American Indian Students Speak Out: What's Good Citizenship?

Abstract

For much of our country’s history, citizenship has eluded American Indian people. With this in mind, the authors conducted a study to determine the perceptions of eighth and eleventh grade American Indian students regarding citizenship. We wanted to find out what American Indian students believe are the attributes of a good citizen; what activities they are currently participating in that are related to good citizenship; and what citizenship activities they see themselves performing ten years later in life. The results of the research study indicated that American Indian students’ views of citizenship were grounded in community service rather than in political engagement. For these students, volunteering in community and tribal activities seemed to be an alternative to political activity. Voting and running for political office and engaging in political activities were many times equated to participating in their local tribal organization. However, the fact that these students do not focus to a great extent on political engagement may not be cause for alarm. Their involvement in civic activities in the community and the tribal organization is providing a strong foundation for future civic and political engagement.