Learning Resistance: Inupiat and the US Bureau of Education, 1885-1906—Deconstructing Assimilation Strategies and Implications for Today

Native students must be taught to deconstruct their history of assimilation in order to understand their current struggles and to strengthen their cultural identity. As an example of this, the paper considers how community education was justified, carried out and implicated in Inupiat assimilation p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of American Indian education 2006-01, Vol.45 (1), p.17-34
Main Author: Wexler, Lisa M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acculturation
Alaska
Alaska Natives
American Indian Education
Children
Christian missionaries
Communities
Community Education
Cultural Background
Cultural education
Education
Educational History
Educational Practices
Federal Indian Relationship
Government Publications
Historical Interpretation
Indigenous peoples
Land Settlement
Learning
Letters (Correspondence)
Teachers
United States government publications
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Summary:Native students must be taught to deconstruct their history of assimilation in order to understand their current struggles and to strengthen their cultural identity. As an example of this, the paper considers how community education was justified, carried out and implicated in Inupiat assimilation practices during the first 20 years that the U.S. Bureau of Education was in control of Alaska Natives' education. Government documents, reports, and personal letters from missionary educators and government officials will be examined to identify the rationale that supported vocational and schooling efforts and drove educational practices. The analysis will begin to explain how education worked as an assimilation strategy that contributed to the devastating changes the Inupiat experienced between the years 1885 and 1906. This perspective has ramifications for schools serving Native communities. The paper concludes by highlighting the ways in which these forms of colonization persist in educational settings. The historical and present day subjugation should be made visible to help today's Native youth reclaim their cultural heritage and gain strength from the process.
ISSN:0021-8731
2379-3651