Envisioning the Cornerstone of a New Indian Education
By Nicole Adams

“Today, more than ever before, Indian people are attaining post-secondary degrees. As a result, the future promises even greater diversity amongst Indian people in regards to educational attainment, professional barriers being broken down, and the call to maintain balance with these changes by adhering closely to cultural traditions and lifeways.”

  I have some friends who are the first in their families to attend college. Other friends have relatives who participated in the first large wave of Indians to enter postsecondary education in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, and who have attained professional positions of leadership built from these educational experiences. I have friends whose parents lead national Indian organizations, were the first Native people to graduate from certain universities, who served as tribal justices for their nations. I know other parents whose only employment are the seasonal responsibilities of being traditional fishermen for their tribes, or as basketmakers and spiritual leaders. My generation is unique in that the vast array of educational and professional experiences that our families possess have impacted our own choices. Today, more than ever before, Indian people are attaining post-secondary degrees. As a result, the future promises even greater diversity amongst Indian people in regards to educational attainment, professional barriers being broken down, and the call to maintain balance with these changes by adhering closely to cultural traditions and lifeways.
  If indeed Indian people are destined to continue entering education in growing numbers, I hope that our ability to bridge the gap between Indian culture and identity and the role of formal education will also evolve. The perceived gap that exists between formalized education and Indian culture is a major issue in many Native peoples’ lives, including my own. I have heard many accounts, and have experienced personally, the common belief that these two elements of identity are separate roads that may run parallel as one proceeds though life, but neither is bound to cross the other. By this I mean that many of us, when deciding to enter college, went through the stages of selection, application, and matriculation completely divested from our Indian communities and selves. Not only did we not turn to our Elders, relatives, and communities to help us with this decision, but moreover, we did not possess any expectations that the experience of formalized education would have much, if anything, to do with our ability to function within, collaborate with, and contribute to our Indian communities.Surely, this was to happen, but only after leaving academia, returning home, and re-interpreting our newfound knowledge in a way relevant to Indian people.
  Admittedly, by attending Ivy League institutions for both undergraduate and graduate school, I am what one could call a poster child for the establishment. Yet, my identification as outsider and “other” was always apparent to me while at these institutions, as was my intention of attaining my degrees as some part of a subversive attempt to gain access to a system, garner its stamp of approval, and then proceed to shake it from the inside until the ivory towers came tumbling down. As a young professional working in education, I envisioned the Native population at post-secondary institutions reaching a critical mass. Thereafter, I reasoned, things would be different. For the longest time, I did not view education as more than a necessary hoop to jump through in order to avoid being dismissed by those who have strived to keep me, and those like me, out.
  I have realized, through my work supporting the tribal colleges and universities, that my concept of educational institutions seems to have missed a valuable point—that I am already empowered to create a new environment of educational exchange. That the critical mass I envisioned already exists. That education itself need not be defined in relation to academia as it currently operates. The success and popularity of the tribal college system is evidence that it is possible to assert tradition, culture, and Indian values as the base of a new concept of education. The knowledge we already possess can be a valued cornerstone of education, and an environment of exchange and cooperation between academia and tribal knowledge can change education as we now realize it.
  The process of redefining the purpose of formal education is already underway. We are moving away from the residual effects of an American educational system based upon the oppression, then exclusion, and then assimilation of Indian people to one that promotes the ideals and needs of Indian communities themselves. From this changing system, I hope that the future will also see a number of Indian individuals going off in different, diverse directions vocationally and being valued for their ability to traverse uncharted territory.
  We will witness an influx of young people returning to tribal communities to learn their Native languages, at the same time the number of Native MBAs will increase. A renaissance of Indian artists will continue to gain national prominence while Indian engineers will make breakthroughs in technology. There will more Indian insurance salespeople, professors, community activists, politicians, spiritual leaders, accountants, dentists, and ballerinas. And while many will work directly with their communities, others may not.
  Along with these achievements, I hope that Indian people will progress to where these decisions and accomplishments will be accepted and commended more than they are today. It seems that our attitudes have not progressed as quickly as our inroads into diverse professional arenas. Formal education is still viewed (understandably) with suspicion. The value of a degree in Indian Country is still debated. Unkind assumptions are still made about those Indian people who choose career paths that are not directly linked with Indian Country. Students still worry about being accepted back into their community after their schooling has been completed. And Elders, cultural knowledge, and Indian languages are still rarely evident within mainstream academia and the workforce.
  In the future, I hope Indian people will be more likely to find educational institutions that promote, rather than reject, the value of their culture. The tribal college system that already supports these philosophies will thrive, and additional opportunities to attain education will evolve to the point where Indian people will no longer feel forced to choose between pursuing an education and remaining loyal to their Indian identity. In my mind, the strongest way to honor the legacy of those who bravely ventured en masse into post-secondary education for the first time over thirty years ago is to create a place within academia for the basketmakers and fishermen, the engineers and MBAs, the ballerinas and the fancydancers—all striving together to develop our own system of Indian education. Then, we shall cease to be torn between these two separate worlds that currently appear to exist without overlap.

Nicole Adams, Colville/Yakama, currently works for the American Indian College Fund and is a contributing editor to Winds of Change.