCharlie ConklinCarole M. CounihanTodd CovalcineCarrie DailyKim DcandradeS. DemerlyJosh DewindLinda Dick-BissonnetteCandice DuganBarbara DugelbyR. DunipaceClaudia EberspacherDeanna ElliottScott EnglanderLawrence M. EpsteinLeah ErmarthChristophe EversHilary FarmerArmelle Faure-OseiZoe FosterDavid FreidelDaniel FrettsLilian FriedbergGeraldine GamburdChris GibsonRichard D. GlovskyAndreas GobelBrooks Goddard

Marianne L. GoudreauJeanne GriffinJane Adele GrayFalk GrossmannDenise GualandriThomas HartmannMidori HatakeyamaJennifer HaysMary Ann HeightLogan A. HennessyHarold HerbigRick HolzDenise HooverCatherine HornHarriet HornblowerSylvia Jalil-GutierrezHubert JessupAlison M. JohnstonSusan KattlorJames & Elizabeth KeelMonica Kidd

Jana & Robert M. KielyDavid Kuchta

Julie KuhnJulia Ann LairdMei-Hua LanCesare & Irena LombrosoRolf LunheimMelissa MaloufJessie ManutaAma MarstonTania MaxwellMolly McDanielAaron McEmrysCindy MillerWinifred MitchellJohn G. MooreLena MortensenToshiyuki NakazawaAnne NelliganEleanor NickersonChristine NoonanRodney S. Northlchiro NumazakiEmiko Ohnuki-TierneyJeanie M. OlivaresSherry OliverJoyce OrtegaThomas PlunkettSarah PopeJerome & Dorothy PrestonMary PulfordShirley ReavesDeldy Reyes

Jean Russell Miller RichJoan RisingCynthia R. RobinsonDavid RosenAnna B. SafranShirley SaintellMaxwell SchnurerJanet SchreiberKathleen SepelakMichael P SmithJan SmolaPriscilla SonvillePeter & Lucy SprayregenAmelia StaffordJuliane StookeyStephen TarantoJanet ThigpenMaureen TierneyAurea R. TorneskiLibby TuckerC. Luis VasquezSequoiah WachenheimSuzanne WatzrnanMarc WeitzelSharon K. WestrePhylis R. WheelerJack WittenbrinkFelice WyndhamElizabeth Zinderstrein

Aid Development andInformation Center

Albion CollegeAsian Pacific Resource Center

Austin College LibraryBruno-Manser-FondsBryn Mawr College,

Canaday LibraryCleveland Public LibraryInter-American Development Bank

Lange & SpringerMinneapolis Communication

and Technology CollegeMugar Memorial LibraryNational Park Service, Denver

Pearson Peacekeeping Center

Rutgers University, Law Library

Truckee MeadowsCommunity College,Learning Resource Center

University of SouthernQueensland

University of Arizona Library

University of Maryland,Office of Multi-Ethnic StudentEducation

Cultural Survival Receives Grant

Cultural Survival is proud to announce theaward of a grant from the BridgeBuilders Foun-dation which will enable Cultural Survival toexpand its Curriculum Resource Program (CRP).Cultural Survival extends its gratitude to theBridgeBuilders Foundation for recognizing theCRP's dedication to working within the localcommunity to bring global issues into the classroom.

The BridgeBuilders Foundation's generalgoal is to support small, community-basedorganizations that work to build bridges betweengroups of people that differ with respect torace, ethnicity, age, gender, economic resources,and physical or mental ability. Specifically,BridgeBuilders funds projects that promotesocial, economic, and environmental justice.The trustees of the Foundation are particu-larly interested in programs that encourageyoung people to broaden their experience.Cultural Survival will use the BridigeBuildersFoundation grant to fund another studentconference in 1998 and the CRP is lookingforward to another successful experience withthe local community

Through the annual student conference, theCRP has provided high school students withthe opportunity to further their knowledgeabout specific ethnic minorities such as theChiapas Maya and the Aboriginal culture ofAustralia and also to understand many of thelarger issues surrounding global minorities.Through the type of experience provided byCultural Survival's CRP, students not onlyexpand their knowledge of facts, but also gainconflict resolution anc' perspective-takingskills which they can then bring to otherareas of their lives. Both students and teachershave expressed their enthusiasm for the stu-dent conference and about their experience inworking with Cultural Survival.

The underlying goal of Cultural Survival'sCRP is to educate students and the generalpublic about issues surrounding multiculturalismand to instill the respect and understandingthat global ethnic minorities command. Thecurriculum introduced by the program specif-ically seeks to break stereotypes which stu-dents hold in regard to global ethnic minori-ties by providing students with a variety ofperspectives and resources to supplement reg-ular textbooks. Through experiences like thestudent conference, students frorn differentschools are able to share what they havelearned with one another and to connect theirpersonal experience to a global one.

Cultural Survival is grateful for theBridgeBuilders Foundation grant and looksforward to continuing to work in partnershipwith the community

by Felisa Brunschwig

1 2 Cultural Survival Quarterly Spring 1998 9

BOOK REVIEW

Literacy, emotion, and authorityReading and writing on a Polynesian atoll

by Niko Besnier

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1995. xx, 224 pp., figures, maps, tables, orthography, glossary, and index. ISBN 0-521-48539-8

Review by Kenneth M. George, Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon

Niko Besnier's Literacy, emotion, and authority is a brilliantand painstaking ethnographic study of literacy on NukulaelaeAtoll, Tuvalu (formerly the Ellice Islands). The book has spe-cial relevance for readers of Cultural Survival Quarterly, not somuch because of its contemporary and historical portrait ofthis remote island community (pop. 347 [1979 census]), butrather because of its comparative implications for the way wethink about literacy and social transformation in any society Inkeeping with the most recent theoreticaladvances in the anthropology of literacy (whichhe covers in a wonderful and very thoroughintroductory chapter), Besnier treats literacy as asocial practice. In this approach, the 'effects' ofliteracy are charted in the waters of socialencounter and event. From this vantage point,writing and reading appear not so much asgeneralized technologies of communication ormodes of cognitiOn, rather, as particularistic andhistorically shaped practices that mediatepolitics, morality, emotions, and with them,human agency.

What Besnier shows so well in this study isthat literacy is never a neutral or all-purposemeans of communication. Literacy 'arrived' onNukulaelae a little over a century ago during atime of British and Samoan missionization,Peruvian slave raids, and German plantation ventures. Readingand writing thus cannot be disentangled from the social tacticsand strategies of codeswitching between the Nukulaelae dialectof Tuvaluan, Samoan, and other languages, from a history ofschooling and religious conversion, or from the social and cul-tural currents of colonial and postcolonial political-economicformations. Literacy also appears in genres of greater or lesserimportance: Not everything is written down or read inNukulaelae, and that which is written and read takes particularand authoritative forms. Introduced with the purpose ofgetting Nukulaelae islanders to read the Bible, literacy subse-quently came to include, and be dominated by Nukulaelae

efforts to exchange letters, lists, and records of various kinds.At the time of Besnier's study, the textually dominant forms ofNukulaelae literacy were personal letters and sermons, formsthat connected powerfully to matters of affect and authority,respectively

Letter writing and reading are heterodox practices, to besure, but Besnier discovered that affect was a conspicuous fea-

ture in virtually all discourse levels within letterexchanges. Integrated as they are into networksof gossip and economic transactions, the com-mingling of emotion and letter-exchanges showthat the Nukulaelae speech community hasmanaged to construct a culturally and ideologi-cally specific form of literate practice. By way ofcontrast, written sermons evince a certain conti-nuity with, and seizure of hegemonic forms oftruth introduced in the colonial period. Theirreferential, grammatical, and pragmatic (orindexical) dimensions play a central role in thesocial construction and display of authority Hiscareful work with these two genres leads Besnierto argue that Nukulaelae is a showcase for an"incipient literacy" in which atoll inhabitants

NNr.4.r..1 I .r Jot

A

Literacy,emotion, and

authorityPt whom nod wrIlont on a

Polvnestan atoll

appear not as passive recipients of anautonomous and hegemonic structure of linguis-tic exchange, but as active agents in charge of

their own communicative economy and destiny

Full description of the ethnographic riches and theoreticaldiscriminations made in Besnier's book would demand farmore space than that allotted to this review. The appeal of thisbook for the specialist or the seminar room should be plain.But further, its suggestive findings are especially significant forthe practical and intellectual work of those who deal with liter-acy as an ambivalent sign of community empowerment ordisenfranchisement. Niko Besnier has produced a probing andexceedingly useful study of the highest caliber. Readers of CSQwill find this work immensely rewarding.

1 31 0 Cultural Survival Quarterly Spring 1998

BOOK REVIEW

A Violência contra os Povos Indigenas no Brasil 1996by CIMI-CNBB

CIMI-CNBB Brasilia, 1997. 87 pp., illustrations, charts.

Review by David Maybury-Lewis, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University,President and Founder of Cultural Survival

C1MI (the Indigenist Missionary Council) is affiliated withBrazil's National Council of Bishops. It was founded about thesame time as Cultural Survival and both organizations have

defended indigenous rights for just over a quarter of a centurynow. Sadly CIMI's recent publication entitled Violence Againstthe Indigenous Peoples of Brazil in 1996, makes depressingreading. It is a compilation of statistics with the minimum ofcommentary, concerning the many kinds of vio-lence that are being visited on the indigenouspeoples of Brazil.

CIMI claims that there were twice as manyacts of violence committed against indigenouspeoples in 1996 as there were in 1995. Althoughwe cannot make a close analysis of CIMI's statis-tics, they do indicate beyond a reasonable doubtthat aggression agaMst Brazil's indigenous peo-

ples has increased substantially CIM1 states thatthis is largely the result of an increasing numberof contlicts over and invasions of indigenouslands. These were in turn prompted by the noto-rious decree no.1775, issued in January 1996,which the federal government formally made it possible forthose considering themselves interested parties to contest theofficial demarcation of Indian lands. For years, the Braziliangovernment has failed to obey its own laws regarding thetimetable for the demarcation of indigenous lands. Decreeno.1775 compounded that omission by, in effect, inviting chal-lenges to the boundaries of lands involved in the glacially slowprocess of demarcation. Worse still, according to the statistics,the leading perpetrators of violence against Indians in 1996were representatives of state and municipal authorities whose

aggressions outnumbered those of ranchers or logging companies.

In some cases, campaigns against indigenous groups wereeffectively genocidal, bringing them to the verge of extinction.Twenty years ago a local landowner massacred all but 100 ofthe Ava-Canoeiro in the state of Goias. In 1996 the construc-tion of the Serra de Mesa hydroelectric plant on their landswithout any accompanying measures to protect the Indians has

reduced them to less than 40 individuals. TheNambikwara in Mato Grosso are threatened with

extinction now that their lands have been invad-ed by miners and loggers. A remote group in

Rondonia is being wiped out by ranchers who

claim their lands, even though the government'sIndian Service has officially and fruitlesslydenounced their murders. Meanwhile theYanomami in Rondonia continue to suffer mas-sive depopulation while about 8000 gold minerscontinue to work on their lands.

A-VIMCne'l -,-contra_ns

1-A7-os -ffifiren .

no,

Where the authorities are not directlyresponsible for violenceagainst Indians, the gov-

ernment regularly claims it is powerless to protect thembecause it lacks the resources to do so. This excuse has evenbeen used in the Yanomami case even though the congressvoted the money necessary to defend them. It seems that theroot of the problem is that the Brazilian government not onlylacks the will to protect the nation's indigenous peoples, butthat it encourages policies that are leading to their physical andcultural extinction.

Note: This report is available through CIM1, SDS Edificio Venecio 111, salas 309 a 314,

70390-900, Brasilia, DE Caixa Postal 03679, 70084-970, Brasilia, DE tel: 061-225-

9457, fax: 061-255-9401, e-mail: [email protected]


SOURCES

PUBLICATIONS

Mas Antes:Hispanic Folklore of the Rio PuercoValley

Nasario Garcia has invested his effortsin preserving the vivid memories of hisRio Puercoan culture. The book containsan extensive amount of the people'senriching history through colorfulstories, songs, and letters. Although thevalley has long ago been abandoned,-Mas Antes offers the readers an excellentopportunity to understand the every-day life of its people.

Garcia, Nasario, Ed. Sante Fe: Museum of New Mexico

Press. 1997. $24.95 cloth, ISBN 0-89013-320-4.

$12.95 paper, ISBN 0-89013-323-9.

Through Navajo Eyes:An Exploration in FilmCommunication and Anthropology

1111

SolWorth

JohnAdair

ThroughNavajo Eyes

Authors SolWorth andJohn Adair,decided to seewhat wouldtake place ifthey taughtpeople who

Richard never used orchaffer,

made motionpictures beforeto do just that.

This book is a chronicle of film makingand editing involving a group of sixNavajo Indians in Arizona. They offerreaders the rare chance to attain abroader understanding of the impor-tance of the experiment. The book hascast a strong visual influence in the dis-ciplines of visual anthropology com-munications, and film.

Worth, Sol and John Adair Albuquerque: University of

New Mexico Press. 1997. $19.95 paper, ISBN 0-

8263-1771-5.

Ashkenazi Jews in Mexico:Ideologies in the Structuring of aCommunity

Adina Cimet takes a detailed outlookinto the Jewish population of Mexicoand the uncertainties they face todayThe book also explores the problem ofethnic identity and the survival of theirculture. Cimet offers her readers a pos-sibility to learn more about the issuesJews must confront by living in a landso culturally complex.

Cimet, Adina. Albany: State University of New York

Press. 1997. $19.95 paper, ISBN 0-7914-3180-0.

A Condor Brings the SunThis novel by JerryMcGahan follows thestruggles of 23 gen-erations of nativePeruvians. The storyis focused on awoman named Pilarwho, living in theancient Runa culture

of Peru, endures continual threats madeto her survival, serenity, and strength ofmind. With this novel McGahan creates aconvincing story of a woman discover-ing self-identity and love in a World fullof conflict and confusion.

McGahan, Jerry. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.

1996. $25.00 cloth, ISBN 0-87156-354-1.

The Tibetan Art of Parenting:From Before Conception ThroughEarly Childhood

This book offers newand future parents aunique perspectiveon parenting. Bydividing the bookinto seven steps ofchildbearing:preconception, con-ception, gestation,

birthing, bonding, infancy, and earlychildhood, parents can get fresh tips to

any stage of early parenting. Alsoincluded is an epilogue of furtherteachings from the Tibetan heritagethat are sure to enrich and educateall readers.

Maiden, Anne H. and Edie Farwell. Boston: Wisdom

Publications. 1997. $16.95 Iwo; ISBN 0-86171-129-7.

MUSIC

Prairie Plain SongPRAIkIE PLAIN SONP This collection of

well-crafted flutemelodies is sure toput anyone's mindat peace. In thebackground, beauti-

ful sounds of nature: bird songs, oceanwaves, and rainfall can be heard. AlJewer draws the listeners to a place ofserenity and escape.

Al Jewer c/o Laughing Cat Studio, 11537 Walnut Lane,

Fort Atkinson, WI 53538.

Music of Indonesia:Music of Biak, Irian JayaMusic of Indonesia offers an array ofpleasurable sounds and rhythms of Biak,Irian Jaya. In this recording, traditionmeets the new and the result is a delight-ful mixture of dance music and medita-tion. This assortment of music is sure tostir anyone away from the ordinary

Center for Fon* Programs & Cultural Studies, 955LEnfant Plaza, Suite 2600, MRC 914, Smithsonian

Institution, Washington, DC 20560, SF CD 40426.

Lotus SignaturesThis recording isboth lively andspiritual, trans-planting the.listenerto a world full ofmysticism. These

melodies capture the essence of southIndia. The world renowned bamboo


SOURCES

flute player, Dr. N. Ramani, shares cen-ter stage with the gifted NegaiMuralidaran on violin, Trichy Sankaranon the mrdangam, V Nagarajan on thehanjira, E. M. Subramaniam on theghatam, and A. Kannan playing themorsing.

Music of the World, Ltd., P 0. Box 3620, Chapel Hill,NC 27515-3620.

Steven Cragg DiscoveryThis is a combination of special effects,natural sounds, and voice samples ofAfrican, Australian, and Tibetan cul-tures. To get this unique sound, StevenCragg focused on the varying soundsof the didgeridoo, a traditionalAboriginal instrument of Australia.Discovery is a delight to hear whetherin a car, or at home.

Steven Cragg. New World Music Limited, The Barn,

Becks Green, St., Andrews, Beccles, Suffolk NR34 8NBEngland. Tel: 01986-781682.

VIDEO

Kings of the Jungle:The Story of Claudio and OrlandoVillas Boas

This video focuses on two brothers andtheir dedication to a cause they havefought for 30 years. At first theyintended to open up the jungle bybuilding a series of air strips connectedby roads which would, inevitably, dev-astate the forest. They quickly realizedthe tragic outcome that would result ifthey followed through with their plan.Not only would their plan cause irre-versible effects on the land by deplet-ing the resources, but it would drivethe natives out of their natural habitatas well. This documentary traces thesteps that they both took in defendingthe rights of the natives and the land.

Produced and directed by Chris Christophe. 1992,

Argonaut Productions, Ltd. 51 minutes. Bullfrog Films,

Inc., Oley, PA 19547. Tel: 215-779-8226.

Faces of the HandThis movie is an expedition into theeveryday way our hands express cultureand personality By venturing through avaried range of cultures and personalexperience, we gain a better insight intothe importance our hands play inexpression. Our hands are powerfuland can both heal and destroy theworld around us. Through this uniquefilm we are able to see the ways thatdifferent cultures make use of their finetools of communication. This film is anamazing combination of science, poetry,and anthropology as it explores variousways our hands communicate with therest of the world.

Producer: Kent Martin. Director: Tamas Wormser 1995,National Film Board of Canada, Studio B. 28 min-

utes and 03 seconds. Bullfrog Films, Box 149, Oley,PA 19547. Tel: 610-779-8226.

EVENTS

HURIDOCS Conference onHuman Rights andInformationMarch 22-26, TunisiaHURIDOCS Task Forces present aconference on software and electroniccommunication among human rightsorganizations.

Contact HURIDOCS, 2, rue Jean-Jaquet, CH-120I

Geneva, Switzerland, fax: 41-22-7411768, e-mail:

[email protected]

Human Rights Committee62nd SessionMarch 23-April 9, 1998Geneva Switzerland

Contact: UN Centre for Human Rights, Geneva Office,

Palais des Nations, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

Earth DayApril 22Check local listings for events in yourarea.

Committee on Economic.Social and Cultural RightsApril 27-May 15Geneva, SwitzerlandReports that will be considered: SriLanka (initial), Uruguay (2nd), Cyprus(3rd), and Netherlands (2nd).

Contact: UN Centre for Human Rights, Geneva Office,

Palais des Nations, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland.

British Council InternationalSeminar on Human Rights-Their Protection at aNational LevelMay 10-16Belfast, Northern IrelandContact: International Seminars, The British Council, 1

Beaumont Place, OX12PJ, UK, e-mail: internation-

[email protected].

Zimbabwean Music FestivalMay 29-31Victoria British Columbia,CanadaContact: Zimbabwean Music Festival, 1921 Fernwood

Road, Victoria BC 'I8T 21'6, Canada', tcl: 1-250384-1997, fax: 1-250-388-5258, e-mail:[email protected], website: wwwzimfest.org

(coming soon).

Indigenous Perspectives inEcuadorMay 18-31Minneapolis, MNThe Center for Global Education pre-sents an educational travel seminarexploring the growing empowermentof indigenous people in Ecuador.

Contact: Center for Global Education, Augsburg

College, 2211 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, MN

55454, 800-299-8889, ermail:[email protected];



The Orang Asli Assistance FundProject Site: Peninsular Malaysia

Coordinators: Kirk Endicott and Adela Baer

"During the war with the Japanese, wewere forced to move from our settlement.During the war with the communists, wewere also forced to move. And now, we areagain forced to move. Is this the war of thegovernment?...We are not nomads. Thegovernment keeps telling us to stay put inone place. But now it is the governmentthat is forcing us to move!"

The Orang Asli, meaning 'Original People,'number about 90,000 in 19 culturally distinctgroups and traditionally lived in villages and

camps scattered across the Malay Peninsula,from the mangrove swamps of the coast tothe rainforest of the interior. Since 1960,however, the majority of Orang Asli havebeen displaced from their homes by devel-opment projects, including logging, planta-tions, mines, dams, highways, power lines,golf courses, airports, universities, andhousing subdivisions. The few Orang Aslistill living in their hereditary areas fear thatthey too will be forced to move. Their fearsare well-founded. Under Malaysian laws,Orang Asli have no legal claim to their land;

they are 'squatters' on state land. State andfederal governments can seize any land, even

in the few designated Orang Ash reserves,for any purpose. Until recently, the onlycompensation the governments had to paywas a nominal amount for destroyed fruit trees.

Today, most displaced Orang Ash live in

government-sponsored regroupmentschemes, desolate settlements in logged-offwastelands with minimal facilities and inad-equate land to support the population.

Without adequate land and resources,people can no longer support themselves bysubsistence foraging, farming, or selling

crops and forest products. Most individualslack the education and skills needed foranything but menial labor in the modernmarket economy Government statistics for1997 show that 81% of Orang Ash livebelow the official poverty line, and 50% areclassed as termiskin, the poorest of the poor.

To the Malay-domi-

nated Malaysian govern-ment, one problemconcerning Orang Asli is

that their very existencecontradicts the officialideology that Malays are

the indigenous people ofPeninsular Malaysia. The

government's solution isto assimilate 'all Orang

Asli into the Malayethnic group, causingthem to disappear as adistinct category ofpeople. To becomeMalays, Orang Ash mustbecome Muslims and adopt the Malaylanguage and customs. Despite the constitu-tional guarantee of religious freedom, thegovernment has poured millions of dollarsinto mostly unsuccessful efforts to convertOrang Ash to Islam. Since 1991, it has builtMuslim chapels and posted missionaries in

called 'positive discrimination,' it hasrewarded individuals and communities whoadopt Islam and neglected those who donot. The government has tried to create asituation in which the only way Orang Aslican gain the rights and protections affordedother citizens is to cease being Orang Asli.

Most Orang Ash want to participate inthe nation's growing prosperity, but do notwant to have to give up their ethnic identi-

ties, religions, languages,and customs. In 1991, agroup of distinguishedOrang Ash leaders drew up

a list of urgent needs ofOrang Ash. They called forthe same rights andprivileges as Malays; land

rights; economic develop-ment; better infrastructure,education, and health care;recognition of their right tomaintain their cultures andreligions; political repre-sentation at the state andnational levels; and revi-

sion of the act that givesthe Department of Aboriginal Affairs(JHEOA) absolute control over Orang Ash.So far the government has ignored thismemorandum, although for bureaucraticreasons, it has transferred education andhealth care from the JHEOA to theMinistries of Education and Health. The

A Batelt father bathing his young daughter,

while a son, who is afflicted with spinal

tuberculosis, bathes himself 0976).

over 250 settlements. Following a policy JHEOA tries to undermine or co-opt any



FOR MORE INFORMATION

For further information on Orang Asli and theOrang Ash Assistance Fund, please see the bookmentioned below consult the Orang Ash Assistance

Fund web site at www.clartmouth.edu/asli,or contact the Fund coordinators, KirkEndicott, Department of Anthropology,Dartmouth College, 6047 Carpenter

Hall, Hanover, NH 03755-3570; email:[email protected] or Adela Baer,

Department of Zoology, Oregon State University,Cordley Hall 3029, Corvallis, OR 97331-2914;email: [email protected].

individuals or organizations opposing theassimilation policy

The Orang Ash Assistance Fund was estab-

lished in 1997 by anthropologists Robert K.Dentan, Kirk Endicott, and Alberto Gomes;Malaysian law specialist M. Barry Hooker;and Orang Asli health specialist Adela Baer.

The first four are co-authors of Malaysia and

the "Original People": A Case Study of the

Impact of Development on Indigenous People

in the Cultural Survival Studies in Ethnicityand Change which describes in detail theproblems and aspirations of Orang Aslitoday All royalties from the book go to theOrang Asli Assistance Fund.

The general aim of the Fund is to helpempower Orang Asli to achieve their owngoals. This includes supporting the activitiesof independent Orang Asli and pro-OrangAsli organizations in Malaysia. Currentlyonly three exist: the Association of OrangAsli of Peninsular Malaysia (POASM), the

Center for Orang Ash Concerns (COAC),and the Indigenous Peoples Network ofMalaysia. Specific purposes for which fundswill be used include forming and strength-ening Orang Asli organizations, education,legal actions, health care programs, public-ity and lobbying, and emergency assistance.

A recent Malaysian court decision givesreason for optimism that such efforts canhelp. For the first time a court ruled that astate government (Johor) must pay substan-tial compensation to an Orang Asli commu-nity that lost its land due to construction of

a dam. We hope that similar legal actionswill be successful in other parts of thePeninsula, where Orang Ash have been dis-placed for the benefit of others.

Bibliography

Dentan, Robert K., et al. Malaysia and the "OriginalPeople": A Case Study of the Impact of Development

on Indigenous People. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997.

Nicholas, Cohn. "Orang Asli and Development: Chased

Away for a Runway" Pernloi Gah: Orang Ash News 3:5-

6, 1991.

The AppealWe welcome donations to assist the

Orang Ash in achieving the health,education, prosperity, and rights theydeserve as indigenous Malaysian citi-zens, including the right to be them-selves. Please send your donations to:

Cultural SurvivalOrang Asli Assistance Fund96 Mt. Auburn St.Cambridge, MA 02138

Special Projects are independent initia-tives that aim to empower indigenous peo-ples in areas that are basic to their self-determination. Special Projects seek to pre-serve, protect and promote the rights ofindigenous people through various means,such as obtaining land rights, providinghealth or legal services, managing natural

resources, or marketing sustainable sourcedproducts. Cultural Survival does notdirectly fund projects; however, it serves asfiscal sponsor to enable projects to pursuegrants through U.S. foundations and tax-deductible contributions from privatedonors. In addition to the benefit from ourtax-exempt status, Special Projects arepublicized in our publications (mostnotably the Cultural Survival Quarterly),

promotional literature, on our website(www.cs.org), and in appeals to ourmembers. Cultural Survival has a long-standing commitment to working in defense of

indigenous rights, and all of our SpecialProjects complement that mission.

