Demographics
School
The unit is being designed for students at Tsaile Public School. Tsaile Public School is located in a rural area of north eastern Arizona. Tsaile Public is one of the schools under the Chinle Unified School District. It is a small school that is located about 30 miles away from the other 6 schools. Tsaile Public School is an elementary school whose enrollment is from preschool to eighth grade. The school’s yearly enrollment ranges from 420 to 450 pupils in accordance to our attendance monitor. There are other schools outside our public school where students can enroll as well. This is sometimes a concern for the teachers because students who hop between schools are not academically stabled and lack meeting all standards and skills. The ethnicity of the students is primarily Diné people or a descendant of another tribe. The school provides free meals for all students enrolled through a grant that it qualified for. Tsaile Public School is concerned about the writing within the classroom. Currently, writing is taught by teachers for at least thirty minutes a day twice a week at each grade level. So for this reason, it seems like the importance of writing is put on the “back burner” and shows through writing assessments.
Dine Cultural Environment
Tsaile is a small community. An estimated number of 1,200 people reside in Tsaile. It is located at the base of Chuska Mountain. It is unique because of its beauty and how it is partially located in the forest where tall pine trees grow and meet the open rocky land towards Chinle. On the weekends, families often go fishing at a nearby lake or generally stay home. The nearest big town or city is about 75 miles. A convenient food store and gas station is depended on for necessities. Off to the east of the store, a community college, known as Dine College, is considered the main college campus throughout the reservation.
The Dine people in the surrounding area live by the traditional values and beliefs of the Dine culture. Some of the children are engaged in learning their own Dine language and practicing the culture of Dine involving tending to livestock, especially sheep, hunting, fishing, and family events. Others stay home and basically watch movies and spend their time on the internet or video games. The older generation practice ceremonies to maintain harmony in their household. They often gather for ceremonial purposes or casual get together, for trips or social activities and events in the community. The younger generation are not home. Grandparents often take care of their children. The young parents have to work or live off the reservation to provide for their families. Some live out in the cities or town and do not come home as often as they should. But the people in Tsaile seem to know each other very well. Extended families live nearby or cluster by each other to support one another. When it comes to writing, it is not a part of the culture. Parents also do not reinforce any kinds of writing at home. Although we have some Native American writers as well as artists that are well known such as Sherman Alexie, Laura Tohe, Sherwin Bitsue, Orlando White, Nancy Bo Flood, Luci Topahonso to name a few. There is not a passionate culture environment for writing as it should be. Some students are basically on their phones or watching television as in the western civilization society. Tsaile is fortunate at this point to have, Orlando White (poet) working at the local Dine College.
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