INDIGENOUS MILLENNIAL STUDENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

The status of American Indian and Alaskan Native education is fundamentally different from that of other racialized groups; tribal nations and their citizens are unique in that they are not just a racialized group, but political or legal ones as well (Brayboy, 2005). American Indians and Alaskan Natives (hereafter referred to as Indigenous peoples, or students) are named in the U.S. Constitution twice, and the role of this legal relationship becomes important when examining educational issues (as well as health and other entitlements) for the group. In the process of signing 371 treaties, which were agreements between Indigenous nations and the U.S. government, in addition to over 5,000 congressional acts and executive orders, Indigenous peoples ceded 1 billion acres of land to the United States (Deyhle & Swisher, 1997). Many of these treaties and other laws, executive orders, and acts explicitly address Indigenous education by outlining specific provisions, while others offer broader notions of how the U.S. government would address the educational needs of Indigenous students. Importantly, Indigenous education is still largely connected to and, at least in part, funded by the U.S. government, which makes it fundamentally different from the public education experienced by every other racialized group (Lomawaima & McCarty, 2006).