Donations and Project Proposals

To submit a proposal for a Special Project,

please contact the Projects Coordinator atCultural Survival for guidelines, or reviewthem on the Cultural Survival homepage(http://wwwcs.org). Donations for a spe-cific Special Project can be sent by check,

money order or credit card to CulturalSurvival/Special Projects, 96 Mt. AuburnSt., Cambridge, MA 02138. Tel. 617-441-5400, Fax: 617-441-5417. Please specifyto which project you are donating.

Special Projects and Coordinators

Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco(formerly Chinchero Culture Project)

Nilda Callanaupa, Coordinator

Ersari Turkmen Vegetable Dye WeavingProject and Tibetan Rug Weaving Project

Chris Walter, Coordinator

The Garif una JourneyAndrea Leland, Kathy Berger, Coordinators

Gwich'in Environmental Knowledge ProjectGleb Raygorodetsky, Coordinator

hurl Forest People's FundDavid Wilkie, Gilda Morelli, Bryan Curran, RobertBailey, Coordinators

FOMMA (La Fortaleza de la Mujer Maya)Miriam Laughlin, Coordinator

Maya Manche Scholarship Fund (formerlyKekchi High School Scholarship Fund)

Richard Wilk, Coordinator

Orang Ash Assistance FundKirk Endicott, Adela S. Baer, Coordinators

Sna Jtz'ibajoni, Chiapas Writers'Cooperative

Robert Laughlin, Coordinator

The Suyd ProjectAnthony Seeger, Coordinator

Tibetan School ProjectNancy Mayo-Smith, Coordinator

Xavante Education FundLaura Graham, Coordinator


UPDATENative North America

Navajo Indian Voices and Faces Testifyto the Legacy of Uranium Miningby Doug Brugge and Timothy Benally

The Navajo nation covers a vast stretch of northeasternArizona and parts of New Mexico and Utah in thesouthwestern United States. It is home to the majority

of the more than 200,000 members of the Navajo tribe thatlive in sparsely populated small towns and isolated home-steads that dot the countryside. The Navajo lands rangefrom desolate stretches of rock and dirt to lush mountains,from strikingly beautiful sandstone canyons to volcanicstone monuments that rise precipitously above the plains.

The Navajo nation is also home to almost 1100 aban-doned uranium mines and four former uranium mills, alegacy of the cold war that has left scars on the land and thepeople to this day It is the Navajo nuclear experience, theirunresolved grievances, and the need to heal old woundsthat prompted a team of Navajos and supportive whites toundertake the Navajo Uranium Miner Oral History andPhotography Project.

Historical PerspectiveThe Treaty of 1868 estab-

lished the U.S. government'sresponsibility for Navajoeconomic, education, and healthservices. In the early 1940s, theNavajo nation was still recover-ing from the devastatinglivestock reduction period of the1930s. To meet the economicgap that was created by thelivestock reduction, Navajo mensought work away from thereservation on railroads in thewestern states. Employmentopportunities consisted of theBureau of Indian Affairs (BIA),traders on the reservation, and afew of the border town business-es where employment was basedon ones level of education.When World War II broke out,many Navajo men aborted their

education and went into the military; the few high schoolson the Navajo reservation were closed for lack of students.

As the U.S. entered the nuclear age, the Navajo Nationwas still struggling economically Due to the U.S. govern-ment's demand for uranium, mining boomed in the FourCorners area. On the Navajo reservation, uranium was dis-covered in Cove, Arizona and then on other parts of thereservation and work became readily available. When themines started on the reservation, most families were verythankful that they had employment and expressed suchsentiments to the Office of the Navajo Uranium Workers(ONUW):

"We were glad that our husbands had jobs and that they didn'thave to go away to other places to do railroad work...But what thepeople that operated these mines did not tell the Navajo peoplewas that danger was associated with uranium mining. If they hadtold us that danger was there, we might have done something elseto find employment."

The U.S. government and the mining companies knewof the health hazards of uranium mining; the Public HealthService even conducted a study to document the develop-ment of illnesses that they expected. The miners and the

A

ri4C,

Mary Frank is the widow of a former uranium miner who died in 1994. She lives in Shiproch, Cove and Red Valley in the Navajo nation.


UPDATE Native North America

widows however, were never informedof such health hazards and had to findout about the danger on their own.The doctors didn't know what waswrong with their husbands until theywere diagnosed with lung cancer. As aresult, many Navajo women becamewidows and had to take on men's rolesin the household like chopping thewood, hauling wood and water,feeding livestock, and so forth. For thewidows and children, losing theirhusbands and fathers created greathardships.

In 1960, the widows came togeth-er and talked about the nature of theirhusbands' deaths. The meetings had asnowball effect and they formed acommittee. The Navajo communitieshired an attorney to assist them intheir struggle and after many years, theRadiation Exposure Compensation Act(RECA) was passed in 1990. Its purposewas to provide "compassionate compensation" to minersand their survivors. Unfortunately, RECA has fallen short ofbeing just compensation since many former miners andtheir families continue to have their claims denied.

.14

-444 ;pp14itt ,

.1

Joe Ray Harvey (left) and Phil Harrison (right) stand on Cove Mesa tn 1995 One area of the Navajo nation that is pepperedwith abandoned uranium mines.

The Project ConceptThe project's goal has been to use oral histories and

visual images to produce a book and exhibit (accompaniedby a short video tape) consisting of the personal reflectionof Navajos who were part of this series of events. Eachaspect of the project was envisioned as being somethingthat would continually be available to Navajo miners, theirfamilies, and their communities.

Oral history was chosen as a method because it letsthe people speak for themselves. Unlike traditional docu-mentaries, oral history does not lend itself to simple orconvenient interpretation, nor is it as straight forward orsuperficially precise as quantitative science. We saw this asan advantage since we agree with Paul Thompson that"ftleality is complex and many-sided; and it is a primarymerit of oral history that to a much greater extent thanmost sources it allows the original multiplicity ofstandpoints to be recreated."

Oral history was, of course, the first kind of history andit still has a strong place in the Navajo culture. Black andwhite photography and video were seen as key accompani-ments to the oral statements. By using a method thatresonated with Navajo traditions, we hoped to producesomething that was of greater relevance to the Navajopeople and to facilitate a process by which people with littleaccess to larger audiences could 'speak' relatively directly toother Navajos and the general population of the U.S.Therefore by using oral histories, Navajos affected by urani-um mining could preserve their own interpretation of whaturanium mining represented in their lives.

The purpose of the project was conceived to producematerials (principally the book and exhibit) which wouldserve multiple functions and have an impact in a variety ofspheres. Education of both Navajo and non-Navajo audi-ences was our most important reason for undertaking theproject. Though many Navajos are familiar with theuranium mining experience, many more live at a distancefrom mining areas or are too young to know first-hand andfailed to pick up the history of uranium.

Beyond the boundaries of Navajo country, there was aneed to spread the word of how Navajos had been affected



by uranium mining. Too often, there was broad nationalconsciousness and controversy about the effects of nuclearpower and the use of atomic weapons, but little or noknowledge about how the first steps in the nuclear cyclehad damaged the health and impacted the lives of NativeAmericans, arguably one of the populations in the U.S. thathas suffered the most from the development of nucleartechnology By educating a broad sector of the public, wecould contribute to campaigns that aimed to remedy orredress the historical injustices the Navajo had beensubjected to. As part of this aspect of the project, we antici-pated distribution of the book to policy makers at the levelof the tribal government and to the U.S. and stategovernments.

In general, we felt that the oral histories and imageswould create a valuable addition to the historical record.While a major book had been published which document-ed the main historical events from a journalistic perspective,this project was intended to be more accessible to peoplewho would be unlikely to to purchase of read a lengthybook. In addition, the oral history format would put the

7,

voices of the affected people at the forefront since therewould be no interpretive element.

The use of the materials that we developed can also beused as Navajo language teaching tools. The oral statementswere preserved in both Navajo and English and should beusable by Navajo language instructors. Because the Navajolanguage is being lost among younger generations, there ismerit in contributing to efforts preserving it. In addition, weare trying to identify areas needing environmental researchbased on the issues raised in the interviews.

Project MethodThe overall framework of,the project was a university-

community collaboration between Tufts University Schoolof Medicine and a pool of individuals, community organiza-tions, and tribal agencies. The tribal office of ONUW theUranium Radiation Victims Committee (URVC) and Dine'College (formerly Navajo Community College) were thecentral groups to the collection of interviews and theirprocessing into the book and exhibit.

Funding was obtained from four sources (U.S. E.PA.,Ruth Mott Fund, Ford

0..

1.?.Ths.'-.-v.10':Z.;:: (VI-

-

_

(,

Navajos work a uranium mine in the area around Cove in the Navajo nation in the 1950sgrade ore over the side of the mesa into tailing piles that remain radioactive to this day.

,

)

........: .1

It was common practice to dump low

21

Foundation and EducationFoundation of America) andover 100 small donors duringthe course of the project. Theinterviews were conducted byTimothy Benally (then directorof the ONUW) and PhilHarrison (URVC). MarthaAustin-Garrison and LydiaFasthorse-Begay transcribed thetapes into written Navajo.

The majority of interviewswere conducted in Navajo.Persons interviewed were pri-marily former miners, widowsof miners, and a few children ofminers. We wanted to includethe perspective not only of theworkers themselves, but also offamily members whose liveswere affected by the experience.People who were related todeceased miners gave the mostemotionally charged interviews.



We were also asked by interviewees to ensure that ourwork would not result in a profit-making product or inmoney being earned by people other than those in the min-ing communities.

Complete sets of the audio tapes, photographic nega-tives, contact sheets, video footage, transcripts, and transla-tions are now archived at the University of New Mexico andthe Navajo Nation Museum. The archives hold open thepossibility that they will be used for other non-commercialprojects in the future. An unplanned offer has also led toinclusion of the exhibit in a cyber gallery on the WorldWide Web (www-busph.bu.edu/gallery).

Results and ConclusionsPerhaps the most visible result of the project to date

has been the widespread dissemination of the book. Weprinted 2,000 copies, most of which have been distributedand we are initiating a second printing. The majority wereprovided free of charge to a variety of Navajo audiences.The greatest number have been given to people in the min-ing communities. These communities have shown greatinterest in the book because it records the images andwords of people that they know

Copies have also been given to schools and collegesand Navajo communities grappling with proposals for newleachate uranium mining. It is unlikely that many otherpublications based on the knowledge of the Navajo havebeen so accessible to Navajos. Two Navajos who reviewedthe book both came to favorable conclusions. One wrote:

"The Navajo men and women...were photographed in positionsof telling their stories from their heart and soul ...It Their faciallines, their hand gestures, their intense eyes glowingall these andmore nonverbal map of Navajo uranium experiences bring harshreality to something that...happened years ago, before our times."

The book has been targeted to the U.S. E.P.A. and U.S.Department of Justice officials. Efforts to target a broadersector of policy makers, including elected officials, areexpected to expand in 1998 in conjunction with a growingcampaign to reform the federal RECA compensation processand our national tour of the exhibit which begins in April1998 at Dene' College, Tsaile, Arizona.

Our primary objective, the education of Navajo andnon-Navajo audiences, has been successful and will likelycontinue for some time. As our book and exhibit gainedgreater exposure, we were approached by a consortium of

ten Native American tribes to assist them with a their pro-ject to documenting the Indian point of view that was omit-ted from U.S. Department of Energy's summary of environ-mental impacts of the Cold War. We have also held a work-shop with school teachers at Laguna Pueblo in NewMexico, site of a massive open pit uranium mine, so thattheir students could undertake a similar project.

This, along with the general utility of the book andexhibit and the positive reaction that we observe in peoplewho see our work, leads us to believe that there is a com-mon thread in the nature and form of the project. We thinkthat it serves as a complement to the technical reports andstatistics that tend to dominate environmental issues.Communities want something that is more fully their own,that expresses what they think and feel, and we hope thatmore communities will undertake efforts of this sort in thefuture.

Doug Brugge is director of the project and is on the faculty of theDepartment of Family Medicine and ComMunity Health at TuftsUniversity School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts.

Timothy Benally is a bilingual Navajo, a former uranium miner, a veter-an of the Korean War, and the Director of the Uranium Education Centerat Dine' College in Shiproch, New Mexico.

References

Austin-Garrison, M. B., B. Casaus, D. McLaughlin and C. Slate. 1996. "Dine' BizaadYissohigii: The Past Present, and Future of Navajo Literacy." In E. Jelineh, S.

Midgette, K Rice and L. Saxon, eds. Athabaskan Language Studies: Essays inHonor of Robert W Young. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.pp.349-89.

Brugge, D.B., TH. Benally, P Harrison Jr, M. Austin-Garrison, L Fasthorse-Begay,

1997. Memories Come To Us in the Rain and the Wind: Oral Histories andPhotographs of Navajo Uranium Miners and Their Families. Boston:Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Tufts School of Medicine.

Crank, D. L. "Uranium Miners, Relatives Recall Yellow-Water Days." The Independent.Gallup, NM. November 13, 1997. p. 8.

Dawson, S.E., PH. Perry and P Harrison Jr 1997. "Advocacy and Social Action Among

Navajo Uranium Workers and Their Families." In Social Work in HealthSettings: Practice in Context. New York and London: Haworth Press.pp.391-407.

Eachstaedt, PH. 1994. If You Poison Us: Uranium and Native Americans. Santa Fe:Red Crane Books.

Samet, J.M. et.al. "Uranium Mining and Lung Cancer in Navajo Men." The NewEngland Journal of Medicine. Vol.310. 1984. pp.1481-4.

Thompson, P 1988. The Voice of the Past: Oral History. Oxford and New York: OxfordUniversity Press.


NOTEShm"eFIELD

Guarani Educational Politicsand Multicultural State-Makingin Bolivia

by Bret Gustafson

Whom does 'indigenous educa-tion' serve? In Bolivia, recent reformshave opened new possibilities forindigenous peoples. Of these, willbilingual education promote moreindigenous autonomy? Or is stateeducation, now translated into nativelanguages, a more effective tool ofassimilation for the 21st century?Where do ethnic and power politicsfit into schooling and curriculum inthe Guarani region of Bolivia?

The Traditional School

The Guarani, like most ofAmerica's native peoples, were longtargeted by missionaries, soldiers, andbureaucrats. The goal, if not annihila-tion, was incorporation into Bolivianlife either as good Catholics, goodproletarians, or now, good citizens.Where warfare and Franciscan mis-sions failed, the rural schoolhouse andHispanic teachers took up the mod-ernizing task after the Revolution of1952.

These schools primarily servedthe state and the ethnic status quo.The non-Indian teachers from townsand ranches taught like petty dicta-tors. Like missionaries who extirpatedidols, the Charagua teachers' schoolhad a mission of castellanizacian: extir-pate the Guarani language and domes-ticate and civilize the Indians. Amidbarefoot Guarani, these profesores liter-ally polished their shoes and taughtwith stick-in-hand to form new men.Far from revolutionary, this pedagogy

Guarani literacy brigades are introduced to written Guarani

of the oppressed was effective for con-trolling, not for learning. The all-Spanish curriculum included repeti-tion, dictation, and physical abuse(kneeling on kernels of maize, eartwisting, and beatings) for speakingGuarani in class. Spanish shouted atGuarani children serve to silence andhumiliate; adults today remember theschool with fear.

Not much has changed sinceFranciscans forbade long hair and lipplugs, provided clothes, and taughtrote catechism in past centuries. Oflate, children absorb patriotism bymemorizing civic dates and heroesand line up like soldiers each morningto salute the flag and sing the nationalanthem. The anthem's last line, morirantes que esclavos vivir (die beforeliving as slaves), should have reso-nance with Guarani peasants.However, monolingual children singin rephoneticized Spanish,mborialzeizekaravoivivi, which meansnothing. Most Guarani acquiesce to

23

these practices as appropriation of thecultural capital of the karai or non-Indian school.

The Guarani language is slowlydisappearing. "We are more advancedthan [nearby] Eiti, they still speakGuarani" said one Guarani inIpitacito. This internalization of stateideologies comes only after centuriesof resistance. In 1760, while Guaranifought missions and colonists, head-man Guarikaya of Piripiri refused bap-tism by priests "my grandparentsweren't Christians. I want to go to hellwith them." Today only one villageout of several hundred refuses educa-tion "we don't want priests or schools,we will not forget our fathers' words."

Other Guarani resist indirectly.Parents halfheartedly send children toschool, and remove them after two orthree years. On the other hand, someGuarani leaders let American mission-aries and the Summer Institute ofLinguistics (SIL) educate their chil-dren in the 1960s. (SIL, also known


NOTEShm"eFIELD

as the Wycliffe Bible Translators, is amissionary group bent on translatingthe Bible in every language.) Theseindividuals, once in a rush to abandonthe language and culture that broughtthem suffering, now hold leadershippositions because of their bi-lingualand bi-cultural experience.

Bilingual EducationIndigenous pressure and interna-

tional aid pushed for change in thelate 1980s. Bilingual education beganin 1989 and the government initiatededucational reform in 1995 that wasfunded by the World Bank. The newreform is built on popular participa-tion and "multilingual intercultural-ism," but for whom?

The World Bank is interested ineconomic growth through primaryeducation-standard neoliberalismwithout explicit interest in indigenouscultures. The State wants to avoidPeru-like revolts and form democraticcitizens. Bolivia's elite has finallyrealized that these citizens are not

Guarani boys learning to gather honey by teaching each other

Hispanic (60% speaks one of 30native languages). Indian movementspush for bilingual education andequal opportunity; they demand theperceived benefits of educationdespite negative experiences ofthe past.

With bilingual education, theGuarani demand schools and Guaraniteachers. "We used to fight with arms,now we will fight with education"stated leader Mateo Chumira.Meanwhile, the regional teachersunion and local politics hinderprogress for the Guarani. Indians areaccused of separatism, primitivism,and backwardness mainly becauseSpanish-speaking teachers thinkbilingual schools threaten their jobs.A decade later, bilingual educationis nearly institutionalized. Implem-entation still faces many obstacle's,one of which is the lack of Guaraniteachers.

Teacher TrainingWhen bilingual education started,

there were few Guarani-speakingteachers. They had struggled throughSpanish schools and showed it. Theywere not always proficient speakers oftheir language and many were con-flicted by identity contradictions-theyhad studied to get out, not to go back.They reproduced the pedagogy ofthose who had taught them. Someeven opposed Guarani language edu-cation until it became clear thatspeaking Guarani could get you a job.

Things are changing. There is anew teachers' school for the Guaraniand three other native nations of theregion. The reformed pedagogy, stillWestern in nature, focuses on 'con-

structivism,' an ideal that opens spacefor indigenous modes and idioms oflearning. Native language training for-tifies linguistic ability in the mother-tongue, and Guarani leaders lectureon history and culture. Debate contin-ues about how to incorporate indige-nous cosmovision in the curriculum.Textbooks in Guarani include historiesand culturally appropriate themeswhich is an improvement, but thesematerials are often superficial transla-tions of Spanish texts. EducatingIndians in Bolivia is still a power-laden inculcation of a new kind ofstate, one that includes moderniza-tion, development, and (now albeitmultilingual-multicultural) citizen-making.

The FutureThe Guarani are experts at using

what little the state offers to theiradvantage. Today, Guarani educationallows access to teaching jobs, defendsGuarani identity and language inpublic discourse (the first GuaraniLanguage Congress was held in 1997),and seeks the recovery of knowledgeand thp prInratinn nf thp anrentnrc.

The Guarani want dignity, leaderAngel Yandura stated "we don't wantspecial education, we want to beequal." This equality in multiculturaleducation may help build a new kindof state, citizen, cultural respect, andmaybe even autonomy Despite manycontradictions, the process may beslowly beginning.

Bret Gustafson is a Ph.D. candidate inAnthropology at Harvard University.

Reference

Saignes, Theiny. 1994. Ava Y Karat La Paz: HISBOL

24 Cultural Survival Quarterly .Spring 1998 21

Introduction

Reclaiming Native EducationActivism,Teaching and Leadership

by Nimachia Hernandez and Nicole Thornton

The idea of `indigenous' or 'native' education is overgeneralized and somewhat misleading because it is conceptu-alized by its opposing nature to Western or didactic models.It is important to recognize the diversity within indigenouseducation, as well as the similarities from a shared coloniallegacy While impossible to review all the literature on theeffects of colonialism on indigenous education, similar poli-cies have given rise to similar problems and strategies for allindigenous students and communities.

Policies of genocide, ethnocide, assimilation, incorpora-tion, and their physical manifestations of removing aboriginalchildren from their homes have had a tremendous impact ontraditional endogenous models of education. NawangPhuntsog and Salomon Nahmad discuss the impacts of colo-nial education policies and provide a historical context forindigenous education in modern-day Tibet and Mexico.Amethyst First Rider presents insight into traditionalBlackfoot education and comments on Blackfoot customs ineducation to holistically mold 'ideal' people steeped in spiri-tual and ritual knowledge.

In the last century and particularly in the last 30 years,there have been significant changes in attitudes and policiestowards indigenous education. Relationshipg between indige-nous nations and governments across the Americas also bearheavily on education and progress in native schooling.Differences in state and legal recognition of indigenousnations as sovereign peoples has a profound impact on whocontrols indigenous education, who directs or influences theprocess of how indigenous students are educated, and whoadvises and contributes to curricular content. Native peoplesas individuals and communities are not relinquishing theircenturies-old struggle against assimilation through schooling.To the contrary, new indigenous definitions of the role ofschools embody their determination to incorporate nativelanguages and cultures into school curricula. Indigenous peo-ples continue to seek ways to control their children's educa-tion by moving away from cultural and linguistic deficiencymodels to models that define, develop, and foster indigenouscultures and ideals.

Articles by Allan Burns, Margaret Freedson Gonzalez andElias Perez Perez, Cornel Pewewardy, and Linda TuhiwaiSmith discuss these basic issues and the role of indigenouseducators as agents of change. Cornel Pewewardy argues thatdistrict, state, and tribal policies need to support the goals ofindigenous education in the U.S., honor tribal sovereignty,and allow differences between indigenous schools. LindaTuhiwai Smith illustrates how international charters recogniz-

ing indigenous languages and cultures have been Instrumen-tal in the support of bilingual and immersion programs on anation-wide scale in New Zealand. Allan Burns, Salom OnNahmad, and Margaret Freedson Gonzalez and Elias PerezPerez discuss the implications of state reform and state lawspromoted, in large part, by indigenous teachers and howthese reforms have contributed to curricular content inspiredand originating from the local indigenous communities.

Education contributes to and promotes cultural preser-vation and change. Nawang Phuntsog declares that thepreservation and promotion of Tibetan cultural identityshould be a central objective in the education of Tibetan chil-dren. Linda Tuhiwai Smith and Antonio de la Torre Lopezboth discuss the positive contributions and expectations ofeducation in the survival of the Maori, Tzeltal, and Tzotzillanguages. Antonio de la Torre Lopez also describes the anxi-ety of Maya writers when he questioned "why should wepublish in our mother language if there were no readers?"The solution lied in the development of a non-formal com-munity school to ensure a readership and another generationfluent in and proud of their native language and culturalheritage.

In as much as education can foster cultural pride, it canameliorate cultural conflicts in education and the marginal-ization native students face in a Western paradigm of school-ing. Most public schools in North America, for example,reflect a Western value system and are commonly viewed asnatural extensions of the home. However, they disrupt thecontinuity of the indigenous students' world. Native studentsundergo forced encounters with at least two very differentand usually conflicting views of the world in which they live,often resulting in difficult and traumatic cultural and linguis-tic conflicts.

Many of the articles openly discuss problems of educat-ing indigenous students in the skills and knowledge neces-sary for academic, professional, and economic success with-out compromising the schools' role as promoters of nativeculture and traditional values. Guillermina Herrera Peria andJorge Manuel Raymundo illustrate how programs at RafaelLandivar University prepare indigenous professionals to workin social services in a relevant manner that does not adverselyaffect their cultural heritage. Pewewardy and Lea Whitfordillustrate how indigenous models or schools can work forboth indigenous and non-indigenous students.

Beyond the issues of content and cultural preservationare the more fundamental and insidious issues of pedagogyIndigenous constructions of reality and their accompanying


Introduction

epistemologies contrast dramatically with those of Westerncultures. Improved understanding of indigenous epistemolo-gy is important since the conflicting underlying philosophiesthat exist in every subject area at every level of native peo-ples' schooling experiences become obvious. Traditionalindigenous beliefs, values, pedagogies, methodologies, andepistemologies form perspectives about schooling that exem-plify native peoples' alternatives to Western religion, econom-ic and political beliefs, and cultural values.

Cornel Pewewardy emphasizes the need for culturallyresponsive schools, holistic education, and the need to recog-nize "the organic, subconscious, subjective, intuitive, artistic,mythological, and spiritual dimensions of our lives." ManuMeyer also writes at the forefront of the 'epistemology revolu-tion,' reminding readers that Western education in its scien-tific objectivity and empiricism has ignored that both experi-ence and knowledge are culturally dependent. She arguesthat the contributions of sensual and spiritual knowledge areincluded in 'ways of knowing' in the Hawaiian context.

Indeed, the progress made in indigenous education hasgained increasing momentum over the last 30 years.Pewewardy and others discuss indigenous movements sincethe 1960s and indigenous demands for change. This issueshows those that have manifested in the rise of Native Studiesprograms at universities across the U.S., organizations devel-oped specifically by Aboriginal peoples to address the educa-tional needs of the community, the proliferation of courses inMaya languages and culture at universities and teacher train-ing colleges, and non-formal community schools.

Efforts towards self-determination in native communitiesneed to expand to include community responsibility forindigenous education and the promotion of strategies for itssustainable development and self-sufficiency Case studies inthis issue expound on the role of indigenous leaders andmentors in the promotion of indigenous students as futureleaders, professionals, and academics. Roberta Sykes offers anaccount of the Black Women's Action in EducationFoundation and how the development of this funding andsupport system has promoted the growing cohort of indige-nous scholars and leaders in Australia. Further, she arguesthat role models and advanced aboriginal students provideyounger generations with enough encouragement and sup-port to realize their academic and professional aspirations.Deirdre Ann Almeida documents the development of theNative Studies program at UMass Amherst and how hercourses exploring indigenous education empoweredindigenous students in the program.

