First Person, First Peoples

By Colleen Larimore

Book Overview

Native American students entering college often experience a dramatic confrontation of cultures. As one of the writers in this remarkable collective memoir remarks, "When I was a child, I was taught certain things: don't stand up to your elders; don't question authority; life is precious; the earth is precious; take it slowly; enjoy it. And then you go to college and you learn all these other things that never fit." Making things fit, finding that elusive balance between tribal values and the demands of campus life is a recurring theme in this landmark collection of personal essays.

Navajo or Choctaw, Tlingit or Sioux, each of the essayists (all graduates of Dartmouth College) gives a heartfelt account of struggle and adjustment. The result is a compelling portrait of the anguish Native American students feel justifying the existence of their own cultures not only to other students but also throughout the predominantly white institutions they have joined. Among the contributors are a tribal court judge and a professional baseball player, the first Navajo woman surgeon, and the former executive director of a Native American preparatory school. Their memories and insights are unparalleled.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801433835
• ISBN13: 9780801433832
• Release Date: June 1997
• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

a great view

There is not much literature that exists about Native American students in Higher Education. I have used this book in three of my Master's projects. This book has ignited my passion to serve this identity. While this is only a few voices it helps us get a view into their college experiences.

A great snapshot of a unique Native American experience

Garrod & Larimore's First Person, First Peoples is a fine collection of personal accounts of leaving home. The stories are at once unique and universal. They are expressive of an experience to which Native Americans can truly relate, and yet, set on the campus of one of America's most selective colleges, the stories are from a elite few who may be speaking of an experience that is virtually impossible to share. This is valuable as an oral history, and perhaps more importantly, as a voice of the Native American which remains too infrequently captured. Still, we must find those voices which are seldom heard, rather than continuing the habit of letting the elite culture speak for us all.

Stellar, a first class work on Native education

This was a truly wonderful and accessible book about Native American educational achievment. The story of Dartmouth College and its relationship to Native American education is captivating. The honesty of the students is at time heartbreaking and yet is continually inspiring.