Education Commons^™

Native American Choral Music: Strategies For Celebrating And Incorporating Music Of Indigenous People, Mary Ruth Young

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

*Language usage is fluid and evolving, representing past and present people groups. During my discussions with my Indigenous composer colleagues, I've found that they hold varying preferences regarding how they wish to be addressed and the terminology they prefer. Because of this, I use the terms Native, Native American, First Nations, Indigenous, American Indian, and First Peoples interchangeably.*

This document will discuss the historical exclusion of Native American music in the Western art forms, specifically the choral tradition, and provide solutions to incorporate it in modern choral performances. Considering first the wars, disease, displacement, colonization, and missionization, it is no …

Wakara's Waterscapes: Storytelling, Cartography, And Rhetorical Sovereignty On The Shores Of The Green River, Abbey O'Brien

Honors Theses

In the mid nineteenth-century, Wakara, a prominent Ute leader, witnessed the invasion of his homeland by Mormon settlers and mountain-men. He met the scouts and explorers who were sent out to examine the land and waterscapes, and who drew maps along their way. It was those same maps which were eventually used as tools to justify colonial expansion all across the Utah territories, Wakara’s home. But Wakara resisted. Employing his understandings of the roles that cartography and the written word played in Mormon and settler discourse, Wakara created his own maps in order to assert his Indigenous authority over the …

Settler Colonialism And The Movement Towards Indigenous Forest Sovereignty, Madison Zucco

Honors Theses

This research paper examines the historical and political implications of settler colonialism on Indigenous nations in forested areas around the world. Through a thorough analysis of the Haida First Nation, Pacheedaht First Nation, and the Sámi people, it is argued that settler colonial legislation systematically and intentionally separated Indigenous people and their knowledge from forested areas. Since then, shared management protocols have been implemented to amend racist and environmentally degrading legislation on forested land, but are limited in their effect to reconcile the settler colonial legal system. The only true way to reconcile the settler colonial structure in place that …

All These Things We've Done Before: A Brief History Of Red-Power Inspired Projects, Programs, And Efforts At The University Of Nebraska-Lincoln And What They Can Do For Us Today, Jake Borgmann

Honors Theses

The Red Power Movement from 1969-1975 inspired both Indigenous and non- Indigenous students and faculty from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) to work for the betterment of Indigenous peoples in areas of affirmation, education, leadership, and language preservation and revitalization. For a time, student efforts by the Council of American Indian Students, faculty sponsored Indigenous education-centered programs, educational outreach through television, and Lakota language courses helped carve out an Indigenous space on campus where Indigenous students could thrive and seek empowerment through education. This era of Red Power-inspired projects, programs, and efforts at UNL peaked from 1969 to the early …

A Qualitative Study Exploring Attachment Through The Context Of Indian Boarding Schools, Melissa D. Olson (Zephier)

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This is a qualitative phenomenological exploration looking at how Indian boarding schools impacted Indigenous families and indicators of how their attachment was affected. Thirty-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 individuals who attended Indian boarding schools and 13 descendants of those who attended these schools. The interviews were conducted on a Northern Plains reservation where approval was obtained from that tribal college and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Results indicate knowledge sharers in both groups, individuals who attended boarding schools and those who descended from these individuals experienced critical impacts to their ability to form intergenerational attachments with subsequent generations due …

Defining Authentic: The Relationship Between Native Art And Federal Indian Policy, 1879-1961, Aurora Kenworthy

Honors Theses

Between 1879 and 1961, non-Native perceptions of what constituted authentic Native art shifted. These changing perceptions were influenced by, and then in turn influenced, federal policy and legislation. While non-Native individuals and groups worked to improve conditions for Native communities and to protect “authentic” Native art forms, Native reformers also attempted to enact change to help Native communities and Native artists exercised control over their own art and identity.

Review Of Integrating Aboriginal Perspectives Into The School Curriculum: Purposes, Possibilities, And Challenges. By Yatta Kanu., Jim Silver

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

This is an excellent book about an issue of importance for the future of cities in the Canadian prairies and Great Plains. It examines the difficult task of integrating Aboriginal cultural knowledge into school curricula. In the first chapter Yatta Kanu explains why this matters. In subsequent chapters she draws upon field research over the period 2003- 2007 with 84 Aboriginal students and 18 teachers in six low-income, inner-city schools in a Canadian prairie city with a large Aboriginal population. She brings together the results of an integrated series of research studies, each building on the one before, and the …

Review Of First Nations Education Policy In Canada: Progress Or Gridlock? By Jerry Paquette And Gerald Fallon., Mark Aquash

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

It is a daunting challenge to identify, define, and make sense of First Nations education in Canada. Much of our understanding of current First Nations education is determined by mainstream media. First Nation citizens are continuously reported to be in a deficit compared to their dominant Canadian counterparts. When we take a deeper look into First Nations education, however, we find a great diversity of both successes and challenges, based largely on the fact that there are 614 First Nation communities in Canada. Policies regarding First Nations education have blanketed all regions of Canada from the Maritimes to the Woodlands, …

Omaha Language Preservation In The Macy, Nebraska Public School, Catherine Rudin

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

A native language renewal program at the Macy, Nebraska Public School is described that is designed to preserve Omaha, a native American Indian language that is only a generation away from extinction. At the time of this research, only about 100 fluent Omaha speakers lived on the Omaha Reservation in Nebraska. The language and culture program, instituted in 1970, has employed various instruction techniques and methodologies, including immersion, memorization of words and phrases, and publication of student-authored stories in English and Omaha. The program has suffered from a lack of consistency; frequent changes in funding, personnel, and curriculum; and a …