What still needs to be done? Institutions must developcurricula that addresses relevant issues for indigenous com-munities. Educators must change the dominant pedagogy toone that recognizes native peoples' knowledge and inherentworth in order to gain understanding and respect for NativeAmerican belief systems and to improve the educationalexperiences of Native American students. Researchers mustlook beyond dichotomous classroom vs. community distinc-tions. Alternative and conventional conceptions of educationmust be investigated so that the literature is not simply aboutthe failure of indigenous peoples in schools, or about schools'failure to serve the purposes of native education.

Mainstream school's strong Western cultural base exacer-bates and enhances differences in culture rather than mitigat-ing them. Changes can be made to make them places whereindigenous people can be academically successful whileallowing them to build upon and maintain their culturalidentity Since native peoples still retain many of their coretraditional values and institutions, schools need to value theirrole in native-controlled education. While native and non-native specialists (some represented in this issue) continue toshape indigenous education, moving forward demands thatnon-native educators and researchers clearly identify theirrole in this process.

Educational advancement for indigenous peoples ulti-mately rests on how they define success. Native people willthen be able to decide whether they would like academicachievement to be in conjunction with their cultural assimila-tion or whether they would like educational institutions tovalue their cultural differences. While educational literatureon indigenous culture and schools is barely scratching thesurface, this issue of Cultural Survival Quarterly is a start.

Nirnachia Hernandez is a Nahua and Blackfoot Native American. Sheis also a doctoral condidate at the Harvard Graduate School of Educationworking in issues of Blackfoot epistemology. She currently teaches inLethbridge, Alberta.

Nicole Thornton is Education Coordinator at Cultural Survival andGuest Editor for this issue.

Acknowledgments This issue would not have been possible withoutthe collaboration of the Harvard University Native AmericanProgram, and in particular the efforts of Nimachia Hernandez,Timothy Begay, and Eileen Egan. Further we would like to thankthe staff and faculty at HIID and HGSE, and Sofia Flynn.

Reference

Jones-Spark, L 1992. Not in Two Worlds But One. Paper presented atMokahit Indian Education Research Association, University of

British Columbia.


Contexts and Challenges of Educating TibetanChildren in the Diaspora

by Nawang Phuntsog

The 1950s was rightly called the 'Decade of the Uprooted'

as more than 40 million refugees sought asylum inmany different parts of the world. Perhaps one of the

greatest paradoxes of this century is that this unprecedentedevent occurred in an era when human civilization was supposed

to have made unparalleled stridesin affirming human rights, self-determination, equality, and jus-tice for all. Living today in asociety that exalts self-absorbedattitudes, there is a growing trend

to view the refugee problem asthat of 'the others.' Yet the factremains that so long as there are 'oppressed people in any part ofthe world the specter ofdehumanization haunts us.

In a 1959 report called WeStrangers and Afraid published by

the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace to mark theWorld Refugee Year, a short paragraph describes the condi-tions of Tibetan refugees fleeing from Tibet in 1958. Pointingto Tibet as one of the "quite unexpected places" of refugeeproblems, the report indicated that there were about 10,000Tibetan men, women, and children who had fled Tibet. Thatexodus seemed to have no foreseeable destination as thou-sands of Tibetans continue to strive for physical, spiritual,and emotional survival on alien soil. Four decades later,Tibetans are still in perennial search for a home away fromtheir homeland, expecting that someday, they may return toTibet. The marginalization of Tibetans as indigenous inhabi-tants in their own homeland is the most pernicious blow tothe psychology of Tibetan people. Herein lies the rude ironythat the indigenous people assume a subordinate, second-class status in their own native land invaded by externalforces. If Tibet was not occupied by the Chinese, Tibetanswill not be labeled indigenous, nor would their culture facethe possibility of extinction.

While doing research for this paper, I found the nearabsence of literature on indigenous education, much less Tibetan

schooling, frustrating and discouraging, yet the process wasrevealing and instructive because I realized the dominance ofWestern ideologies in educational literature is as conspicuous

ots

lob.A biluvag

and pervasive as the invisibility of non-Western systems.The exclusion and invalidation of non-Western educa-

tional thoughts and practices in the educational discourse isindeed a major part of the problem contributing to the invis-ibility of research studies on indigenous education. Even

when scholars attempt to inves-tigate non-Western educationalpractices, they tend to viewthem through a lens that notonly colors their perception, butfails to appreciate the colorfulhues of the indigenous educa-t

tional spectrum as viableoptions. An interesting study bypolitical scientist Franz Michael,uses the typological approach ofMax Weber to study the role ofTibetan Buddhism in societyand state. His primary aim was

to analyze the extent to which the Tibetan Buddhist polity fitinto the Weber's typology of bureaucracy The main bone ofcontention for this kind of approach is the serious flaw withthe assumption that the indigenous people are 'objects' ofstudy rather than 'subjects' with the ability to enrich ourunderstanding of the world. This misperception then leadsto the misrepresentation of indigenous cultures as strangecustoms that must be transformed or shed off like snake skinto be relegated to a zone of obscurity

Closely related to the pervasiveness of Western-centriceducational thoughts is the ubiquity of the perception ofschooling as the only viable way of transmitting knowledgeto children. An attitude of apathy toward indigenous educa-tion seems to pervade among educators when discussionscenter around its educational relevance, and perhaps thisattitude is reflected even more in mainstream journals thatare conspicuous for lack of articles on this subject. A seriouspart of the problem stems from the fact that educators whoframe present day academic discourses have mostly beensocialized into associating and equating schooling practicesas the most discernible ways of offering formal education.This narrow perception of schooling practices hinders one'sability to view alternative indigenous systems as a viable wayof educating children.

Students entering the Tibetan school in Katsel, Tibet.

24 Cultural Survival Quarterly Spring 1998 2 7

Tibetan School Project Update: Interview with Yeshey D. Palsang

Our aim is to educate Tibetan elementary students in reading math and science and in their native language and culture.The project also provides basic medical care to the children and their families, reduces malnutrition, and energizes villagesto improve their lives.

The school is about two hours northeast of Lhasa in the village of Katsel and has grown over the past year to feed 400children and educate about 250, and includes four dormitory buildings, a large eight room school house, kitchen, diningroom, washrooms, and teachers quarters. In addition there is a medical dispensary, a new water-tank for running and hotwater, a greenhouse for growing vegetables throughout most of the year, and a 'yak house' and pigs to provide food for theschool. A new sports field and a library complete the campus. The staff has increased to 20 and many of the teachers havebeen trained at Lhasa University Three of the current teachers are originally from Katsel and have returned with theexpanding opportunities the school has provided. The villagers have built a Tibetan wall enclosing the campus and 8,000trees have been planted to protect and enrich the area as well as to extend environmental education, in keeping withindigenous philosophy, to the children, teachers, and the whole village.

Currently the project also sponsors a program for street kids in Lhasa which provides food, continuing education, andhandicraft workshops.

The FutureRecognizing that the Katsel School has been successful, the next step is underway to provide assistance to 108 other

small village schools in the region. Moreover in Katsel, there are plans to increase the quality and capacity of the local highschool and vocational training facilities for children who graduate the primary school.

Monastic Education: A Brief Historical OverviewOne of the most serious casualties of the Chinese occu-

pation of Tibet is undoubtedly the decimation of monasticeducation, the historically indigenous way of educatingTibetan children. A large number of Tibetan children continueto receive their instruction in monastic institutions in exile.

Tibet has a long history of monastic education begin-ning in the 7th century when Indian Buddhist culture wasintroduced into the land. It is important to point out thatTibet's culture and language were deliberately transplantedfrom India and not from China. The early Tibetan kings andministers seemed to have evinced an unflinching determina-tion to spread Buddhist tradition far and wide in Tibet. It isnot very difficult to gauge what a monastic education mighthave been like when one investigates ancient IndianBuddhist education as Radha Mookerji writes:

"Buddhist education and learning are centered around mona-steries. The Buddhist world did not offer any educationalopportunities apart from or independently of its monasteries.All education, sacred as well as secular, was in the hands of themonks. They had the monopoly and the leisure to impart it."

However, it this does not mean that the monasterieszealously controlled and guarded its access to the public. Itwas indeed truly universal and one could enter a monasticeducation at any time in one's life. More than a belief system,Buddhist culture was "an educational system developed tocultivate an individual's moral, psychological, and intellectualperfection in the context of an unlimited horizon of humanpotential." Unlike medieval England, monastic education inTibet did not encourage seclusion, rather it was an alternativeform of education with a unique community living focus.

Prior to the Chinese invasion, monastic education wasthe major factor in the extension of literacy throughoutTibet. Monasteries and nunneries were easily accessible to allsections of the population regardless of their social class.Some scholars therefore believe that Tibet had an extraordi-narily high literacy rate.

Monastery education not only served religious, but alsothe secular ends by preparing monks for the civil servicesand providing instructions in finance, arithmetic, manage-ment, and astrology The ideal educated person is epitomizedin a popular Tibetan saying, Tam Yig Tsi Sum that includes

three important skills: the ability to engage in argumentativediscourse, write masterfully, and analyze and interpret numer-ical data. Non-literate Tibetans were not deprived from beingenculturated into Buddhism. Powerful non-formal ways oflearningstofy-telling, participation in religious fcstals,classical operas, oral transmission of rites and ritualsplayeda vital role in socializing children into their culture. Theunbreakable links between Tibetan culture and Buddhisteducation is indeed a historical experience of the Tibetansociety Carefully preserved in the monasteries, TibetanBuddhist culture withstood the test of many thousands ofyears and only began to crumble in 1960s when the Chineseperpetrated cultural genocide following their invasion of Tibet.

A large number of monastic institutions have been rehabil-

itated in India, Bhutan, and Nepal where Tibetan children areprovided the traditional instructions in Buddhist culture. English

language, mathematics, and science are also a part of their pro-

gram of studies. Monasteries have been successful in developing

an educational prototype which allows the study of modernday subjects without undermining the significance of the tra-

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ditional Tibetan Buddhist contents. For Tibetans, the processof modernization and the preservation of their cherished cul-ture is not an either-or situation; rather they can coexist in amutually beneficial manner. This aspect indicates the adapt-ability of Tibetan culture to the changing demands of the time.

Formal Tibetan Secular Education:Challenges & Prospects

The first formalized secular education for Tibetanchildren began in the early 1960s at a time when thousandsof Tibetans crossed the Himalayas to escape from politicalturmoil crippling their free spirits. If the descent from thehigh mountains of Tibet to the lowlands of India was ardu-ous, then the birth of a secular education in an alien soil wasno less traumatic. Tibet had the dubious distinction of beinga country that deliberately ignored .its secular education for avery long time, only to be rudely awakened to its signifi-cance in the aftermath of being forced into exile in India.

From its humble beginnings in March, 1960, the first-ever formal Tibetan school started with 50 children at inMussoorie, India. It has made remarkable progress todaygrowing to be a gigantic enterprise with an enrollment ofover 35,500 Tibetan children in 84 schools that includeelementary, middle, and secondary levels in India, Nepal,and Bhutan. The rapid growth of Tibetan schools followedand coincided with a period in the early 1960s when educa-tional systems across the world witnessed expansionunprecedented in history However, the expansion of school-ing in Tibet's case was more a result of the immediate needto provide a safe haven to thousands of children fleeingTibet, rather than a planned approach as seen in the rest ofthe world.

Tibet's diaspora experience presents problems and chal-lenges to the education of children. Nowhere is the dilemmamore pronounced than in the epoused educational aims andgoals for Tibetan children. Although cultural and linguisticpreservation is a stated goal of Tibetan schools, the system-wide curriculum is based on the host country's centralized,examination-dominated system. For example, the education-al goals of Tibetan schools strongly echo the commonaspirations of the Tibetan people. The aims of Tibetan educa-

tion are: "to impart the best modern education along with adeep and intimate understanding of rich cultural heritage ofTibet, and to cultivate a sense of national identity that willenable the children to share the hopes and aspirations of theTibetan people to return someday to a free and independentTibet." Hence Tibetan children face both the challenges of

adapting in an alien country and of reclaiming their lost nation.In recent years, Tibetan schools have come under heavy

criticism. Nawang Dorjee, a Harvard-educated Tibetan educator,

deplores the plunging educational standards and the absenceof "dynamism, electricity, and the collective will that was

visible and palpable in the '60s and '70s in every Tibetanschool. Dorjee also writes that the Council for Tibetan

Education's "inept management, short-sighted policies and ahost of other problems" have contributed to the deteriorationof educational standards in Tibetan schools. Furthermore, hestates that despite the improvement of facilities and qualifi-cations of teachers, it is still "common knowledge that ourschools are failing to give the right education to our chil-dren." It would be tragic if this trend toward educationaldeterioration continues without ever identifying the nature ofthe problem plaguing Tibetan education.

Time has now come for all exiled Tibetans to put asidetheir petty ideological differences and engage in a construc-tive dialogue to identify effective ways of educating childrenthat enable an early return to their country If it takes a villageto educate one child, then the responsibility of preparingchildren for reclaiming their country is by no means easyWe need to find creative ways to promote and maintain thespirit and the hope of returning to our homeland. The preser-vation and promotion of cultural identity should be one ofthe primary objectives of schooling Tibetan children. Thecongruence-of school curriculum and Tibetan culture is cen-tral to the process of ensuring the achievement of this goal.

Presently, the lack of literature is a serious problem thwart-

ing the teachers' ability to help children develop a healthycultural identity Tibetan educators and scholars must worktogether to develop children's literature that are not only cul-turally responsive, but relevant to the lives of children. Thechallenge for educators is to ensure that Tibetan children havenot only strong academic skills, but are Tibetans in their hearts

and minds so that they will play a powerful role in reclaim-ing our lost nation. Education must then equip Tibetanchildren with academic excellence and cultural roots, both ofwhich are crucial for the survival of Tibetan identity

Nawang Phuntsog is an Assistant Professor of Education at the California StateUniversity at Fullerton and received his doctorate degree in education from theUMass Amherst in 1993. His areas of specialization include curriculum develop-rnent, teacher education, and multicultural education. He is the first Tibetan edu-cator to assume a teaching position in a major teacher preparation program in theUnited States. He plans to start an education foundation dedicated to research,improvement, and dissemination of Tibetan education.

ReferencesCirtautas, KC. 1963. The Refugee. New York: The Citadel Press.

Dorjee, Nawan,g. 1992. "Assessment of Tibetan Situation in Exile." TibetanReview V3 (2). Feb 1992.

Michael, E 1982. Rule by Incarnation: Tibetan Buddhism & Its Role inSociety & State. Boulder: Westview Press.

Mooherji, R. 1969. Ancient Indian Education. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.

Reagan, T 1996. Non-Western Educational Traditions. New Jersey: LawrenceErbaurn Associates.

Rees, E. 1959. We Strangers & Afraid: The Refugee Story. New York: TheCarnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Thurman, R.A. 1990. "Tibetan Buddhist Monastic and Intellectual Culture." In C.Elchert, ed. White Lotus: An Introduction to Tibetan Culture. pp.107-113. Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications.

Tibetan Children's Village. 1990. Tibetan Children's Village, Dharamsala (1960-1990). Dharamsala: Tibetan Children's Village.


The Educational and Cultural Implications ofMaori Language Revitalization

by Linda Tuhiwai Smith

The Draft Declaration on the Rights of IndigenousPeoples and a number of other indigenous charterstatements assert indigenous peoples' right to retain

their own languages and cultures. For many indigenouscommunities, the major language issue has not been somuch about retaining a language, but about recovering andrevitalizing indigenous languages that have been'systemati-cally destroyed by a wide range of colonial policies andpractices. In many cases, language revitalization projectshave involved intense political activity, official recognition bylegislation or legal precedent, intervention in schooling,support through broadcasting, and the production ofresource materials. This has been particularly the case for theMaori language in New Zealand.

In the last two decades, considerable effort and supportin New Zealand from both communities and government hasrevitalized the Maori language. There are now some quitecomprehensive programs in schools, tertiary institutions, andcommunities with an estimated 76,000 children in NewZealand receiving some form of Maori language-based educa-tion. The early childhood 'language nests' or Kohanga Reoare Maori language immersion centers and the flagship ofMaori language revitalization initiatives. They began in 1982and have attracted international interest from many otherindigenous communitie. The centers cater to children forsix months to six years old and began as Maori communityinitiatives after the idea -was promulgated at a gathering oftribal elders. Although they are subject to governmentevaluation, the rapid growth of Kohanga Reo centersthroughout New Zealand attests to their success.

Various other models of bilingual and immersioneducation programs have also been established at elementaryand secondary school levels. Some schools known as KuraKaupapa Maori teach entirely in the Maori language and arebased on Maori philosophies and preferred pedagogies.While there are only about 56 government-funded KuraKaupapa Maori schools, other programs vary from smallsingle classroom bilingual units that offer some degree ofMaori language to full immersion programs. Schools receivefinancial support depending on the degree of Maori beingused in the classroom. These official programs are comple-mented by community-based Maori language programs,

adult programs, and advanced degrees in Maori. Funding forMaori language programs for radio, television, and otherresource supports are also being put in place.

A revitalization project of this scope has had significantimplications in training teachers, developing curricula,producing audio-visual resources, evaluating and assessingprojects, and administrating and managing Maori languageeducation. These issues are the ones that are often plannedfor as they form the basis of educational systems and aresubject to government policy, regulation, and resourcing.The education budget is highly contestable and advocates forMaori language education have applied constant pressure onthe government to ensure that the future needs of Maorilanguage programs are fully supported. Maori languageissues are often placed in direct competition with issuesrelated to science and technology which are often consideredmore significant.

However, language revitalization also has an impact onindigenous communities and on the new generation ofindigenous language speakers who are for the most partchildren and young people. The cultural consequences oflanguage revitalization are not always easy to predict, nor arethey likely to be articulated in relation to languagerevitalization when such issues are also fused with othersrelated to youth or the younger generation.

Educational IssuesMaori language programs in schools have been

developed against a backdrop of wider government reform ofthe New Zealand education system. Maori parents want theirchildren to be educationally successful on the same terms asother students in New Zealand, but they also want them tobe successful within their own Maori language and culture.While official support for Maori language is now much moreexplicit, there are still enormous challenges ahead if languagerevitalization programs are to be successful. There is aserious shortage of qualified teachers who have been trainedto teach through the medium of Maori language. At sec-ondary levels, where specialist curriculum knowledge is alsorequired, the shortage of teachers is particularly noticeable assecondary students in Maori immersion programs are notoffered a comprehensive range of subjects. Externalexaminations are not offered in Maori language, therefore,


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students may be taught in the Maori language and then eval-uated in English.

Providing resource materials written in the Maorilanguage has also presented ongoing problems for teachersand families. Presently, material is produced with thesupport of the government that include a series of schooljournals aimed at different age groups. Unfortunately, there isstill very little material that supports the sciences, technolo-gy, or other specialist curriculum areas. Small publishinggroups have also assisted in the production of resourcematerial for their own communities. Although morematerials are being published; the full range of curriculumsupport and recreational reading that children need to stim-ulate their minds and imaginations has not kept up with thedemand. In terms of the perceived status and significance ofMaori language, the lack of material emphasizes the greatersignificance of English.

Unlike other contexts, Maori is one language withdialect variations. This makes providing materials mucheasier than where there are several languages encompassingvast geographical areas and relatively uneven numbers oflanguage speakers. A Maori Language Commission, headedby Professor Timoti Karetu, was established under officiallegislation and maintains an overview of the quality of Maorilanguage material. Although the Commission is very small,funded by the government, and expected to work with othergovernment ministries, its goal is to promote Maori in thecommunity At the same time, new vocabulary must becreated to support the rapid expansion of curriculumknowledge. Professor Karetu has been adamant that Maorilanguage education produce quality speakers of the lan-guage. He has spoken publicly about issues of quality andhas insisted that all programs meet certain standards of oraland written Maori language.

School programs cater to children, but communitylanguage initiatives have also developed to help adults andparents learn the Maori language. Many of the adult pro-grams are based on the principle of immersion however,there are other issues related to teaching adults their ownlanguage which are often about deep emotional mattersrather than about teaching strategies. There is, for example,a sense of shame and inadequacy felt by many adults whowere denied the opportunity to learn their own language.There are also issues of identity tangled up with languageand the ability to function inside the culture. Theseconcerns make adult language revitalization a challengingfield of development.

Cultural IssuesIt is exciting to witness the emergence of a new and

young generation of Maori who can speak the Maori

language fluently and who have been educated in a Maorischooling environment. Alongside this phenomenon, today'syoung people are also better educated and have more workexperience than previous generations. However, there arealso negative implications for these Maori communities;values related to respect, especially for elders, can beopposed to values that promote the use of language inrituals, meetings, and basic social communication. For exam-ple, formal speeches are considered the elders' domain, butyoung adults who are fluent in the language also speakwithout being sensitive to the particular context. Often,parents who have politically struggled for Maori languagecan be excluded from debates about the language if theythemselves do not speak Maori. This tension exists althoughit is often dealt with in pragmatic ways as young people arestill considered too young to participate. Within the next fiveyears however, this generation will be young parents andbegin to take on leadership roles in their communities.

Currently, the younger generation of Maori are attractedby African American hip hop culture and other internation-al-mostly American-cultural influences. The role models forindigenous youth are not always indigenous, nor are theypositive models that reinforce indigenous language. Maoriface the issue of making language revitalization appealingand relevant to adolescent youth. Frequently, the language isused as a way of defining traditional values and practices.Many young Maori find such definitions exclude them fromparticipation in Maori society Problems related to youth sui-cide, drug use, unemployment, and poverty are afflictingMaori communities. While many families find support inlanguage and cultural programs, many others have becomemuch too disconnected from their own indigenous roots.

Language, as other indigenous communities have found,is also about identity The revitalization of Maori language isjust one aspect of a much wider revitalization of Maoriculture. The wider context of language and culturalrevitalization involve Maori people in an enormous socialand political project. The inter-connectedness of language,education, culture, and economics is something that indige-nous people often struggle to sustain because it involvesconstant engagement with the majority culture. The pressureto do things 'right' under the gaze of a majority culture whodo not necessarily support Maori language revitalization, cre-ates an expectation that language revitalization is a straight-forward educational exercise. The reality is that it is not.

Linda Tuhiwai Smith is an Associate Professor in Education and Director ofthe International Research Institute for Maori and Indigenous Education at the

University of Auckland. She has been involved in a wide range of Maori education-

al initiatives including the establishment of an alternative school system know as

Kura Kaupapa Maori. Her iwi or tribes are Ngati Awa and Ngati Porou.

3 128 Cultural Survival Quarterly Spring 1998

Our Children Can't Wait:Recapturing the Essence of Indigenous Schools in the United States

by Come! Pewewardy

C, he only good Indian is a dead Indian" is an Americanaphorism uttered by General Phillip Sheridan duringthe Indian Campaigns of the 1860s and at one time

considered a tenable solution to the so-called 'IndianProblem.' However, as its implementation proved to.be eco-nomically unsound, other more reasonable and 'civilized'alternatives were considered.

IntroductionWith so much attention being paid to the educational

system in the media,national commissions,politics, and our everydaylives, it would be a dis-tinct pity if we became socaught up in the rushtoward excellence that weneglected to continue ask-ing some very criticalquestions about whatschools do. What is therelationship between edu-cation and the larger soci-ety? Who ultimately gainsthe most froni the waysour schools, curriculum,and teaching practices

within them, are organized? How can you build a politicalpower structure in the design of indigenous schools? Theseare easy questions to ask, but difficult ones to answer.

'Our Children Can't Wait' signifies that if we, as indige-nous populations in the United States, do not preserve ourtribal cultures and languages, we will lose them through thehomogenization process typical of the American schoolingsystem. Ultimately, the real question is whether we have thewill to make necessary changes for indigenous children.

Ethnic Specific SchoolsSince 1990, a growing number of cities across the country

have established ethnic specific schools. Schools that give primary

attention to the needs of one specific ethnic or racial group have

been introduced in Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, Baltimore,New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Memphis. These schools

are actively considering a new approach to educating studentsof color. While programs in these cities differ widely in theirscope and approach, they were all established in response to the

lack of academic success, cultural pride, and self-esteem thatstudents of color develop in mainstream classrooms. Thesemissing pieces have been cited by as the driving force behinddisturbing dropout rates, low achievement, teenage pregnan-cy, homicide, and violent death among students of color.

Most indigenous schools were started by indigenousparents who sent their children to American public schools.

Over the years, these chil-dren began fallingthrough the cracks of theschool system. Out of thisconcern, grassroots move-

(

ments were initiated byresponsible indigenousparents, working togetherwith public school dis-tricts toward improvingthe attendance and acade-mic achievement ofindigenous children. Oneof these strategies includ-ed establishing indigenous

Donated by a Taos Pueblo Holyman, this drum at the Mounds Path All-Nations Magnet School

represents the rhythm of indigenous people and serves to beep that rhythm going.magnet schools in thepublic school system for

both indigenous and non-indigenous children.

History of Indigenous SchoolsThe history of American Indian education is older than

the history of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (B1A). The firsttreaty specifically calling for the federal government to edu-cate indigenous children was signed in 1794. Throughoutthe 19th century, the government's goal was to fully assimi-late Indian children into American society and to eradicateindigenous culture. Boarding schools were created and othereducational policies adopted as part of this broader policy

In the 1920s, however, attitudes began to shift toward amore favorable view of cultural pluralism throughoutAmerican society These changes led to a dramatic turnaboutin Indian policy As part of this policy shift, the federal gov-ernment introduced Indian history and culture, more

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reliance on day schools instead of boarding schools, andother new educational measures.

Since the 1960s, the federal government has adopted apolicy of Indian self-determination. This policy was appliedin a new legislative framework for Indian education built byCongress in the 1970s by passing the Indian Education Actof 1972, the Indian Self-Determination and EducationAssistance Act of 1975, and Title XI of the EducationAmendments Act of 1978. The cornerstone of this frame-work has been the promotion of direct responsibility for theeducation of Indian children by tribes and other Indiangroups. Following this objective, Indian groups have con-tracted many elementary and secondary schools formerlyoperated by the B1A.

