Armstrong, Jeanette. 1996 “Sharing One Skin: The Okanagan Community” Pp. 460-470 in Jerry Mander and Edward Goldsmith (eds.) The Case Against the Global Economy, San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books. 

In the article, Toastie talks about the importance of places and how their names have significant meanings. Each name has a story and it is sacred to native people. It gives the people connection to the land and their identity. Giving places special names gives it power and meaning. He says that when places are renamed after colonizers or other random names, people lose respect for those places and it loses its value. 

Toastie, B. “How place names impact the way we see landscape.” High Country News: Know that West, 1 May 2022, https://www.hcn.org/issues/54.5/people-places-how-place-names-impact-the-way, Accessed 27 August 2022. 

Joe Suina describes his home life before attending school and how he was changed after attending school. He describes his comfortable home life and how his school was strange and so was his "white" teacher. Over time he began to adapt to the white man's way and felt himself drifting from his old life. He longed to reconnect to his Pueblo but knew he would have to find a balance between the two.

Suina, Joe. “And Then I Went to School” , the New Mexico Journal of Reading, https://rethinkingschools.org/articles/and-then-i-went-to-school/ Vol. V, No.2. 1985.

The Esther Martinez act expired back in 2012 but was kept alive via annual appropriations. However an identical version was passed by the senate and Ben Ray Lujan spoke in support of the bill. The Esther Martinez Act allocated $10 million dollars to language programs for American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students. This was done to ensure the survival and growth of language because, "The survival of native languages is fundamental to the success of Native communities and survival of traditional Native cultures." 

Languagepolicy.org, 2015, www.languagepolicy.org/post/esther-martinez-native-american-languages-program-passes-house.

This article talks about the academic challenges that Native Americans face. When Native students are getting ready to go back to school, it is a time filled with stress and anxiety instead of excitement. This is due to the historical trauma of boarding schools. From this came stereotypes of Native Americans leading them to having low self-esteem. Most Natives have a negative attitude toward school and it gets passed down, Native Americans are always trying to find a balance between the contemporary and native world. "These resilient people are on a journey of rediscovery and healing." Living in a world that does not understand their customs can lead to isolation and self-doubt. The article also mentions that schools are underfunded and leads to insufficient opportunities. 

Hope, Native. “The Issues Surrounding Native American Education.” Blog.nativehope.org, 17 Aug. 2023, blog.nativehope.org/the-issues-surrounding-native-american-education#:~:text=Because%20of%20the%20impoverished%20economies.

In the Ted Talk, "Education System v. Cultural Competence", Gracia Bareti shares her experience growing up and navigating different cultures in a school setting. She expresses that she had always felt different from other students because she had different beliefs, food, and customs. Bareti felt as though the school system failed to teach about cultural awareness. When she was taught about African American history, only slavery was taught and never more in depth about the cultural side. She says, "I went from being taught it is 'not in our culture' to 'not in our curriculum'" She feels as though she has to take on the teacher role because schools are not being culturally competent. 

TEDx Talks. “Education System v. Cultural Competence | Gracia Bareti | TEDxDirigo.” YouTube, 12 Dec. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBJBWenlIjY.

Hispanic girls face many challenges wgen going into college. This includes barriers, family loyalty, and teenage motherhood.  15 year-old Valarie Sanchez had a hard time transitioning educationally after she moved from Mexico when she was 9. Taking English classes was a challenge and she was held back in 8th grade. Latinas face "cultural, economic, and educational barriers to finishing high school and entering and completing college" The other challenges some may face are immigration status, poverty, discrimination, low self-esteem, higher rates of depression and attempted suicide, gender stereotypes, and limited English proficiency, Latinas also have great loyalty to their families. Often times they take care of the younger children and elderlies. They are sometimes expected to live with their parents until they are married. Saray Argumedo says, "I thought that they would be proud of me, but why are they so angry?" Her mother questions why she spends so much time with her education and not family. Family loyalty causes some Latinas to choose less competitive schools closer to home. Teenage pregnancy is also a problem. 52% of Latinas become pregnant before age 20. 

Unmuth, Katherine Leal. “Hispanic Girls Face Special Barriers on Road to College.” Education Week, 2 June 2012, www.edweek.org/leadership/hispanic-girls-face-special-barriers-on-road-to-college/2012/06.

The cycle of poverty, educators, and UNICEF's educational efforts are a major issue in Sudan. Due to poverty, many people abandon their education to find work in order to provide for their families. The curriculum lacks active learning and teaching materials are often outdated or non-existent. There are only 7,315 employed teachers in Sudan and 3,692 are unqualified. UNICEF is making efforts to provide children with a more quality education starting at a young age. 

“The Education and Poverty Crisis in Sudan.” The Borgen Project, 6 Jan. 2021, borgenproject.org/education-and-poverty-crisis-in-sudan/.

The Ted Talk by Andrea Hernandez discusses the expectations and challenges a first generation college student faces. Her parents never attended college but they greatly value her education. So they have high expectation they put on her. She had no idea what college was like and when she got there, she felt ashamed to be a first gen. student. She had no support and didn't ask for help because she didn't want anybody's pity. With no resources she had to work 10 times harder than her peers. She almost failed out of college until she met another staff member who was a first generation student that supported her. 

“The Invisible Difference of a First Generation College Student | Andrea Hernandez | TEDxHopeCollege.” Www.youtube.com, www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6roTbQEABk.