Native Americans Some People Maintain

Native Americans Some people maintain that while Native Americans have become impoverished due to the activities of the United States Government, they have actually gained more than they have lost, due to being placed on reservations. One of the alleged benefits of the reservation system is a free education. However, the poor quality of the education system on Native American reservations contributes to the cycle of poverty, alcohol abuse, and despondency that is present on many Native American reservations.

One of the serious problems confronting Native American leaders is that Native Americans as a whole has achieved one of the lowest educational levels among all ethnic groups and are not doing well while attending school (Lin, 1985). The education provided on Native American reservations has done more to harm than to help Native Americans. Although Native Americans are lumped together into one group, the term actually refers to over 500 different groups of people.

Although Native Americans share some common traits, they come from backgrounds with different customs, languages, and family structures (Espinosa). One of the commonalities is that Native Americans are a population known to have higher than expected incidence of problems in areas of unemployment, poverty, substance abuse, physical and mental health, suggests (Espinosa). Another commonality, and a contributing factor to those problems, is the fact that the education offered on Native American reservations is of lower quality than public education offered off of reservations.

Because approximately 25% of the Native Americans in the United States live on reservations, the poor quality of the education offered on the reservations has a crippling effect on all Native Americans. Among the most commonly held explanations for the poor quality of education received by many Native Americans, "the cultural differences between Native Americans and whites is probably the most well-known and well accepted, both within and outside academia" (Lin, 1985). Native American students are perceived as lacking mental preparedness for schooling, and being less interested in schooling (Lin, 1985).

Furthermore, there are cultural differences between white teachers and Native American students, which may have contributed to the failure of Native American students to succeed in an educational system that was taken from a historically European educational setting and transferred to Native American reservations without consideration of cultural differences. Finally, the poor self-concept of Native American students, who may feel the same types of despair and hopelessness as many adults on reservations, may contribute to failure to thrive in an academic environment.

One of the largest cultural differences between Native Americans and their non-Native American teachers is the history of education in their respective cultures. Native Americans were traditionally educated for the roles that they would assume as adults by working with and imitating their elders (Indian Treaties, 1999). There was no formal system of schooling. Instead, children were allowed to roam freely throughout the community and were free to ask questions when and where they pleased (Indian Treaties, 1999). Children worked alongside adults, learning life skills through pay and imitation.

In addition, grandparents played a pivotal role in educating children. Grandmothers taught their granddaughters the tribal traditions and how to engage in the subtleties of daily life. Grandparents were frequently responsible for teaching children about a tribe's traditions, the tribe's place in the world, and the child's place in the tribe. Finally, in Native American cultures, children were generally treated with respect and dignity. They were allowed to ask questions of most adults, and welcomed to work alongside adults. Furthermore, physical discipline was rare and not severe.

Given that cultural differences may contribute to the poor quality of education on many Native American reservations, it comes as no surprise that tribes that have taken control of the educational system on their reservations have better educational success. When tribes take control of their education system, drop-out rates decrease and graduation rates increase. Furthermore, when tribes take control of their education system, truancy rates decrease.

While a decline in truancy rates does not necessarily indicate success in an educational system, students do have to be present in school in order to receive any sort of education. One issue that is particularly relevant to the quality of education is whether or not there is a language barrier between the teachers and the students. Even on reservations, teachers have predominantly been non-Native Americans. Furthermore, many schools on reservations have failed to incorporate Native American languages into their curriculum. This failure reflects cultural insensitivity, at the least.