A Study on Historical, Educational, and Ethical Dilemmas for Native Americans

Master's thesis written by Choctaw member, Allison Cawthon. Music teachers who want to incorporate Native American music and culture into their classrooms can have difficulties. Lack of authentic resources, threat of cultural offense or backlash, and limited training have contributed to teachers’ confusion and reluctance to incorporate Native music in their classrooms. This thesis will confront and bring into focus some of the challenges with teaching Native American music and culture in a US classroom. A quantitative study on music teachers’ understanding of Native American culture and their implementation of such is outlined, as well as what this study means for current and future music educators. Specific Native American historical events will be addressed, as well as the presentday effects of colonization on Native American students in the classroom. Specific methods for music teachers to decolonize and support Native American culture in their classrooms will be presented.