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PREFACE

The following collection of articles represents the "state of the art" with regard to understanding and attending to cross-cultural issues in Alaskan education. The views presented by the various authors indicate some of the approaches being taken to ameliorate what are probably the most vexing problems faced by educators anywhere in the country. The articles were selected to present a variety of views on a wide range of issues, all associated with the complex cross-cultural problems inherent in the delivery of educational services to Alaska's multicultural population. The authors are all active participants in the processes and programs they describe, though the views presented are their own.
The original idea for this collection grew out of a symposium on "Native Education in Alaska" presented by staff and students of the Cross Cultural Education Development Program (X-CED) at the Society for Applied Anthropology meeting in St. Louis, in March, 1976. The papers presented at the symposium served as a core around which the other articles were assembled. Some of the papers included here have been circulating for awhile amongst small groups of people, but only a few have been available to a broad public audience. The intent of this publication is to provide for this broader dissemination, and to encourage interaction and exchange of ideas on the issues.
The collection is dedicated to the late Bill Vaudrin, who, through his personal commitment and effort to improve educational opportunities in Alaska, was a primary force in bringing about the shift to local control of education currently taking place throughout the State. His legacy is best reflected in his writing, of which excerpts have been selected with the help of Conny Katasse, and are included here with the kind permission of Dave Osterback. The excerpts introducing each section are taken from the Iñupiat University Catalog (1975-76), with the exception of the poem in Part lll, which was selected from a collection of unpublished poetry, and the excerpt introducing Part IV, which was taken from an article titled "Native/Non-Native Communication: Creating a Two-way Flow."
I wish to express my appreciation to the authors of the articles for permission to include their material, to Jim Stricks for designing the cover, to Mike Gaffney for his editorial assistance, to Jo Lu for typing the many versions of the papers, to Frank Darnell and the CNER staff for taking on the task of publishing the articles, and to the X-CED staff for their tolerance for ambiguity.
With that, I turn it over to you, the reader.
Ray Barnhardt, Editor

Information about the resource can be found at:
ANKN Clearinghouse
P.O.Box 756730
Fairbanks, Alaska 99775-6730

Tel: (907) 474-5897

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