Chapter 3: Southwest Tribal Perspectives on Native Language Learning and Assessment: Culture and Practice Implications for Early Childhood Education

Young children in American Indian communities are considered sacred by their communities as they are the key to the future. Young children in American Indian communities are honored by their elders and relatives as they know the importance of nurturing the next generation in traditional ways of knowing, being, and doing. Young children and their family members in American Indian communities are resilient as they have endured too many atrocities to count, and yet they continue to make a way for themselves in a society that has not wanted them as they are, but as they could mold them to be (Barnes-Najor, Thompson, & Wilson, 2019; Faircloth, 2015; Sarche & Spicer, 2008; Sarche & Whitesell, 2012). Any number of American Indian historians or scholars have documented the complex and challenging interactions between American Indians and the U.S. government—the implications of which have had tremendous impact on the education and care of all American Indian people but especially, the children—the very young children. In her 2015 article, “The Early Childhood Education of American Indian and Alaska Native Children: State of the Research,” Faircloth provided a thorough examination and analysis of the field. Rather than rehash that work, we encourage readers to review it as a companion piece to this chapter.