Publication #1: The Ghosts of American Indian Boarding Schools Still Haunt San Diego’s Native American Students
Native American Heritage Month is Over, but the Plight of this Community Persists
Written By: Leanne Liaw
Edited By: Samantha Amantea, Caren Aguirre, Holly Harwood, Leanne Liaw, Alissa Lun, and Andrea Ongaco
Acknowledgements: Thank You to Ms. Ami Admire for allowing us to interview and learn from her extensive work with the Rincon Indian Reservation
The United States celebrated its 402nd Thanksgiving this November, an event which, as the story goes, came about when the members of the indigenous Wampanoag tribe brought food and other gifts to a feast set by the English pilgrims of Plymouth Rock. While then governor of Plymouth Colony William Bradford briefly recorded the purpose of this event as an honors of the long term “friendship” between the two peoples, current Mashpee Wampanoag members and historian Paula Peters notes that recollections of the same event passed from the Wampanoag’s perspective tell a more hostile story.
In a 2021 interview with National Public Radio (NPR), Peters details that rather than being invited to the harvest feast, the local Wampanoag felt threatened by the celebratory gunshots fired by the Plymouth Colony militia and arrived at the feast armed for battle (Cornish, 2021, 1:40 - 1:43). After confirming the Plymouth Colony members did not pose a threat, the Wampanoag were invited to stay for a presumed friendly feast. The celebration alone, not the context of which it occurred, has been perpetuated and popularized in American media for generations. Peters emphasizes that this spotlight on a single moment of cooperation between the Indigenous and
settler groups forgoes further explanation into the “centuries of violent displacement”, manipulation, and cultural erasure that led to the extreme diminishment of Wampanoag culture and sovereignty in land now recognized as the state of Massachusetts (Cornish, 2021, 2:30 - 2:46).
​
The continued bastardization of Thanksgiving’s origins is not the only instance of history being scrubbed free of Indigenous people’s pain from the colonizers’ point of view. In the last two decades, multiple western forces have begun to issue formal apologies regarding the forced cultural erasure, prolonged educational injustices, as well as kidnappings and murders of Indigenous children. In residential schools across the Global North, modern influential figures like the Catholic Pope Francis state they are horrified to see how the previous unresolved traumas “have become intergenerational traumas” (Shivaram, 2022). However, the injustices committed on Indigenous children is not a figment of the past. In fact, these cultural and physical traumas are still being inflicted on Native and Indigenous students today, especially in San Diego County.
Section #1: The Current Situation on Violence against Native-Indigenous Students
On November 10, 2023, directors at the AS Student Sustainability Collective at UC San Diego were able to meet and learn from Ami Admire, a member of the local Payómkawichum people and Executive Director of Californian Native and Indigenous reparations organization ‘ataaxum Pomkwaan. Through this interview, Admire highlighted the continuous harm inflicted upon San Diego’s Indigenous peoples – especially K-12 students – due to willful denial of cultural and ethnic discrimination in school environments. For context, while the 1846 to 1873 genocide of Californian indigenous peoples led to approximately 9,000 to 16,000 direct deaths and thousands more in enslavement, as of 2020, California maintained the largest number of Latin American Indians and combined-race American Indians in the United States (Madley, 2016) (Sánchez-Rivera et al., 2023). Moreover, Admire highlighted that San Diego County had the second-largest native student population in the state of California “with the largest number of reservations of any county in the country” (Admire, 2023, 13:50).
Despite a comparatively-robust Indigenous student population in San Diego, Admire asserts that K-12 Indigenous students in the Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District (VCPUSD) are suffering from a dire lack of resources. In an observational study on suspensions and chronic absenteeism within the VCPUSD, it was found that 31 of the 133 (23.3%) students expelled from the Valley Center Middle School in the 2018-2019 academic year identified as Native American. Meanwhile, Native American students comprised 14 of 73 (19.2%) expelled students from the Valley Center High School and 4 of the 20 (20%) expelled students from Oak Glen High School (Admire, 2023, 17:28).
"San Diego County has the second-largest native student population in the state of California 'with the largest number of reservations of any county in the country'".
-- Ami Admire (2023)
This cohort of expelled Native students – a group that doubled since the 2017-2018 school year – can no longer access essential public health resources like school-site health services, multilingual counseling for grief and loss, food and transportation services, vaccine information, and safety hotlines (Admire, 2023, 17:55) (Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District, 2023).
