NOTE: Issues range from 1996–2006. Contact information in earlier issues could be outdated. For current information, please contact the Alaska Native Knowledge Network, 907-474-1902.
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Congratulations to Harley Sundown!:One of four Alaskan teachers to win a 1997 Milken Award! Born and raised in Scammon Bay, Harley graduated from UAF. The last year of his teacher education program was spent in Cross-Cultural Educational Development (X-CED). He has been teaching for the last four years in Scammon Bay. Harley with his mother, Maryann "Arnaucuaq" Sundown. | |
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Contaminants Have Found Us by Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley:We, as indigenous people, were adapted to these climatic conditions and so were the plants and animals we depended on for food. Perhaps these special adaptations made us, the plants and animals more susceptible to certain anthropogenic contaminants. And now our own activities in using technological devices in our everyday activities are contributing to the physical, chemical and biological pollution of our Arctic ecosystems. From what scientists have told us, you get the idea that there are two sources of contaminants-sources far from the Arctic and within the Arctic. The industrial complexes in Russia and other Eurasian countries contribute to the Arctic contamination. The main modes of transport for these contaminants are air currents, ocean currents and riverine systems. The meltwater in the spring carries the pollutants downriver to the deltas and into the oceans. Another way of transporting contaminants is through the migratory birds and mammals which winter in the warm climates and then migrate north in the summer. These are often at the top of the food web and are the most effected. But we, as a Native people, continue to eat these nutritious foods as well as maintain breast feeding for our young children. Because of contaminants contained in these foods that we eat, we may very well have a higher exposure to and accumulation of contaminant contents. Some of the major areas of concern for the effects that these contaminants can have is "influencing the ability to conceive and carry children, reducing our defense against diseases, affecting children's mental development or increasing the risk of cancer" (AMAP, 1997). How do we as Alaska Native people and others begin to alleviate the situation? As long as we believe that science and technology is the answer to our problems, we will forever remain in the morass of the modern world. Unless we encourage our youngsters to go to the Elders and to pursue higher education to learn another way of making sense of this world, we will never get out of this trap. We must relearn our own Alaska Native languages and ways of making sense of this world. We have a way of looking at the universe that recognizes there are different perspectives-the outward and the inward. By using both viewpoints we can gain wisdom. The Eurocentric way of knowing tends to rely on the physical and intellectual processes and pays less attention to the emotions and the spiritual dimensions. We must find a way of marrying the senses with the spiritual side for a more balanced perspective. Our Native languages are of wholeness and healing. They are languages of Native eco-philosophy, or "ecosophy". We need to relearn how to live in harmony with nature. Our languages describe these thought worlds, these worldviews. Our space-time concepts are cyclical according to the moon phases, seasons and the plant and animal cycles that determine the times of abundance and times of scarcity. The location and timing of these cycles give us scheduling and spacing tools. To relearn and revitalize our Alaska Native languages and cultures is to liberate ourselves from the industrial and materialistic prison into which we have been thrust. To relearn our mythology that Raven created Mother Earth helps us realize that we cannot think of ourselves as being superior to anything of Mother Earth. Raven is a deity in this mythology but Raven can also be a buffoon, a comedian and a picaresque. The reason we do not worship the raven is because we are animists, not theists. We must relearn our history but not from history books. We learn history particular to an individual, a family, a community from the quliraat and from the mythology, galumcit, stories, placenames, songs, dancing and drumming peculiar to that place. All these will give you a strong sense of who you are and where you are from. This beautiful concept of respect becomes clearer to us as it is connected to a belief system with high moral attitudes, rules and standards for personal character to become the best person one is capable of being. All of this is needed to begin to rebuild a new world based on what we learned from our ancestors, coupled with selective adaptations from the contemporary world. Here are a few suggestions that we can work on: Insist on sustainable development-perhaps projects that require we work closely with nature-regenerative or reclamation activities such as cleaning up wetlands and fish-spawning areas. We must demand that industries and manufacturers find ways to reduce the use of natural resources, reduce packaging and pay attention to effluent and emission laws. We must demand that manufacturers of such thing as TVs, microwave ovens, snowmachines and other durable goods redeem and recycle those items when they become inoperable-perhaps they could establish a "lend-lease" program. We should begin to assess what technological tools are acceptable in the village instead of accepting whatever comes along. Let's become more biologically literate, not just electronically literate; let us strive to live healthy. I think that if we begin to pay attention to such matters, we will begin to live life with a strong sense of belonging, discipline, independence and generosity. After all, the ultimate standard is to live a life that is healthy and stable in a healthy and sustainable community. | |
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Correction:Correction: In the previous issue of Sharing Our Pathways (vol.2, issue 3), we mistakenly identified the photo on page 14. The photo is of Mary Beth Duncan of Angoon. Our apologies to both Mary Beth and Sabrina Sutton for the mistake. | |
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Correction:* Another new link to a very useful resource is to the Nikaitchuat Il.isag.viat Project. . . . http://www.alaskool.org/native_ed/curriculum/OTZImmersion/PROJECTABST.html. Please accept our apologies for any confusion this might have caused. | |
