Robinson Researches History of Gifted and Talented Leader in Native American Education
Dr. Ann Robinson, director of the Jodie Mahony Center for Gifted Education at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, is using her research skills to conduct a biographical study on Dr. Stuart Tonemah, a leader of gifted, creative, and talented education for Native Americans.
A member of the Kiowa and Comanche tribes, Tonemah directed the first office of Native American Programs at Dartmouth, testified to Congress on Native American students鈥� needs, and wrote commissioned reports on K-12 gifted education best practices for talented indigenous students.
鈥淭his is a very fun project for me. Lots of scholarship is fun but this study is a delightful walk down memory lane,鈥� Robinson said. 鈥淚 met Stuart Tonemah twice in my life. He was extremely kind and made quite an impression. He was easy to talk with and always interested in whatever early career scholars were doing. He was incredibly innovative in advocating for the development of programs for gifted and talented Native American youth.鈥�
In 1969, Tonemah established the National Indian Education Association to advocate, plan, and promote the unique and special education needs of American Indian and Alaska Native people. It has grown into the largest national organization of American Indian and Alaska Native educators, administrators, parents, and students in the country, providing a much-needed forum for the issues affecting the education of Native people in the U.S.
鈥淗e was one of the few Native American scholars interested in gifted education,鈥� Robinson said. 鈥淗e did a lot of work for the U.S. Department of Education, served on presidential commissions, and was a skilled diplomat. He wrote and published in the field when not many Native American scholars were interested in gifted education. He also started a foundation in Oklahoma to assist with all kinds of projects to develop talents among Native American students.鈥�
Tonemah passed away in 2009. Robinson has been collecting information on Tonemah鈥檚 life through newspaper articles, scholarly work, and even a family Facebook page celebrating his life.
鈥淎 Kiowa educator, Stuart鈥檚 life and work are exemplars for educational advocacy and action today,鈥� Robinson said. 鈥淒r. Tonemah lived much of his life in Oklahoma where there are family and tribal community members whose perspectives are critical to this research project. I found the Tonemah family Facebook page. There are clips of Stuart talking with community members at gatherings, and those are just precious.鈥�
Robinson had the opportunity to learn more about Tonemah鈥檚 life through interviews and a trip to visit with his daughters, Carrie Tonemah Parks and Jennie Tonemah Underwood, at the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Surrounded by photos and scrapbooks, she learned endearing details about his life. In 1961, Tonemah earned the nickname of 鈥淕olden Toes Tonemah鈥� and helped lead the Oklahoma Junior College football team to .
Robinson also learned about Tonemah鈥檚 dedication to providing summer educational programs for American Indian children. He started Project Eagle as a summer camp for American Indian adolescents and their families. Another summer project, Explorations in Creativity, was a four-week summer program for American Indian high schoolers held at Riverside School in Oklahoma, a former boarding school. One of Tonemah鈥檚 daughters attended the camp, while another served as a camp counselor and met her future husband there.
鈥淔ortunately for us, Dr. Tonemah鈥檚 research ended up published in the scholarly literature and in governmental reports, but it鈥檚 clear to me now that I鈥檝e only seen a tiny portion of the projects he created,鈥� she said.
Robinson has presented her biographical research to the American Educational Research Association and the National Association for Gifted Children. She also wrote a blog for the National Association for Gifted Children that traces Tonemah鈥檚 influence. In the future, she would also like to include his story in a second volume of a book project she edited, 鈥淎 Century of Contributions to Gifted Education: Illuminating Lives.鈥� It represents a history of the field of gifted, creative, and talented education told through life stories of influential scholars in the field.
鈥淗is story needs to be documented and shared in a permanent way,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hat is most distinct about his life is how he influenced not one but two educational movements 鈥� gifted, creative, and talented education and Native American education. Few figures in educational history influence more than one area of inquiry. He was such a humble person that he didn鈥檛 particularly make sure we knew about all of the wonderful things he accomplished. He made a significant impact. Even 15 years after his death, I don鈥檛 think his whole story has been told. We have more to learn from Stuart Tonemah.鈥