A Kentucky Teachers’ Guide to Native American Literature: Cross-curricular, literature-based activities for teaching about Native American arts, history, and contemporary social issues in grades K-8 using books written by Native American authors. By Judy Sizemore With support from the Kentucky Arts Council and Forward in the Fifth Table of Contents Introduction Page 5 DID YOU HEAR WIND SING YOUR NAME? Page 8 Sandra de Coteau Orie bio-sketch Seasonal Celebrations Class Book Giving Thanks through Poetry Four-Legged and Winged Ones Three Sisters CHILDREN OF CLAY Page 23 Rina Swentzell bio-sketch Tewa Culture Transactive Writing Making Pottery Cultural Economics FOUR SEASONS OF CORN Page 34 Dr. Sally Hunter bio-sketch A Part of Me – Class Book of Traditions Marbelized Patterns The Gift of Food FIRST NATIONS TECHNOLOGY Page 53 Karin Clark bio-sketch How Times Have Changed! We Still Dance Our Dances Basket Making Traditions THE STORY OF THE MILKY WAY Page 64 Cherokee Resources Gayle Ross Thematic Writing 2 This Is What the Old People Told Me Exploring the Milky Way Recycled Rattles Native Fashions Grandchildren of the Lakota Page 80 LaVera Rose bio-sketch Learning Logs Star Quilt Bead Pattern Leather Lacing JINGLE DANCER Page 95 Cynthia Leitich Smith bio-sketch Guided Discussion Brainstorming for a Memoir Verb Power Frybread Four Directions Dr. Joseph Bruchac Page 110 Dr. Joseph Bruchac bibliography Dr. Joseph Bruchac bio-sketch PUSHING UP THE SKY Page 114 Talk the Talk Drama Unit Open Response How It Came to Be That Way CHILDREN OF THE LONGHOUSE Page 125 Guided Discussions/Learning Logs Understanding Characters Night Noises MUSKRAT WILL BE SWIMMING Page 134 Cheryl Savageau bio-sketch My Special Place Animal Tales Tales that Teach 3 THE PEOPLE SHALL CONTINUE Page 146 Simon Ortiz bio-sketch Making the Personal Connection They Took a Stand Nations of the People Haiku Imagery THE FLUTE PLAYER Page 161 Michael Lacapa bio-sketch A Sense of Place Sunlight and Shadow Zig and Zag It Sounds Like … Flute Tales THE NATIVE PRESENCE IN KENTUCKY Page 175 Murv Jacob bio-sketch and bibliography Other Resources Pre-History to Contact Teachers, Please Don’t Touch that Trowel Resources from the KY Archaeological Survey Section Two: Contemporary Native American Culture Organizations Native American Cultural Center Funding Sources APPENDICES Page 193 Featured Books Additional Recommended Books Supplementary Resources: Reference Books Tapes and CDs Videos Contact Information for Resources 4 Introduction Imagine that you have been invited to visit a school in a northern city to present an assembly about the culture of Kentucky. When you arrive, you are greeted by students dressed, “in honor” of your visit, in bibbed overalls and straw hats. They have freckles painted on their faces and many are barefoot. When you say hello, they reply “howdy” and proudly tell you their “Kentucky names” – names like Jim Bob, Elli Mae, and Bo Duke. They speak in an imitation Southern drawl liberally peppered with “you all,” “ain’t,” and outlandish grammatical misconstructions. Several comment that you don’t look like you are from Kentucky. One asks if you brought your rifle. Another asks if you can make moonshine. As you enter the gym, you notice that the name of the school team is the “Hillbillies.” There is a large painting of Jethro Bodine over the words, “The Feuding Hillbillies.” As the children file in for the assembly, a teacher in a long dress and sun bonnet introduces her class to begin the program. They have been doing a unit on Kentucky, she explains, and the students perform a passable rendition of a Virginia Reel, ending with a loud “yee-haw.” It’s obvious that a lot of well-intentioned effort has gone into preparing for your visit. There are maps of Kentucky and drawings of log cabins all over the walls. There are posters showing the state flag, the state flower, the state bird, and the state tree. Two classes have made quilts. There are biographies of famous Kentuckians, including Abraham Lincoln, Cassius Clay, and Loretta Lynn and charts of “Kentucky’s Economy” featuring fleets of coal trucks, sleek race horses, and tobacco. The children are excited and a little scared of you. The teachers are gracious and anxious to show you the work their students have done. The students take you to see their computer lab and ask if you have ever seen a computer before. How would you react to this strange mixture of fact and stereotype, of welcome and unintended ridicule? This might give you some insight into how Native American Indians feel when they see how Native American Indian culture is presented in many schools. Teaching about cultures is probably the most difficult task faced by teachers. Culture is more than the listing of simple facts that can be categorized on charts comparing shelter, food, transportation and clothing. It has to do with attitudes and beliefs, shared experiences and histories. Moreover, cultures