INDIAN EDUCATION: AN ETHNOHISTORICAL ANALYSIS

This study represents an ethnohistorical analysis of Indian education, one which follows the Hegelian format (thesis, antithesis, and synthesis). Toward this end the dissertation is divided into four sections: (1) An Analysis of American Education--social and historical perspectives, (2) Aboriginal Thesis--An ethnohistory of three tribes, the Cherokee, Athapaskan/Apache and Sioux, (3) The Accommodative Antithesis, and (4) The Multicultural Synthesis. The first section, An Analysis of American Education, is designed to touch upon the major theoretical and historical perspectives relevant to the study. This section provides a basis for comparison relevant to the subsequent sections. Majority/minority relations, a multidisciplinary look at education and a chronological analysis of educational development and corresponding Indian policies (Colonial, Early Republic, Reconstruction, Progressive and Technological eras) sets the stage for a more complete analysis of the other sections. The next section, Aboriginal Thesis, follows the ethnohistorical development of three traditional Indian groups from pre-Columbian contact up until the time of forced accommodation. This is a comparative analysis which is designed to illustrate the qualitative differences which exist between groups sharing a common epistemological methodology--that of the Harmony Ethos. Education here takes on the larger social definition that John Dewey, Robert Havighurst, Margaret Mead, Vine Deloria, Jr. and others advocated. The section focuses on the social education of the three largest and perhaps best known North American Indian groups--Cherokee, Athapaskan/Apache, and Plains Sioux. The Accommodative Antithesis follows with an analysis of Western-style models of Indian education and resocialization. This analysis follows the model presented in the first section discussing these developments within five time eras: Colonial, Early Republic, Reconstruction, Progressive and Technological. Consequently Indian schools are related to, and compared with, other educational developments within the United States. Moreover, these events are associated with corresponding Indian policy during these time spans. Types of Indian schools are discussed as well as Indian enrollment in public and private schools and the impact of major studies on Indian education. These include the Meriam and Kennedy reports as well as the more recent Indian Task Force Report. The concluding section, the Multicultural Synthesis, attempts to integrate the positive attributes of both the Aboriginal Thesis and the Accommodative Synthesis into a viable Indian educational orientation. The major focus of the section is directed toward pluralistic, or multicultural, education and socialization. This section involves considerable discussion of one innovative Indian education system in particular, that of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. In the final analysis we present an Indian education perspective, along with curriculum design, teacher preparation and multicultural counseling techniques, that supports both the unique cultural orientation of the Indian student while at the same time preparing these students to interact within the larger, majority society