Silence as Weapons: Transformative Praxis among Native American Students in the Urban Southwest

Abstract

This article explores the benefits of verbal conflicts—contested storied spaces—in a Native American literature classroom composed of a multi-tribal and multicultural urban student body. Students in this course engage in whole-class verbal discussions focusing on contemporary and historical issues concerning Native American tribes and communities. Often these conversations focus on issues of oppression, colonization, and the unjust treatment of people of color. This article discusses the ways silence has been interpreted as a deficiency within standard schooling, then moves toward a view of silence as engaging, rich in identity construction, and filled with agency. Specifically, students who appeared to be silent during verbal exchanges in whole-class discussions were very much engaged and critical of the conversation, challenging dominant perceptions of silence as detrimental to education and learning. The conversations, herein, occurred within an ethnic studies course in a state that has banned the teaching of ethnic studies. Federal law protects Native American students from such dangerous legislation.