Postsecondary Education for American Indian and Alaska Natives E-Book

Bryan McKinley Jones Brayboy

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Bildung
• Serie: J-B ASHE-ERIC Report Series (AEHE)
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 264

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) students continue to besignificantly underrepresented in institutions of higher educationand continue to face barriers that impeded their academic success.This volume explores the factors that influence college going inIndigenous communities and,upon enrollment in institutions ofhigher education, the factors that influence college completion.Chapters cover: * The legacy of Western education in Indigemous communities * The experiences of Indigenous students in the K-12 system * Transition from student to faculty of AI/AN graduates * Recommendations that can improve the success of Indigenousstudents and faculty This is the fifth issue the 37th volume of the Jossey-Bass seriesASHE Higher Education Report. Each monograph in the seriesis the definitive analysis of a tough higher education problem,based on thorough research of pertinent literature andinstitutional experiences. Topics are identified by a nationalsurvey. Noted practitioners and scholars are then commissioned towrite the reports, with experts providing critical reviews of eachmanuscript before publication.

Leseprobe

Contents

Executive Summary

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Situating American Indian and Alaska Native Higher Education in Larger Contexts

Historical Background of American Indian and Alaska Native Higher Education

Overview of the Monograph

Framing the Conversation

Tribal Nation Building

Higher Education Toward Nation Building

Conclusion

Postsecondary Access for Indigenous Students

Postsecondary Aspirations, High School Completion, and Academic Preparation

Accelerated Learning Opportunities

College Entrance Examinations

Economic Conditions and Paying for College

The Role of Schools and College Counseling

Protective Factors and Promising Practices for Postsecondary Access

Concluding Thoughts

American Indian and Alaska Native College Students

Enrollment Patterns

Retention Patterns

The Experiences of Indigenous College Students in Predominantly White Institutions

Tribal Colleges and Universities

Conclusion

American Indian and Alaska Native Graduate Students

A Statistical Portrait of Indigenous Graduate and Professional Students

The Experiences of Indigenous Graduate and Professional Students

Graduate Education and Nation Building

American Indian and Alaska Native Faculty

Transforming the Academy as Activists and Advocates

Indigenous Faculty and Nation Building

Native Faculty at Mainstream Institutions

Indigenous Faculty in Tribal Colleges and Universities

Concluding Thoughts

Where Do We Go From Here?

Research Recommendations

Discussion and Implications for Policy

Discussion and Implications for Institutional Practice

References

Name Index

Subject Index

About the Authors

Postsecondary Education for American Indian and Alaska Natives: Higher Education for Nation Building and Self-Determination

Bryan McKinley Jones Brayboy, Amy J. Fann, Angelina E. Castagno, and Jessica A. Solyom

ASHE Higher Education Report: Volume 37, Number 5

Kelly Ward, Lisa E. Wolf-Wendel, Series Editors

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ISSN 1551-6970 electronic ISSN 1554-6306 ISBN 978-1-1183-3883-4

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The ASHE Higher Education Report is indexed in CIJE: Current Index to Journals in Education (ERIC), Education Index/Abstracts (H.W. Wilson), ERIC Database (Education Resources Information Center), Higher Education Abstracts (Claremont Graduate University), IBR & IBZ: International Bibliographies of Periodical Literature (K.G. Saur), and Resources in Education (ERIC).

Advisory Board

The ASHE Higher Education Report Series is sponsored by the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), which provides an editorial advisory board of ASHE members.

Ben Baez

Florida International University

Edna Chun

Broward College

Diane Dunlap

University of Oregon

Dot Finnegan

The College of William & Mary

Marybeth Gasman

University of Pennsylvania

Shouping Hu

Florida State University

Adrianna Kezar

University of Southern California

Kevin Kinser

SUNY – Albany

William Locke

The Open University

Barbara Tobolowsky

University of Texas at Arlington

Susan B. Twombly

University of Kansas

Marybeth Walpole

Rowan University

Executive Summary

American Indian and Alaska Native enrollment in higher education has more than doubled in the past thirty years, yet American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) students continue to be significantly underrepresented in institutions of higher education and continue to face barriers that impede their academic success. This underrepresentation is troubling, given that many Indigenous students indicate having expectations of attending and graduating college from as early as elementary school. This monograph explores the state of higher education for American Indian and Alaska Native peoples in the United States. Beginning with an examination of the legacy of Western education in Indigenous communities and the experiences of Indigenous students in the K–12 system, we explore the factors that influence college going and, upon enrollment in institutions of higher education, the factors that influence college completion. From pre-K–16 to students in graduate programs, whether attending school in rural or urban settings, in mainstream or tribally controlled institutions, we explore the role of academic institutions and personnel, family and community, and tribal nations in student achievement. Additionally, we explore the experiences of AI/AN graduates in their transition from student to faculty. We conclude by offering a number of recommendations for how to improve the success of Indigenous students and faculty.