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Creating Culturally-Based Units For The Classroom by Phyllis J. Kardos:The IASD team selected berries as a theme for a couple of reasons: one, the district had a berry unit that was developed years ago and was in need of being updated and two, the team knew that berries were available for fall gathering and was an important subsistence activity at all nine school sites. This last factor was important since the team wanted to create a unit that could be used throughout the district. The team divided the unit down into several components: goals, objectives, student daily activities/projects, materials and resources and assessments. The first step was to establish a set of goals that complimented the state science and math standards and the indigenous math and science knowledge networks. The team also considered the English content standards as being important to this unit. The team set the following six goals: 1. Students will work with Native elders and teachers in berry gathering, preparation and preservation; 2. Students will learn to appreciate and respect the beliefs, customs and relationships among people with regards to the land, environment and ecosystems; 3. Students will understand the traditional and Western knowledge and values of participating in this activity; 4. Students will acquire scientific and mathematical principles through this traditional activity; 5. Students will be able to speak and write well for a variety of purposes as a result of participating in this activity; 6. Students will improve their observational and data gathering skills. One of the more important elements of this whole unit building was brainstorming. As the team progressed through the goals, it spent substantial time discussing and noting activities that would fit under each of the goals. The team established objectives under each goal as a second step. Since this unit is still a "work in progress," the following is only a summary overview of three of the objectives: Objectives under Goal 1 Consists of students acquiring respect for land through the telling of traditional stories, traditional beliefs about berries gained through talking with elders and understanding traditional as well as contemporary preservation methods (drying, burying in birchbark baskets, sugaring in wooden barrels, jarring and canning, freezing and vacuum packing.) Students will gain scientific knowledge through an understanding of bacteria growth by combining heat, moisture and oxygen. Objectives under Goal 3 Consists of students gaining an understanding of the Athabascan value system of sharing, being respectful, conserving, use of foods for ceremonies, nutritional and medicinal value of food, community bonding, spirituality and working together. Objectives for Goal 4 The Western math and science knowledge objectives consists of patterning, classification, odd/even numbers, sorting, weights, comparing, research, recording data, estimating, predications, mapping, counting and reasoning. The best part of the unit building session was arriving at student activities. An example of a student activity over this three week unit is two field trips with elders and community members to a berry gathering site. Among a variety of activities students will plot out a nine-foot square in a berry field, grid the plot, identify compatible plants, gather plant samplings, predict weight, volume or number of berries from each plot and compare with other plots being taken. Students will also gather berries for preservation and other activities in the classroom. Activities would include a variety of student stations, scientific and math stations, plant pressing station, journals, maps and a presentation/research station. Students would rotate through these stations until the unit was complete. A culminating activity would consist of a tea party for elders and parents using products made from the berries plus students will perform an original berry dance created as part of the berry unit. Students would also be required to compile and present an oral and written presentation that would include an audio/visual component. One interesting determination that came out of the workshop was differentiating between culturally-relevant and culturally-based. It is relatively easy to design curriculum that is culturally relevant, but it takes a heartfelt respect, appreciation and knowledge of Native culture and traditions to create a curriculum that is truly culturally-based. The challenge in developing a culturally-based instructional unit is in developing a unit that blends Western curriculum content standards and traditional Indigenous knowledge, specifically math and science standards and knowledge. Alaska State Content Standards and Athabascan values were used a foundations for designing this unit. A unit of this nature takes an understanding and appreciation of both world views and systems, plus it takes collaboration within the team and respect for the knowledge base of Native elders and teachers who willingly share their experiences. | |
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Cross-Cultural Orientation at Old Minto Camp by Ray Barnhardt, Robert Charlie and Bill Pfisterer:Participants in the Old Minto Cultural Camp are taken thirty miles down the Tanana River from Nenana by river boat to the site of the former village of Minto, which was vacated around 1970 when the new village of Minto was constructed near the Tolovana River on the north end of Minto Flats. The people from Minto set up the Cultural Heritage and Education Institute as a non-profit entity, with Robert Charlie as director, to help them regain control over the old site and put it to use for educational purposes. In addition to the UAF Cultural Camp, the site has been used by the Minto Elders to provide summer and winter cultural heritage programs for the young people of Minto as well as for other groups from as far away as New York. The Tanana Chiefs' Conference has been using Old Minto as the site for a very successful alcohol and drug recovery camp as well. Despite state restrictions on the use of the site, participants in the various Old Minto programs, including the UAF students, have been able to restore several of the old buildings, clean up the cemeteries, clear two campsites and construct a fishwheel, a smoke house, drying racks, outhouses, kitchen