10 Implications on Indigenous Students
When Indigenous students only see themselves and their families reflected as stereotypical peoples of the past, they do not feel they have a place in a system of education that does not understand them. When narratives focus on pre-1900s stories of the “savage Indian” warring with the “innocent” missionaries running from religious persecution or some other troubled anecdote used to justify colonialism, these students can feel that they are unwelcome in these colonial spaces, or recognize the mistruths in these teachings and develop a distrust for just about every narrative pushed by education systems. These factors all lead to American Indian/Alaska Native students having the lowest graduation rate of any group, coming in at just 75% compared to that of white students at 90% (NCES 2023). Additionally, just 15.4% of American Indian/Alaska Natives over the age of 25 had earned a bachelor’s degree or higher, which is just less than half of the national average of 32.9% (PNPI 2023). Given these circumstances, it is no wonder why American Indian/Alaska Native educators make up just 0.5% of the United States teaching workforce (Garcia et. al 2023), a dramatic inequity when considering this same group constitutes 2.9% of the total U.S. population (NCOA 2023).
This failure to properly educate Indigenous students is not only an injustice, it is an infringement on the rights guaranteed by the United Nations Declaration for Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). UNDRIP was adopted in 2007 by the United Nations General Assembly, and thus applies to each country belonging to the United Nations. “It establishes a universal framework of minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of the indigenous peoples of the world and for combating discrimination and marginalization. It also elaborates on existing human rights standards and fundamental freedoms as they apply to the specific situation of indigenous peoples. The Declaration is the most comprehensive international instrument on the rights of indigenous peoples,” (USETINC 2021). Disappointingly, despite 144 states voting in favor of the declaration and just 4 voting against it, the United States was one of the four countries which voted in opposition to its adoption. Additionally, “the United States was the last nation in the world to ratify UNDRIP and it declared its support for UNDRIP as aspirational and not legally binding,” (USETINC 2021). Regarding education, three key rights guaranteed in UNDRIP are…
“Indigenous peoples have the right to the dignity and diversity of their cultures, traditions, histories and aspirations which shall be appropriately reflected in education and public information.”
-Article 15, Section 1
“States shall take effective measures, in consultation and cooperation with the indigenous peoples concerned, to combat prejudice and eliminate discrimination and to promote tolerance, understanding and good relations among indigenous peoples and all other segments of society.”
-Article 15, Section 2
“States shall in consultation and cooperation with indigenous peoples take specific measures to protect indigenous children from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development, taking into account their special vulnerability and the importance of education for their empowerment.”
-Article 17, Section 2 (UN 2007)
Given the failure of the United States governments to properly educate their Indigenous youth, it is no wonder they have been reluctant to embrace UNDRIP. Despite this document being ratified in 2007, the U.S. has clearly failed to meet its requirements 17 years later at the time of writing. They have clearly failed to address Article 15, Section 1 by insufficiently including this information in widely accessible education or public information. They have failed to address Article 15, Section 2 through the failure to meet the expectations set in Article 15, Section 1 as education has proven to be the most effective method to combat the discrimination and intolerance this section aims to address. Finally, they have failed to uphold their obligations outlined in Article 17, Section 2 because the requirement in the US that youth under 18 attend school could be interpreted as work, and public school curriculums (which shape this work) interfere with an education that meets the needs of Indigenous students; Also, these schooling systems do not facilitate education for the empowerment of Indigenous youth, rather these education systems seek to dismantle any sense of power Indigenous students hold which stems from their indigeneity.