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MAI/AID INDIANS III TWO ceAMDAmEs TOWARD f}

NAVA30 RESERVATION SCHOOLS

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1971 ' '

 

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Michigan State
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thesis entitled

”A Study of the Knowledges and

Attitudes of Navajo Indians in

Two Communities Toward Navajo Reservation Schools“
presented by

Thomas R. Reno

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

Ed. D. degreein Administration

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Date May 5, 1971

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ABSTRACT

A STUDY OF THE KNOWLEDGES AND ATTITUDES OF
NAVAJO INDIANS IN TWO COMMUNITIES TOWARD
NAVAJO RESERVATION SCHOOLS

BY

Thomas R. Reno

The purpose of this study was to determine how the
Navajo Indian views two different types of schools serving
the Navajo Reservation. Research in the area of Indian
education indicates some major shortcomings in the education
of the first American. Perhaps the most serious deals with
the lack of local control, community and parental involve-
ment in the Indian schools. This study measured and re-
corded the knowledges and attitudes of the Navajo Indian
toward two schools holding differing philosophies and poli—
cies of organization and administration and program. Two
separate Navajo Reservation communities with similar
demography were selected for the survey. One of the com-
munities is served by a school which is identified as
community-oriented inasmuch as it concerns itself with
everything that affects the well-being of all of the citi-
zens within the community. In that school, the role of

education is extended from the traditional concept of

Thomas R. Reno

teaching children to one of identifying the needs, problems,
and wants of the community, and then assisting in the
development of facilities, programs, staff and leadership
toward the end of improving the entire community. The
other community is served by a school which is identified

as non-community-oriented, as it is characterized in phi-

 

losoPhy, policy, and program to exclude meaningful community
involvement and participation in the local school.

The review of the historical development of the
Navajo Indian as a unique cultural identity indicated the
need and necessity of Navajo involvement in the control and
Operation of Navajo schools. Yet, a look at the history of
Navajo education and the Navajo school system pointed out
very little involvement of the Navajo Indians themselves in
the development, control, and operation of their schools.

A survey sampling of the Navajo residents' knowledge

of and attitudes in regard to the local school in the two
Navajo Reservation communities was accomplished through the
use of the Kettering Foundation sponsored Gallup Poll
instrument, How the Nation Views the Public Schools.
Some modification of the instrument was done in order to
reflect relevance to the population to be surveyed. A
standardized translation into the Navajo language was
established and testing of the instrument was done by
Navajo-speaking persons at the Navajo Community College.

A Chi square analysis of the frequency counts was

made to test the null hypothesis: there is little

Thomas R. Reno

difference in the Navajo Indian's knowledge and attitude
toward his schools, whether the schools be community or
non-community oriented. The inspection and analysis of the
data findings allow for the generalization that the resi-
dents of the area with the community-oriented school have
more knowledge and a more positive attitude toward the
school than do the residents of the area served by the non-
community-oriented school.

An inspection and review of all data presented
through this survey indicates that there is a significant
difference in the responses of the residents to the two
Navajo communities in relation to the Navajo Indian's
knowledge and attitude toward his schools. According to
the findings of the study, it is submitted that Navajo
Indians are more knowledgeable and have a more positive
attitude toward the local schools when they are identified
as community-oriented schools. On the basis of these
findings, the null hypothesis is rejected.

The most obvious conclusion derived from this study
is that Navajo Indians have more knowledge and a more posi—
tive attitude toward their local schools when the schools
are identified in philosophy and program as community-
oriented. The fact that the school in this study identified
as community-oriented has meaningful local control through
an all-Navajo school board, and that the curriculum and

policies reflect local community needs, tends to imply that

Thomas R. Reno

other Navajo Reservation schools should follow more closely
its community-orientation.

The history of American education is filled with
certain concepts which long have been denied Navajo Indians.
American education has had as its cornerstone and foundation
the local community and the involvement of the people served
by the school itself. However, Navajo education has been
characterized by control by outsiders who in their positions
of authority and expertise made the decisions and directed
the way. The greatness of this nation lies not in faith
in experts but, rather, in the faith that it places in the
common man. In this way, and in this manner, Navajo
Reservation communities with their community-oriented
schools can keep with the highest ideals and the highest
principles for which this nation stands. The implications
and significance of this study may lie far beyond Indian
education, for the greatness and strength of the entire
nation is derived from the involvement of its citizens and

from placing in their hands the nation's future.

A STUDY OF THE KNOWLEDGES AND ATTITUDES OF
NAVAJO INDIANS IN TWO COMMUNITIES TOWARD

NAVAJO RESERVATION SCHOOLS

BY

Thomas RfixReno

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Department of Administration and Higher Education

1971

DEDICATION

This thesis is dedicated to Dr. Robert A. Roessel,
Jr., who helped lead me to a knowledge, understanding, and
appreciation of the first American. Without his gentle,
but persistent encouragement, this thesis would probably
not have been written. His patience and his sustained
interest, good advice, and ever-readiness to help were the

keys to the development of this dissertation.

ii

AC KNOWLEDGMENTS

My profound thanks are extended to Dr. Floyd G.
Parker, Chairman of the Doctoral Guidance Committee for
his continued interest, encouragement, and leadership;
and to the doctoral committee members: Dr. Clyde M.
Campbell, Dr. Dale V. Alam, and Dr. Ruth Hill Useem.

Deep gratitude is expressed to my friends, Charles
Cardinell and Burt Chamberlain, and to the people closest
to me: Vicki, Lucy, Frances, Matthew, Mom, Dad, and

Francie.

iii

Chapter

I.

II.

III.

IV.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION TO THE PROBLEM . . . .

Assumptions . . . . . . . .
Hypothesis . . . . . . . . .
Definition of Terms . . . . . .
Organization of the Study . . . .
Summary . . . . . . . . . .

REVIEW OF LITERATURE . . . . .

Navajo History . . . . . . .
Navajo Culture . . . . . . .
Navajo Religion . . . . . . .
Navajo Political Organization . .

History of Navajo Education . . .
Navajo School System . . . . .
Bureau of Indian Affairs Operations
Reservation Public Schools . . .
Mission Schools . . . . . . .
Rough Rock Demonstration School . .
Summary . . . . . . . . . .

RESEARCH METHODS . . . . . . .

Interviewing Procedure . . . . .
Descriptive Survey Research Design .
Instrumentation . . . . . . .
Summary . . . . . . . . . .

PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS
OF DATA 0 O O I O O O O I 0

iv

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28
33
34
44
44
45
46
47
47

49
51
53

57
59

60

Chapter Page

V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS . . . 78
Recommendations for Further Study. . . 84
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . 88
BIBLIOGRAPHY. . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
APPENDICES
Appendix

A. Survey: How the Navajo Indian Views
Reservation Schools . . . . . . . . 93

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION TO THE PROBLEM

The topic of local control, parental and community
involvement is of prime concern to the residents of the
Navajo Reservation in northeastern Arizona. Most of the
Reservation schools are operated by the federally-controlled
Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Department of the Interior.
These schools have come under attack in recent years by
many groups, but none so strongly as a United States Senate
subcommittee on Indian Education. The subcommittee, after
a two-year study, has labeled Indian education a national
tragedy and a failure of major proportions. The authors of
the 220-page document were impressed by the low quality of
virtually every aspect of schooling for Indian children.
The subcommittee listed its findings and then proposed
sixty recommendations for improving Indian education. At
the top of this list was a recommendation to increasingly
involve Indians in their own school affairs.l It is to

this general topic that this study is addressed.

 

1U.S., Congress, Senate, Subcommittee on Indian

Education, Indian Education--A_National Tragedy--A National
Challenge, Superintendent of Public Documents, 1969.

l

The history of Indian education is typified by
paternalism inasmuch as Indians are often thought to be
unable to handle their own school affairs. In a book-
length report, the Citizens Advocate Center took a look at
the Indians' lot in the United States. The editor main-
tains that the Indians are encouraged by the "brother's
keeper" to live in a fabricated, artificial world that de-
grades, alienates, and destroys them. The "brother's
keeper" is the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the bureaucracy
overseeing the Indian problems of the nation, and a
bureaucracy so large it now totals one official for every
eighteen Indians.2

The indicators of Indian problems are appalling.
Their life expectancy is forty-four years, compared with
seventy-one for white Americans. The average annual income
for each Indian family living on a reservation is $1500.
The average years of schooling is 5.5, well behind that of
both black and Mexican American. Unemployment ranges from
a low of 20 per cent on the more affluent reservations to
80 per cent on the poorest. The birth rate of Indians is
2.5 times that of whites, and a majority of Indians are

under twenty years old.3

 

2Our Brother's Keeper: The Indian in White America
(Washington, D.C.: New CommufiIty Press, Inc., 1969Y) p. 34.

 

3"The Angry American Indian: Starting Down the
Protest Trail," Time, February 9, 1970, p. 17.

President Nixon in his message to Congress, July 8,
1970, called for the establishment of tribal boards of edu-
cation to take the place of federally-administered school
systems. He has urged Congress to amend the existing law
so that Indian education funds may go directly to Indian
groups as well as to Federal and public school systems. In
addition, he expressed his abhorrence of what he says is a
history of white "aggression, broken agreements, intermit-
tent remorse and prolonged failure" in treatment of Indians.
He said that, "as a matter of justice and enlightened social
policy," it was time for the 462,000 Indians living on
reservations (and perhaps as many more in urban slums) to
determine how best to use the federal help made available
to them.4

One Navajo Reservation community has already taken
steps to control and operate its own school. This school
is the Rough Rock Demonstration School, Rough Rock, Arizona,
which is characterized by its commitment to the involvement
of Indians in their school. The school, governed by an
all-Navajo school board and financed federally and pri-
vately, is regarded not just as a place for education of
Navajo children, but as the focus for development of the

total community.

 

4Richard M. Nixon, "President's Message to Con-
gress," New York Times News Service, July 8, 1970.

 

Bureau of Indian Affairs personnel are anxious to
learn of the significance of this move toward community
involvement in Indian schools. Indian tribal leaders and
Indian educators need some objective evidence as to how
Indians View their schools. The experimental school at
Rough Rock wants to determine the degree of community
knowledge and attitude toward the school and its philosophy
and the effectiveness of its school and community programs.

It is the purpose of this study to measure and
record the knowledges and the attitudes of the Navajo
Indian toward Navajo Reservation schools, and to determine
to what extent the community oriented school reflects upon
and affects his knowledge and attitude toward the local

schools.

Assumptions

 

For the purpose of this study, it is assumed that:

l. The instrument (a questionnaire) is reliable
and valid.

2. The Navajo tribal census data are current and
list all families in the survey universe.

3. At the time the instrument is administered,
the knowledges and attitudes of the partici-
pants toward their schools are accurately

measured.

If

reasonable

It is valuable to know if there are significant
differences related to how Navajo Indians view
their schools.

It is valuable to know if there are significant
relationships between local control of schools
and how Navajo Indians view their schools.

It is valuable to know if there are significant
relationships between federally-controlled
schools and how Navajo Indians view their
schools.

Parental and community involvement is basic to
excellence in Navajo Indian schools.

A knowledgeable community with positive atti-
tudes toward its school leads to excellence in
Navajo Indian schools.

The community-oriented school assumes the re-
sponsibility for communication and program

planning with the total community.

these assumptions are accepted, then it is

to assume that analysis can yield possible com-

binations of predictive items that can be used in assessing

how different schools are viewed by their Navajo Indian

constituents.

Hypothesis

 

The following questions were written to serve as a
guide to this survey study as well as a preceding statement
to the hypothesis:

1. Do Indian parents in a community-oriented

school View their school with more knowledge
and positive attitudes than do the parents in
a Bureau of Indian Affairs school?

2. Does community participation in the local school
lead to more knowledgeable parents with more
favorable attitudes toward their schools?

3. Is there any relationship between the type of
school serving the Navajo community and the
attitudes of the Navajo Indian toward his school
and education in general?

4. Can the kind and amount of information possessed
by representative Navajo Indians regarding their
local schools be determined?

5. Can it be determined how the Navajo Indians
judge the quality of education in their local
schools, and the criteria they use in arriving
at a judgment?

6. Is it possible to determine the attitude of the
Navajo Indian toward teachers, the teaching
profession, the local school board, and the
kinds of information the Navajo Indians would

like to have regarding their schools?

Null hypothesis: There is little difference in the Navajo
Indian's knowledge and attitude toward his schools, whether

the schools be community- or non-community-oriented.

Definition of Terms

Navajo Indian Reservation: A large federal reserve
set aside for Navajo Indians through the Treaty of 1868 and
subsequent treaties. It is located primarily in north-
eastern Arizona, yet includes portions of New Mexico and
Utah as well. The Reservation is approximately the size of
the state of West Virginia in area, and is populated by

some 110,000 Navajo Indians.

