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Navajo literacy: Stories of learning to write Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Lockard, Louise. Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 29/09/2021 23:29:50 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/186342 INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. 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Contact UMI directly to order. U·M·I University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor. M148106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Order Number 9408371 Navajo literacy: Stories of learning to write Lockard, Louise, Ph.D. The University of Arizona, 1993 V·M·I 300 N. Zccb Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 NAVAJO LITERACY: STORIES OF LEARNING TO WRITE by Louise Lockard A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE, READING AND CULTURE In Partial Fulfillment for the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNNERSITY OF ARIZONA 1993 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Final Examination Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared bY __T~!~o~]]~j~s~e~T~!o~c~k~a~r~d~ ___________________ entitled Nava j 0 Li teracy: Stori es of Lea rn j ng to wri te and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Phjlosophy Date Date Date - Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate's submission of the final copy of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation sertat~on Director Date 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgement of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interest of scholar ship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: __~_:;;:_r-('_C_~_>0_...,_J;_\_ .... k:-_~·_<0L_}.._-______ 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many thanks to the people who aided my research at the University of Arizona Library Special Collections, the Northern Arizona University Library Special Collections, the Arizona Historical Society, the Museum of Northern Arizona, the University of New Mexico, and the National Archives. lowe a special debt of gratitude to the teachers and administrators of the Pinon Unified School District, the Chinle Unified School District, and the members of the Dine Language Teachers Association who shared their stories of learning to write. By supporting me as a classroom teacher for many years, my advisor, Professor Teresa L. McCarty, and Professors Yetta M. Goodman and Kenneth S. Goodman made up as responsive and supportive a committee as any graduate student could ever wish for. They continue to demonstrate a commitment to the education of Navajo students and teachers. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ..................................... 8 LIST OF TABLES ..................................... 9 ABSTRACT . .. 10 1. INTRODUCTION ..................................... 11 2. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE. .. 18 The Social Context of Literacy . .. 18 Navajo Literacy. .. 25 Navajo Native Language Literature . .. 30 3. OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH CONTEXT AND METHODOLOGY. .. 54 Exotic Ahistorical Others in Strange Lands ................. 57 Critical Ground Clearing .............................. 61 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS 4. THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF NAVAJO LITERACY . .. 66 Mission Schools .................................... 67 A Peaceful Encounter at the Letter "L" .................... 74 Preparing the Indians of Tomorrow . .. 80 Government Schools ................................. 86 The Indian New Deal . .. 90 Development and Cultural Assimilation . .. 99 Public Schools . .. 105 Contract Schools . .. 107 5. STORIES OF LEARNING TO WRITE ...................... 116 Marjorie Thomas 117 Mary Jean Mike 126 Verna Clinton Tullie ................................. 146 6. ANALYSES AND CONCLUSIONS ........................ 158 Spoken and Written Language .......................... 164 Schooling and Professions ............................. 166 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS Pedagogy and the Future .............................. 167 History and Memory ................................. 169 7. EPILOGUE .......................................... 179 8. APPENDIX A: NAVAJO LANGUAGE LITERATURE 1940-1990 .. 183 9. APPENDIX B: NAVAJO LANGUAGE LITERATURE BY DATE .. 250 10. APPENDIX C: NA V AJO LITERATURE BY PUBLISHER . .. 259 11. APPENDIX D: CURRICULUM TOPIC BY YEAR . .. 282 12. APPENDIX E: INTERVIEWS BY CATEGORY .............. 290 13. APPENDIX F: PHOTOGRAPHS ......................... 307 14. REFERENCES ....................................... 314 8 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Clark, A. (1940). Who Wants to be a Prairie Dog? . .. 38 2. Enochs, J. (1940). Little Manis Family ...................... 39 3. Map of Navajo Nation (Leighton & Kluckhohn, 1947) . .. 55 9 LIST OF TABLES Table Page Table 1. Navajo Language Children's Literature 1940-1990 .......... 43 Table 2. Publisher of Ten or More Titles 1940-1990 .. .. 45 Table 3. Types of Publishers and Numbers of Titles 49 Table 4. Navajo Publications by Curriculum Topic and Year 51 10 ABSTRACT This study examines the history of Navajo literacy and its meaning in the lives and teaching practices of three Native American Indian bilingual teachers. The autobiographies of the teachers were recorded in the form of life history interviews and analyzed in relation to an historical account of Navajo education which integrates public documents, archival materials, research in literacy in multi-ethnic communities, and Navajo children's literature. This study includes a bibliography of Navajo language literature from 1940-1990 which has been categorized by title, date, publisher, and curriculum topic. 11 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION My dad said they used to come in a wagon with two wheels and a horse. They used to hunt the kids. Mary Jean Mike (1992) There's much to learn from how things get started. You can't cut off the top of a tree and stick it in the ground somewhere and make it grow--you have to know about the roots. Miles Horton (1990, p. 51) The table in Verna Clinton Tullie's fifth grade classroom at Tsaile, Arizona was filled with pinon-picking contraptions which her students had invented using batteries, cardboard, sticks, pulleys and fabric. The principal and several parents stood around the table reading the instructions for each contraption and discussing their usefulness. Mary Jean Mike's first grade students at Pinon Public School in Pinon, Arizona selected books from their classroom library and found a place on the floor or outside the classroom door where they could read and talk with their fourth grade reading partner. Marjorie Thomas, an assistant superintendent in the Chinle Unified School District in Chinle, Arizona sat at her desk preparing the materials for a Navajo language lesson she would video tape for fourth graders at Chinle Elementary School. 12 The autobiographical accounts of these three Navajo bilingual teachers, Verna Clinton Tullie, who entered school speaking only English, Mary Jean Mike and Marjorie Thomas who entered school speaking only Navajo, will be investigated in relation to historical accounts of the development of Navajo literacy. Stories of Navajo literacy have often been told in terms of standardized testing, or in terms of policy statements written by government commissions: