Conceptualizing Bicultural Accountability Measures for Indigenous Scholars at Predominantly White Institutions

• In Event: "First-Generation" Faculty of Color in Higher Education: Voicing Silenced Narratives in Academe

Abstract

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address one of the challenges that first-generation American Indians and Alaska Natives (AIAN) experience in participating in education. The lack of Indigenous representation on university campuses, in their classrooms, (Nunez, & Cuccaro-Alamin, 1998) and resultantly in the professoriate, are detrimental to AIAN educational success. Essentially the concept presented in this paper provides one example of what can be done to improve matriculation and success rates among AIANs from their own perspective.

Perspective
The perspective considered in this paper is that of North American Indigenous students otherwise delineated as American Indian or Alaska Native (AIAN). One of the solutions to academic challenges is for first-generation AIANs to develop an internal conceptualization of bicultural accountability that extends across student experiences in higher education.

Modes of Inquiry
To meet the aforementioned challenges and essentially create access that does not confound ones Indigenous identity certain questions need to be considered including: 1) How are Indigenous students, faculty, and staff, claiming education as Indigenous space in ways that promote the attainment of an education that supports a quality of life that is healthy as defined by the community? 2) In what ways can higher education be restructured such that AIANs can participate fully? 3) In what ways can AIAN faculty create internal processes that serve students well in navigating predominantly white institutions to the ends of community self determination (Deyhle, & Swisher, 1997)?


Evidence
In an effort to answer these questions, an Indigenous mentoring program, based on traditional Indigenous kinship structures will be presented. The focus of this Indigenous mentoring program delineates relationship roles and expectations among faculty in mentoring AIAN students in a way that considers the responsibilities of the relationship as opposed to traditional academic models that serve to remove native students from their Indigenous identity. One of the challenges that often arises when using indigenous ideologies in the academy is that of relevance and utility in higher education. The author will argue that there are specific processes that take place when considering concept of Indigenous relationality (Wilson 2008) in a contemporary educational context that serves students well.

Warrants for Arguments
When connecting Indigenous ontologies to the graduate school experience one has to consider their academic identity location. By doing so students are able to make meaningful connections with other scholars who comprehend the same theories, methods, and practical implications of scholarship. This is exemplified when one’s experience is reframed in terms of academic family. Resultantly the academic community that is conceptualized creates spaces of academic contribution.

Scholarly Significance
In the model presented (fictive-kin, familial, academic, context) scholars are challenged to make sense of the different roles that their mentors assume. In this model they are conceptualized as academic moms, dads, aunties & uncles. Students’ peers are considered academic siblings which sewrves to promote recruitment, retention and success. In maintaining cultural congruity, this will be presented in the form of Indigenous Storywork (Archambault, 2008).

Author

• Sweeney Windchief, Montana State University