Bureau of Indian Affairs (B.I.A.): A federal bureau
within the Department of the Interior serving as a trustee
of the lands belonging to the Indians and a source of public
services to them, as long as they are not yet absorbed into

American life.5

Community—Oriented School: A school that concerns
itself with everything that affects the well-being of all
of the citizens within a given community. This definition
extends the role of community education from one of the
traditional concept of teaching children to one of identi-

fying the needs, problems, and wants of the community and

 

5Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1966, X, 635.

then assisting in the development of facilities, programs,
staff, and leadership toward the end of improving the

entire community.6

Non-Community-Oriented School: A school character-
ized in philosophy, policy, and program to exclude meaning-
ful community involvement and participation in the local

school.

B.I.A. School: A non-community-oriented school
located either on or off an Indian reservation financed and
administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Depart-
ment of the Interior. The B.I.A. schools may be either
boarding or day schools, both of which are federally con-
trolled and required to follow all national and civil-

service regulations.

Organization of the Study

 

This thesis consists of five chapters. In Chapter
I, an introduction to the problem is presented telling of
the need and purpose of the study. This is followed by the
assumptions, the hypothesis, the definition of terms, the
organization of the study, and a summary.

In Chapter II, the reader is offered a description

of Navajo Indian history, culture, political organization,

 

6Howard W. Hickey, Curtis Van Voorhees and Associ-
ates, The Role of the School in Community Education (Mid-
land, Mich.: The Pendell Co., 1969), p. 31.

 

and religion, as well as a history of Navajo education and
a current description of the Navajo school system. The
information in this chapter provides the reader with the
necessary data to understand the significance, implications,
and findings of the study.

Chapter III includes a description of the sampling
procedures, a description of the instrument, the research
design, the population surveyed, as well as the description
of the analysis procedures.

In Chapter IV, an analysis of the data and findings
is presented.

Chapter V includes the major findings, implications,

and conclusions, as well as a general summary.

Summary

This study hopes to examine how the Navajo Indian
views his schools. The introductory chapter contains a
description of the problems facing the American Indian and
Indian education, and of the need to determine the relation-
ship between the kinds of schools serving the Navajo Indian,
and his knowledge of and attitude toward the local schools.
In addition, a list of assumptions, the hypothesis, defi—
nition of terms and the organization of the thesis is pro-
vided. In the next chapter, pertinent information is pre-
sented in regard to the uniqueness and peculiarity of the
Navajo Indian and how an understanding of the Navajo is

basic to the understanding of the study.

CHAPTER II

A REVIEW OF LITERATURE

In the introduction to this study, it was pointed
out that the American Indian has long been denied many of
the traditional concepts of American education. Whereas
American education has had as its cornerstone and foundation
the local community and the involvement of the people
served by the school itself, Indian education has been
characterized by control by outsiders who in their positions
of authority and expertise made the decisions and directed
the way.

It is the intent in Chapter II to provide some his-
torical, social, and cultural data concerning the Navajo
Indian so that an awareness of the uniqueness of the Navajo
might be developed. In addition, the chapter reviews the
history of Navajo education, and the types of schools
serving the Navajo. The chapter is divided into six sec-
tions: Navajo history, Navajo culture, Navajo religion,
Navajo political organization, a history of Navajo edu-

cation, and a description of the Navajo school system.

10

11

Navajo History

 

Navajo call themselves Dine'--The People. They are
members of the Athabascan language group which migrated
from Asia to the northwest Pacific coast of North America
some 1300 years ago. The anthropologist tells us that
perhaps as early as 700 A.D. groups of these Athabascans
began a gradual migration to what is now the southwestern
United States. Their southward drift may have been only an
automatic filling of vacuums or the movement of hunters
into undisturbed territories. The Athabascans did not
possess a very highly developed culture in any respect; yet,
if we may judge by their descendants, their cultural make—up
included an important, durable element of individualism, a
love of personal and familial freedom. They were not dis-
organized, but unorganized, and they preferred it to be
that way. They grouped themselves into small bands, and
any units larger than the family were changeable, loosely
controlled, and easily dissolved. Some of them moved
southward over the High Plains, skirting the Rockies, some
must have come down the cordilleral valleys, crossing the
Plateau and Basin areas, to end by settling in the South-
west. The Navajo migration legends raise the possibility
that some might have come down along the West Coast and
then turned eastward to join the main body. In any case,
the first definite signs of their presence date about 1541

when wood from a Navajo but was found in Gobernador Canyon,

12

forty miles north of what is now Gallina, New Mexico.1 It
was at about this same time that the Spaniard Coronado came
through the Southwest with his Conquistadores.

Navajo history in the late 16th and early 17th
centuries is sketchy at best. Spanish accounts do indicate
that there were two separate bands of Navajo living in a
vaguely defined area west of Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico.2

It was in the latter half of the 17th century that
the transition from an agricultural to a pastoral economy
occurred. Most authorities date this event from the time
of the Pueblo Indian revolt against the Spanish in 1680
when the Navajo supposedly collected the stray sheep and
horses produced by the general confusion.3

More than sheep and horses were acquired as a
result of the Pueblo revolt. When the Spanish Governor de
Vargas completed his re-conquest of New Mexico and the
Pueblo villages in 1696, it was discovered that many of the
Navajo had fled westward to the Pueblo villages of Acoma
and Laguna near the Cebolleta Mountains. Although no one

is certain of the magnitude or duration of this Navajo-Pueblo

 

1E. T. Hall, Jr., "Early Stockaded Settlements in
the Gobernador, New Mexico," New Mexico Historical Review,
(1934).

2Frank D. Reeve, "Early Navajo Geography," New
Mexico Historical Review, XXXI (1928), 305.

 

3Ruth Underhill, The Navajos (Norman, Okla.: Uni-
versity of Oklahoma Press, 1956), pp. 41-42.

 

13

intermingling, evidence suggests that it was crucial to
Navajo cultural change. Weaving became a part of Navajo
life, and wool produced changes in clothing. The Pueblo
religious customs were merged into the Navajo theology,
and intermarriage increased the population.4

It was in 1744 that two Franciscan friars entered
the Province of Navajo to attempt conversion. Although
only six days were spent among them, the missionaries re-
ported the conversion of 5,000 Navajo, a beginning so
promising that the King of Spain approved the establishment
of four missions in the area. This overly optimistic
decree was never implemented, yet, by 1749, two missions
were established in the Cebolleta Mountains area, one near
the present town of Cebolleta, New Mexico, where 500 Navajo
were induced to settle, another nearby at Encinal. One
year later, the friars were driven from the missions. Sub-
sequent investigation revealed that the Navajo had become
angered by the inability of the missionaries to furnish
them with gifts and that they were frightened by the
example of forced labor which they observed in the nearby

Pueblo communities.5

 

4Evon Z. Vogt, "Navajo," in Perspectives in American
Indian Culture Change (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard UnIversity
Press, 1966)} P. 301.

 

5Frank D. Reeve, "The Navajo-Spanish Peace 1720's
to 1770's," New Mexico Historical Review, XXXIV (1924),
25-40.

 

14

As Spain's control over her American colonies
weakened in the early 19th century, the Indians of the
Southwest were quick to sense her declining authority.
After 1800, the Navajo emerged as the most impressive
pastoral culture in aboriginal America and one of the
dominant military powers in the Southwest. By 1820 their
strength was felt from the Rio Grande valley to the land
of the Hopi. When the Americans arrived in 1846 they ex-
perienced no difficulty with the Mexican authorities in
Santa Fe, but the Navajo were not to be so easily quelled.6

Like the Spanish before them, the Americans had
little conception of Navajo political and social organi-
zation. Believing that the Navajo were organized like an
European nation or state, they attempted to make treaties
with their leaders. Between 1846 and 1852 several treaties
were negotiated, but raids continued. One report tells us
that 800,000 sheep and cattle, as well as 20,000 horses and
mules passed into the hands of the Navajo between 1846
and 1850.7

In 1852 the federal government established Fort
Defiance in the heart of Navajo country, and relatively
peaceful conditions then prevailed until 1858. Perhaps as

much responsible as the army for this lull in the raiding

 

6Vogt, "Navajo," p. 293.

7Edward H. Spicer, Cycles of Conquest (Tucson,
Ariz.: University of Arizona Press, 1962): p. 216.

 

15

was the pOpular Indian agent, Henry Linn Dodge, who between
1853 and 1856 worked among the Navajo from his headquarters
at Sheep Springs, just northeast of Fort Defiance.

In 1856 Dodge was killed by an Apache arrow. Two
years later trouble erupted at Fort Defiance when the mili-
tary seized a large area of traditional Navajo pasture
land. After the post commander ordered some Navajo horses
which had encroached on their new preserve shot, the Navajo
retaliated by shooting his Negro slave. A punitive expe-
dition succeeded only in antagonizing further the Navajo
leaders Barboncito, Herrero, and Manuelito, who organized
a force of some 2,000 warriors for an attack on the fort
itself in April of 1860. Although the war party was re-
pulsed, peace was not restored.8

The outbreak of the Civil War resulted in the with-
drawal of the troops stationed at Fort Defiance. The
Navajo, interpreting this as a confession of weakness on
the part of the Americans, once again began to raid upon
the new settlements on their land.

In 1863 Brigadier General James H. Carleton arrived
in New Mexico from California to repel some Confederate
forces. When he learned that the Confederates had fled
before his arrival he began to cast about for some worthy

task to keep his impatient men busy. Conferences with the

 

81bid., p. 217.

16

territorial governor resulted in a decision to launch a
campaign against the Navajo.

Carleton's plan went far beyond a mere punitive
campaign. He envisioned nothing less than the establish-
ment of permanent peace through the wholesale removal of
the Navajo to a reservation in eastern New Mexico.
Carleton stated it this way:

. . . to gather them together, little by little, on to
a reservation, away from the haunts and hills, and
hiding places of their country, and then to be kind to
them; there to teach their children how to read and
write; teach them the arts of peace; teach them the
truths of Christianity. Soon they will acquire new
habits, new ideas, new modes of life; the old Indians
will die off, and carry with them all latent longings
for murdering and robbing; the young ones will take
their places without these longings; and thus, little
by little, they will become a happy and contented
people, and Navajo wars will be remembered only as
something that belongs entirely to the past.9

The famous mountain man, Kit Carson, then living in
Taos, New Mexico, was commissioned field commander and
given orders to bring the Navajo in, peaceably if possible,
forcibly if necessary. By summer of 1863, Carson had
ended the menace of the Mescalero Apache. He then turned
his attention to the Navajo who were given until July 20,
1863, to surrender.

Only a few bands of Navajo complied with the com-

mand. As a result, Carson invaded the Navajo country with

 

90. 8., Congress, Senate, Joint Special Committee,
Conditions of the Indian Tribes, James H. Carleton to
General Lorenzo Thomas, September 6, 1863, 39th Cong.,
2nd sess., 1866- -67, Report No. 156, p. 134.

17

a small army. Wherever he encountered resistance, he de-
stroyed the crops, rounded up the sheep, and shot the
Navajo men. On March 6, 1864, 2,400 Navajo began the
"Long Walk" to the Bosque Redondo on the banks of the Pecos
River in New Mexico. By May, an additional 3,500 were on
the way. Although an undetermined number successfully hid
in the canyons and on the mountains, some 8,500 Navajo were
eventually removed from their homeland. Ruth Underhill
tells of the journey to Fort Sumner:

The Navajo will never forget that journey to Bosque

Redondo, known in their traditions as the Long Walk.

Only the old, the sick, the infants rode in the carts,

along with the piles of supplies. The able-bodied

walked, and the boys of ten were proud to take every

step of the three hundred miles. Three hundred miles,

at fifteen miles a day! No wonder the Navajo felt they

were marching to the ends of the earth.10

The writer still hears the stories of the Long Walk
from the old Navajo in nearby hogans who remember their
parents telling of wagon beds becoming flooded in crossing
the many washes, streams, and rivers along the way, and how
the babies floated out and disappeared downstream.
The utOpia which Carleton had planned turned out

to be a dismal failure. Aside from the reluctance of the
dispirited and homesick Navajo to take up farming, drought,
hail, and worms attacked the crops. There was friction

with the Mescalero Apache and trouble with neighboring

Comanche. The civilian agent, Michael Speck, quarreled

 

10Underhill, The Navajos, p. 124.

 

18

with Carleton over the plan itself. Speck called it in-
humane and unfruitful. And always there was the problem of
money. The first twenty months of the experiment cost the
War Department over one million dollars, and the average
cost of rations between 1863 and 1868 was $750,000 per
year. In 1867 the Navajo refused to plant crops, and
during the winter several hundred deserted. In 1868 the
Bosque Redondo scheme was officially abandoned and a treaty
was signed permitting the Navajo to return to a new reser-
vation in their former homeland.ll

In the Treaty of 1868 made by the United States
Government with the Navajo Tribe of Indians, a reservation
of 5,468 square miles in their homeland in the states of
Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah was given to them with the
provision that there would be no more raiding. (Since 1868,
the size of the Navajo Reservation has been increased sev-
eral times until the area now totals approximately 25,000
square miles, roughly the size of the state of West Vir-
ginia.)

One of the most significant provisions of the
Treaty of 1868 concerned education. A school teacher was

to be provided for every thirty children who could be

 

llIbid., pp. 128-43.

