Remembering the Pathway： A Cultural Perspective on Contemporary American Indian Youth

In traditional First Nations (indigenous) cultures in North American children are valued members of their communities, important to their families and to the universe of all living things. Children learn that they are honored and respected while they learn honor and respect for other beings.For many tribal communities today, the shared community values recognizing the relationship of all living things continues to erode with the on-going processes of colonization and the expansion of a global monoculture. American Indian child continue to experience startling rates of victimization, suicide, and substance abuse as tribal people are further assimilated into the western capitalist economic order. In order to address the extent of harms that continue to envelope tribal communities, American Indian people must openly recognize the extent to which we have internalized dominant culture hierarchies of domination and oppression and recreate them in our own homes, governments, businesses, and communities.Models of decolonization must be created and applied on these many levels in order for tribal people to heal from colonization. Key to decolonization is drawing upon education structures to revitalize traditional cultural values and life ways.