The Yazzie Case
The Yazzie Case
Building a Public Education System for Our Indigenous Future
The story of Wilhelmina Yazzie and her son's effort to seek an adequate education in New Mexico schools revealed an educational system with poor policy implementation, inadequate funding, and piecemeal educational reform. The 2018 decision in the Yazzie/Martinez lawsuit proved what has always been known: the educational needs of Native American students were not being met.
In this superb collection of essays, the contributors cover the background and significance of the lawsuit and its impact on racial and social politics. The Yazzie Case provides essential reading for educators, policy analysts, attorneys, professors, and students to understand the historically entrenched racism and colonial barriers impacting all Native American students in New Mexico's public schools. It constructs a new vision and calls for transformational change to resolve the systemic challenges plaguing Native American students in New Mexico's public education system.
Contributors
Georgina Badoni
Cynthia Benally
Rebecca Blum Martínez
Nathaniel Charley
Melvatha R. Chee
Shiv R. Desai
Donna Deyhle
Terri Flowerday
Wendy S. Greyeyes
Alexandra Bray Kinsella
Lloyd L. Lee
Tiffany S. Lee
Nancy López
Hondo Louis (photographer)
Glenabah Martinez
Natalie Martinez
Jonathan Nez
Carlotta Penny Bird
Karl Pino (cover artist)
Preston Sanchez
Karen C. Sanchez-Griego
Christine Sims
Leola Tsinnajinnie Paquin
Vincent Werito
Wilhelmina Yazzie
An unchanged education effectuated by systems and institutions not designed for us will continue to marginalize our Indigenous people and children. The heart of this continuing fight is for justice and equity. It is about the right to exist as we choose. Wilhelmina Yazzie personalizes the heartbreaking story of generations of parents in this struggle. She eloquently speaks of her love of her language and culture and the value of a balanced education, treating both as equally valuable for the health of our children and the future well-being of our people.
'The Yazzie Case is an extraordinarily and profoundly compelling call to action. It should be read by policymakers and educators at all levels. The book provides a history that should be required reading for us to realize what we are doing to ourselves in a state where 80 percent of our children come from linguistic and culturally different backgrounds. That is what enriches our diversity. We must act to do the right thing for the right reasons at the right time. This is the time!'--Regis Pecos, former governor of Cochiti Pueblo
A critically important collection. . . . The text offers high-quality educational and Indigenous education research, and it proposes recommendations and insights for practitioners in the field. Practitioners, lawyers, educators, parents, undergraduate and graduate students, policymakers, and white, non-Native public school teachers--all those who are invested in the education of our Native children will benefit.'--John P. Hopkins, author of Indian Education for All: Decolonizing Indigenous Education in Public Schools
A superb collection of essays analyzing the issues involved in the Martinez/Yazzie lawsuit and what needs to be done to fully implement the judge's decision supporting the plaintiffs.'--Jon Allan Reyhner, coauthor of American Indian Education: A History
Wendy S. Greyeyes (Diné) is an associate professor of Native American Studies at the University of New Mexico and the chair for the Indian Education Advisory Council for the State of New Mexico. Lloyd L. Lee (Diné) is a professor of Native American Studies at the University of New Mexico and the director for the Center for Regional Studies. Glenabah Martinez (Taos/Diné) is an associate professor in the Department of Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies at the University of New Mexico and the director of the Institute for American Indian Education.
List of Illustrations
List of Tables
Preface
Wilhelmina Yazzie
Introduction. An Examination of the Yazzie Side of the Martinez/Yazzie Lawsuit
Wendy S. Greyeyes, Lloyd L. Lee, and Glenabah Martinez
Part I. The Case
Chapter One. The Legal Significance and Background of the Yazzie/Martinez Lawsuit
Preston Sanchez
Chapter Two. Post-Summit Report on the Yazzie/Martinez Ruling: Action Report
Glenabah Martinez, Terri Flowerday, Lloyd L. Lee, Leola Paquin, Wendy S. Greyeyes, Nathaniel Charley, and Carlotta Penny Bird
Chapter Three. Witness Perspective from a Mother and Academic
Georgina Badoni
Chapter Four. The Significance of the New Mexico Indian Education Act in the Yazzie/Martinez Case
Carlotta Penny Bird
Part II. The Response
Chapter Five. The New Mexico Public Education Department Response: An Analysis of the 2021 Strategic Plan to Resolve the Yazzie/Martinez Case
Wendy S. Greyeyes
Chapter Six. Navajo Nation's Response to the Yazzie/Martinez Case: Implications for Navajo Nation's Educational Sovereignty
Alexandra Bray Kinsella, Navajo Nation Department of Justice Attorney (2018-2021)
Chapter Seven. Narratives and Responses to Yazzie/Martinez: Tribal Consultation and Community Engagement
Natalie Martinez
Chapter Eight. The Department of Native American Studies at the University of New Mexico: Role and Responsibilities with the Yazzie v. New Mexico Education Ruling
Lloyd L. Lee
Part III. The Future
Chapter Nine. The Yazzie/Martinez Ruling: The Politics of Culturally Relevant Curriculum
Glenabah Martinez
Chapter Ten. The Complexities of Language Learning for New Mexico's Indigenous Students
Christine Sims and Rebecca Blum Martínez
Chapter Eleven. Diné Language Teacher Institute and Language Immersion Education
Tiffany S. Lee, Vincent Werito, and Melvatha R. Chee
Chapter Twelve. Lessons from the Past: Fifty Years after Sinajini v. Board of Education of San Juan School District
Cynthia Benally and Donna Deyhle
Chapter Thirteen. Promoting Solidarity for Social Justice and Indigenous Educational Sovereignty in the Cuba Independent School District
Leola Tsinnajinnie Paquin, Shiv R. Desai, Vincent Werito, Nancy López, and Karen Sanchez-Griego
Conclusion. Constructing Critically Conscious Race Policy for Our State: The Case for a Re-racialization and Indigenizing of Our Education Policies
Wendy S. Greyeyes and Navajo Nation president Jonathan Nez
Appendix A. Teaching Recommendations for this Book
Appendix B. Martinez/Yazzie v. State of New Mexico Lawsuit Timeline
Bibliography
Contributors
Index