19

induced or compelled to attend school. It was only re-
cently that this provision was fulfilled.12
Soon after the Treaty of 1868 was signed, the
Navajo returned to their reservation. According to records,
in 1869, the Navajo were placed in a large corral so that
30,000 sheep and 2,000 goats could be divided up among them
to help furnish a livelihood on their return to the Reser-
vation.l3
The Navajo Reservation has a rainfall of less than
ten inches per year, and the mean elevation is more than
6,000 feet above sea level. The region is characterized as
one lacking in good water, land, and vegetation. Though it
was difficult, the Navajo earned a good livelihood from
their flocks and herds. In time, however, sheep raising as
a means of livelihood failed. The price of wool fell, and
in the early 1900's a very long cycle of dry weather re-
duced the grass production of the range. Navajo kept their
sheep in corrals, and the traffic areas became denuded.
This caused great eroded areas, and eventually was a reason
among many foraavery severe stock reduction program in 1932.

Elevation and aridity in this precarious and iso-

lated environment have not been conducive to occupations

 

12George I. Sanchez, The People (Washington, D.C.:
U.S. Indian Service, 1948), p. 46.

13Frederick Webb Hodge, Handbook ofAmerican Indi-
ans, Vol. II (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office,
9 0), p. 41.

 

l-‘

20

other than the raising of sheep and a few crops such as
corn and melons. In certain localities considerable

interest is being shown in irrigation, but most of the
Navajo land is still a desert.14

When the livelihood of the Navajo from livestock,
weaving, and silversmithing became unprofitable, some of
the Navajo dropped their pastoral economy and began to
leave the Reservation for short periods of time to find
employment as day laborers on large farms in irrigated
areas owned by Anglos. Others found work on the railroad
gangs.

The poverty of the land on which the Navajo were
placed prevented willful infiltration by others and helped
finally to produce a very closely-knit tribe. Kroeber says
of the Navajo:

The usual absorption by assimilation is not in the
least in sight for them at present. The chief causes
of this situation seem to be an old and skillful adap-
tation to a rather poor environment; growth in their
numbers which made them a regional majority instead of
a swamped minority; and this along with the preser-
vation of assurance and even a sense of superiority.

Better living conditions now prevail throughout the

Navajo Reservation. The people have schools and hospitals

and paved roads now criss-cross Navajoland. A sawmill, a

 

14Ruth Underhill, Here Come the Navajo! (n.p.,

1950), p. 262.

15A. L. Kroeber, Anthropology (New York: Harcourt,

Brace and Co., 1923), p. 431.

 

21

utility company, several light industries, as well as the
Tribe's own community college are in operation on the
Reservation today. With these, and through the valuable
natural resources and other holdings of the Navajo Tribe,
they have the means to further their ambition to become

sharing citizens of the United States.

Navajo Culture

 

To understand the Navajo, one must understand his
culture: the ways of life which these people have developed
over centuries of experience in their natural and human
environment in the American Southwest. A glimpse of Navajo
daily life immediately gives one some understanding of
their culture and especially a sense of difference of the
ways the Navajo do things as compared to the ways in which
most Americans live from day to day. It must be remembered
that changes in recent years have been so rapid and have
gone at such different rates in different parts of the
Reservation that no series of brief statements will hold
true for all Navajo.

When one probes a little deeper into the way of
life of a group of peOple, he finds that there is more to
it than the techniques they have for making a living, the
ways they organize their families and communities, and the
ceremonies they carry out to adjust themselves to the
universe. There are always more pervasive values and goals

which color their entire way of life and enter crucially

22

into the problem of adjustment with other societies. Some
of these things are made very explicit by the Navajo.
Health, strength, and industry are all good things of life
for the Navajo. .There is also a valuing of personal ex-
cellence, but the important dominant American cultural
value of personal success is somewhat foreign to the Navajo
view of life. A white man, for example, will continue
striving for greater wealth even after he becomes a mil-
lionaire; whereas most Navajo, though also interested in
accumulating possessions, will stop when he is comfortably
off, or even sooner. Furthermore, riches are not identified
so much with a single individual as with the whole extended
family.

Most visitors to Navajoland find the Navajo inter-
esting and attractive, both in physique and costume. There
is no single Navajo physical type, and the range of phy-
sique is great.

The prevailing dress of most Navajo men and boys is
a colorful variation of the cowboy costume. The women's
long skirts and velveteen blouses reflect Spanish influence
as well as the fashions worn by the wives of American Army
officers in the late 1800's. Women often wear Pendleton
blankets draped over their shoulders; men usually wear them
only for warmth. The hairdress of the women and of the
traditional long-haired men is an adaptation of hairstyles
from the Pueblo Indians. Both long-haired and short-

haired men sometimes wear a scarf tied around the forehead.

23

During the first several months of their lives,
babies are kept in cradle boards which are effective
devices for caring for the infants under the circumstances
of Navajo life. The cradle can be easily carried by the
mother on horseback and it keeps the baby from crawling
into the open fire. The cradle can be propped up against
a tree or wall of the hogan, giving the infant a chance to
watch what is going on around him.

The traditional Navajo abode is called a hogan.
The hogan is most commonly a circular structure, with a
doorway facing east and a smoke hole in the center of the
roof, but usually lacking windows. The wall is usually of
logs, mud or rocks, depending on the availability of one or
the other building material, and the hemispherical roof is
formed of cribbed logs covered with dirt. The fire is
placed on the hard packed dirt floor beneath the smoke
hole, and a flap or hinged door covers the doorway. The
occupants sleep on sheepskins, lying with their feet to
the fire and their heads to the wall. Today, many hogans
have stoves, chimneys, beds, and so on.

A small structure, conical in shape, made of up-
right poles and covered with earth, is used as a sudatorium
or sweat house, largely by males. It is heated by placing
hot stones within, and provides facilities for bathing in
this area of scarce water.

The Navajo family typically rises at dawn. The

men may go out to round up the horses, and the children may

24

take the sheep and goats out to grass in the cool of the
morning while the women take out the ashes and start pre-
paring a breakfast of bread, coffee, and sometimes mutton.
When the men return with the horses, breakfast is served
the family on the floor of the hogan.

After breakfast the men work in the fields or haul
wood and water. The children, when they are not in school,
take the sheep and goats out to grass again while the women
remain home to care for the babies, weave rugs, and attend
to general household tasks. A noon meal may be prepared,
but often is omitted all together.

If the family is relatively well-off, a sheep or
goat may be butchered during the day to provide meat.

After the throat is cut, the animal is skinned and quartered
and the meat hung up in a tree out of the reach of dogs.
Occasionally there is a wagon or horseback or pick-up trip
to the trading post, an event which is looked forward to by
all the members of the family. At the trading post the
family purchases such staples as flour, sugar, coffee, and
lard and sometimes such luxuries as candy, pop, and canned
tomatoes or peaches. There is always an exchange of news
with the trader and other Navajo before the family starts
home.

In the evening another meal is served, and this is
often followed by the father or grandfather giving a talk,

both educational and ethical in nature, to the children.

25

It is not too long after sundown when the family retires
for the night, unless there are visitors, in which case
discussion may continue until quite late.

The whole pace of Navajo daily life is leisurely
and relaxed most of the time. The daily and annual round
of life are geared not to the clock and calendar, but to
the passage of the natural seasons and the position of the
sun during the day.

No one has described the Navajo landscape as well
as Vogt and Kluckhohn:

Set a stretch of sagebrush interspersed with groves of
small evergreens, mostly pinon and juniper, against a
background of highly colored mesas, canyons, and buttes,
and mountain masses clothed in deep green, roofed over
with a brilliant sky of blue, and you will have a
generalized picture of the Navajo landscape. But there
are other natural settings within a few hours drive;
splendid yellow pine forests, treeless wastes, canyons
cut deep into red or orange or red and white banded
sandstone mesas.

As beautiful as Navajoland is, it still does not
favor the economic survival of large numbers of people who
have limited technologies and remain isolated from the main
arteries of commerce. To gauge correctly the difficulties
of travel in some areas of the Reservation, distances must
be measured in terms of bad roads and intervening canyons

and washes or other obstacles, rather than in terms of

miles on a map.

 

16Clyde Kluckhohn and Evon Z. Vogt, Navajo Means
People (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1951),
p. 134.

26

Flowing water is rare and rainfall is scanty in
most parts of the reservation. In nearly half of the land
of the Navajo, rainfall averages eight inches per year.
High temperatures during the summer and sub-zero weather
during the winter, high winds, and sand storms are char-
acteristic. These liabilities also affect the higher
steppe regions, where annual rainfall is better than twelve
inches. In the mountains, rainfall averages twenty-two
inches, but the brief growing season of ninety days is
often interrupted by killing frosts.

The basic unit of economic and social cooperation
is the biological family, consisting of husband, wife, and
unmarried children.

When a Navajo man marries, he usually goes to live
with the wife's relatives. Two biological families are
combined into extended families which usually consist of an
older woman with her husband and unmarried children, to-
gether with her married daughters, their husbands, and un-
married children. This larger family grouping lives in two
or three adjacent hogans and cooperates closely in agri-
culture and the care of livestock.

Besides these family groupings the circle of kin-
folk is extended to people in the outfit or on into the
clan. The outfit is a group of relatives who regularly
cooperate on some occasions, such as planting and harvest-

ing or giving an important ceremonial. Each Navajo belongs

27

to the clan of his mother, but he is also born for the clan
of his father. These clan groupings are not united in one
local area, but are spread widely over the Reservation. In
the contemporary life of the Navajo, the principal impor-
tance of clan is that of limiting marriage choices. One
may never marry within one's own clan or one's father's
clan. But clan is also important in establishing the
larger circle of one's relatives. They bind Navajo to-
gether who are not biologically related, who have not grown
up in the same locality, who may never see each other, or
may do so but once in a lifetime. This sentimental bond
gives rise to occasional economic and other reciprocities.
A Navajo will always go out of his way to do a favor for or
show preference for a clan relative. Clan members are
called brothers, sisters, fathers, or mothers, depending
upon the sex and relative ages of the two speakers.

The largest and most effective unit of social and
political cooperation on the Navajo Reservation is the local
group or community. There are very few real villages and
nothing that is comparable to Smalltown, U.S.A. One of the
outstanding facts about Navajoland is the widely spread
settlement of the small hogan groups. Many times they are
five miles or more apart. Yet, throughout the Reservation,
there are local geographical areas occupied by groups of
Navajo who come together for large political meetings, and

who cooperate in giving a ceremonial or celebration. Most

28

of these communities have names and elect head men who serve

as leaders for many years at a time.

Navajo Religion

 

Religion enters every phase of Navajo life. It is
scarcely ever out of their minds from the time they are
old enough to understand anything about it.18

The Navajo, largest and most colorful Indian tribe
in the United States, is superficially the best known. Its
members travel on horseback and wagons as frequently as in
pick-ups and sedans. They crowd to the "squaw dance" where,
within a few miles of the highway, their eerie singing and
strange rites carry the ordinary non-Indian person miles
from reality and back uncounted years into what he considers
the prehistoric past. Occasionally he can watch a sand-
painting being made and used for its original purpose. More
often he sees reproductions which for him have an exotic
appeal.

In general the Navajo religion is said to exist for
the purpose of fulfillment of the requirements of life and
the living. Nature takes care of one if he behaves as he
should and does as nature directs. There is no modification
of nature. The universe remains intact and constant, and

19

man must adjust to it. When a Navajo is troubled with

 

18Alexander H. Leighton and Dorothea C. Leighton,
The Navajo Door,_An Introduction to Navajo Life (Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1945), p. 24.

19Clyde Kluckhohn and Dorothea Leighton, The Navajo
(Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1947), pp.
227-28.

 

 

29

illness, bad dreams, fear, insecurity, or some other similar
condition that seems beyond rational control, his feeling is
that something has upset the harmonious relationship between
him and nature and that immediate measures must be taken to
regain the harmony.2

There are fifty-eight distinct ceremonies in Navajo
religion, each of which has been described as a complicated
ritual to cure illness of body and mind. Singing plays an
important part in these ceremonials. Each ceremony has its
distinct place in the relief of difficulties involved in
life, such as warding off evil spirits or getting rid of the
bad effects caused by an evil spirit.21 The procedure for
ceremonies seems to be that the person who gives the cere-
mony feels the need of a medicine man and has the necessary
money. The person for whom the ceremony is to be given,
and a few of his close friends and relatives and a hand
trembler or diagnostician decide which rites are best suited
to cure the malady.22 Then the proper medicine man is sent
for to perform the ceremonial. The medicine man decides
what has caused the illness and prescribes the exact cere-

23

mony needed to cure the ailment. Often sand paintings

 

20Leland C. Wyman, Beautyway: A Navajo Ceremonial
(New York: Pantheon Books, 1957), pp. 6-7.

21

 

Kluckhohn and Leighton, The Navajo, p. 171.

 

22Leighton and Leighton, The Navajo Door, pp. 27-30.

 

23Ibid., pp. 29-30.

30

are used in the ceremony. Making a sand painting is a very
complicated and intricate procedure.

The writer has observed and taken part in many
Navajo ceremonies. Several have been along with the eminent
psychiatrist, Dr. Karl Menninger, who studies the Navajo
medicine man and the Navajo religion for understanding of
their techniques in psychotherapy and psychosomatic medi-
cine. Dr. Karl believes the Navajo medicine man is years
ahead of his Anglo contemporaries in this very significant
and prevalent medical problem of psychosomatic illness.

