Why is it important to build esteem in Native American girls? Is that a major problem?
What I found working in the educational sector in town is that [the girls] have a defeatist mentality in their education and academic work. I worked out […] that it seemed to come from the home. They don’t feel like they can achieve good grades or finish school or actually graduate high school. They don’t feel like they’re smart enough, good enough or that it matters. So I created a root cause tree so I could see where it came from. [The root cause tree is part of the curriculum at the YP4 National Summit, which kicks off the fellowship year.] And the root cause is home life? There are a number of factors. There are historical factors — loss of culture through assimilation and government policy that was geared towards assimilating Native Americans into a culture they weren’t used to. The result of that was a loss of culture and the question, “Where do these girls fit in society?” If they’re not assimilated into mainstream culture they gravitate toward bad elements: gang activity, sub
