In This Issue

Web Exclusives:

Developing Culturally based Curriculum in Washington State

A Journey to Understanding

Harold Ott: What works in Native Education

Larry Byers (Native Voices)

Spring 2004

The pungent smell of damp cedar enveloped us as we sat under cover of the carving shed. Glenn, a personable Inupiaq teenager who was my guide at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage, had just finished demonstrating the "seal hop": a traditional game that involves propelling yourself forward in military push-up position while balancing on your knuckles.

As the lone tourist on this chilly and drizzly September morning, I was emboldened to ask Glenn to sit and chat about the subject that brought me to the far north—Native education.

He told me his own educational journey began 33 miles above the Arctic Circle, in tiny Kotzebue, a place where residents can readily compare the tastes of bowhead, beluga, and grey whale. At the age of seven he left for Anchorage, where his village accent singled him out as an interloper. "By the second week of school, I realized that I didn't talk like everyone else," he remembers. "So, I didn't talk at all for the next three months."

His silence eventually broken, Glenn went on to finish school successfully. Some might attribute that to perseverance or luck, but Glenn credits his church and his family. In just a few days, when his summer guide job would end, he was heading to culinary school to learn a "back-up skill." He dreams of going to college someday and becoming a wildlife biologist.

Sadly, there's no such happy ending for too many Alaska Native and American Indian youth. Threaded through this issue are appalling statistics on school dropout rates and achievement scores: the kind of numbers that make you look again and shake your head in disbelief. But, there are also stories that shine bright with hope: preschoolers helping to keep alive an endangered tribal language; Native teachers and elders passing on the wisdom of a traditional lifestyle; school leaders fighting for educational self-determination; and caring individuals creating a safe haven in a sometimes harsh urban environment.

In 36 pages, we've just barely scratched the surface of a compelling and complex subject that has defied proven solutions. You'll find more information and resources at NW Education Online, www.nwrel.org/nwedu/09-03/. In both the magazine's print and Web versions, we've undoubtedly left out people and programs that are worthy of consideration. But the story of Native education is still unfolding and will continue to demand our attention and our efforts. In the words of Sitting Bull, "Let us put our minds together and see what kind of life we can make for our children."