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Black Mountain Boy
A Story of the Boyhood of John Honie
Item#: B010
price: $10.00

Preface:

This book, Black Mountain Boy, is one of a series being developed by the Navaho Curriculum Center, Rough Rock Demonstration School, Rough Rock, Arizona. The community at Rough Rock, through the School Board, has requested books which discuss subjects and incidents of historical and personal interest that occurred in the Rough Rock area, on and near Black Mountain and on the Navaho Reservation in general.

It is hoped that Black Mountain Boy, together with the other works of the series, will add significantly to the education and understanding of children presently enrolled at Rough Rock and, furthermore, be very useful in other schools located both on and off the reservation.

One of the principles underlying positive education is the necessity for each individual child to feel a sense of worth, not only in himself and in his family, but in his community and nation. While schools on Indian reservations usually have units in the lower primary grades dealing with the family and community, I am unaware of any actual published materials which bring together basic history, biographies and other important information dealing with a particular locale and its people.

The purpose of the publications developed by the Navaho Curriculum Center at the Rough Rock Demonstration School is to provide Navaho youth with the same opportunities in education that are provided other American citizens. It is a well known fact that schools and libraries throughout this nation are full of books dealing with the "average American." Usually these books depict blond-haired, blue-eyed children running to meet their father when he comes from work. Perhaps these books are effective in promoting the self-image and positive sense of identification for the middle class blond-haired and blue-eyed individuals reading them. We have no quarrel with their effectiveness for those people, but we have strenuous and vigorous reservations about the books and their usefulness and appropriateness in Indian education.

It also is a well known fact that the American Indians, in the past, have been denied an opportunity in school to read and learn about themselves in a positive and meaningful manner. The Rough Rock Demonstration School, aware of this problem, as has been Indian education for decades, has embarked upon an extensive program of designing, developing and preparing books and other materials dealing with Navaho life, history, biographies, current programs, etc.

The Demonstration School believes completely that Indian youths in the past have been denied an equal and proper education because of the inadequacy and inappropriateness of the materials and books used.

Dr. Karl Menninger, perhaps the world's most renowned psychiatrist, long has lamented the fact that Indian education has neglected the fundamental cornerstone on which all education should be based. He believes that Indian education has neglected the Indian child and has made him consciously or unconsciously ashamed of who he is and, therefore, unable to meet the changing world with confidence. Dr. Menninger feels that Indian education should exert every effort, to assist the Indian child in being proud of his past and confident of his future.

Without a positive self-image and this positive sense of identification, no person, regardless of nationality or background, can achieve his full potential. It is hoped that this book, with other volumes in the series, will trigger throughout the reservations in this nation comparable efforts to prepare materials dealing with the life and culture of our Indian Americans.

Robert A. Roessel, Jr., Director
Rough Rock Demonstration School
 

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