Education for ExtinctionHistorically, the federal government's assimilation strate-

gy removed indigenous children from their families to attendBIA boarding schools. When the federal governmentremoved children from their families, entire generations lostaccess to native parenting models, culture, language, andtraditional values. In reality, Indians were defeated not bymilitary force (although this is widely believed), but bypolitically restructuring educational institutions to mold acolonial ethos. Colonialism that imprisons young minds withthe concept of racial or ethnic inferiority is by far moretyrannical than brute force. Labeled 'pacification,' educationdeveloped by missions and the Indian service encouragedyoung Indian people to lose confidence in their own leadersand people and to view history and culture as second-rate.Christian missionaries working among American Indiannations were partners in genocide. Nevertheless, the mis-sionaries were guilty of complicity in the destructin ofindigenous cultures and tribal social structures. Ultimately,this form of colonialism chipped away at Indian cultures,making it more and more difficult for each succeedinggeneration to lead autonomous and pro-active lives.

The American HolocaustTeaching from the Eurocentric perspective-that a few

brave Europeans defeated millions of indigenous people-ishighly inaccurate. Rather, diseases brought to this continentfrom Europe defeated indigenous peoples. Close to 100 mil-lion indigenous peoples were exterminated in what isreferred to as 'The American Holocaust.'

The effect of this North American Holocaust on indige-nous peoples, like that of the Jews, was millions of deaths. Infact, it was in a way, even more destructive since manyindigenous peoples became extinct. The white man's superi-or technology, hunger for land, and ethnocentrism seeminglyknew no bounds. The white threat to Indians came in manyforms: smallpox, missionaries, Conestoga wagons, barbed

wire, and smoking locomotives. And in the end, it came inthe form of schools.

Five centuries after contact with the outside world,many indigenous children are in desperate straits because ofthe immense difficulties that hinder their families and com-munities. These children will continue to dropout or'pushout' until conditions within their communities improveand the non-indigenous world arrives at a better understand-ing of indigenous people.

'The ImpaCt of Eurocentric SchoolsMarilyn James, a Sinixt (Arrow Lakes Band) from Omak

Washington, writes:

"The cruelty used against indigenous children of past gen-erations, a double-fisted whammy of church and school,shows that those institutions were willing to travel to greatlengths to 'take the Indian out of the Indian,' since earlierefforts to 'take the Indian out of the country' had been aban-doned for a more 'civilized' way..not until the educationalinstitutions begin to teach and embrace historical truthinstead of the white historical perspective will the situationchange for my people and all native people across the globe.The truth is that the white historical perspective was createdas a bit of fiction that white folks could live and feel com-fortable with, the same fiction being created on a daily basisnow in regard to law, justice, racism, environment, andcountless other aspects of our lives. The time of the comfortzone is passed. Changes must be brought home to bear fruit,or I fear for the futurea barren intellectual, cultural, andenvironmental wasteland."

This complete reorientation of European interest pro-duced an extension of European civilization with its Westernhemisphere heartland centered in the New World.Indigenous peoples realize the atrocities that have been com-mitted against them far better than the greater society Eventoday, in government, education, films, sports Competitions,and society in general, indigenous peoples are presented in aderogatory fashion.

Culturally Responsive Teaching, Learning,and Evaluation .

Culturally responsive teachers can focus on strengthsthat exist in indigenous families while using a culturallyaccepted group pedagogy to promote social cohesion. Tribalculture can be used to strengthen group ties. For manyindigenous students, tribal identity is built through their par-ticipation in cultural activities such as intertribal pow wows,feasts, special events in school, and cultural gatherings.

Indigenous students have the highest dropout rate ofany racial or ethnic group, almost twice that of white stu-dents. Although on standardized tests such as the ScholasticAptitude Test (SAT) and the American College Testing

Program (ACT), indigenous student scores are improvingslightly given the current trends, indigenous students will


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Lahota singers and holymen giving a blessing to the new Mounds Path All-Nations Magi et School in St. Paul, Minnesota.

still lag substantially behind the forecasted scores for all stu-dents in the year 2000. The public education system's

reliance on standardized achievement tests may have hurtindigenous students as they are culturally biased. Studentswhose English language background is non-existant or sub-standard may read and interpret tests incorrectly In addi-tion, indigenous cultural values that discourage competitivebehaviors can also put students at a disadvantage.

For many years it was not possible for tribes to fundtheir own schools. That is changing today through gamingfor many tribes. Casinos are transforming the way indige-nous schools are being financed. Indeed, most Americancommunities do not support their own schools but receivefederal, state, county, and private financial assistance. To acertain degree, no school district in the U.S. has the financialfreedom to determine either the process or the content of itseducation. The issue however, is not funding, it is providingthe context in which the subject taught and the processes bywhich it is taught make sense to American Indians. Here, anindividual is a tribal member all his or her life, consequentlythe tribe always has a central core constituency of peoplewho represent its interest.

American Indians are starting to redefine Indian educa-tion as an internal Indian institution, an educational process

which moves within the Indian context and does not try toavoid or escape this context. Despite such relatively heavyinvestment in consolidating a viable model of colonialisteducation, and its statutory requirement that all AmericanIndian children be subjected to indoctrination within thatmodel's facilities, Congress proved itself unwilling to committhe financial resources necessary to truly universalize theeducation system in Indian country

Culturally responsive teaching uses the child'sculture to build a bridge to successful academic achieve-ment. It places other cultures alongside middle class, main-stream macro-cultures at the center of the classroominstruction paradigm. For teachers of indigenous learners,being 'culturally responsive' means being sensitive, aware,and capable of employing cultural learning patterns, per-spectives, family structure, multiple world views, and triballanguages in the teaching, learning, and mental ecologyof the classroom.

Revolutionary New Indigenous SchoolsThe history of tribal control over Indian education

began in this century with the American Indian Movement(AIM) in the 1960s. AIM viscerally and intellectually linkedIndian control of education with tribal sovereignty The


Student at Mounds Park holding a Medicine Wheel he made in class.

message struck a pan-Indian cord, uniting urban andreservation Indians to demand greater control over Indianeducation. At first, Indian activists created alternatives to theAmerican public schools in the early 1970s in the form ofurban Indian schools in Minnesota's Twin Cities. The RedSchool House was started in Saint Paul in 1970 and theHeart of the Earth School in 1972. Initially, these urbanprograms were remedial and operating funds werecontingent upon year-to-year fund-raising initiatives.

In July 1966, Rough Rock Demonstration School on theNavajo Reservation at Chinle, Arizona came into being. Itwas a project predicated upon the premise that Navajopeople are the ones best able to decide upon, most interestedin being involved in, and the one group most vitally affectedby the curriculum content and instructional methods usedwith Navajo children. Pine Point Experimental CommunitySchool in Ponsford, Minnesota evolved into kindergartenthrough 12th grade comprehensive school. Ramah HighSchool in New Mexico was the first Indian-controlled highschool of the late 20th century The first BIA off-reservationboarding school to come under Indian control was the PierreIndian School, renamed the Pierre Indian Learning Center.In 1975, tribes petitioned the BIA to assume control of theschool and appointed a board member from each of the 15


tribes in North and South Dakota and Nebraska. A numberof other former BIA schools in New Mexico, Arizona, and

Oklahoma followed suit.Dr. Lloyd Elm started the Native American Magnet

School in the Buffalo, New York Public School System in1980. Buffalo was the first public school district in thecountry to designate a school a 'magnet' based on ethnicityMinnesota followed suite in 1991 with the American IndianMagnet School in Saint Paul and Four Winds Magnet School

in Minneapolis.In the early 1990s, creative public school programs

in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Washington, and New Yorkstarted to strengthen indigenous cultural heritage.Thus, urban magnet schools offered an environmentsupportive of indigenous students and offered, for bothindigenous and non-indigenous students, a holisticapproach to teaching, tribal language preservation, and basicskills that was written or infused across the curriculum.Since most American Indian students attend public schools,it is critical that teachers in these educational systemsbecome culturally responsive to the needs of indigenous

learners.

Taking Back Indigenous EducationIf we are to reform public education to meet the needs

of indigenous learners, we must align all school systemresources and programs rather than depend solely on specialgrant programs and indigenous-operated alternative schools.Public schools must assess the actual needs of indigenousstudents and organize the entire school program to meet

these needs.Indigenous communities throughout the U.S. confront

similar problems toward integrating their local schoolcurricula with content representing their local tribal groups.By using multicultural education goals and objectives,infusing indigenous content throughout the curriculum waspossible. To connect generations together, an 'intergenera-tional' curriculum was necessary to bring youth and elders

into the educational process.Indigenous communities are now taking responsibility

for their children's education and making their teachersculturally responsible in the classroom. Responses fromcitizens in Milwaukee, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Diego,and Denver that have proposed creating their own indige-nous magnet school is one possible solution. Anotheroption is to create indigenous charter schools from PresidentClinton's charter school initiative. Whatever methods arechosen, indigenous peoples can no longer afford torespond with short-term reactions to a crisis. Long-term,highly developed formats that demand excellence from our

youth are required.

39

Tribal sovereignty is meaningless unless indigenouspeoples educate those of the next generation to take theirplaces in tribal affairs. Indigenous education aims toeradicate the centuries of colonial ethos imprinted on theminds and souls of indigenous youth and replace that modelwith holistic models of pride, respect, compassion, andknowledge of tribalism.

National reports in Indian education like the IndianNations at Risk Task Force Report of 1991 and White HouseConference on Indian Education in 1992 offer many recom-mendations and solutions to the dilemma in Indian educa-tion today Why are there still discussions concerning 'whyindigenous children can't learn?' We know that cooperativelearning works, both in elementary and secondary education

and can be used to overcome problems college studentsexperience with courses like calculus and statistics. So why

aren't American schools using it more often? It is my beliefthat one of the main reasons cooperative learning is nottaken seriously in American schools is that most publicschools espouse values based upon individualism,competition, and materialism. This is untraditional toindigenous educational values.

The Politics of Education as a Block toPedagogy

Politics have shaped indigenous schools far more thanthe pedagogy Our inability to face political realitiesconfounds the pedagogy It is because of them that we do

not realize excellence for children, even thosewho are thought to be advantaged. They areonly successful by comparison to currentnotions of the white, Anglo-Saxon norm. It isempty achievement when the highest humanvalues and spiritual levels are out of reach.There is a challenge for each of us to considerthe broadest frame for thinking about ourchildren.

This sculpture at the Mounds Park All-Nations Magnet School was commissioned by a native artist and depictsa tree whose roots form the roots of the new school.

3 6

Indigenous Schools for the 21stCentury

Transformational indigenous schoolsfor the 21st century must be holistic. Holisticeducators recognize that all aspects ofhuman life are fundamentally interconnected.Educational leadership must contend thatbrain-based education focuses on the physi-cal, emotional, social, esthetic, creative, andspiritual qualities of every person, as well astraditionally emphasized intellectual andvneatinnal ekillc TrI he well-edurnted in the

modern industrial world means to be welldisciplined; it is to be alienated from one'sown spontaneous, creative, self-actualizingimpulses. Holistic education calls for a newrecognition of the organic, subconscious,subjective, intuitive, artistic, mythological,and spiritual dimensions of our lives.

Staying the CourseFor a true awakening of indigenous

schools in the United States, we must returnto the central goal of self-determination. Torecapture the essence of indigenous educa-tion, transformational schools must become amodel of thoughtful and moral discourse

-n

tn


C.)

which is multitribal as well as multicultural. It does so bybuilding and operating the three-dimensional framework.The first side is the covenant, the agreed-upon principlesof teaching and learning that the tribal school communitypledges to promote. The second side is the charter or theagreed-upon and explicitly tribal sovereign governmentalprocess by which tribal school community members acquiregenuine power in making educational decisions. The thirdside is the critical-study process by which the tribal schoolcommunity gathers information and studies itself as it strivesto achieve learning priorities

District, state, and tribal policies must change tosupport the primary goals of indigenous education in theU.S., honor tribal sovereignty, and respect the developmentaldifferences of indigenous schools. Such policies must notmandate uniformity and procedures rather, they must viewfairness as enabling equality of accomplishment, not same-ness of educational treatment. Policies must invite the schoolto move beyond existing regulations and use a site-basedcovenant, charter, and critical-study process to craft aunique and powerful educational tribal environment. Ifindigenous schools are forced to stay within the givens ofU.S. constitutional law, equity, multicultural content,attention to research, progress toward achievement oflearning goals, and public disclosure of results, then theyshould be actively encouraged to be as creative andimaginative as possible.

The Task Before UsRecapturing the essence of indigenous schools in the

United States is a tremendously challenging, yet seriousmatter. All of the restructuring in the world will be of nobenefit to children if the philosophy, theory, assumptions,and definitions are flawed or invalid. Indigenous educatorsand parents know the problems and their causes. With ourlimited time and money we must now talk about solutionsand their implementation into future indigenous schools.As you can see, I do not find this task to be the least bitdaunting from a professional angle since I have been anactive participant as principal and now as educational con-sultant, helping to start up many new indigenous schoolsaround the country Therefore, I know it can be done andwith excellence.

Promising practices tell us that indigenous schools canwork for both indigenous and non-indigenous children. Wemust reinforce the achievers in education. We must exposethe bad practices that causes our children to fail. The reasonbehind this revolutionary movement toward full integrationof indigenous schools is that our children can't wait foranother generation to just think about recapturing ourschools. Will we save our children? Will we allow them to be

given away? We will now be tested. It is time to go to work.We've come full circle.

Dr. Cornel Pewewardy, a Comanche and Kiowa, is Assistant Professor in theDepartment of Teaching and Leadership, School of Education at the University of

Kansas, Lawence, Kansas. He is also the founding principal of the award-winning

American Indian Magnet School in the Saint Paul chAN) Public School District.

References

Adams, D. W 1995. Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding

School Experience:1875-1928. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.

Beaulieu, D. 1992. "A Concluding Prospectus on Change and Development for

Native Education." In P Cahape and C. B. Howley Eds. Indian Nations at

Risk: Listening to the People. Charleston: ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural

Education and Small Schools.

Cogan, J. J., Errante, A., Rentel, K. 1994. "Three Ethnic Specific Schools In the

Twin Cities: Making Desegregation a Choice?" Center for Urban and

Regional Affairs-Reporter. 24(2), 1-8.

Elm, L. M. 1983. "American Indian Education: A Constitutional Right."

Unpublished doctoral dissertation at the Pennsylvania State University,

University Park, PA.

Glickman, C. D. 1993. Renewing America's Schools: A Guide for School-BasedAction. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Hillabrant, W, Romano, M., Stang, D., & Charleston, M. 1992. "Native American

Education at a Turning Point: Current Demographics and Trends." In P Cahape

and C. B. Howley Eds. Indian Nations at Risk: Listening to the People.Charleston: ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools.

Huff D. J. 1997. To Live Heroically: Institutional Racism and AmericanIndian Education. Albany: State University of New York Press.

James, M. 1991. Dangerous Memories: Invasion and Resistance Since 1492.Chicago: Chicago Religious Task Force on Central America.

M ller, R. 1990. What Are Schools For?: Holistic Education in AmericanCulture. Brandon: Holistic Education Press.

Noriega, J. 1992. "American Indian Education in the United States: Indoctrination

for Subordination to Colonialism." In M. Annette Jaimes Ed. The State of Native

America: Genocide, Colonization, and Resistance. Boston: South End Press.

Nichols, R. 1992. "Continuous Evaluation of Native Education Programs for

American Indian and Alaska Native Students." In P Cahape and C. B.

Howley Eds. Indian Nations at Risk: Listening to the People. Charleston:ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools.

Pewewardy, C. D. 1994. "Culturally Responsible Pedagogy in Action: An American

Indian Magnet School." In Etta R. Hollins, Joyce E. King & Warren C.

Haymon Eds. Teaching Diverse Populations: Formulating a KnowledgeBase. Buffalo: State University of New York Press.

Platero, D. 1978. "Multicultural Teacher Education Center at Rough Rock." In TThompson Ed. The Schooling of Native America. Washington, DC:

American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.

Poop, 1. 1993. "Native American Issues." Social Work Perspectives, 4(1), 34-37.

Stannard, D. E. 1992. American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World.New York: Oxford University Press.

Szasz, M. C. 1992. "Current Conditions in American Indian and Alaska NativeCommunities." In P Cahape and C. B. Howley Eds. Indian Nations at Risk:

Listening to the People. Charleston: ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural

Education and Small Schools.

Thornton, R. 1987. American Indian Holocaust and Survival: A PopulationHistory Since 1492. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

Tinker, G.E. 1993. Missionary Conquest: The Gospel and Native AmericanCultural Genocide. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.


Teaching Tribal Histories froma Native Perspective

by Lea Whitford

The obstacles and challenges that native teachers haveto overcome are well worth the effort as cultural preser-

vation and instilling a positive self-identity are immea-surable aspects of teaching. The rewards of teaching yourown tribal histories or languages can have a profound effecton people. The audience, whether they are native or not, canbe swept in the pages of historywritten or oral. The validityof teaching courses specific to our own tribal history has beenquestioned by native people and non-native people; the debate

continues on. However, this argument does nothing for whatmany native people wantcultural preservation and to con-tinue teaching their own peo-ple the value of tribal knowl-edge for future existence.

As a teacher I have seenthe positive effects of teaching

native studies to native children

and to non-native students. Ihave seen students make whatI call a 'transformation' whenthey learn about their owntribal history, philosophy, orlanguage. Awareness is brought

to a higher level of thoughtfor those non-native studentslearning about the native peo-ple they live among. Learningabout tribal culture empow-ers students to become self-confident and fosters a posi-tive self-identity The growthfrom cultural knowledge canbring understanding for trib-al adversity by embracingthose things that make each tribal group unique.

The Blackfeet reservation which I call home is where theprairie meets the Rocky Mountains in northeastern Montana.At one time, the Blackfoot Confederacy was made up of theKainah (English name Blood), the Pikuni (Piegan), and theSiksika (North Blackfoot) tribes. The territory of theBlackfoot Confederacy included southern Alberta, westernSaskatchewan, and central Montana. As more people came toBlackfoot territory, more the land was in demand; treaties

-.71?

and federal government policies reduced the tribal landholdings. Although the 49th parallel separates the Blackfeet(a name given to the Southern Piegan by the federal government)

in Montana from their relatives in Canada, the BlackfootConfederacy still maintains their tribal relationships.

The Blackfeet reservation sits next to Glacier NationalPark and borders.the United States and Canadian boundaryThere are numerous communities on the reservation and thetown of Browning is the largest community It serves as thecenter for our tribal government and as a shopping centerfor residents. The school system in Browning is the largest,

at

Glacier National Park borders the Blachfeet reservation.

serving approximately 2,500 students from kindergartenthrough 12th grade. The general population.are Indian(mostly Blackfeet) descendants. The school board andadministration have recognized the unique background ofthe student population and have for a number of yearsoffered Native American and Blackfeet study classes and sup-port services in those areas for students and staff. Classesinclude Blackfeet Studies, Blackfeet Language, and NativeAmerican Arts and Crafts.

c-)


Educational Customs of the Blackfootby Amethyst First Rider

How do Plains Indians educate and inculcate the phi-losophy, customs, and values of their cultures? For themost part, education and socialization is achieved throughexample, actual experience, renewal ceremonies, story-telling, praise, reward, and recognition.

Children are greatly valued and considered gifts fromthe Creator. From the moment of birth, children are theobjects of love and kindness from a large circle of relativesand friends. They are strictly trained, but in a sea of love andkindness. Children, as they grow, are given praise and recog-nition for achievements both by the extended family, andthe tribe as a whole. Group recognition manifests itself interms of public ceremonies performed for a child, give-awaysin a child's honor, and songs created and sung in recogni-tion of a child for good deeds and adherence to teachings.

A relative usually takes a young child 'under his or herwing' and assumes the responsibility of teaching the childeverything about the culture and survival, continuouslymaking progress reports to friends, relatives, and parents.These progress reports result in praise and recognition forthe child. Children are seldom physically punished but aresternly lectured about the implications of wrongful andunacceptable behavior.

Storytelling is also a very important part of the educa-tional process. It is through stories that customs and valuesare taught and made explicit to the young. For most NorthAmerican Indian tribes, there are hundreds of stories aboutreal life experiences, spirits, creation, customs and values.Stories are usually told by the loving grandmas and grand-pas of the tribe, but not exclusively. Members of theextended family all generally play a role.

Given the opportunity, a culture attempts to mold itsmembers into ideal personality types. The cultures of thePlains Indians are no exception to this rule. For Blackfoot,the ideal personality is one that shows strength both physi-cally and spiritually He or she is a person who is generousand shows kindness to all. He or she is a person who putsthe groups' needs ahead of individual wants and desires.He or she is a person who, as a generalist, knows all thesurvival skills. With age and experience, he or she is aperson that grows in wisdom. He or she is a personsteeped in spiritual and ritual knowledge. He or she is aperson who, in view of all these expectations, goes abouthis or her life and approaches 'all his relations' in a sea offriendship, an easygoing manner, humor, and good feel-ings. He or she is a person who attempts to suppress innerfeelings, anger, and disagreement with the group. He orshe is a person who is expected to display bravery, hardi-ness, and strength against enemies and outsiders. He orshe is a person who is adaptable and takes the world as itcomes without complaint.

I have taught on the Blackfeet reservation both in thepublic school system and at the Blackfeet CommunityCollege. I have observed the sharing of tribal history in theform of storytelling and also traditional methods of teaching.When students comment about what they have leaned fromtraditional forms of teaching they are aware of the uniqueabilities of our elders to pass on information essential totribal survival. There exists a need for schools and institu-tions to allow elders or keepers of tribal knowledge to sharetheir philosophies of native knowing. Those individuals tak-ing on the responsibility of teaching native studies, tribalhistory, and languages often times are faced with skepticsand difficulties not encountered by other 'accepted' academicareas. Validating reasons for teaching native courses seems anever-ending task. Finding the support for such courses nodoubt are causes for cultural conflict in some communities.These difficulties must be dealt with before actual teachingcan take place.

Many families have a common background of grand-parents and/or parents having unpleasant experiences inschools that did not tolerate cultural expression whether itwas speaking their native language or taking part in tribalceremonies. The first educational institutes' focus was notonly to educate, but also to 'christianize' the Indians. Thegovernment had little or no regard for tribal traditions, thusleaving the tribal elders struggling to hand down tribalknowledge to their own children when the norm waspunishment for being Indian.

The interruption of teaching tribal knowing by obser-vance or by family oral histories has left a tremendousresponsibility on the remaining elders who hold the tribalknowledge. Elders of the tribe feel an urgency to pass oninformation essential to tribal existence, fearing that oncethey are gone, what they know goes with them. We arefortunate today our schools have adopted a differentapproach to educating native people which recognizes andcelebrates the differences of our culture.

Deciding how to balance the concerns of the culturalcommunity and the interests of students is at timesdifficult. The students' innate curiosity to learn aboutspirituality can be uncomfortable for some. Respecting thatthere is a time and place for certain tribal teachings isimportant for teachers to recognize. Books can be acosmetic approach to learning about tribal sacredness,however actual experience has its rightful place and onlythose given the right to transfer that knowledge should beallowed to do so. Our school district hosted a public forum,inviting the community to voice their concerns about theeducation of younger generations. This helped clarify whatthe teachers were doing and what the community wanted tosee happen.


413

The prairie meets the Rocky Mountains on the Blackfeet reservation in northeastern Montana.

In the spring, the Blackfeet Community College has aweek designated as 'Blackfeet Days.' This is a time when thecommunity is invited to attend the lectures, discussions,and demonstrations hosted by the college. They may offer acourse on tipi designs where an elder or someone withtribal knowledge will talk about the meanings of symbolsand how tipi designs may have originated. A hide tanningclass may take place where participants will be asked tobring a hide they wish to tan. The teacher may talk abouttanning tpchniqupn, npw and nir 1 th,- process oflearning to hand tan a hide, the teacher may be telling tribalstories constituting traditional teaching. A more formal wayof traditional teaching would be to sit with an elder whowould light a smudge of sweet grass and say a prAyer. Thestudent may then ask more specific questions, it would thenbe up to the elder to answer the questions or inquiries. Thebest way to learn tribal knowledge is to listen-listening toelders when they are telling stories or when attending tradi-tional ceremonies.

Getting students to think critically about their environ-ment will take researching and developing teaching practicesthat can bring students to a higher level of thinking.Providing reading material on native issues, learning abouttheir tribal governments and how they operate, researchingand debating current tribal events or history are activities I

Jo

have encouraged in myclasses. Students are askedto do family genealogies orto record stories familymembers have told. I haveasked students to interviewa grandparent or an olderfamily member, getting thegrandparent to tell a storyabout their past or thingsthey remember that wouldbe considered tribal historyOne student commented"this is the first time me anmy grandfather sat and vis-ited-about anything." Onestudent had her grandpar-ent talk about a flood andwhat she could rememberabout it, "I did not realizethe hardships my grandpar-ents went through-I learnedsomething about my grand-ma." These exercises have

helped students learn moreabout their family back-

ground and it gives to them the sense of value oral historyhas in cultural preservation. In doing so, self-identity isenhanced and thus positive self-esteem is nurtured.

When I started teaching Native American Studies andBlackfeet Study classes, my own tribal knowledge waslimited. I did not grow up in a traditional family that spokeour native language, nor did I have exposure to anytraditional practices of my tribe. I did not allow this to stopme from embarking on a journey to learn about my tribalheritage and to share what I learned with others. I firmlybelieve learning is a lifelong process. The joy of learningabout the Amskapi Pikuni has been very fulfilling, but is byno means complete.

Lea Whitford is a mother of two and is an enrolled member of the Blackfeettribe and a resident of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. She works at Browning

High School teaching histoty and physical education. Mrs. Whitford graduated

from MSU-Northern Montana College in Havre, Montana with a B.S. in

Secondary Education in Physical Education and History. She received her A.A. in

Blackfeet Studies from Blackfeet Community College and Higher Education from

MSU-Bozeman, Montana.

Acknowledgment

A special thank you is in order for my dear friend, Cheryl Tailfeathers, who hassupported my endeavors.

