The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 42, No. 2 - 102

Verna J. Kirkness * Ray Barnhardt

research has argued that this difference in
reality set is associated with the predominant
modes of communication, with the modern
bureaucratic institutions showing a strong
association with literacy. While the extent and
power of Western bureaucratic institutions is
well known, it is also well known that these
institutions are highly unresponsive to their
environments. Some researchers have referred
to this unresponsiveness as an institutional
incapacity to learn.
Scollon went on to characterize the
problem of high Native student attrition at the
University as a conﬂict between "the institution's knowledge" and "human knowledge."
"The institution's knowledge" characterizes
the relationships between individual members
or clients which are governed by institutional
considerations. "Human knowledge"
characterizes the relationships between
members or clients which are governed
by human interpersonal considerations.
By framing the problem as a problem of
"retention" the institution was incapable of
perceiving the issue from the point of view
of the affected population, Alaska Native
students. It is recommended that what is
required is not increasing the involvement of
students in the institution, but on the contrary,
increasing the domain of human knowledge of
institutional members.
Increasing the university's domain of
human knowledge to include and respect First
Nations cultural values and traditions is a formidable task, but it is a task that we must begin
if we are to make the institution more "user
friendly" for First Nations students. What then
can be done to begin to reduce the cultural
distance and the role dichotomy between the
producers and the consumers of knowledge in
university settings.
102

RELEVANCE TO FIRST NATIONS
PERSPECTIVES AND EXPERIENCE
If universities are to respect the cultural integrity of First Nations students and communities,
they must adopt a posture that goes beyond the
usual generation and conveyance of literate
knowledge, to include the institutional legitimation of indigenous knowledge and skills, or
as Goody (1982) has put it, to foster "a re-valuation of forms of knowledge that are not derived
from books." Such a responsibility requires
an institutional respect for indigenous knowledge, as well as an ability to help students to
appreciate and build upon their customary
forms of consciousness and representation as
they expand their understanding of the world
in which they live.
The complexity of the task of incorporating
a First Nations (oral) perspective in the everyday functioning of the (literate) university is
exacerbated by "the inherent problem of speaking of two reality sets in the idiom of only one

The university must be able to
present itself in ways that have
instrumental value to First Nations
students; that is, the programs and
services . . . must connect with
the students' own aspirations and
cultural predispositions sufﬁciently
to achieve a comfort level that will
make the experience worth enduring.

THE JOURNAL OF COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY STUDENT HOUSING
The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 42, No. 2

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