As we walk the reader through what we know about higher education for Indigenous students, we weave central themes of nation building, sovereignty, self-determination, Indigenous knowledge systems, as well as the role of culturally responsive teaching and learning throughout the discussion. We argue that the success of Indigenous students depends on institutional practices and tribal nation support; we also argue that attention to nation-building strategies is a vital part of academic success. Additionally, we believe institutions of higher education must address institutional-specific issues related to the recruitment, retention, and graduation, and that their efforts will be most successful if they become more knowledgeable about the unique experiences, expectations, and goals of Indigenous people(s) and nations. Conversely, Indigenous communities, families, and nations also play an important role in supporting and facilitating student success. Connections to ideas of sovereignty, self-determination, and nation building highlight potential paths and areas of strength for American Indian/Alaska Natives in institutions of higher education. We believe that there is, in fact, a role for higher education in Indigenous communities and nations.

The monograph is organized in the following manner: In the first chapter we present a cursory overview of the reasons for which Indigenous students and communities remain absent from the fabric of mainstream institutions of higher education.

The next chapter, “Framing the Conversation,” builds on the recognition that Indigenous students often pursue higher education as a means to improve the myriad ways in which they can serve their families, communities, and tribal nations. The goal of serving to benefit and strengthen Indigenous communities is one part of the larger concept of nation building and is a fundamental part of this monograph. The concept of nation building is, in fact, the glue that binds together the data-driven chapters in the monograph. Drawing on the work of various disciplines and scholars, including Indigenous legal and education scholars such as David Wilkins, Duane Champagne, Jo-Ann Archibald, Marie Battiste, Rebecca Tsosie, Taiaike Alfred, and Vine Deloria, Jr., we explore the importance of Indigenous knowledge systems, tribal nation building, and culturally responsive schooling and their implications for American Indian success in institutions of higher education. The remaining chapters extend and apply the concepts introduced in this chapter.

A chapter entitled “Postsecondary Access for Indigenous Students” focuses on postsecondary access to higher education for Indigenous students. Issues of high school completion, achievement on standardized college entrance exams, and the role of schools and college counselors in developing a college-going culture among students at the K–12 level are explored in detail. Additionally, the influence of family and cultural practices in academic achievement are explored as sources of strength and support for Indigenous students.

“American Indian and Alaska Native College Students” looks specifically at the undergraduate experience for Indigenous students. We focus on enrollment patterns, particularly in terms of graduation and attrition rates, and explore the myriad factors that contribute to the success of Indigenous students in these settings in addition to the challenges faced.

The next two chapters discuss the postbaccalaureate experiences of Indigenous graduate students and faculty within postsecondary institutions. We present some of the unique challenges in these settings. We conclude by discussing the importance that persisting in these settings presents for Indigenous students and faculty members as well as the tribal communities they serve.

The final chapter presents a discussion about the policy, practice, and research implications of the discussions offered throughout the monograph. We focus on the implications for practices at multiple levels—ranging from the local/tribal, state, and federal level—and suggest that both educational institutions and tribal nations must consider the long-term effects past, existing, and future educational practices present for Indigenous students and the continued success of Indigenous communities.

A Note on Author Contributions

Any coauthored work requires input from multiple sources and different effort on parts of the text. We wanted to offer a brief note on the division of labor in this text in order to make explicit the ways that we each contributed to the writing of this text. All of the authors significantly contributed to the production of this text.

Bryan, Angelina, and Jessica originally drafted the introduction of the text, once the other chapters had been written. Amy authored a small portion of the introduction. Angelina, Jessica, and Bryan authored “Framing the Conversation.” Bryan and Angelina, working with Jessica, wrote “American Indian and Alaska Native College Students.” There are parts of the chapter that include Amy’s work from another project; Bryan, Angelina and Jessica revised the original draft. Amy authored “Postsecondary Access for Indigenous Students,” “American Indian and Alaska Native Graduate Students,” and “American Indian and Alaska Native Faculty.” Jessica and Bryan assisted with literature searches for “American Indian and Alaska Native Faculty.” Jessica, Angelina, and Bryan made the connections to nation building more evident in “Postsecondary Access for Indigenous Students,” “American Indian and Alaska Native Graduate Students,” and “American Indian and Alaska Native Faculty.” All four authors worked to revise these chapters. Bryan, Angelina, and Jessica authored “Where Do We Go From Here?” Hints of the recommendations appeared in a policy report that Bryan published in 2007. Amy made additional connections to federal policies. At the end of the project, all four authors made minor (and in some cases substantive) revisions to the entire text.

