Bilingual Curriculum among the Northern Arapaho: Oral Tradition, Literacy, and Performance

In this article, the author suggests "that Northern Arapaho language classrooms, led by Native-speaking, traditionally-oriented elders, offer perhaps the best example within the culture of how traditional practices of oral performance can be mediated via written materials in such a way that traditional forms and content of knowledge can remain intact." The author contends that "bilingual educational materials offer a particularly fascinating example of the often-cited Northern Arapaho propensity for creative adaptation and assimilation of Euro-American practices." He briefly discusses some particular educational challenges faced by Arapaho students including the focus on written materials in a culture based on oral performances, a decline in the knowledge of the Arapaho language by younger people, and the effect of state standards and state tests on Arapaho education.