It is Time for Indian People to Define Indigenous Education on our Own Terms

Human societies have evolved a multitude of educational forms to survive and to express their unique cultural mythos. This cultural mythos also forms the foundation for each culture's "guiding vision" (a culture's story of itself and its perceived relationship to the world).

Societies use their guiding vision to set forth a set of "ideals" to guide and form the learning processes of their educational systems. The ideals reflect the culture's most important qualities, behaviors, and value structures. These values have generally been predicated on things the society considers central to its survival.

Deep understanding of relationships and the significance of participation in all aspects of life are key to traditional American Indian education. "Mitakuye Oyasin" (we are all related), a Lakota phrase, means that our lives are truly and profoundly connected to other people and the physical world.

Likewise, in tribal education, knowledge is gained from first-hand experience and then transmitted or explored through ritual, ceremony, art, and appropriate technology. Knowledge gained through these vehicles is then used in everyday living. Tribal education, in this context, becomes education for "life's sake."

American Indians...