Bryan, Angelina, and Jessica will donate all of their proceeds from this manuscript to assist American Indians and Alaska Natives in institutions of higher education.

Foreword

When colleges and universities talk about multiculturalism and diversity, there is a common assumption that all underrepresented groups are included. But, frequently and typically, American Indian and Alaskan Native students, faculty, and administrators are overlooked in these conversations because of their limited presence on most college campuses. They are also underrepresented in many studies and in most data sources (institutional and national). The “n” is often just too small for Native Americans to be counted or included in a meaningful way. When Native American populations are included or discussed it tends to be from a deficit perspective—they are least likely to earn degrees, graduate from high school, and be successful based on most traditional measures of success used in higher education. As a result, Indigenous populations are often overlooked, misunderstood, and narrowly represented in most higher education research and most institutional strategies.

Admirably filling the void of comprehensive and holistic information about Native American populations in higher education is this monograph—Postsecondary Education for American Indians and Alaskan Natives: Higher Education for Nation Building and Self-Determination. The authors, Bryan Brayboy, Amy Fan, Angelina Castagno, and Jessica Solyom, offer what has been missing in research and discussions about Native Americans and other Indigenous populations in higher education. They provide comprehensive information and data about Native American populations, culled from a variety of sources both traditional and nontraditional. They also provide a much needed conceptual lens—that of nation building—that helps move beyond deficit conversations to meaningful awareness of the importance of the presence and success of Native American communities in higher education. The authors masterfully explain how this success is important to Native American students as well as their larger communities. Issues associated with sovereignty and self-determination set Native Americans apart from standard discourses about “minority” populations and diversity in higher education. The history of Native Americans in society in general, provides a unique context for understanding the educational experiences of Indigenous populations in the United States.

The monograph is brilliant in its treatment of basic background information that is useful to researchers, students, faculty, and practitioners wanting to know more about Native American populations and wanting to be more comprehensive in their research and conversations about diverse populations in higher education. The monograph pushes readers to think more critically about the context from which Native Americans come (both historically and in some instances with regard to place) and the context to which they contribute. If we just look at Native American students as another underrepresented minority that suffers from an array of problems in succeeding in traditional higher education, we fail to consider the totality of history and driving concepts like self-governance. This monograph demonstrates why it is not possible to portray the history and experiences of Native Americans in higher education accurately absent a holistic perspective.

In the ASHE monograph series as a whole we have intentionally addressed issues related to comprehensive understandings about diversity in higher education. Monographs, for example, by Marybeth Walpole on low SES students, by Rachelle Winkle-Wagner on cultural capital, and by Amy Bergeson on college choice and access, are complementary to this monograph on Indigenous students in higher education. However, this monograph really does stand alone in recognizing the unique situation and circumstances of a particular population (i.e., Native Americans) while providing a critical and theoretical lens through which to view the success of the Native American community in higher education. This is not a monograph that expresses the problems and deficits of an underrepresented minority; rather it offers a complex understanding of an important constituency that is rooted in the history and culture of Indigenous populations in the United States.

Above all else, you will find this monograph an informative, good read. It will appeal to and be helpful to multiple audiences, including college and university administrators, researchers, graduate students, and anyone interested in Native Americans in higher education. The monograph can serve as a model to many by showing the importance of looking at groups of students from a larger historical and cultural context and showing the importance of asking “what’s wrong with higher education” rather than asking “what’s wrong with ‘them’.” The concepts of sovereignty and nation building serve as important reminders for those within higher education to take into consideration not only where people come from, but also where they are going. We hope you learn from and enjoy this monograph as much as we did.