A Navajo ceremony, or whatever it may be called, is
a combination of many elements, ritualistic items such as
the medicine bundle with its sacred contents; prayersticks,
made of carefully selected wood and feathers, precious
stones, tobacco, water collected from sacred places, a tiny
piece of cotton string; song with its lyrical and musical
complexities; sandpaintings, with intricate color, direc-
tional, and impressionistic symbols; prayer, with stress on
order and rhythmic unity; plants, with supernatural qualities
defined and personified; body and figure painting; sweating
and emetic, with purificatory functions; vigil, with empha-
sis on concentration and summary. It is a selection of
these and other elements and their orderly combination into

a unit that makes the chant and ceremony effective.24

 

24Gladys A. Reichard, Navajo Religion, A Study in
Symbolism (New York: Pantheon Books, 1950), p. 34.

 

31

The three best-known Navajo ceremonies are the
Squaw Dance, the Yeibichai, and the Corral or Fire Dance.
Singing and dancing are features of each of these ceremonies.

All ceremonies are based on legends handed down from
one medicine man to another. These legends tell myths which
explain the meaning of the ceremonies and the reasons for
the various happenings. The legends are told or sung by the
medicine men in the ceremonial hogan which is erected or
used as a base for the ceremony. Only those concerned di-
rectly with the ceremony are allowed within the hogan. The
dancing, which goes on outside is the part which spectators
are allowed to see and hear.

The Squaw Dance or Enemy Way ceremony is a summer
ceremony, and it is given for a person who has been to war,
or who has had bad dreams, or for a number of other reasons.
The patient undergoes treatment from a medicine man. The
affair lasts for three days, each day being located in a
different place. Many ceremonies are connected with this
healing rite, but the one best known to the outsider is the
Squaw Dance itself. Here a girl chooses a man to dance with
her to the accompaniment of singing and drumming, and after
several rounds of the dance the man must pay the girl for

having danced with her.25

 

25"Something About Navajo Ceremonies" (Window Rock,
Ariz.: Navajo Tribal Museum, The Navajo Tribe, 1968).

32

The Yeibichai is the major winter ceremony. It is
based on legends concerning certain supernatural beings
which have had a powerful effect on the lives of the mythi-
cal heroes. This is a nine day ceremony. The last night
is most picturesque. Teams of dancing men in costume dance
and sing in turn before the ceremonial hogan. The effect
of the dance and the eerie singing late at night, the smoke
from many campfires and the quiet, yet ever-moving crowd is
something that no one will soon forget.26

The Corral or Fire Dance is also a winter rite. It
receives its name from certain parts of the ceremonies,
which are held within a large circle of branches, the
"corral." At one point in the ceremony men race out,
snatch firebrands from the fire and bathe themselves and
each other in the flames, which are considered purifying.
Feats of magic, in which plants grow and bloom in a few
minutes, men swallow arrows, and other things are also per-
formed. This dance is known to anthropologists as the
Mountain Way.27

Aside from dancing, another important feature of a
ceremony centers around the creation of a dry painting

which, in essence, is a representation of the Holy People.

According to Navajo mythology, these dry paintings were

 

ZGIbid.

27Ibid.

33

given to the Hero Twins by the gods who specified that they
be made of impermanent materials to prevent quarreling over
the possession of them. Since designs are made of pollen,
meal, crushed flowers, charcoal, and pulverized materials,
dry painting is a more correct term than sand painting.
These paintings are primarily curative and the patient be-
lieves that by sitting upon the representations of the Holy
People he is identified with them.28
The Navajo religion is based on a central core of
doctrine and philosophy which embodies broad ideas that one
recognizes immediately as part of the reservoir of universal
religious thinking. The ordinary Navajo probably has but
an incomplete grasp of these ideas, as would the ordinary
member of the Christian or other religion in regard to con-

cepts of the same sort. The reservoir is in the mind of

mankind, but by no means does all mankind draw from it.

Navajo Political Organization

 

Prior to the time of the Long Walk, the Navajo
Tribe did not exist as a political entity. There were only
local bands led by headmen who enjoyed varying amounts of
power determined by their persuasive ability. Coalitions
of headmen were few and their authority was of short

duration.

 

28Reichard, Navajo Religion, A Study of Symbolism,

 

p. 39.

34

When oil was discovered on the Reservation in 1921,
the Navajo organized a General Council Assembly to negoti-
ate a developmental lease. Later, they established a
business council and several tribal councils of varying
numbers. The present Navajo Tribal Council, which draws its
authority for a set of rules promulgated by the Secretary
of the Interior in 1938, is composed of seventy-four dele-
gate representatives elected by the peOple from some 100
communities. Some councilmen represent more than one com-
munity. The Council's presiding officers are a chairman
and vice-chairman, who are elected at large. The present
Navajo Tribal Chairman is attempting to develop and have
approved a formal Constitution of the Navajo Tribe. Author-
ization for this was given by the Navajo-Hopi Rehabilitation

Act of 1950.29

History of Navajo Education

 

Prior to the signing of the Treaty of 1868 and the
establishment of the Navajo Indian Reservation, the United
States made no provision for the education of the Navajo
people.

The Treaty of 1868 carried the following provision
for the construction of schools and the conduct of the

Navajo education program:

 

29Robert W. Young, The Navajo Yearbook--1961
(Window Rock, Ariz.: Bureau of Indian Affairs and the
Navajo Tribe, 1961), p. 374.

35

In order to insure the civilization of the Indians
entering into this treaty, the necessity of education
is admitted, especially of such of them as may be
settled on agricultural parts of this Reservation, and
they therefore pledge themselves to compel their
children, male and female, between the ages of six and
sixteen years, to attend school; and it is hereby made
the duty of the agent for said Indians to see that this
stipulation is strictly complied with; and the United
States agrees that, for every thirty children between
said ages who can be induced or compelled to attend
school, a house shall be provided, and a teacher com-
petent to teach the elementary branches of an English
education shall be furnished, who will reside among
said Indians, and faithfully discharge his or her
duties as a teacher.

In 1869, Miss Charity Gaston of the Presbyterian
Board of Missions, was employed by the Bureau of Indian
Affairs, and was sent as a teacher to Fort Defiance,
Arizona, where she attempted to conduct classes in a room
set aside at the Agency headquarters. This first attempt
was unsuccessful.31

In 1883, a boarding school was opened by the Bureau
of Indian Affairs at Fort Defiance. The first year only
twenty-four pupils were enrolled; and only thirty-three the
following year.32

A few years later, in 1887, the school attendence

of Indian children became compulsory, and thereafter it

became the custom to use the police to locate school-age

 

30Young, The Navajo Yearbook--l96l, p. 7.

 

311bid., p. 8.

32"Navajo Agency Letterbook" (Window Rock, Ariz.:
1884). (Unpublished.), p. 27.

36

children and place them in school. Frequently, parents hid
their children from the police, or voluntarily sent only
the sick and weak, retaining the strong at home. Implemen-
tation of the compulsory attendance law almost precipitated
violence in the fall of 1892 when Indian Agent Dana Shipley
was besieged in a trading post at Round Rock, Arizona, by a
force of Navajo under the leadership of a man known as
Black Horse.33

During the first decade of the 1900's schools were
constructed at Tuba City, Leupp, Tohatchi, Shiprock, and
Chinle; and during the following decade similar facilities
were built at Crownpoint, Toadlena, and Fort Wingate. In
addition, Navajo students attended some of the off-
reservation facilities constructed for purposes of Indian
education in the 1880's and the 1890's.

In 1919, both the Congress and the Board of Indian
Commissioners inquired into the Navajo school situation and
came up with some startling results. Of an estimated
9,613 Navajo children eligible for school, the Board found
that only 2,089 were actually attending school. The House
Indian Affairs Committee in 1920 was startled by the comment
of Superintendent Paquette in that 75 per cent of the
children in his jurisdiction could not be given a pre-

vocational education (grades 1-6) because of the lack of

 

33Left-handed Mexican Clansman, "Trouble at Round
Rock" (n.p., 1937), p. 9.

37

facilities. The reason he gave was a shortage of con-
struction funds. Paquette also testified that in the ab-
sence of vocational schools on the Reservation and the
reluctance of Navajo to allow their children to attend non-
reservation schools, not only were the majority of the
Navajo children receiving no education, but, of those who
did receive the basic course, very few went on to trade or
vocational schools.34
The formal educational system of the non—Navajo
world lying outside the Reservation area did not meet the
needs of the Navajo people, living as they did within the
perspective of Navajo culture. Within the traditional
society, the educational process was carried on at home,
and was designed to teach children the traditional tech-
niques of agriculture and stock raising, as well as the
legends, taboos, and practices of Navajo culture. The
ability to read and write an alien language and assume the
ways of an alien people was not attractive to the Navajo
people. Most of the unwilling students driven to school by
the police in preceding years merely returned to the Reser-
vation and re-established themselves as members of the
Navajo society following their release from school or their

successful evasion of the police.

 

34U.S., Congress, House, Indians of the United
States, Hearings, House of Representatives, 66th Cong.,
l-3rd sess., Vol. 3, p. 730.

 

38

From time to time, long after the turn of the 20th
century, there was friction between members of the Navajo
Tribe and the administration over the subject of school
attendance. At the Navajo Tribal Council meeting at Fort
Wingate in July, 1925, many Navajo spoke openly against
this forced educational policy which took their children
away from them. The minutes record a Hosteen Nez:

With a baby in your arms you kiss that baby a lot. We
feel the same way about our children. But you want to
come in and take the children and rush these poor
children off to school. We have the same feeling for
these children as you people have for yours. We want
fair and square treatment. We don't want our children
taken by force. About all the children we have left
now is one year old, two year old, three year old--you
have all the others.

It was not until the mid-1930's, as part of the
social and economic revolution that began during that period
in the Reservation area, that serious thought was given to
necessary expansion of the education system serving the
Navajo Tribe. The Meriam Report of 1928 had described the
eight boarding and nine day schools Operating on the Reser-
vation at that time as decrepit and the authorities who
wrote the report looked with disfavor on the use of the
boarding facilities, favoring the expansion of the day

school system.36 Those seventeen schools at that time could

 

35Navajo Tribal Council, Minutes of Meetings of the
Navajo Tribal Council meeting of July 7-8, 1928 at Fort
Wingate, New Mexico.

36Lewis M. Meriam, "The Problem of Indian Adminis-
tration," in The Meriam Report (Washington, D.C.: U.S.
Indian Service, 1927), p. 97.

 

39

accommodate only 2,865 students who, under the guise of
vocational training, were required to perform all of the
drudgeries of institutional work, which allowed for eco-
nomical school operation costing the federal government

only 225 dollars per capita per year, and including food
allowances of eleven cents per pupil per day. All remaining
food was produced by the students on the school farms.37

With the temporary de-emphasis of the boarding
school system, fifty new day schools were built during the
1930's on the Reservation. These added 3,500 new spaces for
Navajo school children. The new system was designed to
permit the children to reside at home, and use bus service
to and from school.

The 1940's brought a growing awareness of the need
for formal schooling on the part of the Navajo; and during
the war period, temporary, makeshift school operations,
built in some localities by Navajo parents themselves, kept
the Reservation school system alive.

Military service in World War II Opened the eyes of
many Navajo to a new understanding of the role of education.
Moreover, the war contributed to a change in the Navajo
attitude toward formal education. Demand for labor was

great throughout the nation, and all possible labor sources

 

37Young, Navajo Yearbook-—196l, p. 12.

40

were used. Even though many Navajo were illiterate, they
were able to find jobs in off-reservation communities.

In May, 1946, a special Navajo Tribal Council dele-
gation expressed itself to the Secretary of the Interior,
Congressional committees, and others in Washington to the
effect that formal education was considered by the Navajo
Tribe to be its primary need. The demand for schools grew
louder in succeeding years, and many non—Navajo throughout
the country learned, with mixed feelings of dis-belief and
chagrin, that there was a group of some 75,000 American
Indians for whom not even the necessary school plants
existed, and who, lacking an education, could not speak,
read, and write the national language.38

It seems that the increase in the amount of edu-
cation available for the Navajo has materialized chiefly
because of the development of a desire for education and
self-improvement by the Navajo themselves. In regard to
education, Chee Dodge put into English the words of the
great Navajo leader Manuelito:

My grandchild, the whites have many things which we
Navajo need. But we cannot get them. It is as though
the whites were in the grassy canyon and there they
have wagons, plows, and plenty of food. We Navajo are
up on the dry mesa. We can hear them talking, but we
cannot get to them. My grandchild, education is the
ladder. Tell our people to take it.

During the period of 1946-1947, Dr. George I.

Sanchez, a professor of education at the University of

 

381bid., p. 14.