-n


Native Hawaiian Epistemology:Exploring Hawaiian Views of Knowledge

by Manu Aluli Meyer

"Aloha is the intelligence with which we meet life."Olana A'i

The epistemology or 'philosophy of knowledgerevolution escalates. Sides are being drawn,published words are fortifying entrench-

ments, and academic armies are mobilizing. The'traditionalists,' defend a mono-empirical view ofthe world where empiricism is not culturallydefined. Others work toward broadening thephilosophy of knowledge to encompass the manydistinct definitions of empericisim correlating tomany distinct cultures. The largest dissent comesfrom indigenous peoples as we define ourselvesthrough our values and the interpretation of ourworld via cosmology and epistemology Battlecasualties point to the elusive specter of power,influence, and politics, and as systems continuallydismiss core beliefs of indigenous peoples,misunderstanding and antagonism grows. In somecircles it has been labeled the 'crisis of reason,' butin my own native Hawaiian milieu, it has beencalled a 'window of opportunity'

facts, logic, metaphors, and stories necessary for completedhuman reasoning.

A pandora's box of perspectives on, and definitions ofreason, objectivity, and empiricism has been opened. Signsof entrenchment are escalating however, with verbal attacks,

labeling the movement anti-intellectual, biased,emotional, feminist, and multicultural. It is some-

"The colonialeducational

system in Hawai'iworks very

hard towardhomogenization...

education isrooted in theapolitical and

aculturalassumptions ofoppression and

power..."

The Crisis of Reason: A Window of OpportunityThe specifics of a Hawaiian philosophy of knowledge

focuses on indigenous identity Because of the assimilationistpractices of the U.S., asserting cultural identity continues tobe misrepresented and misunderstood, fueling the epistemo-logical war. Critiques of knowledge production influences allareas of study The hermeneutic position (who creates text-books and why) is tied to epistemology and has crept into allareas of learning that would otherwise have us believe in anacultural knowledge production center. The very definitionof objectivity is in question.

It is an exciting time for indigenous people. This crisisof reason questions the building blocks of an objective andempirically based system that according to Damasio,separates the "thinking thing from the nonthinking body"The Hawaiian ideal of wisdom, on the other hand, refers tothe na'au, the stomach region, the seat of emotion, feeling,heart, and intellect. The smoke has cleared away fromscience and revealed an insular group that has ignored the

what ironic that these very terms have become thetools in which to deconstruct old paradigms orvocabulary, and engage in new structures of dis-course that include fact, logic, metaphor, and sto-ries.

Knowledge about feelings make empiricalverification no less valuable. The crisis of reason isnot so much a crisis for Hawaiians as a window ofopportunity to re-assert our views of the world.The split between reason and experience, rational-ism, and empiricism can be healed with culturaltools that re-claim these images in a moreappropriate and Hawaiian light. Thus, identity isstrengthened and culture is maintained.

The Hum-Drum Fact of ClashingEpistemologies

"Hawaiians, once masters of their honored crafts, poets andwits in their own language, gave way to generations discour-aged and embarrassed in school systems designed by and forWestern culture."

-M K. Pukui, E.W Haertig, and C. Lee

The colonial educational system in Hawai'i works veryhard toward homogenization. It is not based on Hawaiianbeliefs about knowledge, space, cosmology, time, and history,rather, education is rooted in the apolitical and aculturalassumptions of oppression and power. It is not new to cri-tique the colonial influence on our youth, yet we are begin-ning to sharpen the tools of discourse to engage in the dis-cussion of how to educate our children. This has led to thevery origins of what native Hawaiians value within our cul-ture that is relevant to knowledge production, exchange, andcontinuity What has come from this focus is the obvious factthat empiricism, itself, is culturally defined. However,Marshal Sahlins states "this does not mean that Hawaiians


are unempirical-let alone that they privilege the 'ideal' overthe 'real'-but it does mean that they draw conclusions oftheir own from their empirical experiences."

Empiricism, the philosophical belief that all knowledgecomes from our five senses, seems at first to be only missinga few more sensual cues. A closer look reveals the cultural

nature of how these multiple senses get developed. In aHawaiian sense, empiricism gets expanded with such notionsas akaka, moe 'uhane, 'ulaleo and many other culturalbeliefs that shape a Hawaiian sense of being and learning inthe world.

"To others who have not known fishers and planters it isimpossible to convey even a hint of the quality of mind andsensory perception that characterizes the human being whoseperpetual rapport with nature from infancy has been unbro-ken. The sky, sea, and earth, and all in and on them are alivewith meaning indelibly impressed upon every fiber of theunconscious as well as the conscious psyche."

-Handy and Handy

All of life is alive and filled with meaning. Such is a

Hawaiian sense. Fundamental to Hawaiian empiricism is thenotion that experience is culturally defined by what MarshallSahlins refers to as 'social canons of relevance.' He sees therelation culture has to the shaping of sensory knowledge andquestions a universal set of empirical judgments, he sees thatsenses are culturally variable.

"People overestimate their objectivity because they arenoticing only a fraction of the empirical characteristics of

things, a selective attention and eval-uation that corresponds to an act ofcategorization. Not that we are notdealing simply with physiologicalsensations but with empirical judg-ments. The biological mechanismsof perception are not in question,nor is their universality At issue,rather, is the organization of experi-ence, including the training of thesenses, according to social canons ofreleyance."

One 'ontological premise' ofempiricism is the fact that the worldto a Hawaiian is alive and filled withmeaning and metaphor. Knowledge

for Hawaiians had direct purpose-whether in developing achant for a new baby, treating an illness, or forecasting rain.

How one experiences the environment plays a huge role inhow the world is understood and defined, and this experi-ence is nursed and fed via cultural practices, beliefs and values.

"interpretationof experience' isa critical ideaand must be

examined withina Hawaiian

framework if oneis to effectively

explore howculture develops

knowledge."

"...the 'beliefs' of our people in Ka'u arise out of sensory-emotional-mental experiences. They were conceptualized interms of traditional heritage of interpretation and rationaliza-tion. But the commonly held foreign notion that these'beliefs' represent nothing more than an intellectual accumu-lation of traditional 'superstitions' will be seen to be devoid oftruth, [that] illustrate the fact that the 'belief' originates insome concrete and tangible complex or psychologicalsequence involving sensation-emotion-observation-interpre-

tation-rationalization.In a word, these arenot 'beliefs' merely:they are records andinterpretation of expe-riences.

Hawaiian Extra-Sensory Knowledgesee akakd

see hihi'o

hear '615Ieo

smell honi paha'oha'o

touch 'dull

vision; also a trance or reflection; vision where one isawake

vision; a dream just before sleep or just beforeawakening

supernatural voice or sound; sacred sound

mysterious smell; smell that causes wonder

skin signs:

ökakaalaaki'akie'auhu'ihu'ima'e'ele

goose bumpslittle pinches, nibblesants crawling under the skinsudden chill or numbnessfoot asleep (omens of misfortune signsthat supernatural spirits are present)

"Joy" courtesy of Meleanna Meyer

-Handy and Pukui

And so, the 'inter-pretation of experi-ence' is a critical ideaand must be examinedwithin a Hawaiianframework if one is toeffectively explore howculture developsknowledge. Thefollowing example,

written by lzurriu hula

(hula teacher) PualaniKanaka'ole Kanahele,points to empiricism

"11


tjau.

and how a Hawaiian view shapes the very core of sense andexperience:

"The notion that a rock exists as an inanimate object,especially in its creative stages, is totally foreign to theHawaiian. Rock, especially fresh lava flow, has a spirit, andwith the assumption of a spirit, procreation is possible. Thus,this belief that Pe le (the volcano deity) is magma, Pe le is lava,and that she is the one who controls the outpouring of thisenergy is within this dualistic concept. Pe le is the creativeforce whose name signifies the physical and the spiritualessence of newly formed land."

Rocks have spirit, magma is Pe le. Thus outlines thedirective for a Hawaiian's sense of the empirical. This sets the

stage for the following conversation of signs, portents,knowledge, and insights gained from sensory and extra-sen-

sory cues that are a basic part ofHawaiian life.

"...hearing,seeing, touching,and smelling are

culturallymediated actsfounded onHawaiian

practices andbeliefs."

Expanding the Notionof Empiricism

Hawaiian empiricismincludes experiences during wak-ing and sleeping states andduring moments of revelationorhOlke or through the insightsgained by environmental signs,lul'ailona. Mary Kawena Pukui,the lead author and historian ofNana I Ke Kumu, a referencebook for professionals who work

with native Hawaiians, defined five categories of these formsof communication and experience that reflect a broader list

of sensory knowledge.Thus, hearing, seeing, touching, and smelling are

culturally mediated acts founded on Hawaiian practices andbeliefs. If one views a past relative not as a ghost, but assomeone to help and guide them through life's problems andhardships ('aumakua concept), then when this person showsup in a hihi'o, akalca or they will be welcomed and

listened to. Such is the nature of ontological diversityHawaiians experience their world in fundamentally uniqueways that reflect broader definitions of rationality in specific

and timeless fashion.The fact that observable phenomenon is mixed with

supernatural ones is basic for Hawaiians and serves toexplain our world. Visions play an important part in thisdiscussion of epistemology because they challenge funda-mental principles of empiricism both via the cultural-sensoryargument and now, in a whole new way They challenge theassumption that we learn only by observable sensory inputand not in a more mystical phenomenological way

What makes me smart in a Hawaiian cosmos dependson who's judging, what is the quality of my 'products,' and


how I exchange them. It is an intricate system that is richlymoral and deeply spiritual. This article has scratched thesurface of cultural empiricism and how is plays an importantrole in epistemology It is time to step from the shadows toconfirm and validate other ways of knowing that are moreempowering, more meaningful, more fun, and more rigorousin the kinds of ways that engender community, extendculture, and strengthen commitment to the things and waysof value. Cultural epistemology is no longer a novelty, it is a

fact, and the time has come to expose its suppression andnon-reflection in our American educational system.

Manu Aluli Meyer teaches at the University of Hawan in Hilo. She is co-founder of a revolutionary educational movement based on sustainability and cul-ture. She builds Hawaiian cultural sites in communities that ash for them and she

shapes rocks for Makahilti competitions.

References

Grosz, E. 1993. "Bodies and Knowledge: Feminism and the Crisis of Reason." In

Alcoff, L & Potter, E. Eds. Feminist Epipstemologies, pp. 187-215.

Handy, E.S.C., & Handy, E.G. 1972. Native Planters of Old Hawaii. Honolulu:

Bishop Museum Press.

Handy, E.S.C., & Puki, M.K. 1972. The Polynesian Family System in Ka'u,

Hawai'i. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle.

Kanahele, PK. 1990. "Kilauea: Creation and Procreation." The Journal of the

University of Hawai'i Community Colleges. pp. 61-64.

Marttn-BarO, 1. 1994. Writings for a Liberation Psychology. Cambridge: Harvard

University Press.

McCloskey, D.N. 1995. "Economics and the Limits of Scientific Knowledge.". In

Goodman, RE, & Fisher; W.R. (Eds.) Rethinking Knowledge: ReflectionsAcross the Disciplines. New York: State University; pages 3-21.

M.K., Haertig, E.W, & Lee, C. 1972. Nana I Ke Kumu: Look to the

Source, Vol. 1 & 11. Honolulu: Hui Hanai, Queen Liliu'ohalani Childrens

Center

Sahl ns, M. 1995. How "Natives" Think-About Captain Cook for Example.Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

4

cc

Indigenous Rights and Schoolingin Highland Chiapas

by Margaret Freedson Gonzalez and Elias Perez Perez

e want help for our people. Our childrenshouldn't just learn and abandon the way of lifeof our parents and grandparents. We want them

to become intelligent but not to lose the knowledge and cus-toms of our ancestors, our way of thinking, our way of talk-ing. They must respect and learn the wisdom of our parentsso that later, they are able to solve problems among their peo-ple. They must learn the way of life of the mestizos and thatof their own people as well."

-Tzotzil mother, San Andrés Larrainzar, Chiapas

A New Educational AgendaIn February, 1996, representatives of the Mexican feder-

al government and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation(EZLN) signed an Accord on Indigenous Rights and Culturein San Andres Larrainzar, Chiapas. The Accord ratifies the right

of indigenous peoples to an altogether newkind of education, one that is bilingual,intercultural, high quality, and free of charge.According to the text, the government com-mits to "promote, develop, and preserveindigenous language education, the teachingof indigenous language literacy, and assurethe opportunity to learn Spanish." At the same

time, it must guarantee an education that"respects and promotes indigenous knowl-edge, traditions, and forms of organization."

There has been little opposition tothese demands at the level of public poiicyand discourse. Since 1990, the MexicanConstitution has established that the lawmust "protect and promote the develop-ment of indigenous languages, cultures,and ways of life." Mexico's General

Directorate of Indigenous Educationfollowed suit in 1994 by adopting instruc-tional guidelines that reflect a shift awayfrom the assimilationist 'transitional' bilin-gual education of the past, towards a language

maintenance program model. Indigenouschildren are now to be taught in theirnative language as well as in Spanishthroughout their primary school years.

The reality of schooling in most ofMexico's indigenous communities

however, is a world away from the ideal laid out in federalguidelines and the San Andrds Accords. This is particularlytrue in Chiapas, where indigenous children routinely aban-don school after repeated failures and community dissatisfac-tion with teachers is widespread. During the last four years,we have spent hundreds of hours in rural classrooms andspoken with parents and elders in Tzotzil and Tzeltal Mayacommunities across the Chiapas Highlands. The followingoverview of government-sponsored schooling in the regiondraws from these experiences.

BackgroundForty-five years ago, schools were virtually unknown in

most Chiapas Highland villages. Today, government schoolsdot the countryside. Although many do not provide

Villages of Highland Chiapas

Villahermosa

umbald

' J-C<C>/:....7

Yajaldn.

Clain

s.marc. Chalchihuitin

Maidalenaso.,s.utomi;-Chenathe ethmh.Cancuc e0cosingoLarrainzar.

I Ch.mniao sTeneppaHuistan

San Bartolosne de los Llamas'hail

GUATEMALA

44

RA;

Jas MargaritasComitin de Dominguez

4-49,043er uttlig ETA

State of Chiapas

JVCotter & JDNations

n


L11.

instruction beyond the fourth grade, nearly every Highlandvillage has a school. Across the region, more than 72,000Tzotzil and Tzeltal children are enrolled at the preschool andprimary levels (See Table). Approximately 77% are taught byindigenous teachers within the state's Indigenous BilingualEducation system. The remaining children receive Spanish-only instruction from ladino or rnestizo teachers in general

state schools.

Linguistic and Cultural Rights in theClassroom

In practice, the educational programs offered by theIndigenous Bilingual and General State school systems aremore similar than they are different. Both are characterized

by a focus on universal curriculum objectives, textbookcontents, and identity building accomplished throughpatriotic exercises that occupy a substantial portion of schooltime. Far from promoting indigenous knowledge, classroompractice is rooted in the encyclopedic tradition of Westernschooling, oriented towards the memorization of terms andformulas that offer little preparation for the real lifechallenges Highland children are likely to face. Most indige-nous teachers recognize the inappropriateness of this cur-riculum, but lack the skills, resources, or political will togenerate alternatives.

Several Tzotzil parents explained to us how this lack ofschool support of local culture may stem from teachers' owneducational histories:

"Many teachers, though they are indigenous, no longerknow our customs because they were only with their parentsfor six years before they went to boarding schools and thento live in the city of San CristObal. They no longer saw howtheir parents lived, nor could they receive their parents'teachings. They cannot orient our children then because theydo not know our way of life, how our thinking develops, howwe speak in the community"

Language and literacy issues are no less problematic.Increasingly, first and second grade bilingual teachers use the

Tzotzil and Tzeltal languages in their classroomtalk to aid students' comprehension of theofficial curriculum. However, reading andwriting are taught almost exclusively in Spanish,producing limited opportunities for the largelymonolingual children to interact with writtentext. By the upper elementary grades, the use ofindigenous languages has disappeared from theclassroom altogether, save for the rare translation

of a Spanish phrase or concept.Inattention to indigenous language educa-

tion is explained partly by the fact that manyindigenous teachers, although native to Chiapas,speak a language not shared by their students.

This is the case for at least 35% of all Highland bilingualteachers. Many others feel unprepared to promote indige-nous language literacy among their students since teachersthemselves have limited reading and writing abilities in theirnative language. Finally, many oppose the use of nativelanguage instruction on ideological grounds. While indige-nous languages remain firmly rooted in most communities,Spanish is the language of status, economic opportunity,

and defense against exploitation by Highland ladinos.School children and parents who speak only their maternallanguage are often viewed as atrasados or backwards.Many teachers believe they can make up for children's lan-guage 'deficit' by using as much Spanish as possible in theclassroom. As one Tzeltal teacher explained, "It's useless to

speak to the children only in their native language. They'llfinish primary school just half-knowing how to read andwrite in Spanish. School will not have been worthwhile for

them at all."So embedded is this belief system that some teachers

view Mexico's recent efforts to promote native languageliteracy instruction as part of a government conspiracy topermanently exclude indigenous peoples from mestizo-dominated political and economic spheres. This helps toexplain why new Tzotzil and Tzeltal language textbooks,which are central to bilingual education reform andavailable in most Highland classrooms, have been aresounding flop with teachers.

Ironically, the heavy Spanish-language focus of thecurriculum is partly to blame for the limited learning thattakes place in Highland classrooms, Children's literacy devel-opment, so important to parents, is made painfully slow andmechanical by the use of a language medium in whichchildren have limited oral proficiency Moreover, becauseSpanish is taught primarily through unstructured immersionand literacy rather than using methods specifically designedto promote second language acquisition, most children leaveprimary school with limited Spanish communication skills.

1994-1995Enrollments

Preschoolin 14 1-li,Dhland

Indigenous BilingualEducation System

and Primary Sch)olMunicipalities

General State System Total Enrollment

Preschool 8,390

(78.9%)

2,242

(21.1%)

10,632

(100%)

Primary School

(Grades 1-6)

47,691

(76.5%)

14,643

(23.5%)

62,334

(100%)

Total Systrnem-wideEnrollment

56,081

(76.9%)

16,885

(23.1%)

72,966

(100%)

'Office of Statistics, Chiapas Sducational Services


A Promise Unfulfilled?How do indigenous parents and elders evaluate govern-

ment schools? Most are ambivalent. On the one hand, theybelieve that schooling can play an important role in prepar-ing children for the demands of the world beyond the com-munity As one father explained:

"Now that there's a school here, our children can speak afew words of Spanish so that the mestizos can no longer trickus when we go to sell our products in San CristObal. Theyouth can look for work in the cities or on the roads and canspeak with the mestizos. And wherever we go, we can readthe bus routes and easily find our way That's what schoolis for."

Yet parents recognize the negative impact of existing

educational models on indigenous values and customs.Schools are blamed for making children less respectful oftheir elders, less interested in learning traditional knowledgeand skills, and less willing to fulfill their domestic or agricul-tural responsibilities. Parents also see that schools often failto deliver on their most basic promises. One former studentcaptured the frustration of having spent so many years inprimary school for so little return:

"When I was in school, my teacher told me 'Learn to read.Study your books well so that you can go off to find work asa driver or a doctor.' When I completed my studies, I didn'tknow much because what the teacher or the books had saiddidn't stay in my head. All I learned in school was to writemy name and read a bit, but I don't understand very well andI don't speak Spanish, so I stay here working in the fields.What I learned in school was of little use since I couldn't findwork. What the teacher told me was just a deceit."

With limited faith in teachers' commitment to localinterests, many indigenous communities in Chiapas haveexpelled government teachers, bilingual or otherwise, andnamed 'community educators' from within to take charge ofschools. This growing movement now involves more than-)nnn nratnrc arrncc lip ctato an," ic ,gaining strengt1-1 in tine

Highlands.

ConclusionsReform efforts aimed at improving Highland schools are

underway Indigenous teachers and community educators arebeing trained to make classroom instruction more dynamic,more participatory, and better aligned with the linguistic andcultural rights outlined in the San Andrés Accord. Ideally,such reforms should be community or teacher driven. Infact, most originate among indigenous professionals inMexico City and thus have tended to lack grassrootssupport, especially from teachers. However, galvanized bythe Zapatista movement, many Highland communities havebegun to voice demands that coincide with both the majorpoints of the Indigenous Rights Accord and with Mexico's

most progressive indigenous education policies. Thisdynamic is likely to increase pressure on schools to respondto local community interests.

There is a tendency in Mesoamerica towards increasingreliance on non-government organizations and the privatesector to promote educational innovation. Many internation-al donor agencies have shifted their primary focus away fromstate-sponsored reform projects whose dismal track record iswell-known, towards more local, community-based initia-tives. Many such efforts are described in this issue of CulturalSurvival Quarterly While these projects often provide thecreative and political leadership necessary for educationalchange to take place, they cannot replace the government'srole or responsibility in providing culturally relevant, qualityeducational services to indigenous children and youth on alarge scale.

Margaret Freedson Gonzalez has lived and worked in the ChiapasHighlands since 1993. She has conducted research on indigenous education with the

Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas, the Rigoberta Menchu Foundation,

and the Centro de Lenguas Artes y Literatura Indigena de Chiapas. She is current-

ly a doctoral candidate in Language and Literacy at the Howard Graduate School

of Education.

Elias Perez Perez is an indigenous education specialist native to San PedroChenalho, Chiapas. He currently conducts research with the Centro de Lenguas

Artes y Literatura 1ndigena de Chiapas and trains bilingual teachers at the

Universidad Pedagogical Nacionars San CristObal campus.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the University of Arts and Sciences of Chiapas and the

Rigoberta Menchu Foundation for supporting our ongoing research. We would also

like express our great appreciation to the Highland teachers and parents who gen-erously shared their time and opinions about indigenous education, and welcomed

us into their communities and classrooms.

References

Barreda, A. et.al. Eds. 1996. "Acuerdos sobre derechos y cultura indigena." In

Chiapas 2. Mexico City: Ediciones Era, UNAM.

Freedson, M. and Perez Perez, E. 1995. "EducaciOn bilingue-bicultural y modern-

izaciOn en los Altos de Chiapas." America Indigena, 55 (1-2) , 383-424.

Hamel, R.E. 1994. "Linguistic Rights for Amerindian Peoples in Latin America." In

T SkuttnabbKangas and R. Phillipson Eds. Linguistic Human Rights:Overcoming Linguistic Discrimination. New York: Mouton de Gruyter

Hidalgo, M. 1994. "Bilingual Education, Nationalism, and Ethnicity in Mexico:

From Theory to Practice." Language Problems and Language Planning.18(3), pp.I87-207.

Modiano, N. 1973. Indian Education in the Chiapas Highlands. New York:Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Pineda, L.O. 1993. Caciques Culturales: El caso de los maestros bilingues enlos Altos de Chiapas. Puebla, Mexico: Altres Costa.

Viqueira, J.P and Rus, M. Eds. 1995. Chiapas: Los rumbos de otra historia.Mexico City: Centro de Estudios Mayas (UNAM), C1ESAS, Universidad de

Guadelajara.

C-4


Chanob Vun ta Batz'i K'op of Sna Alibajom:An Alternative Education in Our Native Languages

by Antonio de la Torre Lopez, translated by Bret Gustafson

currently in Chiapas, issues of pluriculturalism andmultilingualism have become more prominent thanever. In reality, there are many ways of thinking,

expressing, and teaching in each,of our different native cul-tures. In many cases, these differences contradict from thoseof the dominant culture which pressure the marginal indige-nous cultures to homogenize and supposedly modernizebehavior, cosmovision, knowledge, language, and forms ofteaching, abruptly replacing traditional ways. Nonetheless,the accelerated changes of our era require an attitude of tol-erance which allows us to speak freely in the languages ofeach culture; quite similar to the situation of rnestizo Spanishspeakers who must learn some variant of English. Thismodern world, with new ideas,inventions, and discoveries,often leaves traditional lan-guages behind and tends toregard them as linguisticallyinferior with respect to thestandard language officializedby the realms of science, soci-ety, culture, politics, andeconomics. Linguists andanthropologists working for thegovernment have writtenbooks on rules of grammar anddictionaries in our languagesand have used them to impose new religions or to'Hispanicize' us, to integrate us into the so-called 'nationalculture.' Although we know all too well that 'national cul-ture' is in fact pluricultural, multiethnic, and multilingual.

Our language weaves the words of daily life with agrammatical logic rooted in traditional ways and stemmingfrom ancient ancestral roots. However, we encounter seriousdifficulties using our daily language when confronted withnew Spanish.

As Tseltal and Tzotzil peoples of the Chiapas Highlands,we are the direct inheritants of the Maya culture which flour-ished for thousands of years in what is now southeasternMexico and parts of Central America. All civil, military, and

religious life of our culture is related to the stars, the passageof time, and the natural world, as well as the patron saintsand deities of each present community. Today there is an

expansive corpus of oral literature and associations of Mayaand Zoque writers. These writers have written and published(in their own language and Spanish) compilations whichdescribe these ancestral sciences, the history of their peoples,the establishment of their churches, and their mythic histo-ries. Many of these histories are rooted in ancient Mayatraditions, similar to the Book of Council (Pop Wuj or Popol

Vuj) of the Maya K'iche and the patron saints and deities ofeach community. Today, asssociations of Maya and Zoquewriters and actors have drawn on the expansive corpus oforal literature to publish and illustrate their histories.

Despite these advances which have conserved muchancient knowledge transmitted through oral tradition, there

is still a strong need for educa-tion, especially in our nativelanguages. The majority ofmunicipalities within Maya andZoque populations only haveprimary schools, many whichfunction only to the third grade.These schools often call them-selves bilingual, but in realitythey teach only in Spanish.

Students of Sna jtz'ibajom learn w read a


nd write their native language.

There are practically no board-ing schools for students fromisolated areas and there is onlyone secondary school in the

municipal seat, a long distance from many hamlets. Thereare no large accommodations for popular meetings, nolibraries, open air theaters, or large shelters for culturalevents. In the cities and urban areas where libraries, theaters,and cultural centers exist, millions and millions of pesos arespent to put on spectacles which have nothing to do withour indigenous cultures, nor are they authentically Mexican.There is a serious lack of entertainment alternatives andcultural activities, and a great need for cultural and technicaltraining, especially for young people as they are graduallylosing their identity, traditional clothing, mother language,and cultures.

