I speak at a lot of colleges and universities and students oftentimes ask me what I think about education. Plus, it's squarely on mind because my niece Kreestal just got admitted to a very, very prestigious university. That's cool -- she's a beautiful, brilliant kid (as are all of my nieces and nephews, by the way) -- my family doesn't really have a history of academic success and opportunities. So that's a big deal. Her and I talk about this stuff. I know that there are a lot of those "Ask the Indian girl" moments coming up for her, as well as a lot of questions about how she "made it away" from the rez. Fortunately, she's very well-grounded in her community and family, and I know that she won't provide the fodder that they're asking for.

We talk about how her grounding in her homelands and in her family will also mitigate the assimilating damage that university education will do to her psyche. I tell her, "Make no mistake -- Richard Pratt's mandate to 'kill the Indian and save the man' assimilation policy is still fully in effect and university education is a large part of that assimilation."

Once again: Western education is assimilation.

I tell my niece Kreestal (and the other students who I interact with) that a little bit of strategic assimilation can be good. Learn the mechanisms, the systems. Come back. That's positive.

To wit, when Native people get educated for the purposes of contributing back to our precious Native homelands and people, then education is good. Then assimilation is a necessary evil -- "Go away, gain knowledge of how to help contribute and improve our communities. Come back. Strengthen the community." Positive. Use that assimilation for good.