41

Texas, was employed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to

carry out a comprehensive study of school requirements on
the Navajo Reservation. The data assembled by Dr. Sanchez
pointed to the fact that two-thirds of the Navajo popu-
lation had no schooling whatsoever, and that the median
number of school years completed among members of the Tribe
was less than one. This figure contrasted sharply with a
median of 5.7 years for the Indian population in general

of the United States, and even more sharply with the 8.4
years then characterizing the national population overall.39

It was in 1950 that Congress enacted the Long Range

Rehabilitation Act. It provided for:

The construction of school facilities on the Navajo
Reservation to accommodate ultimately all school-age
children on a boarding or day basis.

Provision for the elementary and vocational edu-
cation of Navajo children aged 12-18 years, who had not
attended school previously, or who were three or more
years retarded.

Provision of high school opportunities on and off
the Reservation as required.

The transfer of responsibility for the education of
Navajo and Hopi children to the public school system as
rapidly as possible.

During the initial phases of the Long Range Program,

some progress was made in the direction of replacing unsafe,

crowded and otherwise unsuitable facilities, converting

existing school plants from a day to a boarding basis, but

 

39Sanchez, The People, p. 38.

 

40Young, The Navajo Yearbook--l961, p. 16.

 

42

little progress was achieved in the direction of providing
school opportunities for the total school-age population

of which nearly half remained out of school due to the lack
of accommodations.

From 1954 until 1957 the federal government put
forth special efforts to improve the Navajo educational
situation by instituting a comprehensive program called
NEEP, the Navajo Emergency Education Program.41 The NEEP
program promoted Navajo enrollment in federal, state, and
mission schools. In addition, the hogan and trailer schools
were developed. The hogan and trailer schools were in or
near Navajo homes. In the hogan school program, neighboring
children often assembled in the hogan or house of a Navajo
family and were taught by the hogan school teacher. At
other locations, an itinerant teacher taught the elements
of English daily to one or two children. A trailer school
was a self-sufficient educational facility operated on the
Reservation, usually in a remote location. Some trailer
schools had one classroom, others had more.

School expansion for the Navajo children has re-
mained high for the past ten years. Some of the schools
for the Navajo have been built far Off the Reservation,
much to the chagrin and discouragement of Navajo parents.

Just recently, the first Bureau of Indian Affairs high

 

411bid., p. 18.

43

school ever to be built on the Reservation was dedicated at
Many Farms, Arizona. However, it too, is a boarding facil-
ity. The Bureau plans to build one more high school on the
Reservation in the Tuba City area. Thereafter, no more
Bureau high schools will be built.42

The Reservation public schools have grown to assume
an ever-increasing share of the educational burden. How-
ever, in view of the fact that these public schools can only
operate on a day basis and cannot reach the total school-age
population by bus service over the existing poor road
system, the operation of boarding schools must continue for
some time.43

As the Navajo education program has moved forward
during the past few years, emotional and other problems
affecting the adjustment of the children involved have in-
creased. The need to attack and resolve these problems has
been recognized by the Tribal officials, educators inside
and outside of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Public
Health Service, and by colleges and universities in the
surrounding area.

The most significant, recent happening in Navajo

education has been the establishment of the first Tribally

 

42Abraham I. Tucker, Chief of Branch of Educational

Liaison, Navajo Area Office, private interview at Window
Rock, Arizona, January 28, 1969.

43Young, The Navajo Yearbook--196l, p. 31.

 

44

controlled and Operated school. This school, located at
Rough Rock, Arizona, seems to be the hope of the future of
excellence in education on the Navajo Reservation.

The school is operating on a demonstration basis right

now, and all sorts of people are looking at us to iee
if we can do the job. I'm confident that we can.4

Navajo School System

 

The school system serving the Navajo Tribe is a
highly varied and far-flung operation. It includes facili-
ties operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, public
schools, mission schools, and the Navajo Tribal School at
Rough Rock, Arizona.

Bureau of Indian Affairs
Operations

 

 

The Bureau of Indian Affairs Operates a total of
67 educational and facilitating institutions for Navajo
children. This includes: 3 boarding high schools, 47
boarding elementary schools, 8 day schools, 1 trailer
school, 7 dormitories in off-reservation communities, and

45 In addition to these schools

1 reservation dormitory.
and dormitories, the Bureau of Indian Affairs Operate

thirteen off-reservation boarding schools scattered

 

44Allen D. Yazzie, Chairman of the Navajo Tribal
Education Committee and President of DINE', Inc., Rough
Rock Demonstration School, private interview at Window Rock,
Arizona, September 20, 1969.

45Tucker, interview.

45

throughout the West. These schools, however, are for stu-
dents Of all tribal background, and not exclusively Navajo.
According to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, their school
construction program is well ahead of the anticipated en-
rollment. At the beginning of the school year 1968-1969,

46

there were 4,000 seats not occupied. In fiscal year 1968,

there were 23,546 Navajo students enrolled in Bureau of

Indian Affairs schools in the Navajo Area.47

Reservation Public Schools

The lack of an adequate tax base on the Navajo
Reservation requires the federal government to finance the
public school system on the Reservation. The Johnson-
O'Malley Act of 1934 authorized the Secretary of the
Interior to enter into contracts with the states and
counties and school districts. Public Law 815 in 1953
aided school districts with heavy Indian enrollment by
authorizing funds for the construction of school facilities
on Reservation land, and for the expansion of public school
facilities located outside the Reservation, wherever such
schools were willing to enroll Indian children from the

. 48
Reservation areas.

 

46Ibid.

7 . .
"Statistics Concerning Indian Education for Fiscal

Year 1968" (Window Rock, Ariz.: Bureau of Indian Affairs,
1968), p. 10.
48

Young, The Navajo Yearbook--l96l, p. 54.

46

There are five public school districts on the
Navajo Reservation; they enroll 18,999 Navajo students.
This number includes 4,204 students who live in federal

dormitories and attend public schools.49

Mission Schools

 

There are twelve mission schools operating on or
near the Navajo Reservation. All have been established
since 1897, and they have been financed entirely by church
and other private funds. At one time there were twenty
schools of this type, but the increasing cost of operation
closed some of them down. The only federal assistance to
the missions came with the Act of March 3, 1909, which
authorized and directed the Secretary of the Interior to
issue patents in fee simple to any duly authorized religious
organization engaged in mission school work on any Indian
Reservation for such lands as those groups occupied for
mission or school purpose.50

Of the numerous mission schools operating in the
Reservation area, the four largest remain those established
near the turn of the century at Farmington and Rehoboth,

New Mexico, and at Ganado and St. Michaels in Arizona.

 

49"Statistics Concerning Indian Education for Fiscal
Year 1968," pp. 10-11.

50Felix S. Cohen, Handbook of Federal Indian Law
(New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 19607, p. 242.

47

These four institutions accommodate a little more than half
of all Navajo children attending the mission schools.

Mission schools enrolled 3,136 Navajo students in 1968.51

Rough Rock Demonstration School

The school at Rough Rock, Arizona, is the only one
of its kind on the Navajo Reservation. Other communities
are taking steps toward the development of schools based on
the Rough Rock model. The demonstration school is com-
pletely controlled and operated by the Navajo people, and
it seeks to demonstrate that the Navajo are capable of
setting up and operating their own school, a school which

meets the unique needs of the people it serves.

Summary

Foundational to the understanding of this study is
an awareness of multi-ethnicity and cultural pluralism in
American society. This chapter included information leading
to an understanding and appreciation of the Navajo Indian
as a unique cultural identity.

A review of the history of Navajo education and the
Navajo school system appears to indicate very little in-
volvement of the Navajo themselves in the development, con-

trol, and Operation of their schools.

 

51"Statistics Concerning Indian Education for Fiscal
Year 1968," p. 10.

48

A summation review of the Navajo as a people should
include a description of what the future might bring for
them and other American Indians. In the Southwest, for
example, two approaches are currently in vogue when dis-
cussing the future of the Indian. The first predicts the
imminent disappearance of native cultures into the main-
stream Of American life. The second is more vague and
gaining in popularity; it speaks gently of the acculturativo
process, suggesting a thoughtful blending of the "best of
the old with the best of the new," a sort of golden cultural
sunset in which the Indian may remain quaint in his crafts,
colorful in his religion, and wise in his philosophy.
Change for the Indian is inevitable, but who else will
change and for what purpose? As a nation the United States
is strictly ethnocentric, eager to teach but reluctant to
learn. The dominant American society has a disturbing
habit of regarding all other peoples as merely undeveloped
Americans, assuming that they must be dissatisfied with
their way of life and anxious to live and think as they do.

The story of the American Indian is not yet
finished. How it will end or if it will end remains to be
seen. There is still time, however, to begin to think of
our remaining Indian communities as valuable cultural re-

sources rather than simply as perplexing social problems.

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODS

The purpose of this study is to measure and record
the knowledges and the attitudes of the Navajo Indian
toward Navajo Reservation schools, and to determine to what
extent the community-oriented school reflects upon and
affects his knowledge and attitude toward the local schools.
An unrestricted random sampling of adults in two Navajo
communities is surveyed to determine their knowledge and
attitude toward the local school. The local school in one
area is community-oriented, while the other is non-
community-oriented. The basic concern is that of Navajo
involvement, control, and participation in the local school
and whether this involvement is significant to the knowl-
edge and attitude of the community residents toward the
school.

Chapter III serves as a map of operation for the
research methodology. The chapter includes a description
of the two communities, the sampling procedure, the research
design, and the instrument.

A random sampling of the residents of each of two

communities on the Navajo Reservation was taken to ascertain

49

50

if the responses of the residents differ to a significant
degree in regard to their knowledge and attitude toward the
local school. The two communities selected in this study
are served by schools having a basic difference in philoso-
phy and orientation in regard to local control and community
involvement. The first community, which may be considered
as a control group and is identified in this study as
"Group I," is Rough Rock, Arizona, located in northeastern
Arizona some 120 miles distant from the nearest large town
of Gallup, New Mexico. The other community, identified in
this study as "Group II," is that of Lukachukai, Arizona,
forty-eight miles east of Rough Rock and some eighty miles
north of Gallup. Both communities have similar demography,
with most inhabitants living in traditional Navajo way.

The significant difference between these two groups, for
the purposes of this study, is that Group I residents are
served by a school governed and controlled by the local
citizenry and includes programs for community involvement;
Group II residents are served by a Bureau of Indian Affairs
school which is characterized by civil service and federal
control and excludes programs for meaningful community in-
volvement. In other words, Group I is served by a "com-
munity-oriented school," and Group II by a "non-community-

oriented school."

51

Interviewing Procedure

Two Navajo men were selected to assist the writer
in interviewing. The two were chosen because of their
knowledge, training, and experience as interviewers and
translators. Both are fluent in the Navajo and English
languages. Each was from a well-identified and well-
accepted clan and had a reputation that allowed for effec-
tive communication between interviewer and interviewee.

Because it was anticipated that some of the adults
interviewed would be fluent in Navajo language only, a
systematic and consistent translation Of the instrument was
accomplished. Since Navajo is not a written language, a
consistent pattern of and for the translation was set up,
and a mutually agreed upon standard was established by the
interviewers. Continued testing of the questionnaire and
the interview techniques, as well as evaluation of the
translation was done among Navajo-speaking faculty, staff,
and students of the Navajo Community College at Many Farms,
Arizona. After several "try-out sessions," adjustment and
modification of the instrument and procedures were made,
and the final format set.

The Navajo Tribal Census Bureau provided a listing
by name and census number of all Navajo living in the two
selected communities. The design of the sample is that of
a replicated probability sample as was used in the Gallup

Poll How the Nation Views the Public Schools. No

52

stratification was necessary in either community and
sampling locations were selected strictly on a random basis.
The interviewers had no choice whatsoever concerning the
part of the community in which they conducted their inter-
views.

Instructions to the interviewers were the same as
those used in the Gallup Poll: interviewers were given maps
of the area to which they were assigned, with a starting
point indicated, and required to follow a specified direc-
tion. At each occupied dwelling unit, interviewers were
instructed to select respondents by following a prescribed
systematic method and by a male-female assignment so that
50 per cent of the sample was male and 50 per cent female.
This procedure was followed until the assigned number of
interviews was completed.1

Because all sample surveys are subject to sampling
error, that is, the extent to which the results may differ
from what would be obtained if the whole population sur-
veyed had been interviewed, a procedure for dealing with
sampling error is included along with and as a part of the

analysis of data.

 

1George Gallup and CFK, Ltd., How the Nation Views
the Public Schools (Melbourne, Fla.: IDEA Information and
Services, 1970),p p. 91.

 

53

Descriptive Survey Research

Design

This study is considered to be descriptive research,
and the primary aim of this approach is to determine what
exists. Van Dalen (1962) states that descriptive research
studies may describe the rudimentary groupings of things by
comparing and contrasting likenesses and differences in
their behavior. They may classify order, and correlate data
seeking to describe relationships that are discoverable in
phenomena themselves.2

Galfo (1970) points out that descriptive research
includes all studies with purposes aimed primarily to de-
scribe conditions as they existed at the time the research
was conducted.3

In this survey research study, the elements in the
sample can be classified into categories representing one
or more characteristics. The classification process ac-
cording to Wert, Neidt and Ahmann (1954) consists essen-
tially of identifying the characteristics or responses of

each individual in the sample and then enumerating the

 

2Deobold B. Van Dalen, Understanding Educational
Research: An Introduction (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1966),

p. 215.

