The Bonfire of the Buffalo Commons: A Multicultural View from the Mid-Continent.

Much of today's multicultural education is ethnocentric and has little apparent concern for cross-cultural contacts, our best hope in ameliorating racism. Increasingly, multiculturalism exalts particular racial and ethnic pride at the expense of social cohesion of the American society as a whole. However, the notion of a "common American culture" has become suspect because it is seen as white, Eurocentric, and elitist. Since most people agree that no one can learn much without content, the question becomes, Whose history is taught? In reviewing debates on multicultural education, the fact that the United States social and economic system is based on the western tradition is emphasized. Another issue in multicultural education is that educators are generally not comfortable with teaching about alternate cosmologies or religions, but these are essential elements for understanding other cultures. Management education in both business and public administration has generally ignored multicultural issues. The ways in which the North Dakota state department of education is "managing" multiculturalism are discussed, including policies, staff development and training, personnel practices, research, and advocacy. Appendices contain a list of 8 findings on 420 teacher training institutions relative to multicultural education, and a chart showing numbers of persons in administrative positions by gender and race in the university systems of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming. (SV)