facilities, a well, etc. Participants in the X-COP program spend five days at the camp, arriving in time for lunch on Monday and then spending the remainder of the first day making camp, including collecting spruce boughs for the tents and eating area, bringing in water and firewood and helping with the many chores that go with living at a fish camp. Except for a few basic safety rules that are made explicit upon arrival, everything at the camp for the remainder of the week is learned through participation in the on-going life of the people serving as our hosts and teachers. Volunteer work crews are assembled for the various projects and activities that are always underway, with the elders providing guidance and teaching by example. Many small clusters of people-young and old, Native and non-Native, experts and novices-can be seen throughout the camp busily working, visiting, showing, doing, listening and learning. Teachers become students and students become teachers. At the end of the day, people gather to sing, dance, joke, tell stories and play games. The last evening, a potlatch is held with special foods prepared by the camp participants and served in a traditional format followed with speeches relating the events of the week, to life and history of the area and the people of Minto. By the time the boats head back upriver to Nenana on Friday, everyone has become a part of Old Minto and the people whose ancestors are buried there. It's an experience for which there is no textbook equivalent. What is learned cannot be internalized vicariously but is embedded in the learning experience itself, though not everyone comes away having learned the same thing. In fact, one of the strengths of the camp is that participants come away having learned something different and unique to (and about) themselves. The Old Minto Camp experience (which occurs during the middle week of a three-week course) contributes enormously to the level of learning that is achieved in a relatively short period of time. Part of the reason for this is that students come back to class during the third week with a common experience against which to bounce their ideas and build new levels of understanding. More significantly, however, students are able to immerse themselves in a new cultural environment in a non-threatening and guided fashion that allows them to set aside their own predispositions long enough to begin to see the world through other peoples' eyes. For this, most of the credit needs to go to the elders of Minto, who have mastered the art of making themselves accessible to others, and to Robert and Kathy Charlie, who make it all happen. The greatest challenge when we return to campus is to provide ways for students to carry over what they have learned at Old Minto to their future practice as educators, while at the same time helping them to recognize the limitations and dangers of over-extending their sense of expertise on the basis of the small bits of insights they may have acquired on the banks of the Tanana. By taking the teachers to a camp environment for an educational experience of their own, we hope to encourage them to consider ways to use cultural camps and elders' expertise in their own teaching. Teachers, school districts and communities throughout the state have sponsored camps for a wide variety of purposes (as the articles in this issue of the SOP newsletter illustrate), but in many instances the camps are treated as a supplementary experience, rather than as an integral part of the school curriculum. We hope that graduates of Old Minto will lead the way in making cultural camps and elders the classrooms and teachers of the future in rural Alaska, which is also why "Elders and Cultural Camps" is one of the five major initiatives that will be implemented through the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative in each cultural region over the next five years. Additional Resources Along with the examples of cultural camps described in this newsletter, the following are additional resources that are available for anyone interested in implementing a camp or involving elders in their own school or community. Copies of these resource items can be requested from the Alaska Native Knowledge Network at the cost of reproduction. ANHRDP. (1980). "The Drum: Gaalee'ya 'Bear Child' Camp." Anchorage: Alaska Native Human Resource Development Program. Carter, P. (1995). "Camping for the Spirit: A Directory and Resource Guide for Camps that Teach Subsistence Skills and Values." Anchorage: Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Grubis, S., & Ommituk, C. (1992). "Elders in Residence: The Point Hope Partnership." Juneau: Alaska Staff Development Network Henley, T. (1989). "Rediscovery: Ancient Ways-New Directions." Vancouver, B.C.: Western Canada Wilderness Committee Waahyi, J., & George, M. (1994). "Knowing Something Different: The Savoonga Subsistence Science Project." Savoonga: Savoonga IRA Council. Drying fish show the elders' expertise in filleting salmon. Camp participants gather in a circle to listen to Robert Charlie on potlatch day. | |
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Cross-Cultural Orientation Program For Teachers:June 9-27, 1997 Fairbanks Campus/Old Minto Cultural Camp Purpose The Center for Cross-Cultural Studies, University of Alaska Fairbanks will be offering the annual Cross-Cultural Orientation Program (X-COP) for teachers beginning on June 9, 1997 and running through June 27, 1997. It includes a week (June 14-21) out at the Old Minto Cultural Camp on the Tanana River with Athabascan elders from the village of Minto. The program is designed for teachers and others who wish to gain some background familiarity with the cultural environment and educational history that makes teaching in Alaska, particularly in rural communities, unique, challenging and rewarding. In addition to readings, films, guest speakers and seminars during the first and third weeks of the program, participants will spend a week in a traditional summer fish camp under the tutelage of Athabascan Elders who will share their insights and perspectives on the role of education in contemporary rural Native communities. Those who complete the program will be prepared to enter a new cultural and community environment and build on the educational foundation that is already in place in the hearts and minds of the people who live there. Course, Credit and Instructor The X-COP program is offered for three semester hours of academic credit and is designated as ED 610, Education