Educational Sovereignty: Creating Community by Ensuring Belonging

The purpose of this research is to look at how we can use the education system as a tool to restore tribal identity and create belonging. To successfully see this work through the Lummi Nation, I will have to look at ways to challenge the formalized Western Education System and acknowledge its impacts on identity development. Pre-contact, the Lummi people had education systems in place that ensured the transmission of sacred knowledge, the learning took place within the house, and it was the family’s responsibility to ensure the children grew up knowing the family values. The house of learning was broken down due to colonization and forced assimilation, creating a generational gap. The traditional ways of teaching and learning were replaced with foreign knowledge systems. This research asks, “How do we use the education system as a tool to help restore tribal identity and create belonging?” and “What are the internal and external barriers preventing Lummi Nation School from implementing findings?” Through story-sharing sessions, archival research, and a case study focused on the creation story of the Blackhawk Singers, I found a common theme that focused on the importance of mentorship and transitions. Currently, the Lummi Nation follows a model for helping children identify their gifts and ensuring belonging through the Gifted and Talented Program and Transitions Program, available only in specific subjects and for students identified as special education. In this paper, I propose a new model for Gifted and Talented and Transitions to ensure students have equal access to mentorship and transition programs that can help create a sense of belonging and identity development.

About the Author

Merisa Jones is an enrolled member of the Lummi Nation located near Bellingham, Washington. She has worked in education for over 12 years at the Lummi Nation School and Northwest Indian College. Since 2021, she has held the position of Chief Policy Analyst at the Lummi Indian Business Council. She continues to teach part-time at the Northwest Indian College within the Native Studies Leadership Program. In 2023 she earned her Ed.D. in Education Leadership from the University of Washington. Dr. Jones’ passions include educational sovereignty and using tribal education systems as a tool to help Native American children build a strong identity.

Merisa Jones was a College Fund Doctoral Dissertation Fellow in 2022-23.