Indigenous Populations, Education of

Overview

Indigenous populations throughout the world—although distinct in cultures, languages, and geographies—share similar education experiences as a result of European expansionism and colonization. Broadly defined, the term indigenous refers to the original, native inhabitants of a particular land-base prior to the colonization of European settlement or at the time of political annexation by modern nations. In 2007, United Nations statistics indicated that more than 370 million indigenous people inhabited the world, speaking hundreds of different languages within 70 nations. Indigenous populations are distinct from dominant national groups in terms of political and economic power. Only recently has the international community fully recognized the inherent sovereignty and autonomy of indigenous peoples, as well as the grave injustices that many groups continue to experience within contemporary political, economic, and educational systems.

Indigenous Education: A Colonial History

The education of indigenous populations has always been an important part of colonialism since the first interactions between Europeans and indigenous peoples. Despite tremendous differences and experiences among groups, indigenous peoples have undergone a similar colonial project of cultural extinction and assimilation, with education serving as a principal tool for colonization projects. Yet long before European contact or political annexation, indigenous peoples educated their children within traditional knowledge, linguistic, and cultural systems. Elders instructed children in a vast body of knowledge. Through storytelling and oral traditions, children learned who they were as a people, how they had arrived at their particular location, and what their relationship was to each other and the natural world. Centuries of colonization have transformed indigenous education to reflect Eurocentric knowledge, languages, and values, and the challenge for many groups today is to reclaim a traditional educational philosophy.

In early America, Catholic and Protestant missionaries believed that their purpose was to “civilize” and Christianize indigenous peoples into mainstream society and the kingdom of God. The Jesuits established the first mission school in 1611 in order to educate indigenous peoples in French culture. In 1651, Protestant missionary John Eliot established the first “praying town” in New England, where indigenous peoples were taught English and immersed in Protestant English values, religion, and culture. Institutions of higher learning—such as Dartmouth College, Harvard College (now Harvard University), and the College of William and Mary—included in their charters the Christianizing education of indigenous people as one of their primary aims. The underlying ideology of this early period regarded indigenous peoples as barbaric, primitive, and inferior to Europeans. An alliance between church and state furthered the civilizing project of indigenous peoples. In the [Page 1177]early 19th century in the United States—with the passing of the Civilization Act of 1819—the federal government allocated funding to various Christian denominations to administer mission schools with the distinct purpose of “civilizing” Native children.

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