In the Highlands of Chiapas, 15 years ago we foundedSna Jtz'ibajom, a group of Maya-Tseltal and Maya-Tzotzil

interested in preserving and promoting ancestral culturethrough oral and written literature, puppet theater, live

theater based on histories, legends, and events of every-day life, radio programs in native languages, video, car-toons, native language soap operas, and audio cassettesreflecting the knowledge and condition of our culture.After publishing much literature, we realized that acrucial element was

missing; Who would be able to read the books we werewriting in our languages? Why should we publish in ourmother language if there were no readers? Who couldteach reading and writing and teach people tounderstand the narrations?

In January, 1987, with the aid of our literary coordi-nator, Robert M. Laughlin, we founded the communityschool. This school offered a six month course and wasgenerally taught in the teachers' homes in Zinacantan,Chamula, and Tenejapa. As of December 1997, this schoolhas awarded diplomas to over 2,000 men, women, andchildren now able to read and write in their mother tongue.The students commented "from the very first day that we

entered the classroom we wereamazed to see that the Tzotzillanguage is very extensive andwe felt good to be able towrite it and read it."

When the classes wereinitially offered, the news thatnative language courses were

available spread like wildfire among the communities. Somewere distrustful, thinking that once again it was some prose-lytizing religion, but when they realized there was no hiddenagenda, they readily participated. One student commented:

ET.

FOR MORE INFO

For more information on SnaJtz'ibajom, contact: Sna Jtz'ibajom,A.P 4, San CristObal de las Casas,

Chiapas, Mexico,located at Calle Tonala3-A, tel/fax: 52- 967 83120.

"We formed groups of one teacher and ten students amongboth youth and adults with whom we worked in the after-noons and weekends over a period of six months. The coursecontained themes such as: the alphabet of our language, therelation between glottalized and non-glottalized words [theglottal stop serves to differentiate meanings and has a veryimportant role in our languages]; also conjugations of transi-tive and intransitive verbs which have very different forms;the formation of sentences and paragraphs, always respectingthe nature and form of expression in our language; and so on.We all enjoyed ourselves during the courses. In this way, wetaught our people to read and write, until they were able towrite a story, legend, or describe a dream. In addition toteaching reading and writing in our language, translating istaught because we have seen how necessary and important itis to facilitate the study of Spanish. Some of my students havewon prizes in children's writing competitions with their owncreations in Tzotzil. Later, more children and adults askedwhen there will be another competition so they can partici-pate as well. I think our task is to help our people, becausethey want to learn to read and write their languages, tounderstand the writings of their fellow Maya and of otherpeoples, and why not? They could also be writers andteachers who share their knowledge and experience in their

Adults as well as children learn at Sna ftzlbajorn.

communities and regions. Many of them have found newjobs and opportunities."

Our writings and literature must be mirrors and torches,the means of opening new roads for our peoples. Theyshould be the light of hope for a 'New Indian Life' or NuevaVida India. Through them we learn to open a new dialoguebetween our people and I believe we will continue to widenthis interchange, to unify our thoughts and our words,always seeking the well-being and unity of all. Because ourcountry is composed of many ethnic groups and differentlanguages, we are a society of many cultures. Thus, weconsider Spanish to be useful to us; it is necessary andimportant to learn it, to be able to share with, live among,and understand all of Mexican society

We seek, in conclusion, the establishment of the rightsproposed in the Constitutional Reform outlined by the COCOPA,

the Committee of Peace and Reconciliation (Comite de Concil-

iackin para la Paz), whose goal is to preserve and promoteour cultures. From sections VI and VII of Article Four of theConstitutional Reform, we seek to "preserve and enrich theirlanguages, knowledge, and all of the elements which makeup their culture and identity; to acquire, operate, andadminister their own means of communication" and morespecifically in education, which proposes "the federal, state,and municipal educational authorities, in consultation withthe indigenous peoples will define and develop educationalprograms with regional content, which recognize the culturalpatrimony [of the indigenous people]."

Antonio de la Torre Lopez is the President of Sna Jtz'ibajom, The House ofthe Writei; a cultural center of actors in Tzotzil, which groups actors and writers of

Zinacantan, Chamula, Tenejapa, and other municipalities of the ChiapasHighlands, all of them bilingual Maya speakers of Tseltal or Tzotzil.

Bret Gustafson is Ph.D. candidate in Anthropology at Harvard University.


C.)

Who Can Make a Difference?Everybody Can!

Sharing Information on Indigenous Educational Success-A Case Study from Australia

by Roberta Sykes

As recently as 15 years ago, combined political and

social conditions had ensured that notone Australian Aboriginal gained a doctorate

in any academic discipline. Until a referendum was passed

in 1967 that enabled a constitutional alteration erasingtheir exclusion, Aborigines were not acknowledged as

Australian citizens, had no access to mainstream social

services, and had no enforceable right to vote or attend

public schools. For many decades, tens ofthousands of Aboriginal children were removed

from their parents and communities andkept isolated in institutions run by whites; thegirls were groomed for domestic service, boys

for laborious work. The long silence about theeffects of this latter government policy has

only just been broken last year with thepublication of a report, Bringing Them Home,

published by the Australian Human Rights

Commission.

In this oppressive environment, it was diffi-

cult, indeed impossible, for Aborigines to imagine a future in

which they would play a positive role. Since the early 1970s,Aborigines experienced some success with community-con-

trol of services such as Aboriginal medical and legal serviceshowever, these facilities were created to fend off immediate

crises; they were not products of empirical research and pri-

oritization.

was surprised when this activity became the means by which

I eventually entered the academic world.During my studies, I felt it was a shame that I would be

the first and only black person to have this wonderfuleducational opportunity, that this opportunity was available

to me only outside my own country and that it would be a

shame on me if I was the last.In the early 1970s, I had been one of the four founders

of a Black Women's Action Group which had

sprung from recognizing the need for a commu-I would be the first

and only blackperson to have this

wonderfuleducational opportu-

nity.. and that itwould be a shame onme if I was the last.

Pinpointing a NeedIn 1984, I returned home to Australia having gained my

doctorate from Harvard University My presence at this uni-

versity was a fluke; with little previous formal education, I

had been invited to apply to their Education School at post-graduate level on the basis of my quite extensive publica-

tions. Primarily a black community activist employed in the

area of health, over time I found that as a member of aminority group numbering less than half a million, explain-ing the interrelationship and complexities of our problems to

the wider community of 18 million people was repetitiousand tedious. Thus, I began to write and publish my insightsand ideas so I would not have to continually repeat them. I

nity newspaper. During my absence, its

activities lapsed, but since it already had some

community recognition, it seemed a good

vehicle to resurrect and tailor to meet new

needs. The newspaper reached both Aboriginal

and non-Aboriginal communities which wasessential because through it, we would have .to

locate appropriate resources and match them to

the needs of potential Aboriginal scholars.

As I alone had been so fortunate to have

had postgraduate experiences, I was morally obliged to fulfill

a chain of Aboriginal successes and convey the possibility of

success to other Aborigines. Going 'one-out,' or without thesupport of an organization to back us as we seek the appro-priate place to utilize our skills, we would be like sitting

ducks and our effectiveness would be minimized. But a solid

core of Aboriginal graduates providing support for each

other could be a very different matter.During summer breaks from school, I resumed work at

the New South Wales Health Department and sought outmany of my old contacts. Educationally, we had major

problems. A very high proportion of the adult Aboriginal

population was illiterate and still burdened by the legacy of

being excluded from schools in their youth. Althoughprimary education was by this time compulsory, thenegative attitudes of teachers, poverty-stricken livingconditions, and inherited trauma took a very high toll. By

the time Aboriginal students reached the secondary levelof their education, their attrition rate was the highest of any

group in the country. Only a handful of students made itinto universities and there, few survived the vested interests


Mentoring and ReciprocityAlthough my doctoral studies are coming to an end, I can feel over-

whelmed by the pride of having been accepted into Harvard Law School. Therewas one moment I can pinpoint when my life turned in this direction. It was acomment made to me by a woman I have admired for her work to our commu-nity Roberta Sykes had said to me: "So, when are you going to apply toHarvard?" She had encouraged me through all stages of the application andfund-raising processes and she has remained a valuable resource to me while Ihave been away from my family Roberta anticipated the tough emotional andintellectual struggles that I have faced while I have been here.

My acceptance to Harvard, and the role Roberta played in that journey, is alesson in the importance of mentoring in the education of Aboriginal children.Given the legacy of educational policies that denied Aboriginal children learningopportunities and directed them towards work as manual laborers, there arevery few role models within the Aboriginal community (and still less of thosesuccess stories who actively support and encourage younger generations).

I noticed how the lack of role models can impede the visions theAboriginal children have about their future when I went to a careers day at alocal high school. When asked what they wanted to do with their lives, I wassurprised how many Aboriginal children replied that they wanted to be police-men. When I asked what the attraction to that profession was, a number replied:"Because I'm interested in the law." When I asked why, then, not be a lawyer, Iwas met with the response "I never thought of that."

With very few indigenous lawyers trained in Australia, there is little chance of meeting one. The improvement ofindigenous education means ensuring that the aspirations of the indigenous communities remain high where they oughtto be, not lowered by the oppression and discrimination of the past.

Jake.-

Larissa Behrendt with Roberta Sykes.

Larissa Behrendt is a SJD Student Harvard Law School

which maintained the assumed inferiority of

Aboriginal intelligence.

The federal government had instigated an

Aboriginal Overseas Study Awards program

which had funded several cultural students suchas dancers and numerous look-see-but do notcome back qualified' tours that lasted between sixweeks and six months. These tours enabled

Aborigines to look at projects such as alcohol

rehabilitation on Native American reservations

and return to their communities with ideas, butwithout means to implement them.

"That we had toencourage her to go

with minimalresources was ameasure of the

Aboriginal commu-nity's desperation

and need forqualified people."

Links in the ChainNorma Ingram, a founder of the immensely successful

Murawina Pre-School, an inner-city project for disadvan-

taged Aboriginal children, was at a crossroads in her life.

Initially very apprehensive, Norma enrolled in a teacher's

training course in a determined effort to pick up study skillsand practice academic writing. By this time, our Black

Women's Action Group had renewed contactswith a few dozen potential supporters across thecountry and when Norma received word of heracceptance into the Harvard Graduate School of

Education, we prevailed upon all these members

for financial contributions to enable her to real-ize her aspirations.

We were only partly successful in this

fundraising venture and were forced to approachAustralian Council of Churches-my major spon-

sor-to ask if they would underwrite Norma's

expenses to satisfy the school's requirements.

This allowed Norma to travel to Boston with a

return ticket, a scant few thousand dollars, and apromise to send more as soon as we raised it.

It is a tribute to the fortitude and determination ofAboriginal people that Norma was prepared to undertake a

journey to the other side of the world with funds to coverher expenses for only about six weeks and take on a courseof study which would last an academic year at a university

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Cil "Our ideas were 'overlyambitious' because 'where,

amongst the lazyshiftless Aborigines,

would we find peoplewho would persist and

be able to survive,travel overseas,

and knuckle down towork to form the links

of our chain?"

she had only recently

heard about. That wehad to encourage herto go with minimal

resources was a mea-

sure of the Aboriginal

community's despera-

tion and need for qual-

ified people. In 1985,

Norma gained her

master's degree and

became our second

graduate. Following

hot on her heels, MaryAnn Bin-Sallik, a

Coordinator, Counselor, and Lecturer at the Aboriginal Task

Force at the South Australian Institute of Technology (SAlT)

in Adelaide, earned her master's degree in education in 1986

and her doctorate in 1989.In 1990, we sought recognition of our charitable status

from the government to enable us to offer tax-deductions tolocal sponsors for their financial contributions to projects,

and changed our name to Black Women's Action in

Education Foundation (BWAEF).

When we first considered the idea of funding Aboriginal

students to go to Harvard, we were met with strong opposi-

tion. 'Aborigines,' we were told, 'weren't ready' Supposedly,

our ideas were 'overly ambitious' because'where, amongst the lazy shiftless

Aborigines, would we find people who

would persist and be able to survive, traveloverseas, and knuckle down to work toform the links of our chain?' We used thecries of our critics to develop a policy We

continue to sponsor only what is considered

'over-ambitious' projects. Aspirants must

produce evidence to show that they haveapplied for and been refused funding from all other possible

sources and wherever possible, they must become involved

in BWAEF's fundraising for their own project. On their

return, they are expected to act as a mentor and raise fundsthat enable others to have their chance. Initially, the strident

criticism of our ideas helped generate fervor amongst oursupporters however, over time the Foundation's success has

taken over that role.Our Foundation has no office or staff, operates on a vol-

untary capacity and without government funds. After costs

are deducted for producing and mailing our newsletters,(four or five each year) which keep members and sponsorsinformed of the needs and progress of our students and

potential students, all funds raised are for students' pursuitof their educational goals. Three years ago we instigated a

fund-raising drive to establish a capital fund to finance stu-

dents on the interest earned, instead of having to undertakefundraising frenzies whenever a student was lined up and

ready to go. Although we have made steady progress towards

this goal, we did not reachthe halfway mark of

AU$250,000 at the endof our last financial year.

In addition to studentsthe Foundation has spon-sored at Harvard, BWAEF

has successfully assisted

others to develop ambitious educational aspirations, locatefunding sources, and prepare their applications and submis-sion requirements. BWAEF has also facilitated or enabled

students to pursue their dreams through a variety of othereducational venues including Human Movement at theUniversity of Oregon; Media Communications studies at

Cambridge University in the UK; Arts at Alberta University;

Music Presentation at the Berklee College of Music in

Boston; as well as attendance at the 2nd International

Indigenous Youth Conference in Darwin; the 4th

International Indigenous Youth Conference in Sweden; and

the International Confederation of Midwives 23rd Triennial

Congress in Canada. We try to organize major functions togenerate publicity about our successful

students upon their return to create simi-

lar desires within potential Aboriginal

scholars, as well as to raise public aware-

ness and funds.Because BWAEF is flexible, we

have been able to respond rapidly to

various other crises and opportunities.

For example, Aboriginal students abroad

have learned of the death of an immediate

family member requiring them to fly home for the burialceremony Although these personal catastrophes are oftencovered by insurance, they require that the person firstspend the money for the return trip before making aclaim on the company to recover the cost, which of course,

poor students are not in any position to do. In these

cases, BWAEF is able to advance compassionate loans in

emergencies.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

For more information on the BlackWomen's Action in EducationFoundation, contact BWAEF at PO.

Box 1784, Strawberry Hills,N.S.W 2012, Australia.Phone/Fax 61-2-9699-1201.

BWAEF is consideredan educational foundation,it also plays a larger role

in the survival ofAboriginal culture in

Australia.

Making a DifferenceAlthough BWAEF is considered an educational

foundation, it also plays a larger role in the survival of

Aboriginal culture in Australia. Eddie (Koiki) Mabo was


responsible for the land-mark Australian High Courtdecision negating the myth of terra nullius, thus enabling

Aboriginal people across the nation to make file land claims

under residual Native Title. The name 'Mabo' has become

synonymous with this particular court decision. WhenBWAEF learned that the welfare of Bonita Mabo, the widow

of Eddie Mabo had been overlooked, the organization

stepped in and set up a national speaking tour for Mrs.Mabo, enabling the public to hear of the man behind thelandmark case from the one person who had spent herwhole adult life walking beside him. Funds raised by the

tour were used to erect a tombstone over this hero's resting

place which was despicably defaced by racists the same

night-much to the nation's shame.It is however, through education that BWAEF has

the most influence. Recognition that BWAEF sent top

Aboriginal students overseas to study at prestigious

universities galvanized some Australian institutions to

look at their ownrecruitment methods

and the inappropri-ateness of some of

their courses. Over

the next few years,

this new interest

manifested itself in

the graduation of a

handful of .

Aborigines at post-

graduate level, as

well as the belated

bestowal of honorary

doctorates on a few

Aborigines whose life

work and major

public contribution had long gone unacknowledged. Also,

BWAEF's graduates spread into areas where they exert their

personal influence, where they stand tall as models of

excellence, and their ability to articulate com-munities' needs

and wishes commands respect.

The superb scholastic efforts undertaken byAborigines through BWAEF programs are only half of the

equation. Contributors and supporters that enable Aboriginalsuccess constitute the other half. BWAEF has never had

more than 500 members at any given time and many of its

supporters are themselves pensioners and poor peoplewhose contribution to projects never exceeds five dollars.

Yet, when we send the word out that another potentialAboriginal success is waiting in the wings, devoid of fund-

ing that will give them the opportunity, everyone scrapes

Yet, when we sendthe word out that another

potential Aboriginalsuccess is waiting inthe wings, devoid of

funding that will givethem the opportunity,

everyone scrapesthe bottom of their purses and

wallets and presto...we share another

major achievement!

the bottom of their purses and wallets and presto, like a

miracle, we share another major achievement!

A few years ago, the government abandoned itsAboriginal Overseas Study Awards Program that enabled a

few (10) Aborigines or Torres Strait Islanders per year to

study overseas. Currently, BWAEF finds itself virtually the

only funding source specifically for Aboriginal students, vast-

ly increasing the number of Aboriginal people who approach

us for assistance. Also, because of more budget cuts for

Aboriginal students at domestic institutions, more studentsare turning to us in desperation. In response, BWAEF has

been forced to tighten its system of priorities, but continuesto aim for the greatest degree of flexibility by maintaining a

needs-based process based on the criteria we most admire:

embracing the impossible aspiration and having the guts to

pursue a dream.

Roberta Sykes is an author and educator In 1984 she was awarded the highest

human rights award, the Australian Human Rights Medal, for her life's work.

Further information about most Members of BWAEF Executive can be found in her

publication, Murawina: Australian Women of High Achievement (Smith &

Taylor). Her latest work, Snake Cradle, thefirst part of her autobiographical trilo-

gy, Snake Dreaming, won Best Non-fiction and Book of the Year 1997 from The

Age (Melbourne, Victoria), an excerpt of which can be found on the Internet at

www.theage.con.au.

2

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Cultural Survival Quarterly Spring 1998 49'

Maya Education and Pan Maya Ideologyin the Yucatan

by Allan Burns

Bilingual and indigenous education in Mexico is oftendescribed as it affects primary schools and children. In1995, indigenous teachers petitioned the University of

the Yucatan to provide courses in bilingual pedagogy and inMaya culture. By doing this, they transformed their tradi-tional roles from apologists for the state and agents of assimi-lation to activists of Maya identity Newspapers and othermedia quickly moved to publicize these demands. Like theZapatistas in Chiapas, the teachers found the press andother media willingto give ample

space to discussingindigenouseducation. Politicaland culturalconfidence havebeen strengthenedas school teachersare able to talk tochildren aboutother Mayapeople living inMexico and

Guatemala.

The Maya

demanded a newcurriculum with aseries of courses onlinguistics at the heart. In 1996, representatives of 13 munic-ipalities in the Yucatec-speaking zone came together anddemanded the legalization of the Maya language in all gov-ernment institutions, obligatory Maya education, and the.creation of a teacher education school completely Maya.Bartolome Cime Dzib stated:

"We are the descendants of a great culture and we have noreason to feel shame when they say we are indigenous. Onthe contrary, we propose the formation of universities wherethe students can study the language and culture of theMaya...We demand that secondary and higher education bebilingual so that there would be a continuation of bilingualeducation through all levels. An indigenous school is urgent-ly needed because bilingual education requires teachers witha solid professional education."

5

The University of Yucatan's immediate response underthe direction of Dean, Silvia Peck Campo, was to initiate astrong curriculum in bilingual education with specialemphasis on continuing education training for teachersworking in the state. I taught one of these courses to a groupof 24 primary and secondary teachers using Maya as the lan-guage of instruction. The teachers were all native Mayanspeakers and part of a group of oVer 450 bilingual-biculturalteachers working in the state of Yucatan. According to the

National Institute ofState Geography

and Information(INEGI), 44% of thepopulation inYucatan speak

Maya, whereas

39.1% of the popu-lation in Oaxacaspeak indigenouslanguages, and26.4% of the popu-lation in Chiapas arenon-Spanish speak-ers. Outside of thecity of Mdrida, Maya

is spoken by over90% of the popula-

tion and is generallyIndigenous Maya school teachers at the Autonomous Univers


ity of the Yucatan.

accepted in everyday discourse.The preservation of the Mayan language in the Yucatan

to date owes much to the Caste War uprising from 1850through the early 1900s, an uprising that successfully usedMayan as a political language for the independent Mayanation for 50 years. On the 150th anniversary of the CasteWar, descendants of the original combatants wrote to thescholarly community celebrating the event.

"The official history hides the true historic events of theCaste War and has hidden the valiant nature of our people.In addition, a particular vision has been put into historybooks according to the interests of those who would talk ofthe Caste War in romantic terms, writing, for example, thatthe Maya could not win the war because they had to planttheir milpas, that General Bravo captured the town of Santa

5

Cruz when there actually was never a battle, and to minimizethe importance of the town by calling it 'little Santa Cruz'instead of 'The Great Town of Santa Cruz of the Jaguar House.-

Centro de Cultural Maya Maakan Xook,27 July 1997, (author's translation).

Bilingual-bicultural education became official in 1955

when the DirecciOn General de EducaciOn Indigena was cre-ated within the Public Education Secretariat (SEP). Becausethis program was designed in Mexico City, far from villagesin the Maya zone, it failed indigenous children. Through the1980s, only about 20% of Maya children in the bilingualschools finished elementary school whereas 50% of studentsin the non-bilingual schools finished their schooling accord-ing to linguists Barbara Pfeiler and Anne Franks. Still, thecritical mass of those who speak Mayan in different socialclass and cultural contexts has made Mayan an accepted partof education in the Yucatan. Assimilation and a movetowards learning Spanish has always been the official, as well

as the popular goal of bilingual programs in Yucatan, butthis goal has come under attack because of ideologicalchanges in education in Mexico, autonomous movements ofindigenous people throughout the Americas, the Zapatistauprising, and Pan Maya ideology

Three issues arose during the Mayan linguistics course,issues that are central to understanding how indigenous edu-cation interacts with Pan Maya identity One was the impor-tance of locally developed Maya literature; the second wasthe set of symbols teachers use to define Maya culture; andthe third was a conflict over a Maya culture as a uniform orplural system in the Yucatan. These issues were embeddednot just in the content of the course, but also in the way itwas taught. The teachers wanted a course taught in theMayan language rather than in Spanish to promote Mayan asa language of scholarship.

dya pcupic have cllWayJ ttau a strong literary LiauLLtvii

and began writing in Spanish after the Maya glyph systemwas abandoned during the colonial era. Literature from thecolonial period is still available in the Yucatan and manysmall towns have official scribes or aj-ts'iibo who recopyprayers, incantations, and other literature in Maya for localuse. The Caste War of the last century was also a war ofwords as the Maya Speaking Cross wrote strategies on paper,as well as gave verbal pronouncements.

When the school teachers began their new classes at theUniversity, the first thing they did was to develop writtenmaterials in Maya and Spanish. The class I taught created a60 page book written almost entirely in Maya: To Converse in

Maya and How to Work With Conversations or Bix u tsihbal ich

Maya ecum yetel bix u meya yetel. An earlier course in this

same series began the tradition of writing up the graduate

courses into books. That book, Ejercicios Fundamentales de

Gramatica Maya was discussed by one of the authors in aninterview to the press:

"The Maya language, especially of the-present day Maya ofYucatan, exists as a form of resistance to colonialism that con-tinues today The Maya language is a living cultural elementin use. This is why it is difficult to talk of the extinction of thelanguage as some linguists have falsely predicted."

These books in Maya are an important feature of PanMaya ideology in the Yucatan in the same way that localpublishing of Mayan pedagogical and literary texts character-ize Pan Maya ideology in Guatemala and Chiapas as well asYucatan. Books and writing are visible symbols of modernnations therefore, the teachers' interest in publishing is partof the development of Maya nationalism.

One of the first linguistic features of Mayan that theclass remarked on was that the classes themselves were like`Maya assemblies' when members of the community gather

to discuss and resolve conflicts. At these assemblies, every-one talks at once and consensus is obtained through arespect for giving everyone a chance to talk. The class meet-ings were loud, multi-vocalic to an extreme, and quite differ-ent from the ordered world of a Western classroom. The par-ticipants felt a linguistic ease that was important because itallowed for open discussions of Maya symbols, as well asallowed for ideological conflicts to be voiced.

One of the symbols the teachers wanted to use was theMaya 260 day calendar. This was ironic because that calen-dar has been out of use in Yucatan for the past several cen-turies. One teacher brOught in a page from an anthropologybook which listed the calendar names in Yucatec Maya.Another brought in a hand-painted picture he made withsymbols of the Maya day names. The reincorporation of theMaya calendar as an authentic artifact shows how Pan Mayaperspectives are becoming part of indigenous education in

the Yvicatan. The c,alen,lar cnnt,-1-np,,rry lbr ppoplpwith the civilizations of pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica andGuatemalan Maya who still use the calendar today

The university class provoked a process of consciousreflection upon what makes up Maya culture. This consciousreflection was prone to either an orthodox position, thatthere is one Maya culture, or a heterodox position, that thereare many Maya cultures, in the Yucatan. Maya sociolinguisticstrategies suggest that the heterodox model is most appropri-ate since the sifting of competing voices seems to categorizeso much of Maya discourse. In the classroom, however,teachers were quick to assume orthodox positions. Oneexample of this was seen in discussions about the writingsystem. In 1984, Yucatan adopted a standardized Spanishwriting system for Maya. The system was created by linguistsand includes replacing the colonial 'h' with the modern

C15

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5 I Cultural Survival Quarterly Spring 1998 51

,1P

Children in the towns and villages of the Yucatan are fluent in both Maya and Spanish

Spanish and simplifying glottalized consonants to a morephonetic form. While these orthographic conventions lessonwritten ambiguity, they are at odds with the older colonialspelling of place names and surnames that pervade theYucatec cultural and geographic landscape, as almost alltowns in Yucatan retain their Maya names. Many of theteachers felt strongly that the standardized writing systemwas important for literacy and cultural stability, while others

argued that the orthography adopted by the state put parentsand their children at odds regarding how to spell their ownnames and the names of their towns.

A second area where the difference between orthodoxand heterodox positions was clearly marked involved genderroles in the Yucatan, especially as these roles related to well-known identity rituals like the rain ceremony or ch'achah.

