A review of anthropological, psychological, and educational research pertaining to the quiet manner of American Indian students in classroom situations is presented. This phenomenon has been explained using the research perspectives of the learning style theory and interference theory. The learning style theory states that Indian children behave quietly in school because at home and in their community they learn primarily through nonverbal mechanisms, while the interference theory proposes Indian students are quiet because the classroom situation is not structured in a way that permits these students to display their existing verbal competence. A critical evaluation of samples of old and new testing literature is made in considering the influence of intelligence test results on models created to explain the verbal-nonverbal behavior of Native Americans. A discussion of the differences and similarities between the learning style and interference perspectives follows. Based on the research, 15 teaching techniques are suggested to enhance verbal performance and classroom participation of American Indian children. The suggestions are organized into four general categories of general atmosphere and classroom organization, observational and experiential learning, verbal activities, and community relations. A curriculum vitae of the author concludes the paper. (ERB)