​
Most importantly, expelled students can no longer access the subsidized student health insurance plans provided by schools to enrolled students. It is also essential to note that at least 70% of the student populations at the following schools come from minority racial groups, with Valley Center Middle School maintaining 911 total students, Valley Center High School with 1,228, and Oak Glen High School consisting of 63 enrollees for the 2023-2024 academic year (US News, 2023). This abrupt lack of healthcare access can set off a chain reaction that ultimately decreases a student’s prospects in both health and education. Inaccessibility to consistent health care and clinics can lead to a plethora of issues including but not limited to inaccurate health records and vaccination delays which can prohibit students from attending schools entirely.
"...higher 'school-level use of exclusionary discipline' like out-of-school suspension instilled fear and lower self-worth in the still-enrolled student population
(Lacoe & Steinberg, 2018)".
Even if Native and Indigenous students remain in school, Admire divulges that only 13% of Native students who graduate high school display proficiency in mathematics (Admire, 2023, 13:29). Although a 2018 study exploring the effect of suspensions on K-12 student outcomes in Philadelphia supported this relationship in number of infractions and lower math test scores, the same study also found that observing higher “school-level use of exclusionary discipline” like out-of-school suspension instilled fear and lower self-worth in the still-enrolled student population (Lacoe & Steinberg, 2018).
This adverse mental state, in turn, led to enrolled students experiencing a decrease in mathematics and English language arts as well (Lacoe & Steinberg, 2018). When compounded with the pre-existing cultural traumas of Indigenous students and lack of teacher support systems (i.e., American Indian or Alaskan Native teachers made up 0.5% of California's public school teacher population in 2019), the mental toll of suspension on the remaining peers caused them to report lower levels of safety in school (Data Reporting Office Of the California Department of Education, 2023) (Lacoe & Steinberg, 2018). Moreover, elevated use of exclusionary discipline supported negative stereotyping of students, as teachers in such schools reported increased perception of crime and disorderly conduct regardless of whether the discipline was for a minor or major infraction (Lacoe & Steinberg, 2018).
​
In spite of this educational inequality and absence of safe learning environments, Native American students in SD County maintained successful high school graduation rates of 90% (Admire, 2023, 13:29). This contrasting data between low educational and health outcomes and high graduation rates is evidence that the current VCPUSD system discourages its Native American population from bettering their quality of education, quality of health, and – most importantly – their quality of life (Admire, 2023, 13:29).
Section #2: How Do these Disparities Impact Quality of Life for Indigenous San Diegans?
The prolonged loss of educational and health advancements for the Native and Indigenous communities in the United States has already expressed itself in a spiraling decline of life expectancy. In a review of national average life expectancies across racial groups between 2000 and 2019, American Indians and Alaskan Natives were the only group to experience no increase (Dwyer-Lindgren et al., 2022). The same group also had the lowest average lifespan of all races at 71.5 to 74.8 years (Dwyer-Lindgren et al., 2022). Moreover, following the height of the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., 2019 to 2021), life expectancies for all Native groups fell further from around 72 years in 2019 to 65 years in 2021 (Goldman & Andrasfay, 2022). Given that predicted Native life expectancies from birth are continuing to fall despite successful vaccination campaigns, it is clear that there are other, non-biological factors influencing this decline.
According to Admire, the greatest social determinant of health leading to lower life spans is the treatment of Indigenous youth in school settings. Oversight and intentional neglect of this student population “isn’t something new”, she remarks, “It’s… kind of akin to the boarding schools… [Native populations] have always known about the tragedy” (Admire, 2023, 13:16). As a former coordinator of the Indian Health Council specializing in providing mental health services to Indigenous San Diegans, Admire noted a prevalence of Native children feeling neither supported nor safe in their schools. In her discussions with these children, Admire has consistently seen feelings of isolation and fears manifesting in behavioral challenges, especially at ages where they are learning how to express their emotions (Admire, 2023, 13:16-13:17).
"Oversight and intentional neglect of this student population 'isn’t something new', she remarks, 'It’s… kind of akin to the boarding schools… [Native populations] have always known about the tragedy'".