 

3Armand J. Galfo and Earl Miller, Interpreting Edu-

cational Research (Dubuque, Iowa: William C. Brown, Co.,
1970) I p. 2610

 

 

54

individuals having been classified into each category.4
Following this classification, an evaluation is made of the
discrepancy between the number of sample cases which would
be expected in each category on the basis of some hypothesis
about the distribution of cases in the population. Chi
square, wrote Wert, Neidt and Ahmann is the "statistical
technique which enables the investigator to evaluate the
probability of obtaining differences between the actual and
the expected frequencies in the categories of one or more
classifications as a result of sampling fluctuation."S

Chi square, according to Galfo and Miller (1970) is
a mathematical distribution presented in table form that
can be used to test the agreement of Obtained and theoreti-
cal frequency distribution and to determine that the differ-
ence is not due to chance or random selection of the sample

being studied. One form of the Chi square equation is:

2

Ef

x2:

 

where Of is the observed frequency and Ef is the frequency

for what is expected for the given hypothesis.6

 

4James E. Wert, Charles 0. Neidt, and J. Stanley

Ahmann, Statistical Methods in Educational and Psychological
Research (New York: McGraw Hill, 1954), p. 146.

 

5Ibid., p. 46.

6
p. 200.

Galfo and Miller, Interpreting Educational Research,

 

55

A relatively small sample size is required for this
survey study and the subsequent data analysis procedures.
Fox (1969) contends that correlational surveys typically
require between fifty and 100 subjects, and at least thirty
in each of two samples for statistical purposes such as Chi
square.7 Galfo and Miller (1970) pointed out that statis—
ticians have used a rule of thumb that expected frequencies
in Chi square analysis smaller than five are unacceptable.
He observed that the practice of combining categories to
which some researchers resort when the expected frequency
count is small is a direct violation of the assumption that
sampling is random; when this is done, outcomes are being
influenced by a non—chance factor. Their recommendation is
that each expected frequency equal or exceed ten.8 Wert,
Neidt and Ahmann (1954) reviewed that the prevailing prac-
tices suggest that Chi square should not be employed when-
ever any expected cell frequency falls below five, and that
in many situations this limiting nature of Chi square may
be overcome by combining categories with small frequencies
or by eliminating the row or column containing expected

cell frequencies of less than five.9

 

7David J. Fox, The Research Process in Education

(New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1969), p. 428.

8Galfo and Miller, Interpreting Educational Re-
search, p. 200.

9Wert, Neidt, and Ahmann, Statistical Methods in
Educational and Psyohological Research, p. 157.

 

 

 

56

On the basis of a Chi square analysis, it can be
determined whether the observed frequencies in the sample
differ significantly from the expected frequencies based
upon the null hypothesis: there is little difference in
the Navajo Indian's knowledge and attitude toward his
schools, whether the schools be community- or non-community-
oriented. If the Chi square is large enough, the null hy-
pothesis is rejected at some level of confidence. Null is
hypothesized since if the expected frequencies were the
same as the observed frequencies, Chi square would equal
zero. Sampling error can cause the observed frequencies to
differ from the expected frequencies to some extent; but
when differences between observed frequencies and expected
frequencies are great, as measured by Chi square, in com-
parison to the expected frequency, a conclusion may be
drawn that the differences are probably not a result of
sampling error, and the null hypothesis is rejected.

Chi square does provide a way to make judgments as
to whether frequencies found in categorized information are
as expected, or if these frequencies deviate more from what
was expected than can be accounted for on the basis of

errors resulting from sampling.10

 

10Galfo and Miller, Integpreting Educational Re-
search, p. 199.

 

57

Instrumentation

 

How the Nation Views the Public Schools, a survey
of the public's attitude toward the public schools in 1969
is the first in a series of national surveys to be sponsored
by CFK, Ltd., of Denver, Colorado. Charles F. Kettering II,
founder-president of CFK, Ltd. is chairman of the board of the
philanthropic organization. The CFK,:DUi.was organized in
1967 with a primary focus on the improvement of the learning
environment at the elementary and secondary school level.
The Annual Survey of the Public Schools is only one of
CFK's projects. Mr. Kettering and Dr. Edward Brainard,
executive vice-president of the organization, said the
survey would be repeated each year and was part of an
effort to develop a national portrait of school Opinion
against which local community polls could be compared.11
The attitude of the public toward two types of educational
issues is surveyed through this instrument. The continuing
educational questions constitute one type for which yearly
surveys will provide a longitudinal study of historical
value. Objectives of schooling and the cost of education
are among issues in this category. A second type of edu-
cational question to be surveyed is that which changes from
year to year. Current important ones of this nature are

narcotics, sex education, taxpayer revolt, student unrest,

 

11IDEA_§eporter (Melbourne, Fla.: Institute for
DevelOpment of Educational Activities, Inc., Special Issue,
1970).

58

and curriculum relevancy. This poll has been reproduced in
its entirety by the Institute for Development of Educational
Activities, Inc., because of its correlation with the In-
stitute's programs. The long-range goals of this project
carry pertinent implications for those schools committed to
meaningful change in their educational structure.

Through a series of test samplings of the instru-
ment, a modified form of the Gallup Survey (see Appendix)
was developed which was considered pertinent for residents
of isolated Navajo Reservation communities. Interviewers
were trained and evaluated in the standardization of the
interview procedure.

As data were collected, it was key-punched on IBM
cards and verified. Tallies and statistical analysis were
done with the assistance of the Arizona State University
Computer Center. A GE 425 Computer with Fast Fortran was
used to implement a "CHI-CHI" program. The Chi square sta-
tistic, according to the ASU Computer Center Statistical
Library, is used to determine the significance of associ-
ation of two or more attributes or factors. Each attribute
or factor is divided into a number of discrete categories
(either nominal or ordinal). Frequencies are then tabulated
for each cell in a so-called contingency table. The values
of Chi square and of the alpha probability are then calcu-
lated. The CHI-CHI program will compute Chi square for

several successive sets of data with the same format or

59

will compute Chi square for several sets
ent size and format. The number of sets

the user and has no limit.12

Summary
It was the intent of Chapter III

procedures followed in carrying out this

in the chapter was an explanation of the

of data of differ-

is determined by

to spell out the
study. Included

interview pro-

cedure, the descriptive survey research design and Chi

square statistical analysis, as well as a description of the

instrument and its follow-through procedures. The follow-

ing chapter will present and give a statistical analysis of

the findings.

 

12CHI-CHI Program (Tempe, Ariz.:

Arizona State

University Computer Center Statistical Library, October,

1970), p. 1.

CHAPTER IV

PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

It is the purpose of this chapter to report the
findings and statistical analysis of the survey instrument
presented to a sampling of Navajo Indians in two distinct
communities on the Navajo Reservation. The instrument is

based upon the Gallup International's How the Nation Views

 

the Public Schools. A copy is provided in the Appendix in

 

addition to the modified instrument used in this study. The
instrument is of the interview/questionnaire type and was
given to forty-one heads-of-household in each of the two
communities. "Group I" are residents of an area where the
local school is identified in this study as "community-
oriented." "Group II" respondents are from an area where
the local school is identified as "non-community-oriented."
Following tabulation and statistical analysis, there
are indications that many Of the responses showed consider-
able difference in the knowledges and attitudes of the two
groups surveyed. In response to the question dealing with
the knowledge of the name of the elementary school princi-
pal, thirty-five respondents in Group I answered yes, while

only fourteen in Group II answered yes (Table l).

60

61

TABLE 1

 

Do you know the name of the principal of the elementary
school?

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
Yes 35 24
No 4 17
No answer 2 0
Total 41 41

 

Chi square = 12.098 with df = 2; p < .01

 

The question regarding control of the local schools
showed a strong indication of community involvement in the
Group I area where thirty-two respondents identified the
"school board" and "the people" as controllers of the
schools. Thirty Group II respondents indicated "principal,"
"superintendent," "teachers," and/or "B.I.A." (Table 2).

General questions dealing with how good a job the
school board and the school is doing in educating the
children of the community allowed Group I respondents to
voice confidence in the school board with twenty-nine per—
sons rating them excellent or above average. Forty re-
spondents indicated that Group I schools were doing a good
job in educating children of the community because they
were "speaking English," "are happy," "are graduating," and

"are getting jobs" (Table 3).

62

TABLE 2

 

Who do you think controls the local schools?

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
School board 22 12
Principal 5 14
Teachers 3 5
Superintendent 0 7
The B.I.A. 5 4
The people 10 2
Other 0 0
Don't know/no answer 0 0
Total 45 44

 

Chi square = 20.140 with df = 7; p < .01

 

TABLE 3

 

How good a job do you think the school board does?

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
Excellent 12 0
Above average 17 15
Fair 11 20
Poor, terrible 0 4
Don't know/no answer 1 2
Total ' 41 41

 

Chi square = 19.071 with df = 4; p < .001

 

Do you think the local school is doing a good job in edu-
cating the children of the community?

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
Yes 40 24
No l 15
Don't know/no answer 0 2

Total 41 41

63

TABLE 3--Continued

 

 

Chi square = 18.250 with df = 2; p < .001

 

Why do you say that?

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
They are graduating 7 4
They are getting jobs , 6 6
They are speaking English 10 4
They are learning white

man's ways 3 8
They are happy 9 0
They are not happy 0 4

They are not learning the
things I think they

should learn 4 5
Other 0 9
No answer 9 7
Total 48 47

 

Chi square = 28.016 with df = 8; p < .001

 

Respondents in Group I showed greater interest in
the local schools by indicating attendance at meetings of
the school board, and other lectures, meetings and special
occasions in the local school buildings. In addition Group
I respondents indicated that the best source of information
about the local schools was by "word of mouth," "meetings
at school," and "school board." Group II respondents
listed "word of mouth," "newspapers," and "meetings at
school" (Table 4).

Thirty-four Group I respondents felt comfortable
and welcome when visiting the local school because they

felt "it is my school," and that "the people there are

64

TABLE 4

 

Have you ever attended a school board meeting?

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
Yes 27 10
No 14 31
Don't know/no answer 0 0
Total 41 41

 

Chi square = 14.233 with df = 2; p < .001

 

 

 

Have you attended any lecture, or any meeting or special
occasion in any school building in the community during the
last year?

Responses Group I Group II

Yes 35 18

No 6 21

Don't know/no answer 0 2

Total 41 41

 

Chi square = 15.786 with df = 2; p < .001

 

From your own personal viewpoint, what is the best source

of information about the local schools?

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
Word of mouth 15 18
Newspapers 3 11
School board 9 0
School personnel 7 3
Meetings at school 14 6
Don't know/no answer 0 4
Total 48 42

 

Chi square = 22.343 with df = 5; p < .001

 

65

nice." Nineteen Group II participants did not feel welcome
and comfortable because they "didn't know anyone there,"

and "the schools are for children" (Table 5).

TABLE 5

 

DO you feel welcome and comfortable when you visit the
local schools?

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
Yes 34 16
No 4 19
NO answer 3 6
Total 41 41

 

Chi square = 17.263 with df = 2; p < .001

 

Why do you say that? ("yes")

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
People there are nice 7 9
My friends are there too 3 0
It is my school 11 2
Other 9 5
Why do you say that? ("no")
I don't know anyone there 0 9
The schools are for children 2 6
I can't talk with the
teachers 1 4
No answer 8 8
Total 41 43

 

Chi square = 23.389 with df = 7; p < .01

 

66

Twenty-seven respondents from Group I indicated

that the school provides services in addition to education

of the children.

These services included:

"adult edu-

cation," "recreation," "personal assistance," and "employ-

ment" (Table 6).

TABLE 6

 

Does the local school provide any services for you in addi-
tion to the education for your children?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
Yes 27 17
No 5 13
Don't know/no answer 9 11
Total 41 41
Chi square = 6.028 with df = 2; p < .05

If yes, what kind of services?
Responses Group I Group II
Adult education 12 4
Recreation 11 3
Personal assistance 9 0
Employment 8 10
Other 5 0
NO answer 14 24
Total 59 41
Chi square = 22.928 with df = S; p < .001

 

Reaction to the question de
problems with which the local schoo

varied.

aling with the biggest

ls must deal was quite

Group II listed "discipline" as the major problem

which coincides with the national survey Gallup made.

67

Group I respondents listed finances, facilities, transpor-
tation and curriculum and other items above discipline

(Table 7).

TABLE 7

 

What are the biggest problems with which the schools in
this community must deal, do you think?

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
Curriculum 7 7
Facilities 10 2
Discipline 3 18
Finances 17 8
Teachers 4 5
Transportation 9 l
Student's lack of interest 4 ll
Parent's lack of interest 1 6
Don't know/no answer 2 1
Total 57 59

 

Chi square = 31.446 with df = 8; p < .001

 

Both groups of respondents indicated a lack of con-
fidence in the teachers. Thirty-four Group II respondents
felt there were some teachers who should be dropped or
fired. Their reasons indicated "incompetent," "lack of
communication with children," "too old," and "don't know."
Nineteen Group I participants felt some teachers should be
fired, yet twenty-four listed "don't know/no answer," for
the reason (Table 8).