and Cultural Processes. The credit is applicable toward the UAF M.Ed. degree, as well as the Alaska certification renewal requirement of three semester hours in "multicultural education." The course may also be followed with two on-site graduate courses offered during the fall and spring semesters to help integrate what is learned in the summer into teaching practice. The instructor for the course is Ray Barnhardt, Ph.D., who has over twenty-five years of rural and Native education experience in Alaska. Fees Participants enrolling in the three-week X-COP summer course will be assessed the standard tuition fee for a three-credit graduate course ($453), $50 for books and materials, and a $100 fee for food, lodging and transportation during the week at Old Minto. Dormitory rooms or married student housing are available on campus for participants in the program. Information on housing rates and applications may be obtained from the UAF Summer Sessions office (474-7021) or the Housing Office (474-7247). Enrollment Information Anyone wishing to enroll in the X-COP program should contact one of the UAF College of Rural Alaska campuses (in Kotzebue, Nome, Bethel, Dillingham, Barrow and Interior), the School of Education Center for Cross-Cultural Studies (474-6431), or the Summer Sessions office in Fairbanks (474-7021) for enrollment forms. For further information, call 474-6431 or send e-mail to ffrjb@aurora.alaska.edu. | |
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Cross-Cultural Teacher Orientation at Shaktoolik, Alaska by Yaayuk Bernadette Alvanna Stimpfle:Saturday was a full day of keynote speeches, an Elders' panel and workshops. Rich Toymil, the local principal, along with various community members welcomed everyone to Shaktoolik. Dr. Ray Barnhardt was introduced as the keynote speaker. He set the tone for the day with an overview of Native education and the work of the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative. When he was finished there was panel of Elders: Clarence Katchatag, Mary Katchatag, Lucy Savetelik, Dina Sagoonick, Clara Sookiayak and Ernest Sagoonick. They related their experiences as students the first time they entered school. They talked about how things are changing so fast now. When they went to school for example, they did not speak English, they spoke only in Inupiaq. Now, the children do not speak Inupiaq, only English. One Elder talked about how when she was in school, she was punished for speaking in Inupiaq. She decided when she had children, she would not let them speak Inupiaq so they would never be punished in school. Now her grown children do not speak the Inupiaq language but her grandchildren are learning in school. The teacher had opportunities to ask questions throughout the session. One teacher asked, "What would you like us to teach your children? What do you want your children to learn?" An immediate answer was, "We want our children to learn Inupiaq!" Some of the King Island Ugiumangmiut Dancers. The panel continued with some of the history of the area, the first time they saw airplanes, healthcare aboard the BIA North Star ship and stories from the village members. Ernest Sagoonick told about practicing writing by sending "free letters" to their relatives and friends at the next village. As young children, they would plop themselves under the plane and write a message in the dirt on the fuselage. Sure enough, when the plane returned there would be a message back! After eating lunch, we held our first workshop sessions. There were three concurrent workshop sessions: Alaska Standards for Culturally Responsive Schools with Ray Barnhardt; Integrating Culturally-Responsive School Standards in Education with Yaayuk Alvanna-Stimpfle; and Shaktoolik IRA, City and Native Corporation members shared how the village agencies work and ways to integrate the school into the community. Simon Bekoalok speaking to the new BSSD teachers. Of particular interest a second year BSSD teacher, Lynda Lee Proctor at Shaktoolik, shared how she began using a set of Native storybooks from the Kawereak Eskimo Heritage Program. She included the storybooks as part of her SFA (Success for All) reading program and the student interest for reading increased. Linda was part of the new teacher meeting in Nome last school year. In the evening, there was a big potluck dinner in the gymnasium. The local residents brought in delicious traditional Native and contemporary foods. When everyone was done eating and cleaning up, the much-awaited King Island Ugiumangmiut Dancers performance began. It was the first time in over seventy years that Native dancing had taken place in Shaktoolik, since Western religions had abolished dancing in some Native communities. The people were awed and gave a warm and welcoming response and the young dancers danced even harder the next time. At the end of the performance, the audience gave a standing ovation-a first for the King Island Ugiumangmiut Dancers! Sunday morning we held our third workshop and by the afternoon the new teachers, speakers and workshop presenters flew back to their homes. The meeting organizers, Rich and Sue Toymil, did a wonderful job of taking care of everyone and making sure things happened when they were supposed to happen. Simon Bekoalok and I helped with workshop presentations. For me, the dancing was quite an experience. I am part of the King Island Ugiumangmiut Dancers. There were twenty of us all together that performed at Shaktoolik. The youngest dancer was eighteen months old and our Elder was Cecelia Muktoyuk. Our president is nineteen-year-old Asaaluk Irelan. I emceed the dancing and noticed how the audience was so receptive. Our young men wanted to dance more because they felt how much the audience enjoyed watching them! Overall, the BSSD cultural orientation program for new teachers was a success. It will be followed with more activities for the new teachers as the year goes along. | |
