1st Edition

American Indian Education Counternarratives in Racism, Struggle, and the Law

By Matthew L. M. Fletcher Copyright 2008
    240 Pages
    by Routledge

    236 Pages
    by Routledge

    America Indian culture and traditions have survived an unusual amount of oppressive federal and state educational policies intended to assimilate Indian people and destroy their cultures and languages. Yet, Indian culture, traditions, and people often continue to be treated as objects in the classroom and in the curriculum. Using a critical race theory framework and a unique "counternarrative" methodology, American Indian Education explores a host of modern educational issues facing American Indian peoples—from the impact of Indian sports mascots on students and communities, to the uses and abuses of law that often never reach a courtroom, and the intergenerational impacts of American Indian education policy on Indian children today. By interweaving empirical research with accessible composite narratives, Matthew Fletcher breaches the gap between solid educational policy and the on-the-ground reality of Indian students, highlighting the challenges faced by American Indian students and paving the way for an honest discussion about solutions.

     

    1.Commodifying Indian Students and Sport Mascots: The Lake Matchimanitou Warriors

    2. Burying Indian Histories in the Curriculum: The American History Teacher

    3.Criminal Injustice and Demonizing Indian Students: The American Indian Student

    4.Intergenerational Character of Indian Experiences in Education: Niko Roberts on the Ice

    5.Indian Academic Fraud: The Terrible Tribe

    6.Indian Literary Fraud: Vann Logan's Novel

    7. Indian Cultural Restoration: Toledo Marks' Return

    8. Indian Political Resurgence and Affirmative Action: The Lake Matchimanitou Indian School

     

    Biography

    Matthew L.M.  Fletcher is Assistant Professor at Michigan State University College of Law and Director of the Indigenous Law and Policy Center.

    "Fletcher is a gifted writer whose narrative moves briskly and engages the reader. . . This inaugural book in The Critical Educator series gives voice, the counternarrative if you will, of a population who rarely has an audience. Often ignored or subsumed by other oppressed groups or people of color, the voice of American Indians is rarely given top billing."—Review of Higher Education