Kelly Ward and Lisa Wolf-Wendel

Series Editors

Acknowledgments

This monograph actually began to take shape in different parts of the United States simultaneously. In early 2000, Bryan was working on a piece for a journal article that offered an overview of the experiences of Indigenous undergraduate students in higher education. Six years later, he revised and expanded the overview with Angelina. Simultaneously, in the early part of the first decade of the twenty-first century, Amy was working on examining the transitions from high school to college and the role that tribal education departments played in Native students attending college. These pieces came together in this monograph; Jessica played a vital role in the past year in working on the nation-building components of this monograph. We acknowledge the early work of Bobby Wright, Michael Pavel, Arthur C. Parker, Vine Deloria, Jr., and John Tippeconnic III, and the more recent work of Heather Shotton, Lee Bitsoi, and Stephanie Waterman.

Bryan acknowledges Angelina and Jessica for working with him on this project over the last five years; they have been wonderful writing and thinking partners over the past eight years. He also wants to thank Amy for broaching the idea of a book-length manuscript as a way to bring the work together. Bryan is grateful to Bill Tierney for broaching the idea of an overview of American Indians in higher education in 2000; sadly, he was unable to finish that project, but Bill pressed for its completion. This monograph is partly his vision. Bryan’s colleague, Terri McCarty, has encouraged him in innumerable ways. Bryan’s friend and colleague Malia Villegas’ work on nation building among the Maori in Aotearoa/New Zealand and conversations around the concept of nation building inspired and guided him. Finally, Bryan would like to thank his spouse, Doris Warriner, and their children Quanah and Ely, for putting up with him while he worked on the project, at times forsaking familial responsibilities. He hopes for Quanah and Ely—two beautiful, Indigenous boys—that their experiences in college will be better than those described in this monograph.

Amy would like to thank all those who helped to make this monograph possible. Her gratitude extends to her coauthors for their hard work and insights on this project, other Native scholars whose research is referenced throughout this monograph, and the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) for providing a space for conversations about American Indian/Alaska Native higher education issues and how to improve postsecondary educational opportunities and outcomes for Native students and faculty. Without the support of ASHE, this monograph may not have come to fruition. Finally, Amy would like to acknowledge her family, friends, colleagues, and students who encourage and support her in this work.

Angelina is incredibly grateful to Bryan for his leadership on this project, as well as his consistent friendship and guidance. Many of her understandings about higher education, Indigenous communities, and collaboration have been shaped by Bryan. She also wants to thank her partner and husband, Tyler, for understanding when this project crept into family camping trips, thwarted attempts to enjoy a leisurely breakfast, and otherwise occupied her energy. Although her children, Tarek and Keelan, were too young to know what it meant when mom had to work, they provided inspiration for her to stay focused and work efficiently. She also could not have done this work without the support of her mom, who cared for her boys when she and Tyler could not. She dedicates this monograph to her mom, for her unwavering generosity.

Jessica, first and foremost, wishes to acknowledge and thank Dr. Bryan Brayboy, for mentoring her over the years, for serving as an academic and personal guide in her life, and for helping to refine her thinking on many of the ideas presented in this text, especially issues of sovereignty, self-determination, and nation building. She is additionally grateful to Angelina and Amy for inviting her on board to participate in the process of creating this monograph. Jessica is deeply grateful to the many Indigenous women and leaders whose strength and fortitude, whose voices and insight, have nurtured her thinking, guided her actions, and inspired her so much over the years. This work is dedicated to them and to the Indigenous youth whose dreams and everyday actions lead them to contribute to the peace and strength of their families and nation(s). Lastly, Jessica wishes to thank her family, especially her grandfather, for granting her the support, love, and inspiration for engaging in this work.

Introduction

THIS MONOGRAPH SYNTHESIZES what we know about higher education among American Indian and Alaska Native1 students. Although progress in educational attainment has been made, compared to all other racialized student groups, Indigenous students have the highest high school drop-out rates (Swanson, 2004), are least likely to have completed college preparatory courses in high school (Chavers, 2002; Greene and Forster, 2003; Planty, Bozick, and Ingels, 2006), and have among the lowest college entrance and retention rates in the country (Devoe and Darling-Churchill, 2008; Hunt and Harrington, 2008). After decades of national-, state-, and institutional-level initiatives to increase access to higher education, the college pipeline for American Indian and Alaska Native students remains largely unaddressed. As a result, little is known and even less is understood about the critical issues, conditions, and postsecondary transitions of this incredibly diverse group of students.

As we walk the reader through what we do know about higher education for Indigenous students, we weave central themes of tribal nation building, sovereignty, self-determination, Indigenous knowledge systems, and culturally responsive schooling throughout the discussion (see, for example, Barnhardt and Kawagley, 2005; Battiste, 2002; Brayboy, 2005a; Brayboy and Maughan, 2009; Castagno and Brayboy, 2008; Deloria and Wildcat, 2001; Lomawaima and McCarty, 2006). As Austin (2005) notes, if institutions of higher education were more knowledgeable about the unique political status of Indigenous people and nations, they would better understand students and the institution’s responsibility toward Indigenous students and communities. We take this guidance seriously and attempt not only to shed light on what the current body of research literature tells us about postsecondary education, but also to encourage a deeper understanding of issues central and unique to Indigenous students and tribal nations.

There are a number of ways in which Indigenous students and communities remain absent from the fabric of mainstream institutions of higher education. The notions of competition and individual success are often at odds with the reasons many Indigenous students pursue postsecondary education in the first place—to serve their families and communities better (Brayboy, 2005b). Serving families and communities is one part of the larger concept of nation building, which is a fundamental part of our project. We draw on the work of Indigenous scholars and delve into the international literature on the topic, and we will enter into a significant overview of what we mean by nation building and its implications for American Indians in institutions of higher education in the chapter entitled “Framing the Conversation.”

Making communities healthy through the pursuit of self-determination and tribal sovereignty is rarely acknowledged within the paradigms that guide higher-education discussions about recruitment, retention, and success. The often-used postsecondary metaphor of the “educational pipeline” is just one example of the ways in which higher education (inadvertently) marginalizes Indigenous people and communities. We know that many Indigenous students who pursue postsecondary education often do so over a number of years, with breaks for various reasons, and by attending multiple institutions before completing a single degree. As long as success along the pipeline continues to be defined as completing a degree within four to six years of consistent, full-time enrollment at a single institution, Indigenous students will continue to be framed as failures in higher education.

We cannot, however, ignore statistics and reports that continue to inform us that Indigenous students are not well served by mainstream institutions of higher education (for example, low matriculation and graduation rates, feelings of not belonging, and encounters with racism). We suggest that institutions of higher education need to do a much better job of recruiting and retaining Indigenous students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Success along these paths is critical for the health of tribal nations, the pursuit and enactment of tribal sovereignty, and the realization of educational equity within the United States. At the same time, institutions of higher education must also acknowledge that Indigenous students and communities may not always be interested in pursuing or framing success in the same ways or for the same reasons as other students and communities. Institutions of higher education, leaders within colleges and universities, policy makers, and faculty and staff must be able to hold these two points in constant, and creative, tension if the goal is to serve Indigenous students and communities better.

Situating American Indian and Alaska Native Higher Education in Larger Contexts

Institutions of higher education do not operate in vacuums free of context and all that surround them; they are intimately tied to the larger contexts of communities, states, and nations. Understanding American Indian and Alaska Native participation in postsecondary education, then, requires some knowledge of Indigenous communities and tribal nations broadly speaking.

It is important to address some basic issues initially as we move forward throughout the text. Throughout this text, we use American Indian, Alaska Native, Native, and Indigenous interchangeably. We understand that there are differences in how these terms are used and understood, and want to outline our views regarding the use of these terms briefly. Naming, of course, is always political; we recognize this, although our hope in the process is to not engage in identity politics of who is or is not a “real” Native person. That is both beyond the scope of our project and beyond the scope of who we are. Native nations define their members. We fully understand that American Indians and Alaska Natives are engaged differently by the federal courts and, in some instances, by other branches. Indeed, among Native peoples in the continental United States (or the lower forty-eight states), there are differences between federally and state recognized tribes. When the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was signed in 1971 by Richard Nixon, Alaska Native peoples’ land claims were effectively extinguished so that oil being drilled in the northern part of the state could be carried through a pipeline to the southern part of the state for transport to refineries in the continental United States. To this end, the relationship between the federal government and the Alaska Native peoples is somewhat different because of legal relationships regarding land. But the U.S. Department of Education does have programs recognizing the unique status of Alaska Native peoples and the unique relationships between the U.S. government and Alaska Native peoples.

American Indian peoples, or those who inhabit the continental United States, signed over 350 treaties with the United States and in the process ceded one billion acres of land (for example, see Deyhle and Swisher, 1997). In the process, these treaties and resulting legislation, both implicitly and explicitly, promised American Indian peoples access to health care and educational services, and provided for their general welfare (Deloria and Lytle, 1983). Relations between the federal government and tribal nations, however, grew complicated when, in 1953, House Concurrent Resolution 108 was passed. The passage of HCR 108 eventually led to the termination of the government-to-government relationships between the United States and 109 tribal nations (for example, see Deloria and Lytle, 1983, and Wilkins, 2002). This was complicated even further by Public Law 280, which gave state governments civil and criminal jurisdiction over reservations, in large part to relieve federal financial obligations to tribes (Goldberg-Ambrose, 1997).

