ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to empirically investigate the symbiotic relationship between Native nation-building and higher education in California (CA)—an understudied topic in Indian education. The aim was two-fold: 1) understand how, and whether, educational achievement and nation-building are tied together, and 2) extend current literature on in-college experience by elevating the perspectives of CA Indian students. Working with a select sample of CA Indians (n = 5), all who graduated from the same public university in the state and are actively involved in their tribes, this exploratory retrospective study examined aspects of college student experience, motivations to complete, and the role of tribal communities in graduation. Participants reflect on the relevancy of education, feeling (under)valued on campus, classroom invalidation and hostility, campus involvement, giving back, and the role of their tribes in pursuing and completing college. These findings extend current research on American Indian college students, while concurrently centering the voices of and building on existing scholarship to include CA Indian college graduates.

摘要

这项研究的目的是从经验上研究加利福尼亚州（CA）的土著民族建设与高等教育之间的共生关系，这是印度教育中一个尚未被研究的话题。目的是双重的：1）了解教育成就与国家建设如何以及是否联系在一起，以及2）通过提升印度裔CA学生的视野来扩展有关学院内体验的最新文献。这项探索性回顾性研究与加利福尼亚州印第安人（n = 5）的部分样本一起工作，这些印第安人均从该州的同一所公立大学毕业，并积极参与其部落，这项探索性回顾性研究研究了大学生的经历，完成动机以及部落社区在毕业中的作用。参与者思考教育的相关性，在校园中被（低）估的感觉，课堂无效化和敌意，校园参与，回馈以及他们的部落在追求和完成大学中的作用。这些发现扩展了当前对美国印第安大学生的研究，同时集中了现有奖学金的声音并建立了现有奖学金，以包括印第安纳大学的大学生。