"The biggest problem Native American children have is anger," Vivian Delgado said in a Tuesday lecture at Western. "They feel hopeless, and instead of helping on a personal level we offer educational terminology."
Cultural barriers between teachers and American Indian students within public schools cause frustration and feelings of isolation, Delgado said.
Delgado's lecture was titled "The Two Worlds of Native American Education."
Sally Elder, a Bellingham resident who teaches at Timberidge Alternative High School, spoke about her experiences while working for over two years on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming.
"In the two years I spent on the reservation, three students were killed in alcohol-related accidents, and one 12-year-old successfully hung himself," Elder said.
"We've come to a point were the only way to repair damage is to find a way in which Native Americans can retain their culture and still receive the Western education necessary in order to be successful in today's society," Elder said. "Their education needs to be both and not either/or."
Delgado focused on four aspects of the American Indian community that illustrate the broad effects of race, culture, federal recognition and education in the community.
"Native American education cannot be narrowly defined," Delgado said.
"It is important to realize that Native American people cannot be treated generically. There are over 500 separate tribes with separate cultural identities."
Delagdo talked about the impact of inherited backgrounds as they move from a singular tribe to intertribal and finally interracial cultures.
Speaking about culture, Delgado addressed the experiences of American Indians inreference to the land, with some living as an active part of a tribal community and others never having lived on a reservation.
"Native Americans are the only people in the United States who are defined by a blood quota," Delgado said of federal recognition.
American Indians are defined by the federal government as having at least one-quarter American Indian blood.
The contrast between public and private schools illustrates the variation of westernized vs. culturally educated American Indians, Delgado said.
Native American students feel isolated because there is little appreciation of their culture within public schools, Delgado said.
Kevin Glover, Former Secretary of the Interior for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, addressed the cultural crisis facing Native American students within their schools and homes at a recent Native American education conference.
"We've come full circle from forceful placement of Native Americans in boarding schools to those same schools becoming safe havens from unsafe homes," Glover said.
"The impacts of early BIA education continue to snowball in a Native American society personified through alcoholism and domestic violence, with students asking for dormitories at boarding schools as their homes are unsafe," Glover said.
The feeling of hopelessness among American Indian students was recently illustrated in the 1998 suicide epidemics on reservations.
While visiting the Standing Rock Reservation Glover saw "SOUIXICIDE" carved into the wall at a youth detention center.
"It is sad that suicide has become a part of young Native American identity," Glover said. "The remedy for this grim reality is better schools and the sympathetic treatment of those already scarred by violent living situations."
"The shortage of Native American teachers is a national epidemic," Delgado said. "It's a real responsibility and challenge to work within a Native American community."
"The first step toward repairing the state of American Indian education is to train culturally responsive teachers and find the people who will be willing to extend the classroom and offer a support system for their students," Delgado said.
The event was sponsored by the Native American Mentoring Program, a Woodring College of Education Program. Those interested in becoming a mentor to local Native American students can call 650-7630.
