Resistance Theory and the Transculturation Hypothesis

33created or existing programs expanded. This could provide the opportunity for newAmerican Indian students to become somewhat acclimated to the campus environment.2. Need for Culturally Appropriate Counseling: While the celebration of American Indianethnicity can make the campus a more comfortable setting for many American Indianstudents, it remains a cosmetic move. Ultimately, the essential test for reducingalienation (and subsequent attrition) comes through the relations with other individuals.It is crucial, therefore, that the human relations dimension of the American Indiancollege experience be recognized. Nowhere is this mandate more important than thedesign and delivery of counseling services to American Indians (Trimble & Fleming,1989).There is evidence that culturally appropriate counseling at the higher educationallevel is an extremely important component in the persistence of American Indianstudents (Haviland, Horswill, O’Connor, & Dynneson, 1983). However, there is also adebate over the nature of culturally appropriate counseling. On the one hand, someresearchers argue that culturally traditional American Indian college studentsdemonstrate a strong preference for racially and ethnically similar counselors andgenerally have rather specific expectations regarding the counseling experience(Haviland et al., 1983; Johnson & Lashley, 1989). Other researchers contend thatcounselor ethnicity is not as important as perceived cultural sensitivity evidenced by thecounselor (LaFromboise, Dauphinais, & Rowe, 1980; LaFromboise & Dixon, 1981).While the specifics of the debate are beyond the scope of this paper, given theexperiences of the culturally traditional students in this study, it is obvious that culturally33