Community self-determination : American Indian education in Chicago, 1952-2006 / John J. Laukaitis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Laukaitis, John J., author.

Series:

Tribal worlds : critical studies in American Indian nation building

SUNY series, Tribal worlds: critical studies in American Indian nation building

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Indians of North America--Education--Illinois--Chicago--History.

Indians of North America.

Indians of North America--Illinois--Chicago--History.

Indians of North America--Education.

History.

Illinois--Chicago.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xviii, 264 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Albany : State University of New York Press, [2015]

Summary:

Examines the educational programs American Indians developed to preserve their cultural and ethnic identity, improve their livelihood, and serve the needs of their youth in Chicago. After World War II, American Indians began relocating to urban areas in large numbers, in search of employment. Partly influenced by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, this migration from rural reservations to metropolitan centers presented both challenges and opportunities. This history examines the educational programs American Indians developed in Chicago and gives particular attention to how the American Indian community chose its own distinct path within and outside of the larger American Indian self-determination movement. In what John J. Laukaitis terms community self-determination, American Indians in Chicago demonstrated considerable agency as they developed their own programs and worked within already existent institutions. The community-based initiatives included youth programs at the American Indian Center and St. Augustine's Center for American Indians, the Native American Committee's Adult Learning Center, Little Big Horn High School, O-Wai-Ya-Wa Elementary School, Native American Educational Services College, and the Institute for Native American Development at Truman College. Community Self-Determination presents the first major examination of these initiatives and programs and provides an understanding of how education functioned as a form of activism for Chicago's American Indian community. John J. Laukaitis is Assistant Professor of Education at North Park University.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Relocation and Urbanization: American Indians in Uptown Chicago 7

Chapter 2 The Heart of the Community: The American Indian Center in Chicago 17

Chapter 3 A Matter of Mission: St. Augustine's Center for American Indians 35

Chapter 4 The Promise of Empowerment: The Native American Committee 51

Chapter 5 Bright Stars of Hope: Little Big Horn and. O-Wai-Ya-Wa 61

Chapter 6 Education for a Credentialed Leadership: NAES College 103

Chapter 7 Education for Opportunity: Truman College and INAD 137.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781438457697

1438457693

OCLC:

908108639