Lawsuit: Bureau of Indian Education not meeting students' needs

ALBUQUERQUE — A small, remote American Indian village in the scenic base of one of the most visited places on Earth is at the center of a lawsuit that seeks to dramatically reform the conditions of U.S. Bureau of Indian Education schools.

The bureau failed to protect students on the Havasupai Indian Reservation in the Grand Canyon by ignoring complaints about an understaffed school, a lack of special education and a deficient curriculum, according to a complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Phoenix.

Havasupai Chairman Don E. Watahomigie said his Arizona village is accessible only by helicopter or an eight-mile hike on a horse through the Grand Canyon. But the 70 or so children who attend Havasupai Elementary School are entitled to the same education as other students across the country, he said.

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