-- Ami Admire (2023)
Additionally, Admire laments the inconsistent disciplinary matrices across schools in the VCPUSD. When actions as simple as “wearing hats with writing and chewing gum” can lead to disciplinary consequences like suspension or expulsion, Indigenous students are often sent into “survival mode” in fear of unpredictable reactions from school administrators (Admire, 2023, 13:19-13:20). Admire further discusses that the targeted increase in disciplinary action for marginalized students like the Indigenous population in the VCPUSD serves to reinforce negative cultural stereotyping by the mostly non-Indigenous
administrators, driving increased neglect and severity of punishment while decreasing students’ feelings of self-worth. As these students are forced to spend less time in school, not only is their exposure to essential academic disciplines like mathematics and English language arts limited, but also their abilities to forge solidarity with their peers and teachers (Admire, 2023, 13:24).
​
Experiencing the lack of access to support systems and academic resources (i.e., major factors of socioeconomic mobility), Indigenous youth are more likely to resort to substance abuse and pursuit of illicit activities. This rising prevalence of school expulsions and dependence on addictive substances is directly suppressing both the current generation of San Diego’s Native and Indigenous young adults and their children. In a recent UC San Diego study on fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) in the Southern California American Indian community, around 21% of the 94 child participants exhibited symptoms of FASD, with “14 participants meeting criteria for alcohol-related neuro-developmental disorders'' (Montag et al., 2019). The detriment of this study’s results are all the more appalling when compounded with the fact that Native populations in Western U.S. states are 3.7 times more likely to die from alcohol poisonings than their non-Hispanic White counterparts, given that Native Americans have an extensive history of experiencing higher burden of substance abuse compared to all other racial groups (Karaye et al., 2023). Thus, the isolation and hostility felt from the lack of school-based support systems both perpetuates the mental and physical harm onto San Diego’s Native and Indigenous youth and ensures this school to drug pipeline persists for future generations.
Section #3: What can School Systems and College Students do about this Crisis?
To mitigate this intergenerational health crisis, schools like those within the VCPUSD must see their Indigenous students as more than just numbers.
As U.S. public school systems were not initially designed to accommodate the generational trauma of Native Americans regarding these institutions, Admire states that Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act – of which federal funds are allocated to public schools the upliftment of Native American education – should be re-examined with members of the local Native and Indigenous communities being active participants. She also mentions that increased funding and attention would allow the allocation of school mentors and educational frameworks that integrate the culture of the local native populations (Admire, 2023, 12:34). Establishing sustainable and effective after-school programs that actively encourage Native students to pursue advantageous career skills like computer programming or social clubs that allow them to connect with each other at school would be a beneficial first step to bettering their mental wellbeing. In a similar vein, although the VCPUSD does provide certain grief and trauma resources to their students, providing training “in trauma informed and restorative practices” to school administrators who actually interact with Native and Indigenous children could bolster the approachability of these faculty members to this student population (Admire, 2023, 13:71).
"Those not actively affected by the plight of Native Americans have been systematically taught to not care for these disparities. Thus, actively seeking ways to aid in relief, recovery, and reform of these systems is the best way to unlearn these behaviors".
-- Ami Admire (2023)
For UC San Diego students and other individuals wanting to help bridge these educational and health wellbeing gaps, Admire stresses that the biggest way to help is to just care about the plight of San Diegan Native and Indigenous Americans. “If you look at the 1969 Kennedy Report [(i.e., a report released by the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare on the failings of the American Indian education structure]”, she points out, “that report outlines all the same [issues] that are happening now” (Admire, 2023, 13:14). She continues, explaining that historically, those not actively affected by the plight of Native Americans have been systematically taught to not care for these disparities.
Thus, actively seeking ways to aid in relief, recovery, and reform of these systems is the best way to unlearn these behaviors (Admire, 2023, 13:15).
​
In California, there are multiple avenues to reinforce current centers for American Indigenous health and education upliftment. For example, centers like the Southern California American Indian Resource Center and American Indian Education Centers are currently accepting donations to advance current academic tutorial, bonding, and counseling programs that seek to close the educational gap of Indigenous students in a safe, nurturing environment. 4 of these American Indian Education Centers are located throughout SD county. From a health perspective, the San Diego American Indian Health Center is currently accepting donations for its various wellness services. Likewise, the California Consortium for Urban Indian Health offers internships to students throughout the year. There are even opportunities to show support for Native and Indigenous students on campus through donating and attending year-round events held by UC San Diego’s Intertribal Resource Center and affiliated student organizations. Even increasing representation of American Indigenous teachers and other role models in school settings has consistently shown to increase student admittance into academically-gifted school programs, as these marginalized students are able to connect with their mentors beyond their academic studies and mentors can empathize with their students’ feelings of social and academic disconnect (Grissom et al., 2017).
