Article
“I’ll Be Right Behind You”: Native American Families, Land Debt, and College Affordability
AERA Open
(2021)
Abstract
Family connections are critical for Native student persistence, yet families’ voices are absent in research. Using an Indigenous-specific version of educational debt, land debt, we center familial perspectives by exploring the financial strug- gles among Native families as their students transition to a Predominately White Institution. Findings indicate that Indigenous families experienced fear and frustration surrounding college affordability and the financial aid process. Regardless, these Native families made extreme sacrifices in paying for college. These findings were contextualized within the economic condi- tions created by land theft from Indigenous peoples. Returning to land debt, we argue that institutions need to begin from a perspective of what is owed to Native peoples in their policy decisions. That is, such decisions should take account of the benefits historically accrued by institutions residing on forcibly taken Indigenous land, and then examine how that debt can be repaid by supporting Native students, families, and communities.
Keywords
- educational debt,
- Native American college students,
- family experiences,
- college affordability,
- Indigenous meth- odology,
- sharing circles
Disciplines
Publication Date
2021
DOI
10.1177/23328584211025522
Citation Information
Tachine, A., & Cabrera, N. L. (2021). “I’ll be right behind you”: Native American families and college affordability. AERA Open. DOI: 10.1177/23328584211025522