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Cultural Education in the Classrooms by Michelle Snyder:As long as I can remember, back in my elementary school years, my mother would come into my classroom to teach about Yup'ik culture. This is important to me and other Yup'ik children. It teaches us who our ancestors were and who we are today. Every year beginning at kindergarten through the fifth grade, my mother has been teaching about our culture in the classroom. It's hard for me to remember as far back as kindergarten; mostly I remember learning Yup'ik dances and stories. My first strong memory is when I was in the second grade and we learned about the sonar legend board games; we learned stories and morals while playing the board games. I remember in later years learning dances, Yup'ik colors, story-knifing, Yup'ik patterns and grass-mat weaving. The dances that I remember learning were the Porcupine Dance, the Agutak Dance and some others. We even made up our own dance by learning the Yup'ik words for the different months and forming it into what we called the "Calendar Dance". All of these dances told stories. We also had to make headdresses; we learned how to beat the drum and how to bounce our knees in rhythm. We listened to our heartbeats and applied that rhythm to the drum. We learned about Yup'ik colors. They are red, black and white and are all found on Yup'ik clothing and artwork. The color red is to honor the mother. It represents the mother's blood. It is found in many places on the parka and other clothing and beading. White represents our great Yup'ik warrior, Apanuugpuk. During one of the great wars he was captured and force-fed caribou fat by his enemies. He escaped and while he was running away he regurgitated the fat. White can also represent snow. Black represents the unknown or shamanism. It can also represent the black fly. Yaaruin-stories told with a knife in the mud-were another thing that we learned. We learned Yup'ik legends and how to tell them in the mud with knives, as our people did for entertainment when there was no television or computers. This included Yup'ik patterns, pretend windows, pretend mountains and pretend boxes. There are different patterns for each family. My Grandmother's pattern was a salmonberry leaf, so I have now inherited that pattern. The last year that my mother came into my classroom was fifth grade. That year we learned about grass mats. We learned to split grass into three parts and found out that the middle part that we didn't use was referred to as a male, the other two parts were referred to as the female. We learned about different dyes, natural and store bought. We experimented to see which one would have the most color and last the longest. The natural dyes were berries and some other substances that I don't remember. Learning about all this as a girl has helped me see who my ancestors were; I have learned about my culture and my language. It has helped me form a positive image about who I am and who my people are. It has made me proud that I am a Yup'ik Eskimo. With this knowledge I don't feel lost; I know who my ancestors were and that is so important to me. My only regret is that I couldn't learn more about my culture and my language but what I have I am grateful for; it helps me form my own self-image and helps my self esteem. It has made me who I am today. | |
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Cultural Innovation at Netsvetov by Ethan Petticrew:The highlight of our school is the dance group which was started several years ago. This group, Atxam Taligisniikangis, has made great leaps in the last year. It has built pride in our cultural self-esteem, created a greater awareness of what it is to be Unangan, revived ancient rituals and dances, and has spawned a hunger to learn as much about our ancestors as possible in this day and age by our students. The group has performed in many places around the state, and is constantly getting requests and invitations to perform all over the country. In the past, we have performed for Alaska Federation of Natives, the Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church and last year we were selected to represent all of Alaska at the Arctic Winter Games. Each student at the school is required to take this class daily. It has replaced "traditional" physical education (P.E.) classes at the school. Students who want to do other P.E. activities are encouraged to attend open gym night. This is radically different than other schools who make Native dancing an extra curricular activity. Students attend dance class daily with enthusiasm. In fact, if the class is canceled for reasons related to scheduling, then our students are disappointed and on the verge of revolution. The group not only uses ancient dances, but also creates dances from traditional stories and from every day life in our islands. The use of the old stories in our dances has created a greater understanding of the natural and supernatural world as seen by our ancestors-something that was overlooked and scorned as useless by the Western educators of the past. Needless to say, dancing is back and very strong in the Aleutians. Now we are committed to revising our entire curriculum to reflect the practices and philosophy of our ancestors. The revival of dancing at Netsvetov School has overflowed into all other subject areas. Atxam Taligisniikangis members back row: Jimmy Prokopeuff, Crystal Swetzof, Ethan Petticrew and Debbie Prokopeuff. Front row: Tina Golodoff, Larisa Prokopeuff, Louise Nevzoroff, Lucinda Nevzoroff, Mary Swetzof and Nancy Zaochney. Not shown are Sally Swetzof, Jason Dirks and Annlillian Nevzoroff. The Unangan language class is currently engaged in building an ulasux. This is a traditional Aleut sod house. The applications for applying knowledge learned in the construction of this house are vast and not only do the students learn the Aleut terms for every part of the house, but it can also be tied into Aleut and Western math. It is wonderful to see the students so excited about learning language and, finally, math. This house will serve a number of purposes when it is finished, some of which are the launching and training area for the iqyax (kayak) project. This project will be completed within the next two years. Students are also looking forward to the day when we can hold a traditional dance in the house. In the past few years the school has also had a number of important cultural projects which took place. These include Aleut bentwood hunting hats, beaded headdresses and drum-making. All of these activities have incorporated traditional patterns and measurements with Western-style math. The primary grades spent a good part of last year studying the old patterns in both the traditional regalia and beadwork. We believe that this activity truly helped our students in understanding the concept of patterns, which made the transfer to Westernized math patterns much easier. Last year's high school history class spent a majority of their time studying traditional Aleut society. Topics included: Aleut tribes, social structure, kinship, laws and