​
Given the continued systematic harm inflicted upon Native American and Indigenous students in school settings, Ami Admire’s biggest concern is that students feel unworthy of the success that comes with social mobility and betterment of their quality of life. Her ultimate goal as a reparations advocate is to remove this mindset from current generations of students.
If we hope to dismantle the growing school-to-substance abuse pipeline in San Diego’s Native population, it should be ours as well.
References
Admire, A. (2023, November 10). Discussion of Current Experiences of San Diego’s Native and Indigenous Students (L. Liaw, Interviewer) [Interview]. In Zoom.us.
​
Cornish, A. (2021, November 21). The indigenous stories glossed over in the typical “first thanksgiving” story (P. Peters, Interviewer) [Interview]. In National Public Radio. https://www.npr.org/2021/11/24/1059018219/the-indigenous-stories-glossed-over-in-the-typical-first-thanksgiving-story
Data Reporting Office Of the California Department of Education. (2023, March 15). Fingertip Facts on Education in California - Accessing Educational Data (CA Dept of Education). Www.cde.ca.gov; California Department of Education. https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/ad/ceffingertipfacts.asp
Dwyer-Lindgren, L., Kendrick, P., Kelly, Y. O., Sylte, D. O., Schmidt, C., Blacker, B. F., Daoud, F., Abdi, A. A., Baumann, M., Mouhanna, F., Kahn, E., Hay, S. I., Mensah, G. A., Nápoles, A. M., Pérez-Stable, E. J., Shiels, M., Freedman, N., Arias, E., George, S. A., & Murray, D. M. (2022). Life expectancy by county, race, and ethnicity in the USA, 2000–19: A systematic analysis of health disparities. The Lancet, 400(10345), 25–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(22)00876-5
Englehart, B. (2022). Thanksgiving 2022 [Digital]. In Daily Journal. https://www.djournal.com/opinion/editorial-cartoons/bob-englehart-thanksgiving-2022/image_e3152c09-6773-52c1-a7cf-19f3b14edf78.html
Goldman, N., & Andrasfay, T. (2022). Life expectancy loss among native americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. Demographic Research, 47, 233–246. https://doi.org/10.4054/demres.2022.47.9
Grissom, J. A., Rodriguez, L. A., & Kern, E. C. (2017). Teacher and Principal Diversity and the Representation of Students of Color in Gifted Programs: Evidence from National Data. The Elementary School Journal, 117(3), 396–422. https://doi.org/10.1086/690274
Karaye, I. M., Maleki, N., & Ismaeel Yunusa. (2023). Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Alcohol-Attributed Deaths in the United States, 1999–2020. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(8), 5587–5587. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20085587
Lacoe, J., & Steinberg, M. P. (2018). Do Suspensions Affect Student Outcomes? Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 41(1), 34–62. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373718794897
Madley, B. (2016). An American genocide : the United States and the California Indian catastrophe, 1846-1873 (pp. 11, 351). Yale University Press.
Montag, A., Romero, R., Jensen, T., Goodblanket, A., Admire, A., Whitten, C., Calac, D., Akshoomoff, N.,
Sanchez, M., Zacarias, M., Zellner, J., del Campo, M., Jones, K., & Chambers, C. (2019). The Prevalence of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders in An American Indian Community. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(12), 2179. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16122179
Sánchez-Rivera, A. I., Jacobs, P., & Spence, C. (2023, November 3). A look at the largest american indian and alaska native tribes and villages in the nation, tribal areas and states. Census.gov; U.S. Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2023/10/2020-census-dhc-a-aian-population.html#:~:text=Over%20half%20(50.9%25)%20of
Shivaram, D. (2022, April 1). The pope apologizes for abuse of indigenous children in canada’s residential schools. National Public Radio. https://www.npr.org/2022/04/01/1090213962/pope-francis-apology-indigenous-people-canada
Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District. (2023). Valley Center-Pauma. Www.vcpusd.org. https://www.vcpusd.org/page/health-and-safety