For generations American Indians followed the customs, traditions, and practices that had been passed down to them from their ancestors. But much of this knowledge was lost when the reservation system was created. The federal government took children from their homes and sent them to boarding schools where only English was spoken and where children were punished for speaking their native language. Some of the children never returned to the reservation, but many of those who did had forgotten their culture and were not able to speak their native language. Furthermore, removed from their homes and distanced from their relatives, Native American children lost the opportunity to learn their traditions from the tribal elders.

Cultural Preservation Officers

In the last few decades Native Americans have been working through tribal cultural preservation officers to recover from this loss. The cultural preservation officer works to restore, preserve, and...