"Tienes Que Ser Bien Educada": A Call for Art, Reconciliation, and Justice in Education

• In Event: Asserting Sovereignty and Self-Determination Through a Tribally Based Doctoral Cohort

Abstract

The US educational system upholds settler colonialism as it is hyperfocused on acquisition, expertise, and consumption and as such, creates a distinct culture of competition. Within settler colonial schooling individuals are cut off from each other, from the Land, and their communities. Indigenous teaching methods are able to repair this severing, and in healing, they shift the focus and centering back onto Indigenous students and communities. My research aims to bridge the gap and merge much of the existing literature regarding the impact of settler colonialism and reconciliation of knowledge and self. My research questions will be answered through a community art show that centers voices and experiences of community members that are usually excluded from storytelling platforms and gallery spaces. Artwork will center on their perceptions of what liberatory and decolonized education and knowledge is, looks like and feels like.

Author

• Eileen Jimenez, University of Washington - Tacoma
  Presenting Author