Chapter 6: Native American Doctoral Students Build a Bridge into Community Engagement

Once a teacher told me a story about bridges. He said that about one mile from his school, there was a 50-yard bridge for the Native American elementary school children to cross. There was a river running about 10 feet below it, and the bridge was the only crossing to the school. Two wooden planks and rope “handrails” constructed this bridge, so it swayed when windy or when more than a few children crossed it at once. Some children crossed the bridge with their bicycles, pushing them the whole way; after all, it was still another mile to the school after crossing the bridge. No school buses could get through, so this was the only way for a large number of children to get to the school. Had the government wished to solve the problem any number of ways, it would have done so a long time ago. But the children came anyway, danger awaiting each crossing, a 10-foot drop into running water. It really was not that big a concern. They, their parents, and those who came before them knew they had to cross the bridge to get an education.