consequences, environmental factors, life cycles, gender roles and traditional religious beliefs. In the future we will be having school-wide classes in gut skin-sewing, sealskin pants sewing and construction of an iqyax. As a result of immersing our students in a strong cultural program and seeing the educational benefits and positive results, we are moving forward and committed to improving instruction in all areas of our curriculum. This has brought us to our present position in revising curriculum. Currently, we have begun work on our science curriculum. We have just finished aligning our benchmarks and standards with state and federal standards. The next step for us will be to define materials and activities in which to attain these goals with our students. It is our desire to incorporate the knowledge of elders in designing these activities and materials, so that we have a balance of Western and traditional Aleut influences. We hope to implement our science curriculum in the fall. This spring we will begin to revise our math curriculum in the same manner. Over the next three years we are hoping to have our entire curriculum revised and fully implemented in the daily learning of our students. This is a slow process, but then again, Western education has taken years to undo the educational practices developed by our ancestors over thousands of years. In the future, we hope our students will be better able to understand our unique cultural values and to make wise decisions in a modern world with all of its challenges. After all, when we look through the eyes of our ancestors perhaps our vision will be clearer. | |
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Cultural Standards and Test Scores by Ray Barnhardt, Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley and Frank Hill:Harriet Nungasak, Alicia Kanayurak, George Olanna (instructor), Kimberly Rychnovsky and Donald Tritt work on their science projects at the ANSES Science-Culture Camp held at Gaaleeya Spirit Camp July 11-25, 2000. Skills gained at science and cultural camps are brought into the classroom and utilized throughout the school year. See "AISES Corner". With the release of the first Benchmark and High School Graduation Qualifying Exam scores this fall, educators throughout Alaska have been convening to address the many issues that are raised by these new checkpoints on the educational landscape. Debates are already underway on ways to interpret the results and develop appropriate responses, given the predictable differences in performance among various students and schools. At the heart of these debates are concerns over the use (or misuse) of the test results to make critical judgements about students, teachers and schools in ways that attempt to reduce complex school performance issues down to a few simplistic variables. We need look no further than the latest editions of Education Week, Phi Delta Kappan or Educational Researcher to see that these debates are occurring on a national scale and that Alaska is not alone in venturing out into uncharted waters in the name of school accountability. Hopefully we can learn from other peoples mistakes, and by doing a few things right, maybe others can learn from our successes. However, this will require taking a long-term perspective on the many issues involved and not expecting to find a silver bullet that will produce instant solutions to long-standing complex problems. First of all, we must recognize the practical limits of the tests themselves. As diagnostic tools coupled with other related indicators of ability and performance, tests that are properly designed, flexibly administered and judiciously interpreted can provide valuable information to guide educational decision-making. However, there are two features of these legislatively mandated high-stakes tests that inhibit their educational value and thus make it necessary to exercise considerable caution in their use as accountability tools in the current standards-driven environment. Since the tests are mandated for all students at four grade levels, the sheer number and frequency of the testing introduces a major time and cost factor. As a result, the design of the tests tends to rely on approaches that are simpler and cheaper to administer and score (i.e., multiple choice and short-answer questions) with only minimal use of the more costly, but flexible, culturally adaptable and educationally useful performance-based approaches to assessment. Unfortunately, this emphasis on ease of administration has also narrowed the selection of which content standards count and which ones don't, leaving the harder-to-measure aspects of the standards in the background. As a result, teachers (and districts) are caught in the dilemma of aligning their teaching and curriculum with the full range of learning outcomes outlined in the standards or narrowing their lessons down to that which is measured on the tests (see Education Week, July 7, 2000, p.1 at www.edweek.org for a more detailed discussion of this issue). In this regard, the current testing system can be seen as working against the implementation of the standards-based school reform efforts with which it was originally associated. A true standards-based educational system requires a much broader approach to assessment than current resources allow. The second feature that reduces the educational value of high-stakes testing is its intended use in making critical decisions that can adversely impact people's lives and careers (e.g., grade-level promotion, eligibility for graduation, teacher reward/punishment and school rating/ranking.) When used for such purposes, the tests themselves tend to revert to those measures that the test-makers (in Alaska's case, CBT/McGraw-Hill) can defend in court when challenged by those affected. Consequently, we see a heavy emphasis on standardization (in both content and administration), whereby many important aspects of the content standards that require local adaptation or are not easily measured are set aside in favor of those items and testing practices that meet the test of "legal defensibility." So we should not be surprised when we run into problems with a testing system that has been constructed around legal and political, rather than educational considerations. What are the Options? For better or worse, the Alaska Benchmark and High School Graduation Qualifying Exams are a reality and it is our professional responsibility to do what we can to minimize their negative effects and to maximize their potential benefits. Most