Sinajini et al. v. San Juan School District: The Defense Continues to Rest

• In Event: Can Settler Society’s Legal System Support Native Interests and Educational Justice? The Jury Is Still Out

Abstract

On July 20, 2018, Judge Sarah Singleton’s ruling in the Yazzie/Martinez v State of New Mexico case found that the state had failed to provide ELL and Native programs and services that would prepare Native students for colleges and/or careers. Almost a half century prior, in 1974, Navajo parents and students filed a federal class action lawsuit against their school district, Sinajini et al. v. San Juan School District, for deprivation of equal educational opportunities. In both the Sinajini and Yazzie/Martinez cases, the Diné challenged schooling systems and structures that inadequately provided funding, programs, and resources to meet the unique educational needs of Native students.



Objectives or purposes:

Analyzing the educational progress over the 50 years the Sinijini case has positioned us to ask the following questions: What educational opportunities and experiences has changed for the Native students enrolled in the school district? And, what might have been different in the education of Native students today if the Sinijini case had been embraced, supported?



Perspective(s) or theoretical framework:

We recount stories to bear witness to how settler myths are perpetuated in and by a school district and to show how Native peoples are pushing back–asserting their sovereign rights– against educational injustices. The stories are of attempts to unravel white domination, address settler anxieties and willful ignorance.



Methods, techniques, or modes of inquiry:

The data sources are from the personal archive collected between 1984-2004. We used ethnographic methods to analyze and identify themes.



Data sources, evidence, objects, or materials:

The data sources are from personal archive collected between 1984-2004 by one of the co-authors.



Results and/or substantiated conclusions or warrants for arguments/point of view:

Navajo parents consistently supported their children’s education, even if it meant using the judicial system to force educational equality.

- There is resistance to implementing the court orders

- Policymaker and administrator buy-in is crucial.

- Money, although useful, does not solve systemic and institutional inequities that are deeply embedded in schools.

- Time dedicated to developing respectful and reciprocal relationships is needed to create an environment and mutually beneficial conditions.



Scientific or scholarly significance of the study or work:

The main goal of this paper is to offer lessons learned from the last half a century of advocating for educational equality in a settler public schooling system. Our hope in telling this story of the Utah case is that it will assist with implementing the New Mexico court orders and other cases that mandate equal and equitable educational opportunities to be implemented in a timely and effective manner.

Authors

• Cynthia Benally, University of Utah

• Donna L. Deyhle, University of Utah