Reflecting on "Just Education Renewal" Through Black Teacher Recruitment to Navajo Reservation BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) Schools During the Desegregation Era

• In Event: Intersecting Struggles of Desegregation: Navajo Schooling, Black Teacher Activism, and Critical Inquiry

Abstract

In this paper we highlight the lesser-known story of Black educators who taught on the Navajo Nation during desegregation. Pressured by the Navajo Nation, the U.S. government finally allocated funds to expand schools. However, limited numbers of Navajo teachers and uncaring white teachers meant another solution was needed. Hundreds of Black teachers, fired from schools throughout the South, moved to schools like Chinle Boarding School. An oral history interview with Betty Yazzie (Diné/Navajo) reflects the story of many Navajo students who were educated by Black teachers. The 2025 AERA conference focus on historical efforts to repair educational equity provides just the opportunity to consider this history and reinforce the importance of Indigenous-Black coalitions to achieving “just educational renewal.”

Authors

• Oliver G. Tapaha, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• M. Nathan Tanner, University of Nevada - Reno

• Khalil Anthony Johnson, Wesleyan University

• Terah T. Venzant Chambers, Michigan State University