critical in that regard is the need to examine the issues that emerge in the broadest context available to us and not to use the results to promote simplistic, short-term solutions to long-term, complex problems. Nor should we fall into the trap of "blaming the victim" (i.e., the student) when there are significant group variations in academic performance. This is especially true in a cross-cultural setting such as rural Alaska, where we have a long history of repetitious unsuccessful educational experimentation on students while ignoring the well-documented source of many of the problems-that is the persistent cultural gulf between teachers and students, school and community. Based on the experiences in other states and the rife speculation underway here in Alaska, we can expect several things to happen over the next few months. The initial responses to the release of the test results are likely to point to two factors to explain differential performance between students and schools-low teacher expectations and lack of opportunity to learn-each of which will lead to predictable forms of remediation. Under the banner of "all students can learn to high standards," teachers will be admonished to teach harder and more of whatever it is that students are determined by the tests as lacking. While this may seem logical on the surface, it ignores the possibility that the real issue may not be low expectations at all (though certainly that does exist) and that "more of the same" may exacerbate the problem by producing higher dropout rates rather than addressing the more fundamental issue of lack-of-fit between what we teach, how we teach it and the context in which it is taught. Intensifying the current curriculum and extending schooling into the weekend or summer also ignores the inherent limitations to school improvement in rural Alaska that result from having to import teachers and administrators from outside for whom the village setting is a foreign and inevitably temporary home. The second issue of making sure students have had the opportunity to learn the subject matter on which they are being tested is more readily identifiable as a problem, but no less complicated (and expensive) in producing a solution. If a small rural school is not offering the level of mathematics instruction that students need to pass the exam, the solution is not to send the students elsewhere for schooling. To assume that a boarding school (as some legislators are suggesting) can make up for the limitations of a village high school ignores the fact that a well-rounded education consists of much more than just the subject matter that is taught in school. It also ignores the negative impact that taking students out of their home has on the family, the community and the student's own future role as a parent and contributing member of society. There is nothing taught in a boarding school that can't be taught cheaper and more effectively in a village school linked together with other village schools in a web of rich and extensive learning opportunities. Furthermore, there are many important things that are learned at home in a village setting that cannot be taught in a boarding school. Boarding schools may be justified as an optional alternative program for selected students, but not as a substitute for village schools. When providing "opportunities to learn," we need to consider all aspects of a child's upbringing and prepare them in such a way that they can "become responsible, capable and whole human beings in the process" (see Alaska Standards for Culturally Responsive Schools). When we do so, the issues associated with benchmark and qualifying exams will take care of themselves. How then do we go about this with some degree of confidence that we will achieve the outcome we seek-graduates capable of functioning as responsible adults, including passing state exams? The Alaska Standards for Culturally-Responsive Schools is available from: Alaska Native Knowledge Network P.O. Box 756730 Fairbanks, AK 99775-6730 It can also be found on the ANKN website: http://www.ankn.uaf.edu. Impact of Cultural Standards on Standardized Test Scores For the past five years, the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative has been working intensively with 20 of the 48 rural school districts in the state to implement a series of initiatives that are intended to "systematically document the indigenous knowledge systems of Alaska Native people and develop educational policies and practices that effectively integrate indigenous and western knowledge through a renewed educational system." The assumption behind the AKRSI reform strategy is that if we coordinate our efforts and resources across all aspects of the education system and address the issues in a focused, statewide manner, perhaps better headway will be realized. Two outcomes of this work are worthy of consideration as schools review the results of the state tests and ponder their next steps. First of all, building an education system with a strong foundation in the local culture appears to produce positive effects in all indicators of school success, including dropout rates, college attendance, parent involvement, grade-point averages and standardized achievement test scores. With regard to student achievement, using the eighth-grade CAT-5 math test scores as an impact indicator for the first four years of implementation of the AKRSI school reform initiatives in the 20 participating school districts (which have historically had the lowest student achievement levels in the state), there has been a differential gain of 5.9% points in the number of students who are performing in the top quartile for AKRSI partner schools over non-AKRSI rural schools. AKRSI schools gained 6.9% points in the upper quartile compared to a 1.0% point gain for non-AKRSI schools, with a corresponding decrease in the lower quartile. With AKRSI districts now producing 24.3% of their students testing in the upper quartile, they are only 0.7% point below the national average. In other words, through strong place-based education initiatives, the AKRSI schools are closing the achievement gap with the non-AKRSI schools. The following graph illustrates the gains on a year-by-year basis: Eighth Grade Mathematics Performance Percentage of Students on Top Quartile on CAT-5, 1996-1999 In reviewing this data (drawn from the state summary of the school district report cards), it is clear that something has been going on in the 20 AKRSI school districts that is producing a slow but