ABSTRACT
Within the realms of Native scholarship, the research discourse privileges indigenous intellectualism (Alfred, 1999; Grande, 2004; Wilson, 2008), tribal sovereignty, and tribal nations' rights to self-determination (Brayboy & Castagno, 2009; Champagne & Abu-Saad, 2006) as foundational concepts framing American Indian educational leadership. In the field of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) 1 education, current theories delve deeper and go beyond early suggestions that educators need to address cultural deficits found in Indian children to responding instructionally to cultural differences (Castagno & Brayboy, 2008; Lipka, Mohatt, & the Ciulistet Group, 1998; Lomawaima & McCarty, 2002; McCarty, 2002; Mohatt & Erickson, 1981; Philips, 1972). Because Native scholars have contributed to framing research and theorizing Indian education, the possibility of acknowledging Native cultures as sources of knowledge has become a foundational principle in the schooling of Native children and in conducting research in Indian education (i.e., Cajete, 1994; Demmert, 2004; Grande, 2004; Smith, 1999; Swisher, 1999; Swisher & Tippeconnic, 1999; Warner & Grint, 2006; Wilson, 2004; Yazzie-Mintz, 2007).