change and adapt. When we teach students that the Seminoles lived in chickees and the Iroquois lived in long houses, we are helping students recognize and appreciate the rich diversity of Native American Indian cultures. But we are still presenting images only of the past, perpetuating the idea that Native American Indian culture is extinct or at best an exotic relic of the past. Teaching about Native American Indian cultures is a mandated component of Kentucky’s curriculum, both in social studies and in arts and humanities. The majority of teachers in Kentucky are doing their best to teach about Native American Indian cultures in a sensitive and respectful manner, but they face a number of obstacles. For one thing, centuries of prejudice and stereotyping have made racial slurs such a casual part of American language that many people are unaware, for example, that referring to Native American Indian women as “squaws” is considered insulting. Children are often scolded 5 for behaving like “wild Indians” or being “Indian givers.” While these terms may not be used deliberately as insults, they still reinforce negative stereotypes. Even if teachers are scrupulously careful to ban such language from their classrooms, they face an uphill struggle against the blatant stereotyping in the popular media. Television programs, especially those popular in the ‘50s and ‘60s and endlessly re-run on some channels, crowd children’s minds with images of ferocious scalpers woo- wooing as they race down on innocent settlers or equally ridiculous images of noble savages speaking in broken English. “Me go now, leave land of many suns, follow White Father.” Equally offensive are the grinning, red-faced, feather-sporting logos of sports teams like the Washington Redskins. School libraries are often a surprising source of racist materials and misinformation. Many counting and alphabet books published in the ‘50s and ‘60s remain on the shelves with suggestions for counting cute “little Indians” and messages that “I is for Indian” illustrated by cartoon caricatures waving tomahawks. The most recent incarnation of the tomahawk-toting Native American Indian caricature is the character of Little Bear in “The Indian in the Cupboard,” an immensely popular book that has horrifyingly racist undertones. The popularity of multicultural books in recent years has brought forth a crop of “retellings” of “traditional” Native American Indian folktales, often retold by non-native writers. Some of these retellings are excellent and authentic, while others are misleading, oversimplified, or made up to fit a formula. Likewise the plethora of series on Native American Indian cultures ranges from outstanding to poor. Thematic units on Native American Indian cultures abound. Again, some are well researched, well thought out resources, while others are replete with activities that perpetuate stereotypes and insult the cultures they pretend to represent. Often, the units include activities that are based on Native American religious beliefs and treat these beliefs in an inappropriate and disrespectful manner. It is not appropriate for children to make “kachina dolls” from toilet paper rolls, to dress in a paper vest and feathers and play the role of “The Great Spirit,” to make up and perform a “Native American rain dance,” or to invent “Native American names” for themselves. Although there is no single “correct way” to teach about Native American Indian cultures - or about any culture, for that matter - probably the best thing that teachers can do is to find and use materials that have been created by members of the culture they wish to present. In this manual, we will introduce you to a sampling of books about Native American Indian culture by Native American Indian authors, some of which are also illustrated by Native American Indian artists and photographers. The books include resource guides, non-fiction, poetry, plays, traditional folktales and contemporary fiction. We also include tapes and CD’s by Native American Indian musicians and Native American dance videos. Because we know that children learn best when they are actively engaged in hands-on learning, we have included cross-curricular activities based on each book. We have discussed these activities with the authors to ensure that they feel the activities are culturally appropriate and meaningful. Each activity has also been tested in the classroom to ensure that it is age appropriate and engaging. We have also included biographies of the authors to give students and teachers a sense of direct communication. Some authors also maintain Web sites that students can visit. 6 This focus on the authors as individuals also helps students understand that in today’s highly mobile society, it is not at all unusual to find Native Americans living far away from their ancestral or even contemporary tribal homelands. Many large cities have intertribal urban Indian communities.