LESSONS FROM THE PAST, AND PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE: THE POLITICAL PROCESSES OF EDUCATIONAL POLICY DEVELOPMENT AMONG NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS By Christie Michelle Poitra A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Educational Policy—Doctor of Philosophy 2015 ABSTRACT LESSONS FROM THE PAST, AND PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE: THE POLITICAL PROCESSES OF EDUCATIONAL POLICY DEVELOPMENT AMONG NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS By Christie Michelle Poitra This study interviewed political actors from two Native American tribal governments in order to understand the educational problems that these tribal governments choose to prioritize, and the political processes that these governments go through to create educational policy to mitigate their prioritized problems. The political actors who were interviewed were high-ranking officials in their respective governments. The second source of data was primary documents generated by the participating tribal governments. This dissertation utilized a phenomenographic approach to analyze the interview, and document data. This study found that the process of crafting educational policy was heavily influenced by the desire of the political actors in these governments to further their tribes’ political, social, and economic interests. I dedicate this dissertation to my parents, and my husband. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge my supportive dissertation committee: Professor Maria Tatto, Professor Michael Sedlak, Professor Dorinda Carter-Andrews, and Professor Douglas Campbell. Thank you Professor Tatto for being a supportive Chair. Thank you Professor Campbell for providing wonderful feedback. Truly, it was a pleasure to work with you over the past couple years. Thank you Michael for supporting me. Throughout my time in the program, I always knew your office door was open—and I thank you for that. I would like to acknowledge my close friends and colleagues: Linda Lea, Ryan Goodwin, Brian Boggs, Bryan Beverly, Claire Gonyo, Bree Becker, Blue Brazelton, Jordan Cavanaugh, Michael Cavanaugh, Seana Edwards, John Lane, and Kri Burkander. I could not have asked for better peers. You all pushed me to think critically about myself, and my work. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES.........................................................................................................................vii LIST OF FIGURES......................................................................................................................viii CHAPTER 1: STUDY OVERVIEW...............................................................................................1 Contribution to Literature…………………………………………………………………5 Summary and Chapter Preview……………………………………...……………………6 CHAPTER 2: POLICY HISTORY OF RESERVATION EDUCATION SYSTEMS AND TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS................................................................................................8 Summary and Chapter Preview……………………………….…………………………21 CHAPTER 3: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ON TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS.............................................................................................................23 What Are the Trends in the Literature on Tribal Governments?.......................................24 Who Writes About Tribal Governments?..........................................................................26 How Do Academics Write about Tribal Governments?....................................................29 How Might This Dissertation Contribute to the Discourse on Tribal Governments?.......45 Summary and Chapter Preview………………………………………………………….45 CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS .............................................................46 Honoring Tribal Sovereignty through Ethical Research Methods……………………….46 Case Selection……………………………………………………………………………48 Participant Recruitment Process…………………………………………………………51 Document Collection Schema……………………………………………………………55 Data Analysis through Theory………………………………………………………...…56 Data Analysis Procedures………………………………………………………………..60 Interpretation of Data…………………………………………………………….62 Summary and Chapter Preview………………………………………………………….63 CHAPTER 5: CONTEXTUAL INFORMATION ON THE SELECTED TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS.............................................................................................................64 Case 1: Grey Pomo of West River……………………………………………………….65 History and Community………………………………………………………….65 Schools Serving Grey Pomo Youth……......…………………………………….66 Grey Pomo Economy…………………………………………………………….69 Grey Pomo Government………………………………………………………....71 Case 2: Pine Rancheria…………………………………………………………………..72 History and Community………………………………………………………....72 Schools Serving Pine Rancheria Youth………………………………………….73 Pine Rancheria Economy………………………………………………………...75 Pine Rancheria Government……………………………………………………..77 Concluding Thoughts: the Similarities and Differences among the Grey Pomo and Pine Rancheria…………………………………………………………………………...……78 v Chapter Preview………………………………………………………………………….80 CHAPTER 6: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION...........................................................................81 Role of Theory in the Findings and Discussion Chapter………………………………...82 PART ONE………………………………………………………………………………84 Glimpses into the Educational Policy Development Processes………….………85 Grey Pomo Policy Development Vignette……………………………….85 Pine Rancheria Policy Development Vignette…………………………...87 To What Extent Do the Policy Creation Processes Differ across the Two Cases?....................................................................................................................89 Human Capital Development Through Educational Policy……………...97 PART TWO…………………………………………………………………………….102 What Are the Phases of Educational Policy Development?................................102 Problem Stream, Phase 1: How Do Educational Problems Come To Be Recognized By The Tribal Government?................................................104 Grey Pomo problem recognition process……………………….105 Pine Rancheria problem recognition process…………………...112 Problem Stream, Phase 1: Models of the Problem Recognition Process………………………………………………………………….116 Model 1: citizens and governmental interactions………………117 Model 2: citizens, education director, and tribal council interactions……………………………………………………...118 Model 3: citizens, tribal bureaucrat, and tribal council interactions……………………………………………………...119 Problem Stream, Phase 2: How Are These Problems Defined And Who Defines Them?.........................................................................................121 Policy Proposal Stream, Phase 3: How Do These Problems Get Prioritized On The Government's Decision Agenda?................................................124 Policy Proposal Stream, Phase 4: Who Generates Agenda Alternatives, and How Does A "Policy Window" Open For An Agenda Alternative?..............................................................................................126 Politics Stream, Phase 5: How Is Consensus Reached Around A Particular Agenda Alternative?................................................................................127 Summary and Chapter Preview………………………………………………………...129 CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................131 Summary of the Study’s Findings……………………………………………………...133 Implications, Limitations and Future Research………………………………………...135 APPENDIX.…………….......…………………………..............................................................138 BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................................................140 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Phases of Tribal Governmental Policy Development………………...………...…..…104 Table 2. Theoretical Framework of Concepts……………………………………….………….139 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. The Merging of the Three Policy Streams……………………………...……..………61 Figure 2. The Organizational Chart of the Grey Pomo of West River Government………………………………………………………………..……………..72 Figure 3. The Organizational Chart of the Pine Rancheria Government…………………….…..77 Figure 4. PRP Model 1: Citizens and Governmental Interactions……........…………………...117 Figure 5. PRP Model 2: Citizens, Education Director, and Tribal Council Interactions…………………………………………………………………..………….119 Figure 6. PRP Model 3: Citizens, Tribal Bureaucrat, and Tribal Council Interactions………...120 Figure 7. Agenda Alternative: Information Flow, Feedback, and Enactment…………..….…..128 viii CHAPTER 1: STUDY OVERVIEW United States law and policy regard American Indian tribes as quasi-sovereign political entities,1 with an inherent right to self-govern within the boundaries of their respective reservation territories (Canby, 2006; Gretches, Wilkinson, & Williams 2005; O’Brien, 1993). A set of landmark Supreme Court cases, congressional actions, and treaty negotiations during the early to mid-1800s through the 2000s laid the modern legal groundwork for tribes to maintain autonomous governmental systems that operate independently from state and federal governments (Canby, 2006; Cohen, 1955; Gretches, et al., 2005; Prucha, 1995). For the sake of providing a quick (and overly-simplified) definition of what a modern tribal government2 looks like, these political systems are scaled-down nations with governmental functions and responsibilities that are loosely comparable to other democratic nations. I say loosely comparable because inherently tribal governments are shaped by the needs,