For the purposes of this monograph, we do not delve into the major differences between state- versus federally-recognized tribes. There is much contention around this topic, because of the ways that federal recognition has been taken up to signify that a group is real only if it is recognized by the federal government. Our take is that American Indian peoples that have forms of government and have, over time, invoked their rights as Indigenous peoples fall within our discussion in this text. That is, we believe that sovereignty and nationhood are, as Deloria and Lytle (1983) note, extraconstitutional. They precede the Constitution and are not dependent upon it or on recognition from the U.S. government. American Indians then, for us, constitute peoples that claim their status as Indigenous peoples in relation to either the federal or state government.

The term Indigenous indicates a group of people who have been tied to a particular place before any outside peoples were introduced to the lands. We intentionally capitalize Indigenous to indicate that this references peoples with inherent rights because of their status as original peoples. In some cases, the term Indigenous has been used as a way to indicate solidarity between Native peoples across the globe with special ties to place and an engagement with colonialism.

In the 1970s, the use of the term Native came into popular usage to connote that American Indians were native to the land that is the United States. Many people who are American Indian still refer to themselves as Native American or simply Native. Many of the laws governing Indigenous issues in the United States refer specially to American Indians (and Alaska Natives), although there are some that refer to Native Americans. We choose to use both terms, interchangeably, to capture the totality of how people refer to themselves. We want to be clear, however, that we reject the claims of people who call themselves Native American because they were born in the United States. These people may be native to the United States, but we are not referencing them when we discuss Native Americans; we are referring to individuals who have ancestry tied to Indigenous peoples.

There is a range and diversity in both the day-to-day experiences and the history of tribal peoples across the United States. Indigenous peoples from tribes on the east coast came into contact with Europeans well before many in the plains and southwest areas. Across the country, there are Indigenous groups who speak their Native languages daily, but many more who do not; those who are involved in subsistence activities and others who are not. In short, some Native peoples engage in hunting and gathering on their traditional lands in the ways that are reminiscent of the ways that their ancestors engaged in subsistence; others engage in hunting and gathering at Safeway, Albertsons, and Trader Joe’s. Still other Native peoples dance powwow, whereas others have never been to a powwow. These diverse experiences are expected and illustrative.

We discuss the commonalities of experiences of Native students and faculty in this monograph; we do so, however, with an understanding that there is a range and variation in these experiences. We believe that the commonalities are important in addressing the role of higher education in the lives of Native peoples across the United States. One final note before we outline a brief history of Indigenous peoples in the United States—we have not included Native Hawaiians in this study. Not doing so is rooted in a few reasons. First, the data on Native Hawaiians are complicated in how they are reported; these data are often included with Asian/Pacific Islanders. Second, the data that exist are slight. Finally, it seems to us that attempting to address these data are beyond our scope of expertise. It is clear, from our vantage point, that Native Hawaiians share much in common with other Indigenous peoples and that future work must find ways to address their experiences. An examination of the experiences of Native Hawaiians is an area not only worthy of study, but one that is desperately needed as well. Having argued for its need, we recognize that we do not—nor did we intend to—address this important issue. We hope someone will do so in the future.

Most higher education professionals appear to be unaware of the unique histories—which have present-day realities attached to them—of Indigenous peoples in the United States. American Indians have inhabited the lands on what is now called the United States well before it was the United States. There are treaty rights that promise educational resources and benefits; some acknowledgement of this is evident in the 2004 Executive Order 13336. The Executive Order in Section 1 notes, “The United States has a unique legal relationship with Indian tribes and a special relationship with Alaska Native entities as provided in the Constitution of the United States, treaties, and Federal statutes.” It goes on to document the ways that these rights are engaged through educational programs. It is important to note that this recognition of tribal nations as political entities is vital to the suggestions we make throughout our text. These resources and the benefits of higher education are also visible in other documents and understandings around treaties and trust responsibility. Because of their unique status and history in the United States, Indigenous peoples likely engage in higher education differently as well. Tribal peoples have, in many ways, redefined the role of higher education; this redefinition is tied to ideas and concepts that we will address in this text, like Indigenous knowledge systems, sovereignty, self-determination, and nation building.

Historical Background of American Indian and Alaska Native Higher Education