The educational experience of the indigenous peoples of the United States is filled with assimilation, self-centeredness, and many unforgivable things that left their mark on the future fate of their development. However, the past cannot be changed, and current activities, despite being contradictory in some aspects, have finally adopted a value-based approach and are producing results. The clashes between indigenous peoples and white people at the border of the 19th and 20th centuries show the basis of discrimination, unacceptable punishments, and inhumane treatment.
Although several schools then had teachers who sought to fulfill their mission by abandoning the imposed books and the conventional approach, many Navajo and other children inherited not only the knowledge but also the conventional approach. They also imbibed the example of domineering white behavior. Naturally, these problems resulted in personality disorders, family quarrels, and even a ban on the return of reformed students. In many schools during these years, education, self-centeredly interpreted as a gift by white people, was presented in the form of the worst side of their behavior.
The problem was the lack of a value approach. As history shows, the family traditions of indigenous peoples could be bizarre in the form of various rituals and behaviors, yet they were still rooted in respect, humility, and gratitude. The Protestant Church essentially preached the same values of life.
As an individual and as a learner, I learn from experiences like these that an individual’s cultural characteristics, manifest through language and behavior, are rooted in upbringing and identity. Although the indigenous peoples had a self-centeredness similar to that of white people, which clearly contrasted with people in appearance, they were initially in a weak position. As a result, with precisely the same attitude, this problem only took root, creating many years of hostility.
An alternative view was primarily based on these unfriendly interactions at first – students in boarding schools were seen as the “ears and eyes” of the indigenous tribes in the camp of the white people. However, it took more than a decade for the union of these relations to recognize the importance of cultural identity. The imprints of discrimination based on race and nationality are still there – and this problem is a direct consequence of such experiences.
In my opinion, as a teacher, the key to understanding culture lies precisely in the values that form it. They are not so different between indigenous peoples and white people – far from it, they often overlap in many things postulated by religion and the norms of society and morality. With a similar attitude to some teachers at that time, many children of indigenous peoples grew up to be intelligent people who paved the problematic path of truce and dialogue between cultures.
As a leader, it is difficult for anyone to make decisions about such schools. Even now, when legislative regulations and experience working with children of other nations are available. In fact, implementing the most convenient environment often depends on the availability of financial and other opportunities.
However, a focus on the values of respect, gratitude, identity, and inclusion now correctly outlines the path for a long, complex dialogue of cultures. They will continue to seek compromises in their relations with each other for quite some time. Nevertheless, openness enables us to reap the benefits today and to see the positive impact of intercultural integration.