Whereas both Groups I and II indicated similar re-
sponses to the local schools having a PTA, and about be-

longing and attending the meetings, there was a marked

68

TABLE 8

 

Do you think there are some teachers in the local school
who should be dropped or fired?

 

 

Responses . Group I Group II
Yes 19 34
No 14 2
Don't know/no answer 8 5
Total 41 41

 

Chi square = 13.938 with df = 2; p < .001

 

If "yes," why?

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
Incompetent 4 15
TOO young 1 3
Too old 2 6
Lack of communication with

children 5 7.
Personality problems 5 3
Other reasons 1 0
Don't know/no answer 24 9
Total 42 43

 

Chi square = 18.011 with df = 6; p < .01

 

difference in responses why respondents did not belong or
attend PTA meetings. Most Group I responses listed "no
answer," "transportation," and "no time," whereas most in
Group II listed "no time," "no answer," and "not inter-
ested" (Table 9).

A little over one-half of the responses from the
residents sampled in both Group I and Group II communities

showed some similarity. Both groups felt they knew "some"

69

TABLE 9

 

Does your local school have a PTA
teachers' organization?

or similar parents' and

 

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
Yes 27 29

No 0 6
Don't know/no answer 14 6
Total 41 41

Chi square = 9.271 with df = 2; p < .01

 

Do you belong to or go to the meetings of the PTA or a

similar group?

 

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
Yes 19 9

No 22 32
Total 41 41

Chi square = 4.393 with df = l; p < .05

 

 

 

 

If no, what are the reasons you do not belong or attend
the meetings of the PTA or a similar group?
Responses Group I Group II
No time 5 12
Not interested 0 9
Transportation 14 0
Not welcome 0 3
Health reasons 2 4
Other 0 4
Don't know/no answer 21 10
Total 42 42
Chi square = 37.452 with df = 6; p < .001

 

70

or "quite a lot" about the local schools, and expressed
interest in wanting to know more about the schools in the

community (Table 10).

TABLE 10

 

How much do you know about the local schools?

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
Quite a lot 18 10
Some 16 22
Very little 7 8
No response 0 1
Total 41 41

 

Chi square = 3.288 with df = 2; p < .20

 

Would you like to know more about the schools in this com-
munity?

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
Yes 36 33
NO l 8
Don't know/no answer 4 0
Total 41 41

 

Chi square = 9.575 with df = 2; p < .01

 

Neither group showed an awareness of school finance
and the cost per child per year in the local school. Both
groups identified a high drop-out rate among high school
students (Table 11).

Both groups responded somewhat similarly in regard
to receiving of newsletters, pamphlets, and other materials

telling of the local schools. There were similar indications

71

regarding interest in becoming a school board member

(Table 12).

TABLE 11

 

What is your guess as to cost per child per year in the
schools in your community?

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
Gave a dollar figure 20 9
Don't know/no answer 21 32
Total 41 41

 

Chi square = 5.335 with df = l; p < .05

 

Are there many high school drop outs in this community?

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
Quite a few 22 26
Almost none 8 3
Don't know 11 12
Total 41 41

 

Chi square = 2.650 with df = 2; p < .50

 

TABLE 12

 

During the last year, have you received any newsletter,
pamphlet, or any other material telling what the local
schools are doing?

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
Yes 28 19
No 7 18
Can't recall 6 4

Total 41 41

 

Chi square = 6.963 with df = 2; p < .05

72

TABLE 12--Continued

 

 

If someone asked you to be a school board member, would you
be interested?

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
Yes 20 13
No 19 24
Don't know/no answer 2 4
Total 41 41

 

Chi square = 2.733 with df = 2; p < .30

 

Why do you say that?

 

Responses Group I Group II

 

Those who say "yes"

Am qualified 10 11
Other 4 2
No answer 8 0

Those who say "no"

Not qualified 4 13
Don't have time 8 5
Not interested 0 4
Too much responsibility 7 4
Other 0 4
Total 42 43

 

Chi square = 23.981 with df = 8; p < .01

 

Attitudes about teaching and teachers were ex-
pressed in about the same manner. Responses indicated
similar viewpoints from both groups regarding their children
taking up teaching as a career, salaries of teachers,

teachers having automatic raises, getting and keeping good

73

teachers, and satisfaction of teachers with their pay and

working conditions (Table 13).

TABLE 13

 

Would you like to have a child of yours take up teaching in
the schools as a career?

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
Yes 28 23
No 4 5
Don't know/no answer 9 13
Total 41 41

 

Chi square = 1.329 with df = 2; p < .70

 

Do you think salaries for the teachers in this community
are too high, too low, or just about right?

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
Too high 6 12
Too low 9 4
Just about right 18 21
Don't know/no answer 8 4
Total 41 41

 

Chi square = 5.487 with df = 3; p < .20

 

Do you think teachers should be given automatic raises or
should raises be given to some and not to others.

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
Yes, automatic 8 9
No, not automatic 1? 25
No opinion 16 7
Total 41 41

 

Chi square = 5.104 with df = 2; p < .10

74

TABLE l3--Continued

 

 

Do you think the local school has a hard time getting good

 

 

 

teachers?
Responses Group I Group II
Yes 27 26
NO 8 11
Don't know/no answer 6 4
Total 41 41
Chi square = 0.893 with df = 2; p < .98

 

Do you think the local school has a hard time keeping good

 

 

 

teachers?
Responses Group I Group II
Yes 27 19
No 9 18
Don't know/no answer 5 4
Total 41 41
Chi square = 4.502 with df = 2; p < .20

 

From what you know, are the teachers in the community
pretty well satisfied with their pay and working condi-
tions, or dissatisfied?

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
Satisfied 29 25
Dissatisfied 7 8
Don't know/no answer 5 8
Total 41 41

 

Chi square = 1.055 with df = 2; p < .70

 

75

Their feelings about discipline in the schools, and
the kinds of changes they would like to see made in the
schools, indicated some comparability in both groups

(Table 14).

TABLE 14

 

How do you feel about the discipline in the local schools?

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
Too strict 5 7
Not strict enough 15 24
Just about right 16 10
Don't know/no answer 5 0
Total 41 41

 

Chi square = 8.795 with df = 3; p < .05

 

If you were to become a school board member, what changes
in the schools would you favor?

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
Buildings and facilities 17 8
Better discipline 0 10
Curriculum improvement 12 16
Better staff personnel 15 10
Transportation 10 5
No changes 2 4
Other 2 3
Don't know/no answer 0 0
Total 58 56

 

Chi square = 17.315 with df = 7; p < .02

 

Respondents in both groups answered similarly in
regard to having attended the local schools and gave simi-
lar responses in questions dealing with education completed,

annual income, and age (Table 15).

76

TABLE 15

 

Did you attend the schools in the community in which you
now live?

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
Yes 16 18
NO 25 23
No answer 0 0
Total 41 41

 

Chi square = 0.201 with df = 2; p < .95

 

Education of respondent

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
Elementary grades 21 13
High school incomplete 14 14
High school complete 4 6
College 2 8
Total 41 41

 

Chi square = 5.882 with df = 3; p < .20

 

Total annual income

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
Under $3000 19 13
$3000 - $5000 7 10
$5000 - $7000 5 8
$7000 and over 2 6
NO answer 8 4
Total 41 41

 

Chi square = 5.680 with df = 4; p < .30

77

TABLE 15--Continued

 

 

Age of respondent

 

 

Responses Group I Group II
21 - 29 years 20 10
30 — 49 years 15 23
Over 50 years 6 8
Total 41 41

 

Chi square = 5.303 with df = 2; p < .10

 

CHAPTER V

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS

This study examined how the Navajo Indian views two
different types of schools serving the Navajo Reservation.
Recent research dealing with Indian education indicates
some major shortcomings in the education of the first
American. One of the more serious deals with local control,
community and parental involvement in the Indian schools.
It is the purpose of this study to measure and record the
knowledges and attitudes of the Navajo Indian toward two
schools holding differing philosophies and policies of
organization and administration and program. One school is
identified as community-oriented inasmuch as it concerns
itself with everything that affects the well being of all
of the citizens within a community. The role of education
is extended from the traditional concept of teaching
children to one of identifying the needs, problems, and
wants of the community, and then assisting in the develop-
ment of facilities, programs, staff, and leadership toward
the end of improving the entire community. The other
school is identified as non-community-oriented as it is

characterized in philosophy, policy, and program to exclude

78

79

meaningful community involvement and participation in the
local school.

A review of the historical development of the
Navajo Indian as a unique cultural identity attempted to
develop an appreciation and understanding of the Navajo,
and to show the need for his involvement and control of his
schools. A look at the history of Navajo education and the
Navajo school system tended to indicate very little in-
volvement of the Navajo themselves in the development, con-
trol, and Operation of their schools.

A survey sampling of Navajo residents' attitudes
and knowledge regarding the local school in two Navajo
Reservation communities was accomplished through the use of
the Kettering Foundation sponsored Gallup Poll instrument,
How the Nation Views the Public Schools. Modification of
the instrument was done in order to reflect relevance to
the population to be surveyed. A standardized translation
into the Navajo language was established and testing of
the instrument was done by Navajo-speaking persons at the
Navajo Community College.

A Chi square analysis of the frequency counts was
made to test the null hypothesis: there is little differ-
ence in the Navajo Indian's knowledge and attitude toward
his schools, whether the schools be community- or non-
community-oriented.

An inspection of the data findings allows for the

generalization that the residents of Group I with a

80

community-oriented school have a more positive attitude
toward the local school, and are more informed and knowl-
edgeable about the school than are the residents of Group
II with its non—community-oriented school.

Based on the results of the study, there appears to
be a need for more Navajo Reservation schools to become
community-oriented schools. The Rough Rock Demonstration
School, which serves the Group I community, may well be the
model school and be established as the foundation and
beginning of a movement toward more Indian control over
Indian education.

Responses to the six guiding questions listed in
Chapter I of this study indicate a rejection of the null
hypothesis:

1. According to the findings of the survey, there

is an indication that Navajo adults in a
community-oriented school area view their school
with more knowledge and positive attitudes than
do Navajo adults in the non-community-oriented
school.

2. On the basis of the data findings, evidence
indicates that community involvement and par-
ticipation in the local school activities leads
to more knowledgeable residents with more
favorable attitudes toward their schools.

3. A review of the data suggests that a community-

oriented school is the type of school more

81

likely to bring about positive attitudes of the
Navajo Indian toward his school and education
in general.

4. A study of the survey responses reveals that it
is possible to determine the kind and amount of
information possessed by representative Navajo
Indians regarding their local schools.

5. An investigation of the data acknowledges the
uniqueness of the Navajo Indian in terms of
what he judges to be the quality of education
in the local school, and the criteria used in
arriving at a judgment.

6. The results of the survey indicate that Navajo
Indians served by a community-oriented school
have a more positive attitude toward the local
school board.

An inspection and review of all data presented
through this survey indicates that there is a significant
difference in the responses of the residents of the two
Navajo communities in relation to the Navajo Indian's
knowledge and attitude toward his schools. According to
the findings of this study, it is submitted that Navajo
Indians are more knowledgeable and have a more positive
attitude toward the local schools when they are identified
as community-oriented schools. On the basis of these

findings, the null hypothesis is rejected.

82

The most obvious conclusion derived from this study
is that Navajo Indians have more knowledge of and a more
positive attitude toward their local schools when the
schools are identified in philosophy and program as
community-oriented. The fact that the school in this study
identified as community-oriented has meaningful local con-
trol through an all-Navajo school board, and that the cur-
riculum and policies reflect local community needs, tends
to imply that other Navajo Reservation schools should
follow more closely its community-orientation.

As an Indian educator, the writer sees the need for
Navajo schools to become community-oriented schools, and to
allow, as much as possible, options available to parents in
the types of schools serving Navajo Indians. The Rough
Rock Demonstration School started the revolution and is now
serving as the foundation and beginning of a movement toward
more Indian control over Indian education. The Bureau of
Indian Affairs is still a major stumbling block toward
meaningful community involvement. Some of their rhetoric
has changed, but effective B.I.A. change will come about
only when personnel in key area offices are changed for the
better. The Bureau must have a major re-organization and
should be established outside of the Department of the
Interior.

The Navajo people, through their Navajo Tribal
Council, are planning for the operation of their own schools

and will soon set up a Navajo department of education which

83

will operate and administer all schools serving the Reser-
vation. This Navajo school system would function much as a
state department of public instruction would and would give
Navajo people considerable autonomy in the Operation of
their schools.

A reader may be surprised at the large number of
respondents that felt some teachers should be dropped or
fired. Most respondents felt reluctant to give reasons and
responded with a "don't know." The writer feels that Navajo
parents are very concerned about their children's teachers,
primarily because of the cultural bias held by many teachers
of Indian children. Very few Navajo-trained teachers are
available for the schools on the reservation, so most Navajo
students are taught by non-Navajo teachers, many of whom are
not adequately prepared to teach Navajo children. Non-
Navajo values are taught and obvious prejudicial discrimi-
nation is often enacted within the school setting both in
the classroom and in the dormitory. It is suggested that
further research in the area of pre-service and in-service
training of teachers for Navajo schools be undertaken, and
that the development of the characteristics and qualifi-
cation Of a "good teacher" from the Navajo parents point of
view be established.

