Power and Place: Indian Education in America [Paperback]

Vine Deloria Jr. (Author), Daniel R. Wildcat (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2001

Formal Indian education in America stretches all the way from reservation preschools to prestigious urban universities far away from Indian cultural centers. This educational journey spans two distinct value systems and worldviews. At their meeting is the opportunity for the two cultures to both teach and learn from one another. Power and Place examines the issues facing Native American students as they progress through the schools, colleges, and on into professions. This collection of sixteen essays is at once philosophic, practical, and visionary. It is an effort to open discussion about the unique experience of Native Americans and offers a concise reference for administrators, educators, students and community leaders involved with Indian education.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Vine Deloria Jr., was a leading Native American scholar, whose research, writings, and teaching have encompassed history, law, religious studies, and political science. He is the former executive director of the National Congress of American Indians. Daniel R. Wildcat (Yuchi, Muscogee) is the director of the American Indian studies program and the Haskell Environmental Research Studies Center at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas. He is the coauthor with Vine Deloria Jr. of Power and Place: Indian Education in America.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Fulcrum Publishing (September 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155591859X
• ISBN-13: 978-1555918590
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #194,652 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good, July 23, 2003

By 

kaioatey (Awatovi, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Power and Place: Indian Education in America (Paperback)

That Native Americans are often treated as second class citizens is often due to the fact that they do not possess adequate educational, political and financial resources. Deloria and Wildcat analyze, in this eminently practical and thoughtful book, the causes and conditions that led to this state of affairs. They identify the European dialectic method as one of the key factors that alienate Native Americans. The problem, as they see it, is far from benign - dialectics as practiced in the academia not only champions a simplistic cause-and-effect reasoning which is far removed from the Indian tendency to view the world in a holistic, pan-theistic manner... it also produces isolated, self-absorbed individuals separated from their own bodies and their own society. Such separation is incomprehensible to the Indians, who view themselves primarily as members of a community and for whom individual achievements are largely meaningless without the context of the community support.

Another significant difference between the Native and Western educational approaches, say VD and DW, are that while the former stress personal growth from the early childhood on, the latter concentrate on factual learning during which the harmonious development of the personality takes the second seat to professional development. This produces what to the Indian seem deviant and psychopathic characters completely out of touch with their community and nature, focused as they are on making money and selfish personal advancement.

DeLoria and Wildcat offer several solutions which may aid native americans in navigating the perilous universe of disconnectedness that they face in the world-at-large while keeping to their values and worldviews. Even more, they identify how these values may actually aid them in becoming succesful without compromising themselves.

Recommended.

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sixteen thoughtful, informative essays, July 11, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Power and Place: Indian Education in America (Paperback)

Power And Place: Indian Education In America is a selection and compilation of sixteen thoughtful, informative essays by authors Vine Deloria, Jr. (a Standing Rock Sioux and a retired university professor of political science and history), and Daniel R. Wildcat (a member of the Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma and an American Indian Studies faculty member at Haskell Indian Nations University). Both of these learned authors present their perspectives on Native American education from public school through college levels, the challenges presented by the modern educational system and the question of self-determination as it affects young minds and futures. A book of thoughtful and thought provoking observations, Power And Place is a highly recommended contribution to Native American Studies and American Educational History supplemental reading lists and academic reference collections.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Academia, Land, and Power, April 17, 2009

By 

Paul William Schumacher (Normal, Illinois USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Power and Place: Indian Education in America (Paperback)

This collection of sixteen essays discusses problems in western civilization's attempt to educate the indigenous people, Wildcat's term for Native Americans.

Wildcat declares "The Native American still does not fit comfortably or conveniently into western civilization." He says this is not something that the indigenous people should regret. Each essay is a dialog that begins with explaining the current situation, the western ways, and how indigenous ways could be used to respond to the problems.

An example is in the essay of "Understanding the Crisis," Wildcat points out how scientists want to solve the energy crisis with technology. He declares that this crisis cannot be solved by technology alone, but through the philosophy of how we live. This formula is repeated as Delora and Wildcat have an essay-by-essay dialog about the system, how it works, and how it could or should work.