When one of the women teachers mentioned that women doparticipate in the ch'achak ceremonies, she was told that thatwas an aberration and the real Maya ch'achak ceremonies were

only performed by men. What was interesting in terms of indige-

nous education was the assumption that authority for ritualbehavior was becoming more and more defined as a malesphere of activity, but not without strong argument from women.

The introduction of conscious cultural models like PanMaya ideology into indigenous education in the Yucatan occursin very specific occasions such as these classes. By conductingthe class in Maya, they were able to move the language froman object of study to the language of educational discourse.This was especially important for some of the less outgoingteachers who were not as skilled in Spanish as others. Mayaas the language of instruction meant that they often had theupper hand over their more urban counterparts who were more

used to carrying on pedagogical discussions in English. I, too,

References

came away from the class with a newunderstanding of how strong the Maya

language is and how its use createsenthusiasm in education. The classes onMaya linguistics and culture taught at the

University of the Yucatan over the pastseveral years offer a window into theprocess of indigenous education amongthe Maya of Yucatan, especially as it becomes

part of a larger Pan Maya ideology in

Mexico, Guatemala, and the United States.

Allan Burns, an applied anthropologist from theUniversity of Florida, is fluent in Spanish and Yucatec

Maya. He has worked with the Autonomous University

of the Yucatan for the past 15 years in their anthro-

pology program, as well as international exchangeoffice. His interest in Maya education includes work-

ing with Guatemalan refugees in the U.S. and with

indigenous filmmakers and photographers in Chiapas.

This article is based on work he does with Maya

speaking elementary school teachers in Yucatan.

Alonzo Caamal, Bartolome. Algunas consideraciones teOricas para una edu-caciOn indigena en Yucatan. Ponencia presentada en el V Encuentro deCultural Maya. Izamal, Yucatan, 26 septiembre de 1986.

Anderson, Benedict. 1991. The Imagined Community. London: Verso.

Burns, Allan E 1996. Siempre Maya: Identidad Cultural en El MundoYucateco de Ciudades y Turistas. Revista de la Universidad Autanoma deYucatan. 11(197): 29-37.

. 1995. Una Epoca de los Milagros: La Literatura Oral del MayaYucateco. Merida, Yucatan, Mexico: Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan.

Gfiemez Pineda, Migeul. 1994. Situacion Actual de la Lengua Maya en Yucatan.Un Enfoque Demografico. l'inaj 8: 3-14.

Gomez, Alba Guzman. 1992. Voces indigenous hablan de la educaciOn bilingue-bicultural de Mexico. Mexico, D.F.: ColecciOn Presencias, INI-CANACULTA.

INEGI (Instituto Nacional de Estadistica Geografica e Informatica). 1994.Estadisticas del Medio Ambiente. Mexico: INEGI.

Ligorred Perramon, Francesc. "La literatura maya de Yucatan en el ultimo hatündel siglo XX: de la rnarginaciOn a la imaginaciOn". Societe suisse des

Americanistes. Buletin 59-60. 1995-96, pp. 139-146.

Padilla, Sotela, Lilia. Et al. 1986. Analisis de algunas caracteristicas educativas de

la poblaciOn hablante de lenguas indigenas en la peninsula de Yucatan.Mexico, D.F.: Memorias del primer coloquio internacional de mayistas.

Pfeiler, Barbara and Anne Franks. 1992. Bilingual Education: Preserving the

Mayan Language. Quebec: Proceedings of the XVth International Congressof Linguists.

Quintal Johnny Oliver Por Est& 7 July 1996. p. 13.

Reed, Nelson. 1964. The Caste War of Yucatan. Chicago: University of ChicagoPress.

Sam Colop, Enrique. 1996. "The Discourse of Concealment and 1992." In Fischer,

Edward F and R. McKenna Brown. Maya Cultural Activism in Guatemala.Austin: University of Texas Press.

Sturm, Circe. 1996. "Old Writing and New Messages: The Role of Hieroglyphic

Literacy in Maya Cultural Activism." In Fischer Edward F and R. McKennaBrown. Maya Cultural Activism in Guatemala. Austin: University of TexasPress.


Indigenous Legal TranslatorsChallenges of a University Program for the Maya of Guatemala

by Guillermina Herrera Pena translated by Nicole Thornton

since 1995, Rafael Landivar University of Guatemala hasoffered a program for the professional training ofindigenous legal translators to work in the courts

within a project for the qualitative improvement of thejustice system in Guatemala. The University program placesemphasis not only on the legal and linguistic aspects of thecurriculum, but on strengthening identity and students'commitment to their community A vitally important compo-nent of the program that transcends well beyond teaching isthe preparation of written judicial terminology and materialin Maya and Spanish, and bilingual clinics in civil, penal,labor, and constitutional laws. Also of major relevance is thecreation of public law offices where students come tounderstand legal practices within a cultural context servingthe monolingual Maya-speaking population or those popula-tions where Maya-Spanish bilingualism is limited. Atpresent, the program operates on the two Universitycampuses in areas populated mostly by Mayas. But in 1998,it will expand to the central campus, situated in GuatemalaCity Likewise, the number of Mayan languages served willexpand from five to eight and the number of scholarshipstudents will increase from 300 to 370.

Correcting Past MistakesIt is important to remember that Indians attending

university in Guatemala is not a novelty, nor is it a novel-ty that they teach Mayan languages in university class-rooms. From the first periods in the colonial era, therewere indigenous people studying at the university leveland during the 16th century, there were subjects andprofessorships in Mayan languages. Nevertheless, thefocus was always to assimilate indigenous participantss1

ityclassrooms generally renounced their culture and 1

through university education. Indians that left univer-

language, and became ladinized.' However, universityprograms such as the one described here endeavor toform indigenous leaders strengthened in their identi-ty, and inform and train them to serve their commu-nities. They are open to the outside world, preparedto interact in a positive manner, and respectful and 1creative with others both in and outside their own '

culture. This university program emphasizes the

reconciliation and revaluation with their own

ethnic being and allows students to appreciate, recognize,and grow from that which is different. Strengtheningdemocratic process in these times of change in Guatemala,the importance of the indigenous Intelligentsia' will withouta doubt, shape the future nature of the Guatemalan state andnation.

In the same manner, indigenous languages in theseprograms are not merely objects of study, but also vehiclesfor transmitting knowledge and instruments of communica-tion that have renewed importance and timeliness.Obviously, this focus is congruent with the growing indige-nous movement of post-war Guatemala that justifies thestrengthening of ethnicity, leaves ample space for the devel-opment of theories and policies of pluralism, and promotesand respects diversity and reconciliation.

ContextNot very long ago, it was believed that the development

of the country and the strengthening of national unity would

ganjob'al

Mexico

Poqomchi' Q'eqchi' Mopan

UspantenkoBelize

Akateko

I Popti'

Awakateko

Belmopan

Flores

Castellano

Mktiteko

Lago deCoban IzabalG

Sipakapense

PuertoBarrios

HoeCh'orti'

Sakapulteko

Kiche'

Teutujil MazatenangoPoqomam

PacificOcean

Kaqchikel San Salvadorci ElSalvador

Map: Ministry of Education, Guatemala

CICin


demand the cultural and linguistic uniformity of all Guatemalans.

Further, it was believed that national unity would come topass with the promotion of a `national culture' in the Westerntradition and the assimilation of indigenous languages intoSpanish. With periods of greater or lesser following, this ideahas been embodied in state actions of all types-from education-al and cultural to welfare and judicial services in Guatemala.

The situation of Guatemalan Indians greatly compoundsthe suffering caused by these state actions, especially in thejudicial systems. The fact that 23 languages are spoken in aterritory of 108,800 sq. kilometers, high rates of indigenousmonolingualism, insufficient knowledge of Spanish, extremepoverty almost across the board, and a lack of educationalserviceseven in rudimentary literacymaintain the indige-nous population in a state of extreme vulnerability This vul-nerability is combined with a justice system that has ignoredthe multilingual and multicultural reality of the society towhich it is due, is determined to make Spanish its exclusivevehicle of communication, uses the Hispanic and Westerncultural tradition as its only parameter of judgment, andestablishes that ignorance of the law is not an excuse for thelack of enforcement. With the promulgation of the newpenal code and.the Accord on the Rights and Identity ofIndigenous Peoples (one of the Peace Accords signedbetween the Government of Guatemala and the GuatemalanNational Revolutionary Unity (URNG) in 1995) in 1992, thelegal translator is seen as a necessary and an increasinglyinvaluable support for the administration of a justice systemmore congruent with the indigenous reality

To guarantee the significance and contribution of thelegal translator in the improvement of how justice is granted,

it becomes indispensable to prepare him/her appropriatelyPerhaps it is worthwhile to remember, in the manner ofillustration and reinforcement, the well-known case of theex-military commissioner Candido Noriega. The people ofTuluché, a small village of the Department of Quiche weredramatically hit by the recently ended armed conflict andspent many months at the tribunals bringing serious accusa-tions against Setior Noriega. These accusations concernedcrimes that were constantly in violation of the community's

human rights. Violations included murdering innocent peo-ple, raping women, stealing, abusing his power, and carryingout innumerable other misdemeanors during the tragic yearsof armed conflict. This case that was well-covered by thenational and international press shows the Indians' level ofvulnerability as they confront tribunals and clearly illustratesthe necessity of and their reliance on suitably prepared translators.

In the above-mentioned case, neither the judge nor thetribunal spoke Kichee,' the language spoken by the indige-nous women plaintiffs. Although there was a translator, hisincompetence was such that he could not distinguishbetween dialects of K'ichee.' In one particular case, when


translating the K'ichee' word for `grandfather,' the plaintiff

interpreted this as hen' due to subtle differences betweenthe K'ichee' dialects. Therefore, when the plaintiff was askedif the defendant had killed her 'grandfather; this was under-stood as her `hen' and obviously her response was negative.The results of this judgment were in favor of the defendantand even though the case has been appealed, the plaintiffs'experience was deplorable. In addition, many interpretationproblems that occurred in this trial surpassed the linguisticquestion and may have required a cultural expert to con-tribute information to the tribunal.

Rafael Landivar University is a Guatemalan institution of

higher education and was founded in 1961. Almost from itsinception it has developed programs to promote the indige-nous population. It has also worked to approach justice fromresearch on indigenous communities' customary laws, protectcommunities through the public law offices, and teach or instruct

through legal translators. In reality, this project emerged in

1987, in el Programa del Desarrollo Integral de la PoblaciOn

Maya or the Program for the Integral Development of theMaya Population, (PRODIPMA), financed by USAID. Thanks

to this program, approximately 300 Maya have graduatedfrom the University In the initial stages, the career was offi-cially labeled 'legal interpreter.' Unfortunately, it was not suc-

cessful because the Guatemalan judicial system did not include

legal translators in the judicial process. After the promulga-tion of the penal code which explicitly opens the door to thelegal translator, the University reopened its academic program.

The ProgramThe curriculum is formed by content typical of the legal

career, content that permits students to familiarize them-selves with the discipline; formative content with specialemphasis on ethical and cultural issues; and linguisticcontent that concentrates on the knowledge of both oral andwritten practices of the two languagesMaya and Spanish.Furthermore, the translators' career demands that studentsdo practical work in the public law offices like providingtranslation services to Maya-speakers or those with limitedSpanish, counseling and advising indigenous peoples toresolve their legal issues, in short, services they require assupport for legal procedures. Outside the public law offices,students also gain experience in the courts, municipalities,and offices of the State. The students' involvement in theprogram is quite extensive as the University does not wantthem to simply acquire knowledge, but rather strengthentheir leadership through an active learning experience. Withthis end, students also participate in the preparation and val-idation of educational materials.

The program is presently offered on two campuses ofthe Rafael Landivar University: La Verapaz in the capitol city

of Cobjn, and Quetzaltenango, two areas largely populated

5 7

Advanced Maya Studies at Rafael Landivar Universityby Jorge Manuel Raymundo translated by Nicole Thornton

Before studying for my bachelors in linguistics, I studied at Rafael Landivar University in Guatemala to design andwrite educational materials for rural areas. I was always supported with scholarships because economically I could notsupport myself and still attend University In 1991, I started linguistics and finished in 1993. I never thought I wouldbe able to enter a linguistics career because thousands and thousands of indigenous students like myself wanted tostudy at a university, but we did not have the opportunity.

While not many disciplines offered by the University are directed toward the Maya population, Rafael LandivarUniversity has more opportunities than all the other universities in Guatemala combined. It offers different careersand tends to sensitize students to the reality of the country-towards an intercultural coexistence. This way, we come tounderstand the different cultures that exist in Guatemala.

My first experience in the University as a professional was in 1977-78 as a member of the technical team for theTraining Center for.Social Workers, but because of the violence during that time, I dedicated myselfto teachingmiddle-level indigenous students. I then attended the University as a graduate student of linguistics. Currently, I am aProfessor of Linguistics in the undergraduate linguistics program, writer, coordinator of projects, thesis advisor, and(very recently) researcher in the Institute of Linguistics.

From my experience, I believe that this university is the only one that truly responds to the demands and desires ofindigenous students. The content and curriculum in general has changed its focus in the last few years. Every yearthere are more courses and greater content within courses dealing with the diverse cultures of Guatemala, particularlythe Maya culture. Mayan language courses that were optional or electives, now form part of the curriculum in someprofessions and are formal, required courses. This is the first step in the demands of indigenous peoples in Guatemalaand we place our hope and expectations in this University and not in any other.

There continue to be more indigenous professors in different careers on the central campus as well as campuses inregional capitals. There are still few indigenous people who belong to the Board of Directors of the University, but theDean of the Faculty of Humanities and a member of the Finance Office are indigenous-a start. We will struggle to gainmore representation in the future.

I have participated in the legal translator program up until this year. I also involved myself in this field by partici-pating as a consultant in a training program for translators and interpreters that MINAGUA (UN Mission to EnsureGuatemalan Human Rights) carried out in Quetzaltenango during 1996 and 1997. While I did not have much expo-sure to human rights issues at the university level, my interest in Guatemalan human rights grew and I beganresearching and contacting people in this field. With lawyers and scholars, I designed a training plan for interpreters.International agencies and judicial institutions will continue the project and the staff's training. Although I left theproject to work at the University, I am always in contact with my colleagues and participate in other projects andtraining for specific trials.

In general I believe that the Maya population is very interested in participating in these programs even though thereis skepticism about judtcial systems and processes and fear that customary laws and elders' authority in each commu-nity will be undermined. I believe that we are starting to discuss and analyze our judicial systems in order to designnew paths and forms of complying with the state systems without abandoning our own. A new educational programdedicated to indigenous professionals is being initiated through EDUMAYA, a program financed by USAID. This pro-gram has revealed a great interest in bilingual, intercultural education and will establish various teaching opportuni-ties, careers, and faculty positions in this study at the undergraduate level. I believe that these new programs andcareers should be evaluated, improved, and intensify in the study of Maya languages and culture in order to supportthe academic and judicial education that students receive. We need to avoid educating abogaditos or corrupt pseudo-lawyers that take advantage and exploit their fellow citizens through their experience and education. Sensitizing stu-dents to their own language and culture will help their people resolve their legal problems.

Rafael Landivar University has contributed to the academics, research, and social planning of indigenous communi-ties in Guatemala. In conjunction with the Political Constitution of the Republic in 1985, Rafael Landivar Universitybecame a pioneer when it was the first to discuss and publish reports concerning the multicultural, plurilingual, andmultiethnic nature of the state. As indigenous people, we would like to see the University continue to be moreinvolved with us. It has made progress in the equality and respect for the different cultures that exist in Guatemalaand we hope that it continues on this path and accompanies us in constructing a multi- and intercultural Guatemala.

Jorge Manuel Raymundo is Q'antolfal Maya and a professor; writer, and researcher at the Institute of Linguistics, Rafael Landivar University Guatemala


cn by Mayas. In La Verapaz, the program is offered in Spanishand three Mayan languages: Achi,' Q'eqchi,' and Poqomchi.'In las Facultades de Quetzaltenango, the program is offeredin Spanish and two Mayan languages: K'ichee' and Mam.

The methodology utilized by the University is character-ized as `semi-residential,' the students come together oncampus Friday afternoons and Saturdays in order to meetwith their professors. During the rest of the week, they studyin their communities with materials specifically prepared forthat community Towards the end of the program, they worka certain number of cases in the public law offices and other

centers of legal practice.

Support of the Program: Scholarships and MaterialsThe students of the program are Maya Indians coming

from the above-mentioned communitiesK'ichee,' Mam,Achi,' Q'eqchi,' and Poqomchi. Their economic situation isextremely precarious. Many travel to the University campusfrom remote communities, traveling terrible roads andspending the night in the city because they cannot returnhome until the following day This situation has obligatedthe University to find financing to support them. Presently,300 students receive scholarships through MISEREOR, aCatholic German organization, that finances not only theirstudies, but also supports the students with books, materials,and per diem expenses.

The program has also had to prepare educational materials,legal terminologies, and university texts in those Mayan lan-

guages that it serviceslanguages in which such legal materials

were almost non-existent. Today thanks to the program, bilin-

gual legal terminologies have been prepared, an extremely com-

plex job in itself that has required multiple local consultants.

Problems and ChallengesThe program has encountered a few problems that have

affected its development. There are few teachers fluent in Mayan

languages and knowledgeable of the current Maya culture. It is

important to point out that there is no tradition in Universityinstitutions for training translators and even less in the develop-

ment of university courses in Mayan languages, especially when

linked to legal issues. In Coban, where the Mayan languages and

especially Q'eqchi', maintain a certain prestige, it has been less

difficult to find teachers prepared for the program, but the

difficulty has grown when looking for teachers of other

languages.

Secondly, their education base in many cases, is notstrong enough to support rigorous university studies. TheGuatemalan educational system has many qualitativedeficiencies which are accentuated in the interior of the coun-try. The students in the program mainly come from stateschools whose academic level is markedly lower.

Finally, the lack a standard Mayan language presents

another difficulty

Many Mayan lan-

guages are still in the

initial phases of estab-lishing written stan-dards to serve as a

means of communica-

tion accepted andused by the entire lin-guistic communityThis difficulty addedto the proliferation ofdialects has seriouslycomplicated thedevelopment of therequired writtenmaterials for thetranslator's education.

The FutureThe need to enlarge the program is obvious and the

University is planning to open it soon in the Guatemala City

camPus for at least three more Mayan languages: Kaqchikel,

Tz'utujil, and Poqomam, and also for Garifuna, a language

spoken by the black caribs that inhabit the Atlantic coast of

Guatemala. The number of students who receive scholarshipswill increase with funds from USAID in the framework ofEDUMAYA, an ambitious University program that proposes to

graduate approximately 500 indigenous professionals by 2001.

To extend the program to new languages also means toextend the production of materials. Such materials, primordially

used for the preparation of the students, can also extend theirscope and influence to the State courts and offices situated inthose linguistic communities served, thus benefiting moreindigenous communities of Guatemala. On the other hand,the University knows that in order to support the qualitativeimprovement of the judicial system for the indigenous worldof Guatemala, it is not enough to prepare legal translators.This presents the challenge of linguistically preparing thejudges and personnel of the community courts, preparingbilingual lawyers and notaries, and tackling cultural issuesby training cultural experts. Also, we must continue to studyindigenous customary laws. The challenge is to make the pro-gram and University serve the society from which it comes.

Guillermina Herrera Pena is a Guatemalan linguist. Since 1976, she has been study-ing Mayan languages, working in bilingual intercultural education for indigenous people,and in language planning. She is now a member of the Commission for Official Recognition

of Indigenous Languages recently set up for implementation of the Peace Accords.

"The legal translator profes-sion in our region is a very

esteemed profession, given thatprofessionals that graduate

assume a very important rolein a society where people aremarginalized, exploited, anddiscriminated against due totheir ignorance of their own

rights. Our work as translatorswill be to defend our

indigenous brothers and sistersthat have suffered most."

-Alma Quib Cu, Q'eqchi' Maya student,

5th semester of study, La Verapaz

Nicole Thornton is the Education Coordinator at Cultural Survival and is aGuest Editor for this issue.


CC

What Exactly Is It That You Teach?Developing an Indigenous Education Program at the University Level

by Deirdre A. Almeida

hat exactly is it that you teach?" I have beenresponding to this question for the past fouryears of my appointment as a faculty

member in the School of Education at the University ofMassachusetts. The tone of this question implies that whatI teach is odd and marginal. The question primarily comesfrom my European American colleagues and is consistentlyaccompanied by blank stares or doubting scowls. It haseven been insinuated that indigenous education is some-thing I have fabricated and is an invalid focus of studyand research.

Why Indigenous Education?As a Native American educator from the

Lenni Lenape and Shawnee nations, I havehad various professional responsibilities:Social Studies teacher at a tribal controlledalternative school, Director of Education fora Native American foster child care project,Educational Program Specialist for theUnited States Department of Education-

education was the compelling and necessary area of studyand research of the future.

Developing and Implementing aSpecialization in Indigenous Education

In the spring of 1993, I was invited to join the facultyof the School of Education at the University ofMassachusetts; the research I had been asked to develop wasNative American education. I set out to develop three majorgraduate courses for students wishing to specialize inindigenous education: an introductory/theory course, a

course examining the educational and socialissues of indigenous communities, and acurriculum development and reform course.I felt that these three courses would providestudents with a sound foundation in indige-nous education. Through other courseswithin the School of Education and otherUniversity departments, students couldenhance their individual focus of study Thecourses were designed keeping in mind theacademic and professional needs of bothindigenous and non-indigenous educators. It

for students to move from being passive inactive

"It is importantPr students to move from

being passive inactivelearners, to proactive;

not only are theyeducators, but also

activists."

Office of Indian Education, Native American

Undergraduate Admissions Recruiter, andcurrently Assistant Professor of Education. Prior to thesummer of 1987, my focus of study was limited to theindigenous peoples of North America, primarily the UnitedStates. In June 1987, I had the honor of attending the firstWorld Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education at theUniversity of British Columbia in Vancouver. The work-

shops, lectures, cultural presentations, and informalconversations with delegates from around the worldcontributed to my own formulation of the role education hasplayed in the suppression of indigenous peoples.

Attending the first World Indigenous Peoples'Conference on Education was a meaningful professionalexperience; it was during this conference that I came torealize the need to be even more global in my research andteaching. Not only was it important to focus on the educa-tion of Native Americans in the United States, but I also hadto be inclusive of indigenous nations from around the world.I realized our common educational needs were linked to ourcommon cultural traditions and political struggles for self-determination. I came to understand that indigenous

6

is important

learners, to proactive; not only are they educators, but alsoactivists. The importance of critical thinking by bothteachers and students is crucial.

Academia does not always encourage critical thinking asstudents are expected to sit quietly while teachers instillknowledge. Only questions which the teacher deems accept-able may be asked; opposing perspectives are not alwaysappreciated or allowed by teachers. This style of educationallows for only one point of view to be expressed and limitsthe student's knowledge and thinking. Critical thinkingmust be encouraged and allowed to take place within theclassroom. In addition, issues have to fully be presentedand discussed. This can only be accomplished if teachersare made to understand the importance of such teachingmethods.

The introductory course, simply entitled 'IndigenousEducation' establishes the fundamental holistic theory andbegins to encourage critical thinking skills. This coursefocuses on how indigenous peoples must be allowed to


educate themselves.Further, this course allowsstudents to select specificindigenous peoples onwhich to center theirresearch over the entiresemester. Indigenousstudents often take thisopportunity to conductresearch relevant to theirown communities. Others,particularly non-indige-nous students, use the course to learn about an indigenousgroup of individual interest. Because the entire class does notresearch the same group of indigenous peoples, there is avariety of groups being researched and discussed.

The research topics may not seem to be relevant toeducation at first, but through weekly assignments and classdiscussions, the relationship between indigenous issues andeducational reform is established. Topics range from examin-ing the role of oral traditions in the education of indigenousstudents, education as a tool of colonization, and theexploitation and appropriation of indigenous intellectualproperty rights, to indigenous control and development oftheir own educational system and networking betweenindigenous and non-indigenous educators. The courseassignments which have the most impact on the studentsand contribute to making their learning experience moreeffective, are the weekly critiques of the progress andproblems they are experiencing in their research.

A short comparison critique related to the topic for theweek is independently researched and written by eachstudent pertaining to the indigenous group they haveselected. This allows students to examine their owneducational experience and teaching style. Two articles onthe weekly topic are required to develop the critique, onefrom the indigenous and one from a non-indigenous point ofview. The purp6se behind this approach is for students tolook at various sides of the issue. They begin to understandthe importance of looking at something from as many anglesas possible before determining their own position. Studentsalso realize the difficulty in finding reliable resources;especially those representing the indigenous perspective andin particular, articles written by indigenous scholars.Ultimately, these assignments lead to discussions of who

controls media and academic scholarship.

Student& Reaction to IndigenousEducation

Over the past four years, indigenous and non-indigenous students have expressed that the study ofindigenous education is very empowering for them as it

"...but throughweekly assignments

and class discussions,the relationship

between indigenousissues and

educational reformis established."

provides the opportunity to reflect on their own educationalexperiences, what they learned, and how they were taughtabout indigenous peoples. Many openly discuss how withintheir own country's school curriculums, the inclusion oftheir indigenous culture and history does not exist. Forexample, as a student from South Africa shared, "I havecome to realize that in order to learn about my own historyand cultural oppression I had to leave my homeland, whereit [Zulu culture] was not valued and excluded from ourschools." Native American students informed Universityadministrators and faculty that offering courses and researchin indigenous education influenced their decisions to attendand stay at the University of Massachusetts. It is extremelyimportant for indigenous students to have academicprograms which are relevant to their individual professionalgrowth and responsive to their cultural priorities available tothem. It must be recognized that for many indigenousstudents, the completion of their graduate studies is stronglylinked to the survival of their own communities.

ClosingIndigenous education is a vital area of study and

research within education. Indigenous educators must beprovided course selectionsand research training tospecialize in educationalreform and leadership duringtheir graduate careers in orderto understand the problemsfaced by indigenous people.Schools of Education must besupportive of indigenouscolleagues if quality educationis to become a reality forindigenous populations. The study of indigenous educationmust not only be limited to indigenous educators; it isnecessary that it be incorporated into the academicconscience of non-indigenous educators as well. Only thenwill education become a powerful and effective means forequality in contemporary society.

...for manyindigenous students,

the completionof their graduate studies

is strongly linkedto the survival of their

own communities."