It now appears to be fairly well established that
American society can accept and tolerate cultural pluralism.
Navajo and other Indian-Americans, as well as Black-

Americans and Mexican-Americans, and other ethnic and

84

"different value-oriented" groups can exist and must exist
to strengthen the society. This, perhaps, may be the

greatest outcome of the societal changes in recent years.

Recommendations for Further

Study

 

Even since the initiation of this study, several
strong indications of change for the Indian-American have
taken place. They are included here for possible follow-up
and evaluation in regard to the Indian's struggle for in-
volvement in the control of his schools. For example,
Senator Walter F. Mondale of Minnesota, and Edward M.
Kennedy of Massachusetts introduced legislation that would
place the education of all Indians, reservation and urban,
"back into the hands of the real experts on Indian edu-
cation, the parents of the Indian children." The bill's
major provisions include:

1. Establishment of a national board of Indian
education to operate federal Indian schools and
provide for locally selected school boards.

2. Per student federal payments to public schools
educating Indian children, with the money to be
spent on their special needs.

3. Grants for planning and operating pilot programs
to improve Indian education and improve employ-
ment and educational Opportunities for Indian

adults.

85

In a speech before a Senate committee, Kennedy said:

Our national policies for educating American Indians

are a failure of major proportions. It is time we

focused on a cure, rather than on the disease or its

symptoms.
Mondale said:

The red man doesn't want a white education. He wants

an Indian education, an education that will tell him

the truth about his tribe, his heritage, his traditions,

his place in the world, and an education over which he

will have some control.1

The National Study of American Indian Education (The
Havighurst Report) is a three-year study supported by the
United States Office of Education and directed by Robert J.
Havighurst, reported that despite an average IQ of 101.5 on
the Goodenough Draw-a-Man Intelligence test, American
Indian students have a lower academic achievement and higher
drop-out rate than white Americans. The study suggests that
only through close co-operation and communication between
school and family and local community can this situation be
effectively dealt with. The report urged that decision-
making about Indian education and implementation of these
decisions be increasingly in the hands of Indians. The
report turned in six major recommendations:
Greater Indian influence on education by increasing
the number of Indians on school boards, and greater

activity by tribal education committees in public and
federal schools.

 

1United Press International, news article on federal
legislation and Indian education, reprinted in the Arizona
Republic, September, 23, 1970.

 

86

Added responsibility and powers for the two existing
federal Indian education advisory committees.

Federal and state funds for special educational pro-
grams in cities which have at least one hundred school
age Indian children.

Curriculum compatible with Indian needs to retain
self-respect, identity and pride, including bi-lingual
programs, Indian history and career development.

Pre-service and in-service training for teachers of
Indian pupils.

Creation of a privately financed national commission
on Indian education to survey continuously the quality
of education for Indians and to develop a field staff
of Indians to advise local communities.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has recently contracted
with the Ramah, New Mexico, Navajo school board to provide
$368,068 to educate the youth of that community. This, in
addition to the B.I.A. support of the Rough Rock Demonstra-
tion School serves as the precedent for a general movement
toward Indian control of Indian education.

The Rough Rock Navajo Demonstration School has a
$100,152 Ford Foundation grant to conduct an internship pro-
gram to prepare American Indians as leaders of their own
schools. The grant supports interns at the school who
specialize in curriculum, bi-lingual and bi-cultural edu-
cation, English as a second language, adult education, as
well as general leadership and organizational experience.

The Dine' Bi'olta (Navajo Education Association)
has just recently completed a study of the establishment of

a department of Navajo education, which would be a new

 

2Robert J. Havighurst, National Study of Amegican
Indian Education (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Office of Edu-
cation, December, 1970).

 

87

tribal division responsible for the schooling of Navajo
people. Rather than eliminate the four school systems now
in operation on the Navajo Reservation, the board would
supervise, assist, and support the Navajo schools, evaluate
the schools, set qualitative standards for teachers and
curriculum, and help develop curriculum especially for
Navajo students.
Bureau of Indian Affairs Navajo Area Superintendent,
Graham Holmes, admits that the B.I.A. has now learned it is
impossible to educate Navajo children without active in-
volvement from parents and community. He sees the B.I.A.
role as that of providing money and advice and supporting
parents and local communities in the operation of the
schools.3
There is a great lesson to be learned here, not just
for Navajos, but for American people in general. I
don't know of many places where parents take the
trouble and time and interest to concern themselves
with the education of their six year Olds as much as
you peOple sitting here do. I think that when the
chronicles of this program are written, it will have an

application far beyond the Rough Rock School--to America
in general.

 

3Graham Holmes, Navajo Area Director of the Bureau

of Indian Affairs, Speech at Navajo School Board Conference,
Many Farms, Arizona, March 19, 1969.

4Joseph Colmen, Under-secretary of the Department
of Health, Education and Welfare, address given to the
school board and community members at the Rough Rock Demon-
stration School, Rough Rock, Arizona, November, 1966.

88

Summary

A general summary of the entire study is presented
in Chapter V. In addition, conclusions based upon the
findings of the study led to the rejection of the null hy-
pothesis, and that Navajo Indians did indeed have more
knowledge and a more positive attitude toward the local
school when it is identified as a community-oriented school.
The implications of the study point out the need for con-
tinuing improvement in the area of community involvement
and community control of Indian schools. The results of
the study may assist in bringing about effective change in
Indian education toward the improvement of Indian children

and adults and community.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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CHI-CHI Program. Tempe, Ariz.: Arizona State University
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Colmen, Joseph. Under-secretary of the Department of
Health, Education and Welfare. Address given to
the school board and community members at the
Rough Rock Demonstration School, Rough Rock,
Arizona, 1966.

Cohen, Felix S. Handbook of Federal Indian Law. New
Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1960.

 

Encyclopaedia Britannica. Vol. X. 1966.

 

Fox, David J. The Research Process in Education. New

J

York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1969.

Galfo, Armand and Miller, Earl. InterpretinggEducational
Research. Dubuque, Iowa: William C. Brown Co.,
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Gallup, George and CFK, Ltd. How the NatiopaViews the
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and Services, 1970.

 

 

Hall, E. T., Jr. "Early Stockaded Settlements in the
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Havighurst, Robert J. National Study of American Indian
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Hickey, Howard W. and VanVoorhees, Curtis and Associates.
The Role of the Sghool intgommunity Education.
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Hodge, Frederick W. Handbook of American Indians. Vol. II.
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Kluckhohn, Clyde and Vogt, Evon A. Navajo Meags People.
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Kroeber, A. L. Anthropolpgy. New York: Harcourt, Brace
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Left-handed Mexican Clansman. "Trouble at Round Rock."
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"Something About Navajo Ceremonies." Window Rock, Ariz.:
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APPENDIX

APPENDIX A

HOW THE NAVAJO INDIAN VIEWS RESERVATION SCHOOLS

APPENDIX A

How the Navajo Indian Views Reservation Schools

Code Number

How much do you know about the
local schools?

 

 

4-1 quite a lot
4-2 some
4-3 very little

DO you know the name of the
principal Of the elementary
school?

5-1 yes

5-2 no

5-3 no answer

to the cost
the schools

What is your guess as
per child per year in
in your community?

6-1 gave a dollar

6-2 don't know/no

figure
answer

Are there many high school drop-
outs in this community?

 

 

7-1 quite a few
7-2 almost none
7-3 don't know

What are the biggest problems

with which the schools in this

community must deal, do you think?

8-1 curriculum

facilities

discipline

finances

teachers

transportation

student's lack of interest
parent's lack of interest
don't know/no answer

 

 

 

 

 

mmmmmmmm

-2
-3
-4
-s
-6
-7
-8
-9

During the last year, have you
received any newsletter, pamphlet,
or any other material telling what
the local schools are doing?

9-1 yes
9-2 no
9-3 can't recall

93

CO
NCO

 

From your own personal viewpoint,
what is the best source of infor-
mation about the local schools?

 

 

 

 

10-1 word of mouth (children
and others telling)

10-2 newspapers

10—3 school board

10r4 school personnel

10-5 meetings at school

10-6 don't know/no answer

 

Would you like to know more about
the schools in this community?
ll-l yes

11-2 no

11-3 don't know/no answer

How do you feel about the disci-
pline in the local schools?

 

 

 

12-1 too strict

12-2 not strict enough
12-3 just about right
12-4 don't know/no answer

 

Would you like to have a child of
yours take up teaching in the
schools as a career?

13-1 yes
13-2 no
13-3 don't know/no answer

Do you think salaries for the
teachers in this community are
too high, too low, or just right?

 

 

 

14-1 too high

14-2 too low

14-3 just about right
14-4 don't know/no answer

 

DO you think teachers should be
given automatic raises or should
raises be given to some and not
to others?

15-1 es, automatic
15-2 no, not automatic
15-3 no opinion

Do you think the local school
has a hard time getting good
teachers?

16-1 es

16-2 no

16-3 don't know/no answer

Do you think the local school
has a hard time keeping good
teachers?

17-1 yes

17-2 no

17-3 don't know/no answer

DO you think there are some
teachers in the local school who
should be dropped or fired?

18-1 yes

18-2 no

18-3 don't know/no answer

If "yes," why?

 

 

 

 

19-1 incompetent

19—2 too young

19-3 too Old

19-4 lack of communication
with children

19-5 ersonality problems

19-6 other reasons

19-7 don't know/no answer

From what you know, are the
teachers in the community pretty
well satisfied with their pay and
working conditions, or are they
dissatisfied?

20-1 satisfied
20-2 dissatisfied
20-3 don't know/no answer

How good a job do you think the
school board does?

 

 

21-1 excellent

21-2 above average

21-3 fair

21-4 oor, terrible

21-5 don't know/no answer

If someone asked you to be a school
board member, would you be inter-
ested?

22-1 yes
22-2 no
22-3 don't know/no answer

94

Why do you say that? (Those who

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

say "yes")

23-1 interested in helping
23-2 am qualified

23-3 other

23-4 no answer

(Those who say "no")

23-5 not qualified

23-6 don't have time

23-7 not interested

23-8 too much responsibility
23-9 other

If you were to become a school
board member, what changes in the
schools would you favor?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

24-1 buildings and facilities
24-2 better discipline

24-3 curriculum improvement
24-4 better staff personnel
24-5 transportation

24-6 no changes

24-7 other

24-8 don't know/no answer

 

Have you attended any lecture, or
any meeting or special occasion

in any local school building during
the last year?

25-1 es
25-2 no
25-3 no answer

Have you ever attended a school
board meeting?

26-1 es
26-2 no
26-3 no answer

Does your local school have a PTA
or similar parents and teachers
organization?

27-1 yes

27-2 no

27-3 don't know/no answer

Do you belong or go to the meet-
ings of the PTA or a similar
group?

28-1 yes
28-2 no

95

If "no," what are the reasons you do
not belong or attend the meetings of
the PTA or a similar group?

 

 

 

 

 

 

29-1 no time

29-2 not interested

29-3 transportation

29-4 not welcome

29-5 health reasons

29-6 other

29-7 don't know/no answer

 

Did you attend the schools in the
community in which you now live?

30-1 yes
30-2 no
30-3 no answer

Do you feel welcome and comfortable
when you visit the local schools?

31-1 yes
31-2 no
31-3 no answer

Why do you say that? ("yes")

 

 

 

 

 

32-1 the people there are nice

32-2 my friends are there too

32-3 it is my school

32-4 other

Why do you say that? ("no")

32-5 I don't know anyone there

32-6 the schools are for
children

32-7 I can't talk with the
teachers

32-8 no answer

Does the local school provide any
services for you in addition to
education for the children?

33-1 yes
33-2 no
33-3 don't know/no answer

If "yes," what kind of services?

 

34-1 adult education
34-2 recreation

34-3 ersonal assistance
34-4 employment

34-5 other

34-6 no answer

Do you think the local school is
doing a good job in educating the
children of the community?

35-1 yes
35-2 no
35-3 don‘t know/no answer

Why do you say that?

 

 

 

 

 

36-1 they are graduating

36-2 they are getting jobs

36-3 they are speaking English

36-4 they are learning white
man's ways

36-5 they are happy

36-6 they are not happy

36-7 they are not learning the
things I think they
should learn

36-8 other

36-9 no answer

Who do you think controls the
local schools?

 

 

 

 

37-1 school board

37-2 principal

37-3 teachers

37-4 superintendent

37-5 the B.I.A.

37-6 the people

37-7 other

37-8 don't know/no answer

 

Sex of respondent
38-1 male
38-2 female

Age of respondent

 

39-1 21-29 years
39-2 30-49 years
39-3 over 50 years

Education of respondent

40-1 elementary grades

40-2 high school incomplete
40-3 high school completed
40-4 college

Total annual income

 

 

 

 

41-1 under $3000
41-2 $3000 - $5000
41-3 $5000 - $7000
41-4 over $7000
41-5 no answer

 

W

llHIVIUII

1293 03142 7929

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