ABSTRACT
This is a retrospective overview of the development and evolution of a Native American ethno science curriculum and the underlying concept of “culturally based” educational modeling at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, NM, from 1974–1989. A culturally sensitive approach to art education that relied heavily on Native American cultural content had been an integral part of its mission, philosophy, and approach to education since the Institute’s very inception in 1962. There is great need for new and creative approaches to teaching both the process and the content of science to Native American students. Because culture shapes the inception and the reception of science in all its forms, any new approach must include the development of culturally relevant models of instruction and appropriate accompanying materials. The term “ethno science” is term originally coined by linguistically oriented ethnologists to refer to a type of methodology which attempts to understand phenomena from the viewpoint of a particular culture.
