Creating and Negotiating Native Spaces in Public School Systems: An Arizona Example

Abstract

In the midst of Arizona's anti-ethnicity laws, two educational policies were passed that require instruction of Native American history. Using Lomawaima and McCarty's (2006) Safety Zone Theory, this article draws from a larger Institutional Review Board-approved interpretive policy analysis (Yanow, 2000) and phenomenological study centering on the policies' intent and practice in five urban school districts. Semistructured interviews were conducted with legislative and local stakeholders. Data were gathered from the legislative archives and state social studies standards. Findings indicated that the "footprints" of former Navajo Nation president and then-Arizona state senator Albert Hale formed the foundation for Senate Bill (S.B.) 1365. The original intent of S.B. 1365 was to instruct about Native American government and sovereignty, Native American culture, and Native American history; however, only Native American history was mandated. A majority of the district personnel interviewed lacked knowledge of the policies but believed they were implementing the policies because they utilized the state social studies standards. In the analysis of the standards, findings indicated incongruence between the original intent of the bill and instructional practice.