First Nations/Native Americans

trail of tears

• 1831- 1850

• movements of all indigenous person from appalachians to the mississippi, from the great lakes to the gulf of new mexico

• forced displacement

boarding school era

• 1860

• education was tool to assimilate kids into “american” life

• “civilize” native peoples

• some were forcibly removed from families by police

• cut hair, no native foods or songs, christianity taught, emotional and physical abuse

consequences of the boardings school

• entire generations lost access to native parenting models, culture, language, and values

• separation of families

• loss of native languages

• emotional trauma

• distrust of government, religious and educational institutions

family life

• close-knit, extended families are common

• elders are in positions of authority

• affection with kids is common

• kids may be allowed to make decisions for themselves

• families are not always knowledgeable about their tribal affiliation

• increased prevalence of family violence, incets, homicides, etc.

learning styles

• reliance on nonverbal communication

• only saying what is necessary

• speaking in a soft voice as loud speech indicates anger

• displaying a sense of humor and an ability to see humor

• long pauses in conversation

• observes carefully

• accepts intuition, coincidence, feelings, emotions

• personal, informal, spontaneous

communication styles

• respect is shown by avoiding eye contact (kid to adult)

• mothers may not engage verbally with their infant

• silence is valued by some tribes

• slower response times

• children may not answer if they are not confident

language considerations

• over 200 native languages spoken in the U.S

• many are in jeopardy of being lost

• many native languages have no words for “time” , contain no future-tense verbs

• english has more vowel sounds than many native languages