Passage From Killing the White Man's Indian by Fergus Bordewich

I quoted the following passage in connection with Dr. Tatum's observation about the importance of preserving and strengthening Indian identity. This appears in Chapter 8 of Killing the White Man's Indian, which is very appropriately entitled: "The Hollowness of a Person Needs to be Filled."

"Like most junior colleges, Little Big Horn offers two-year degrees in conventional subjects such as business administration, data processing, mathematics, psychology, science, nursing, industrial arts, home economics, and "office systems." Uniquely, however, it also requires that students, nearly all of whom are members of the Crow Tribe, take courses in Crow language, oral literature, tribal history, "Indian Identity," Indian philosophy and law, and "American Indian political science," among others. The college's mission statement promises:

1. To develop Crow and American Indian adults in paraprofessional and professional areas that reflect Crow Indian reservation personnel needs and career development.
2. To assist Crow and American Indian adult academic and personal development, for self-empowerment, workplace preparation or transfer to a senior institution; centering on respect for Crow and American Indian scholarship and bilingual capacities, across the disciplines.
3. To build the Crow Indian family, community and tribe, through understanding and knowledge pertinent to local issues, promoting and participating in community building activities.
4. To actively strive for Crow Indian cultural preservation and protection, vitalizing Crow Indian scholarship across all disciplines; to recognize that tribal tradition separates Crow and American Indians from mainstream American society; to appreciate culture and tradition as the foundation of strength and wellbeing for the Crow and American Indian community; and to strengthen the unique, self-governing Crow Tribe of Indians.

"The jargon belies a shift of tectonic proportions that is taking place in the way that education is increasingly shaping Indians' sense of place in American society. The vast federal system of Indian education that Theodore Roosevelt once ferociously termed "a colossal, pulverizing engine" was designed explicitly to destroy tribal loyalty and to force Indians into mainstream American life. Increasingly, Indian educators such as Little Big Horn's president, Janine Pease-Windy Boy, perceive education as a tool capable of reviving tribal identity and of simultaneously molding a new kind of Indian able to make his way in the modern world. They also bluntly challenge the traditional American belief that one of the primary duties of education in the United States is to assimilate every child to a common history and sense of place in the larger national culture." (pp. 273-274)

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Don't forget that Tuesday (11/18) will be devoted to hearing from each of you regarding your interviews, and remember you need to prepare what you plan to say because each of you will only have 5-10 minutes. The paper is also due on that day. Next week I will also post a final out-of-class essay in connection with Shirley Better's book, Institutional Racism. I should have that posted by Monday. Finally, check out the extra credit opportunities listed in the previous post.