Yazzie Case: Building a Public Education System for Our Indigenous Future

The story of Wilhelmina Yazzie and her son’s effort to seek an adequate education in New Mexico schools revealed an educational system with poor policy implementation, inadequate funding, and piecemeal educational reform. The 2018 decision in the Yazzie/Martinez lawsuit proved what has always been known: the educational needs of Native American students were not being met.

In this superb collection of essays, the contributors cover the background and significance of the lawsuit and its impact on racial and social politics. The Yazzie Case provides essential reading for educators, policy analysts, attorneys, professors, and students to understand the historically entrenched racism and colonial barriers impacting all Native American students in New Mexico’s public schools. It constructs a new vision and calls for transformational change to resolve the systemic challenges plaguing Native American students in New Mexico’s public education system.

Contributors
Georgina Badoni
Cynthia Benally
Rebecca Blum Martínez
Nathaniel Charley
Melvatha R. Chee
Shiv Desai
Donna Deyhle
Terri Flowerday
Wendy S. Greyeyes
Alex Kinsella
Lloyd L. Lee
Tiffany S. Lee
Nancy López
Hondo Louis (photographer)
Glenabah Martinez
Natalie Martinez
Jonathan Nez
Carlotta Penny Bird
Preston Sanchez
Karen C. Sanchez-Griego
Christine Sims
Leola Tsinnajinnie Paquin
Vincent Werito
Wilhelmina Yazzie