Deirdre A. AInteida is Lenni Lenape and Shawnee. Currently a member of theSchool of Education faculty at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, she

offers graduate level courses in curriculum and learning with a specialization in

Native American education and curriculum reform.

61


Historical and Contemporary Policies ofIndigenous Education in Mexico

by SalomOn Nahmad, translated by Nicole Thornton

In the national education plan of modern nations likeMexico, the construction of a national identity for theentire population has been confused as contrary to the

preservation of ethnic and cultural diversity of indigenouspeoples. In a long historical process of more than 5,000 yearsformal and informal systems of education have developed.

Pre-colonial Mesoamerica was distinguished by a com-plex system of education and human resource trainingthrough 'endoculturation' from the family, village, communi-ty, and ethnic regions. At the start of the European invasionin the central valleys of Mexico, the Spanish found that theAztecs had developed an educational organization directedthrough two schools, one for the macehuales or common folkand one for the pipi/tzin or aristocrats who were trained to bepriests, architects, painters, doctors, poets, singers, soldiers,etc. Pre-Columbian education engendered loyalty and ethicstowards the self-preservation of the community

During the colonial era, a system of forced educationwas introduced in order to convert the Indian population toCatholicism and to unify the Spanish language in New Spain.The national education and language policies contradictedthe respect and maintenance of indigenous peoples educa-tion systems. (Indigenous people maintained the informal sys-tems of education under the family and community's careeven though the formal systems of education were eliminated).

After independence, education was fundamentally focusedtowards Furopean life and although lndianc ennctitrapri thp

majority of the population, the racist and discriminatory ele-ments of the governing elites ignored the multilingual andmulticultural populations of Mexico. The knowledge held byindigenous peoples was stigmatized and considered primi-tive. Since independence, laws did not modify conditions ofeducation for indigenous peoples; teaching was directedtowards achieving fluency of the Spanish language and dis-avowing the multiple local indigenous languages.

Revolutionary EraThe armed indigenous movements of the past century

represent resistance to the economic, political, and culturalsubjugation that greatly limited their participation in theeducation systems. The education congresses, teachers'schools, and pedagogical models never included the indige-nous population and the special systems that they require.

The central philosophy of the positivists was oriented toeliminate indigenous cultures. Rafael Ramirez, founder of theRural Mexican School, implored rural teachers to contributeto linguistic and cultural ethnocide.

The education system between 1923 to 1950 operatedunder the thesis of incorporation and assimilation thatdenies the development of indigenous cultures. In 1936, theIndependent Department of Indian Affairs was created whosephilosophy expounded the necessity of `Mexicanizing' theIndian and not Indianizing' Mexico. In order to support thisposition, the National School of Anthropology and theSchool of Rural Medicine were created to incorporate indige-nous peoples into mainstream Mexico.

In 1939, the First Assembly of Philologists and Linguistsconvened and recommended the immediate use of indigenousteachers and native languages when teaching indigenous adults

and in the initial schooling of indigenous children. Two pilotprojects were instigated; one in the Purepecha region ofMichoacan and the other in the Raramuri (Tarahumara) regionwhere the Literacy Institute for Monolingual Indians was born.

This new trend opposed the incorporationist and assim-liationist thesis. Upon holding the First Interamerican

Indigenous Congress, participants from American countriesconcluded that the Indians' educational process should takeinto account the language, culture, and personality of thestudents. This new trend resurfaced in 1948 through theInstituto Nacional Indigenista. They demonstrated theimportance of aneducation system which should includeteachers from the communities, teaching in both Spanishand the indigenous language, as well as respecting the ail-tures of indigenous peoples. Nevertheless, the basic educa-tion of indigenous children that had been extended by therural monolingual schools, resisted this new policy and stillmaintains control of thousands of schools in indigenousregions where assimilationist theses persist.

The two currents of Indian education methods and tech-niques contradict each other. In some Mexican states likeChiapas and Oaxaca, special programs for indigenous peoplewere designed to educate children in Spanish. In 1978, theGeneral Directorate of Indigenous Education was created aspart of the National Formal System of Basic Education.Although the Mexican Constitution does not mention indige-nous education, the 1993 General Law of Education states

62

C/)

Cultural Surv val Quarterly Spring 1998 59

that education's aim is to promote, through Spanish languageinstruction, a common language for all Mexicans withoutreducing the development of indigenous languages. Theseeducational requirements should also adapt to the linguisticand cultural characteristics of each indigenous group in Mexico.

Before the reality of national multilingualism and the diverse

demands of indigenous peoples like those of the EjercitoZapatista de LiberaciOn Nacional, congresses and assemblies

of bilingual teachers, indigenous organizations, and commu-nities demanded recognition of their right to practice theirlanguages and cultures, and to have control over their gov-ernmental and social institutions within a context of autonomy.The two programs that have been directed to satisfy thesedemands include the training of ethnolinguists and linguiststo learn and analyze the languages in their diverse contexts,and the training of higher level, indigenous, bilingual educa-tors. For this purpose, el Centro de Investigaciones yEstudios Superiores de Antropolgia Social and la UniversidadPedagogica have implemented programs in these fields.

Mexico's linguistic policy has experienced certain changes

in recent years, particularly the change to the Constitution inArticle 4 that recognizes "the Mexican nation has a pluri-cul-tural composition sustained originally in its indigenous peo-ples. The law will protect and promote the development oftheir languages, cultures, practices and customs, resources,and specific forms of social organization, it will guarantee totheir members effective access to the jurisdiction of the State,"

Unfortunately, antagonistic and contradictory systemsand methodologies operate and coexist. Even if they do notdefine themselves explicitly, the theses of education inSpanish are implicit in the programs that solely use Spanishas a method in bilingual and monolingual indigenouscommunities. The alternative of bilingual and interculturaleducation for indigenous peoples has not reached all theindigenous regions of Mexico. The 'ethnocidal' tendency per-sists with regard to the original languages and cultures ofMexico. The use of multiple indigenous languages tends tolimit itself to being used as a tool to facilitate the castel-lanizaciOn or 'Hispanicization' of indigenous peoples and arenot taught for their intrinsic value. Indigenous languages arerarely used after the third grade of primary school and areinfrequently promoted as a means of communication or inliterature, film, and theater.

The constitutional changes at the national level havebeen very minimal in their impact on bilingual and intercul-tural education for the indigenous peoples. The state ofOaxaca, on the other hand, has produced reforms that canmobilize indigenous energy in order to construct a model inindigenous education. Article 7 of Oaxaca's 1996 State Lawof Education states explicitly that it is the obligation of the

state to provide bilingual and intercultural education to allindigenous peoples corresponding to their cultures. Bilingual

teachers actively participated in changing the state law ofeducation and because of their efforts the law is crossed withedicts and ordinances that protect and stimulate the develop-ment of an education for the indigenous peoples.

The execution of Oaxaca's law is recent, but surely it can

be an example for other states in Mexico. There are someexamples of indigenous designed models for education,notably in the case of the Totontepec Mixes. The Indians'demands in Chiapas are also oriented to place greateremphasis on an education that includes characteristics typi-cal of the Maya civilization.

Some ConclusionsThe profound contradictions between both the

Mesoamerican and European civilizations are reflected in therelationship between indigenous peoples and Mexico's edu-cational policies in the past 175 years. Although a favorablelegal framework for indigenous peoples has started to devel-

op in the last decade and indigenous social actors have artic-ulated innovative proposals for their education, the nationaland state education systems in their diverse modalities, donot respond to the complexity and diversity of the socio-cul-tural and linguistic phenomenon.

Across Mexico, there exists a combination of educational

approaches that reinforce linguistic ethnocide, assimilation,reincorporation, integration and manifest in schools that areinefficient and of low educational quality For that very reason,strong tensions exist between these diverse systems and edu-cational services provided to indigenous children. Such ten-sions generate inter-ethnic, political, and economic conflicts.

In general, Mexican society exalts the pre-colonialindigenous past and excludes indigenous peoples from thepresent. Nevertheless, indigenous armed uprisings, and atti-tudes of guardianship and paternalism towards the indige-nous peoples are still the norm at the end of the 20th centu-ry. Indigenous peoples today demand greater autonomy inthe execution and evaluation of their education that canstrengthen the Mesoamerican heritage of cultural and lin-guistic diversity a heritage that more than 10 millionindigenous inhabitants of today's Mexico still maintain in acountry that numerically has the largest population of theAmerican continent.

Salmi On Nahmad is a social anthropologist, researcher with the Center forResearch and Advanced Study in Social Anthropology of Oaxaca and an

Educational Consultant at the World Bank.

Nicole Thornton is the Education Coordinator at Cultural Survival and is theGuest Editor for this issue.

Reference

Ramirez, Rafael. 1928. "La educacion bilingue y bicultural para las regiones inter-

culturales de Mexico." lndigenismo y Lingaistica: Documentos del Foro.

UNAM-Serie Antropologica. no 35.


Curriculum Resources on Multicultural and Global Education,Environment and Diversity

TEACHING RESOURCES

Global Education Office of the WorldAffairs Council assists educators in preparingyoung people to understand and appreciatecultural diversity and global interdependencein both their local and global communities.Their resources include the CurriculumResource Center, Global Classroom Program,Professional Development Seminars andUnited Nations Field Trips.Contact: 22 Batterymarch St., Boston, MA 02109

Primary Source is a non-profit center formulticultural and global studies promotingeducation in the humanities that is historicallyaccurate, culturally inclusive, and explic*concerned with racism and other forms oFdiscrimination. Primary Source advocatesteaching history from multiple perspectivesusing original source materials, oral history,and cooperative learning techniques.Contact: P.O. Box 381711, Cambridge, MA02238Located at: 680 Mt. Auburn St., Watertown,MA 02172Tel: 617-923-9933 fax: 617-923-0975e-mail: [email protected]://www.primarysource.org

The Massachusetts Studies Project wasformed to promote studies of the state and theuse of its educational resources throughout thecurriculum: history government, people(cultures, arts), geography, and environment.The materials are available on-line athttp://K12s.phastumass.edu/masagindexma.html.

Network of Educators on the Americas (NECA)works with school communities to developand promote teaching methods and resourcesfor social and economic justice in the Americas.Contact: PO. Box 73038, Washington, DC20056-3038Tel: 202 806-7277 fax: 202 806-7663e-mail: [email protected]

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The American Forum for Global Education isa private non-profit organization whose missionis to promote education for responsible citizenshipin an increasingly interconnected and rapidlychanging world. The Publications Catalogincludesresources on global issues as well as regional studies.Contact: 120 Wall Street, Suite 2600, New York,NY 10005Tel: 212-742-8232 fax: 212-742-8752e-mail: [email protected]://www.globaled.org

Educators for Social Responsibility supportseducators with professional development,networks, and instructional materials. ESRoffers curricula and instructional materials andworkshops, consultation, and training foreducators, parents, and communities.Curricula include Conflict Resolution,Peacemaking, Making History Roots and Wingsand much more.Contact: ESR, 23 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138Tel: 617 492-1764http://www.benjerry.com/esr

Educational Resources from the UnitedNations provides a range of educationalresources for all school levels, includingvideos, charts and books. The Global Teach-1npackages are specially prepared for threedifferent levels: primary, intermediate andsecondary schools.Contact: United Nations Publications, Salesand Marketing Section, Room DC2-853,Dept. 0017, New York, NY 10017TeI: 212-963-8302, 800-253-9646fax: 212-963-3489e-mail: [email protected]://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus

Facing History and Ourselves is a nationaleducational and professional developmentorganization whose mission is to engagestudents of diverse backgrounds in an exami-nation of racism, prejudice and anti-Semitismin order to promote the development of amore humane and informed citizenry FacingHistory provides a Guide to Audio-VisualResources which are free to rent.Contact: Facing History and Ourselves16 Hurd Road, Brookline, MA 02146-6919Tel: 617-232-1595 fax: 617 232-0281http://www.facing.orge-mail: [email protected]

Four Worlds Development Project is aholistic education and development projectserving North American native communitiesand works to eliminate alcohol and drug abuseby the year 2000. The Resource Catalogueincludes books, curriculum packages,occasional 'Papers, videos and magazines forresearch andd community programming.Contact: Four Directions International1224 Lakemount Blvd., Lethbridge, Alberta T1K 3K1CanadaTel: 403-320-7144 fax: 403-329-8383

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Contact: PEN America Center568 Broadway, Room 401, New York, NY 10012-3225Tel: 212-334-1600 fax: 212-334-2181e-mail: [email protected]

Smithsonian Publications for Teachers pub-lishes resource guides and curriculummaterials for a range of grade levels.Contact: Smithsonian Institute/Office ofElementary and Secondary Education (OESE)A & I 1163/MRC 402, Washington DC 20560fax: 202-357-2116 http://educate.si.edu

Tibet Education Network endeavors to raiseawareness of Tibetan civilization, TibetanBuddhism, and the current Tibetan situation.Services and programs include designing andfacilitating amd variety of interactive, experien-tial programs for K-12. Curricular andresource materials are also offered.Contact: Tibet Education NetworkPO. Box 30094, Seattle, WA 98103phone/fax: 206 781-2342

AUDIOVISUAL RESOURCESDocumentary Educational Resources101 Morse St., Watertown, MA 02172Tel: 617-926-0491 http://der.org/docued

Church World Service loans videos for free(postage must be paid) dealing with topicssuch as human rights, refugees, lifestyle, domesticpoverty, empowerment and more. CWS alsodistributes fact sheets dealing with issues likerefugees, global illiteracy hunger, landmines, etc.Contact: Church World ServiceThe Film Library CataloguePO. Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515Tel: 219-264-3102 fax: 219-262-0966internet: [email protected]

PUBLICATIONS WITH ARTICLES ANDCURRICULUM RESOURCESHuman Rights Education: The Fourth RAmnesty International USAHuman Itights Educators' Network53 West Jackson Blvd., Suite 1162Chicago, IL 60604-3606

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WorldViews: A Quarterly Review of Resources forEducation and ActionWorldViews Resource Center464 19th St., Oakland, CA 94612-2297Tel: 510-451-1742 fax: 510-835-3017e-mail: [email protected]://www.igc.org.worldviews

6 1Cultural Survival Quarterly Spring 1998 61

A Traveler to the Other WorldIn Memory of Anselmo Perez

by Francisco Alvarez Q., Robert M. Laughlin, Diego Mendez Guzman

Anselmo Perez (baptized Mariano Audelino), TzotzilMaya, was born in the hamlet of Pat Osil, Zinacantan,Chiapas, Mexico. Together with Domingo de la Torre, theycollaborated with Robert M. Laughlin in the compilation ofThe Great Tzotzil Dictionary of San Lorenzo Zinacantan, con-taining 30,000 entries. He and Domingo, traveling as lexi-cographers to the United States in 1963 and 1967, werethe first Mayans to record, with extraordinary detail intheir own language, the bizarre, ridiculous, and fearful ele-ments of our modern world. Their narratives werepublished in Xanbal ta nom: Visies al Otro Mundo in 1989and in Of Shoes and Ships and Sealing Wax in 1980.Anselmo also recorded for Of Wonders Wild and New anumber of his dreams, showing that his own traditionalculture was no less fearful. During 1977-1978 he andhis Chamula colleague, Mariano LopezMendez, worked in San CristObal, writingfive volumes of folktales, descriptions ofcustoms, and oral history

Following this, Anselmo, Mariano, andDomingo's son Juan, were aided by the poet,Jaime Sabines and his brother JuanSabines, governor of Chiapas, informing the Sociedad Cultural Mayade Chiapas that published twobilingual booklets. When theirfunds were exhausted, Anselmoplead their cause at a conference,Forty Years of AnthropologicalResearch in Chiapas. In 1982, withfunding from Cultural Survival, SnaJtz'ibajom (The House of the Writer),Indios Mayas, AC. was born.

As a founding member of Sna Jtz'ibajom, Anselmowrote many of the association's booklets on customs andfolklore. As an actor, he took the role of his patron saintSan Lorenzo, disguised under the name of Lencho, in theassociation's play and video, A poco hay cimarrones? As apuppeteer, he made two more trips to the U.S. and was

also invited to the Science Museum of Man in St. Paul,Minnesota to bless a Zinacantec house. He was a co-founder and president of the Centro Cultural deZinacantan, A.C., whose Museo Ikal Ojov displayed withgreat artistry the traditional life of the community In addi-tion to documenting Mayan culture, Anselmo was active inthe spiritual life of Zinacantan, first as a sacristan and thenas an official of the relgious hierarchy At the age of 12 hebecame a shaman, eventually reaching the highest posi-tion. During the Persian Gulf War and at the Zapatistauprising, he, with the other chief shamans, prayed forpeace in the churches and mountain shrines of Zinacantan.

One of the pioneer members of The House ofthe Writer, Diego Mendez Guzman, recalls

Anselmo's counsel:

Cultura de los

"When the imagination puts your feet on theground, you have to prepare the soil first. Withgreat care your hands deposit the seeds. When

the plants germinate, grow, flower, and dieback, they provide more seeds to plant for

the whole Mayan nation. For many cen-turies our history was unknown. Not one

of us could write the name of the seeds.Only anthropologists existed who cultivat-

ed the seeds, studying, writing, and spread-ing abroad our culture, the daily life of ourpeople."

But with the creation of SnaJtz'ibajom, and under Anselmo's wiseand courtly guidance, many Tzotziland Tzeltal writers and actors will beremembered for planting their ownseeds for the Mayan people of Chiapas.

Anselmo Perez Perez, aged 57, died on GuadalupeDay, December 12,1997. His neighbors believe an evilspirit released Anselmo's nagual from its corral in the otherworld. Why else would he die so young?

65


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STANDING WITH SMALLCOFFEE FARMERS IN CHIAPASThe December massacre of 45 unarmed indigenouscivilians in the town of Acteal in Chiapas, Mexico has beendevastating both in terms oflives and livelihoods. Inthe wake of the violence,crops have been stolen,

farmers are afraid to work in their fieldsfor fear of further attacks, and familiestrying to recover are left with no income.

As a worker-owned fair tradeorganization, Equal Exchange isdedicated to fair trade with small coffeefarmers. In Chiapas, we trade with LaUnion Majomut, a cooperative of 1,200 members in 17Tzotzil and Tzeltal indigenous communities in ChenalhO.Because of the violence, and the Mexican army's occupationof their processing plant in PolhO, the farmers will have nocoffee to sell this year, leaving them with little to live on.

Equal Exchange is committed to helping these farmersrebuild. We will continue to purchase coffee when it isavailable, and have set aside a fund to help the farmersget through thic diffirnit t;n1. "r- --tributc to this fund,or to find out more, please contact us at Equal Exchange,251 Revere St., Canton, MA 02021, Tel 781 830 0303 or visitour website at <www.equalexchange.com>.

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66

NEW .JOURNAL!The Online Journal of CS

Active 'VoicesThis new online journal of CulturalSurvival features analyses of issues thatthreaten indigenous groups, along withspecific suggestions about direct actionthat readers can take. Please check thissite out on the web athttp://www.cs.org andencourage others toutilize this excellent,free resource.

CALL FORARTICLESWe are actively solicit-ing short manuscripts for"Active Voices."Publishing in "ActiveVoices" gives you a chance to reach awide audience (we already receive over1,200 hits per day), to encourageactivism, and to make positive changes.Please see the submission guidelines onthe AV site and send questions or man-uscripts to Peter Wogan at CulturalSurvival. (617) 441-5400.

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Massacre of Tzotzil Indians in Chiapas in the

Wake of Low Intensity Warby Lynn Stephen

International attention returned to the ongoing low-intensitywar in Chiapas, Mexico, when 45 Tzotzil indigenous people (pri-marily women and children) were gunned down in a five-hourkilling spree. The attack began by storming the village church inActeal where people were kneeling in prayer. The Acteal massacrehas been established in Mexico as the single worst act of politicalviolence this century since the 1968 massacre of hundreds of stu-dent protesters in Mexico City

Reasons behind the Acteal massacre are far to complex tocompletely unravel here, but events in the past four years are ofcentral importance to understanding the tensions, divisions, andongoing violence throughout Chiapas. After the Zapatista rebellionof 1994, many communities in Chiapas became increasingly dividedbetween those people supporting the ruling party in the Mexico,the PRI (Party of the Institutional Revolution), and those eitheraligned with, or supportive of the demands of the Zapatista Armyof National Liberation (EZLN), that focused on indigenous autonomy

When the Zapatista supported candidate for the governor ofChiapas lost in the 1995 elections, communities sympathetic tothe Zapatista agenda in Chiapas declared autonomy and organizedparallel forms of government throughout the state. As moreregions of the state declared autonomy, communities becamedivided between those loyal to the PRI and those loyal to theautonomous local governments. In practice, many communitieshave two sets of governing officials.

As the Zapatista agenda gained support after 1994, the Mexicanand Chiapas governments used a variety of strategies to controlthe Zapatista civilian movement. They established a large networkof military bases and encainpments in and around indigenouscbmmunities. The army has taken over the state police forces andis augmented by thousands of state 'public security' police.

While international pressure, civil resistance, and the unrelentingwork of human rights organizations prevented the army from car-rying out direct attacks on Zapatista sympathizers, the promotionof local paramilitary groups emerged as a more successful strategyIn January, 1998, Processo magazine published a report on theMexican Defense Ministry's 1994 plans to crush the Zapatistas byarming local paramilitary groups. Military intelligence was put incharge of "secretly organizing certain segments of the population."At least seven paramilitary groups are currently operating inChiapas. It was such a paramilitary group, armed, and trained bystate police (and probably ex-military personnel as well) who carriedout the Acteal massacre. One of the well-known paramilitary groupsin northern Chiapas, Paz y Justicia (Peace and Justice), received$575,000 dollars to carry out an 'agricultural program' in 1998.

Following the Acteal massacre, protests in Mexico andthroughout the world resulted in the replacement of the InteriorMinister and the resignation of the PRI-governor of Chiapas, Cesar

Ruiz Ferro. A state police commander and dozens of local indige-nous men were arrested for participating in the massacre. A reportfrom the Mexican government's National Human RightsCommission includes testimony from an eye witness whodescribes how officials and police in Chiapas either helped planthe massacre or turned a blind eye. State police were informedseveral times of shooting in the vicinity of the massacre while itwas going on, but reported finding no disturbances.

In early January, a local police unit open-fired on a crowd ofTzeltal protesters gathered to demand peace in Ocosingo and killedone woman and injured her small daughter. In late Janruary, twoindigenous peasant leaders were murdered within 72 hours of oneanother and three bodies of presumed Zapatista sympathizers werefound hanged in the municipality of Ocosingo.

The ongoing violence and local divisions have also resulted inthe more than 6,000 displaced men, women, and children.Paramilitary groups acting before the December massacre drovepeople out of their homes, burned their houses and possessions,and made it impossible for them to return to their communitiesand fields. Since the massacre, more people have fled. A commu-nique from the representatives of displaced communities and theautonomous municipal authority of San Pedro Chenalho, writtenon January 20, 1998 addressed to the International Committee ofthe Red Cross gives a stark overview of their current situation.

"Thousands of people are living under small plastic roofs thatdo not provide protection from the rain and cold, and manyothers live out in the open, for which reason we need con-struction materials such as tin roofing, wood and nails. We aresuffering from a severe shortage of food and survive only on afew tortillas and some food that civil society has brought us,but which is not enough for so many people. The products thatwe most need are: corn, beans, salt, sugar, soap, and otherbasic items, since all of our things, corn, beans, coffee and allof our animals were stolen by the paramilitary groups and gov-ernment security forces. Since we were displaced and maderefugees outside of our communities, 15 children, 8 womenand 10 men have died from illnesses including; diarrhea, fever,respiratory infections, tuberculosis, parasites, ulcers, skininfections, malnutrition, etc., These are the diseases that areattacking and killing the thousands of refugees; right now wehave over 200 sick persons, both children and adults, in needof immediate medical attention, yet there is a shortage of doc-tors and of medicines. They also need clothing and blankets toprotect them from the cold, especially for the children and

women."

Organizations listed on the next page are collecting funds and

supplies for refugees in Chiapas,

Lynn Stephen is a Professor of Anthropology at Northeastern University.

64 Cultural Survival Quarterly Spring 1998 6 7

f

./Iembers of a Tzotzil women's weaving cooperative in Chenalho, Chiapas.

Those interested in providing aid can make

donations to the following organizations:

Enlace Civil

Calle Ignacio Allende 4, 29200 San CristObalde las Casas, Chiapas, MexicoTel/fax: 011-52-967-82104e-mail: [email protected] website:

http://www.laneta.apc.orWenlacecivil

Sister Lourdes ToussaintCaritas de San CristObal de las Casas, A.C.,

Apartado Postal 31129200 San CristObal de las Casas, Chiapas,Mexico

telfiax: 311-52-967-86479

In Boston, Tonantrin (Boston Committee inSupport of the Native Peoples of Mexico) is

raising money to buy food, medicine, blankets,

,

\

N

z

and other supplies Grassroots International iscollaborating in this effort. To make a tax-deductible contribution make checks out toGrassroots International and send to:

Tonantzindo C1SPES

42 Seaverns Ave., Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

Equal Exchange, the fair trade coffee compa-ny, is raising funds to rebuild their tradingpartner, La Union Majomut, in Chenalho,Chiapas. La Union Majomut's processing plantis occupied by the army and farmers areafraid to work their fields. For more informa-tion, contact:

Rodney NorthEqual Exchange

251 Revere St., Canton, MA 02021e-mail: [email protected] website:http://www. equalexchange. com

ISS

Natioilally, Pastors jfor Peace, is organizing anaid caravan to Chiapas for delivery at the endof April. For more information contact:

Pastors for PeaceMidwest Office (Chicago): 773-2714817 fax773-271-5269e-mail: [email protected]

National Office (New York): 212-926-5757fax: 212-926-5842e-mail: ifcoOigc.apc.org

website: http ://www.ifconews.org

In addition you can write to the President of

Mexico.

Sr. Ernesto ZedilloPresidente

Palacio Nacional, 06067 Mexico, D.EFAX: 011-525-271-1764, 011-525-515-4783

aio

00.th consCnce Anthr-NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE

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20/4 Traditional Music in CommunityLife Aspects of Petformance, Recordings,and Preservation. 1997.

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20/2 Genes, People and Property FurorErupts over Genetic Research andIndigenous Groups. 1996.

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