Native Culture and Education
The presence of culture in the schools has changed dramatically over the past fifty years. Among Native adults 65 and older, 1-in-20 reported that they were taught their Native language in school; 1-in-10 were taught subjects in their Native language; 1-in-5 learned about their own culture in school. At least 8-in-10 adults 18 to 24 have experienced all these elements of their culture in school.
There is less clear progress in the accuracy of what people learn about their culture. Among 18 to 24 year olds, only half think that what they were told was "usually accurate", about the same proportion as among 55 to 64 year olds. In between these two age groups, more people think what they were told was usually accurate.
We tend to think that people are thinking about what they heard from their white teachers. But even elder adults recall learning from both white and Native teachers. One elder recalled, "The elders would tell stories to us in school. We would sit on the floor and an elder would come and tell us to listen. They always made us laugh (about) when they were growing up. When I was in elementary school, an elder said talked about having practice in a snow house -- one elder said to another, "Why did you poo (have gas) -- he says I didn't (niluk), and they went out and a polar bear was on the top of the igloo." A woman in her 40's said, "[It depended on who was talking. If it was a white man talking about what he learned from a book, "no", from elders "yes".
| age of respondent | Total | ||||||||
| 16,17 | 18-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-54 | 55-64 | 65 and older | |||
| Any teachers or teachers aides Inupiat in elem or hs | Yes | 93 | 94 | 91 | 72 | 56 | 43 | 49 | 71 |
| Taught Inupiaq in elem or hs | Yes | 89 | 92 | 95 | 58 | 19 | 9 | 4 | 53 |
| Taught subjects in Inupiaq in elem or hs | Yes | 73 | 82 | 78 | 55 | 19 | 23 | 12 | 49 |
| Taught about Inupiat culture and history in elem or hs | Yes | 97 | 89 | 87 | 63 | 30 | 11 | 22 | 57 |
| How accurate was information about Inupiat hist and culture | Usually accurate | 69 | 50 | 77 | 66 | 63 | 45 | 96 | 65 |
Given the stories about school experiences, people seem remarkably satisfied with the western education they received: 43 percent are very satisfied, and an additional 41 percent are somewhat satisfied. Only 8 percent are dissatisfied.
respondent satisfaction with western education received
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Valid Percent |
Cumulative Percent |
||
|
Valid |
very satisfied |
268 |
40.4 |
43.4 |
43.4 |
|
somewhat satisfied |
254 |
38.3 |
41.1 |
84.5 |
|
|
neither satisfied or dissatisfied |
49 |
7.4 |
7.9 |
92.4 |
|
|
somewhat dissatisfied |
33 |
5.0 |
5.3 |
97.7 |
|
|
very dissatisfied |
14 |
2.1 |
2.3 |
100.0 |
|
|
Total |
618 |
93.2 |
100.0 |
||
|
Missing |
System |
45 |
6.8 |
||
|
Total |
663 |
100.0 |
|||
And, given the increase in the presence of Native culture in the
schools, one might expect satisfaction to
increase over time. Instead we see that the youngest people are the least
satisfied with the education
they received. Only 1-in-4 18 to 24 year olds are very satisfied with the
education
they received compared with 1-in-2 of those 35 and older. Perhaps the
deficiencies of their
education are more salient to people who recently finished schooling; perhaps
younger
people set their standards higher; or perhaps there are more real problems than
in the past.
respondent satisfaction with western education received * age of respondent Crosstabulation
% within age of respondent
|
age of respondent |
Total |
||||||||
|
16,17 |
18-24 |
25-34 |
35-44 |
45-54 |
55-64 |
65 and older |
|||
|
respondent satisfaction with western education received |
very satisfied |
24.0% |
26.4% |
36.2% |
49.0% |
54.1% |
52.6% |
49.2% |
43.4% |
|
somewhat satisfied |
64.0% |
52.9% |
44.9% |
38.6% |
36.7% |
29.8% |
30.5% |
41.0% |
|
|
neither satisfied or dissatisfied |
8.0% |
12.6% |
9.4% |
7.8% |
3.7% |
3.5% |
10.2% |
7.9% |
|
|
somewhat dissatisfied |
5.7% |
7.1% |
3.9% |
3.7% |
12.3% |
3.4% |
5.3% |
||
|
very dissatisfied |
4.0% |
2.3% |
2.4% |
.7% |
1.8% |
1.8% |
6.8% |
2.3% |
|
|
Total |
100.0% |
100.0% |
100.0% |
100.0% |
100.0% |
100.0% |
100.0% |
100.0% |
|