steady gain in the standardized test scores (along with all the other indicators we have been tracking.) So just what is it that is producing these results? Since the gains are widespread across all cultural regions and the scores show consistent improvement over each of the four years, they clearly are not a function of one particular curricular or pedagogical initiative, nor are they limited to AKRSI-sponsored activities. The best summary of what it is that has produced these results can be found in the Alaska Standards for Culturally Responsive Schools. These "cultural standards" were compiled by educators from throughout the state as an outgrowth of the work that was initiated through the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative and implemented in varying degrees by the participating schools. As such, when coupled with the impact data summarized here, they provide some concrete guidelines for schools and communities to consider as they construct school improvement plans aimed at producing more effective educational programs for the students in their care. We now have strong evidence that when we make a diligent and persistent effort to forge a strong cultural fit between what we teach, how we teach and the context in which we teach, we can produce successful, well-rounded graduates who are also capable of producing satisfactory test scores. The AKRSI staff are currently working with the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development to provide assistance to schools for whom cultural considerations play an important part in the design of their educational programs. Alaska Native educators, including Elders, are an important resource that all schools need to draw upon to make sure that our responses to the results of the Alaska Benchmark and High School Graduation Qualifying Exams go beyond Band-Aid solutions and lead to long-term improvement of our education systems. The future of our state depends on it. Curricular resources and technical assistance for such efforts are available through the regional Native Educator Associations, as well as the Alaska Native Knowledge Network web site at www.ankn.uaf.edu. | |
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Cultural Standards are on Their Way by Ray Barnhardt:Standards have been drawn up in five areas, including those for students, educators, curriculum, schools and communities. These cultural standards provide guidelines or touchstones against which schools and communities can examine what they are doing to attend to the cultural well-being of the young people they are responsible for nurturing to adulthood. The standards serve as a complement to, not as a replacement for those adopted by the State of Alaska. While the state standards stipulate what students should know and be able to do, the cultural standards are oriented more toward providing guidance on how to get them there in such a way that they become responsible, capable and whole human beings in the process. The emphasis is on fostering a strong connection between what students experience in school and their lives out of school by providing opportunities for students to engage in in-depth experiential learning in real-world contexts. By shifting the focus in the curriculum from teaching/learning about cultural heritage as another subject to teaching/learning through the local culture as a foundation for all education, it is intended that all forms of knowledge, ways of knowing and world views should be recognized as equally valid, adaptable to the times and complementary to one another in mutually beneficial ways. The cultural standards are not intended to produce standardization, but rather to encourage schools to nurture and build upon the rich and varied cultural traditions that continue to be practiced in communities throughout Alaska. Some of the multiple uses to which these cultural standards may be put are as follows: 1. They may be used as a basis for reviewing school or district-level goals, policies and practices with regard to the curriculum and pedagogy being implemented in each community or cultural area. 2. They may be used by a local community to examine the kind of home/family environment and parenting support systems that are provided for the upbringing of its children. 3. They may be used to devise locally appropriate ways to review student and teacher performance as it relates to nurturing and practicing culturally-healthy behavior, including serving as potential graduation requirements for students. 4. They may be used to strengthen the commitment to revitalizing the local language and culture and fostering the involvement of Elders as an educational resource. 5. They may be used to help teachers identify teaching practices that are adaptable to the cultural context in which they are teaching. 6. They may be used to guide the preparation and orientation of teachers in ways that help them attend to the cultural well-being of their students. 7. They may serve as criteria against which to evaluate educational programs intended to address the cultural needs of students. 8. They may be used to guide the formation of state-level policies and regulations and the allocation of resources in support of equal educational opportunities for all children in Alaska. During the AKRSI regional meetings this fall we will be developing tools to assist educators in using the cultural standards to strengthen learning opportunities for students throughout Alaska, including their alignment with existing state standards and the identification of teaching and curricular practices that are consistent with their implementation. Curriculum resources, workshops and technical support to implement the kind of learning experiences encouraged by the standards may be found through the ANKN web site, www.ankn.uaf.edu, or call (907) 474-5897. | |
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Culturally Aligned Curriculum : | |
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Culturally-Responsive Guidelines For Alaska Public Libraries:Preface The Culturally-Responsive Guidelines for Alaska Public Libraries were developed by a group of Alaskan library directors* at a workshop facilitated by Dr. Lotsee Patterson and sponsored by the Alaska State Library. The goal of the workshop was to develop guidelines to help public librarians examine how they respond to the specific informational, educational and cultural needs of their Alaska Native users and communities. These guidelines are predicated on the belief that culturally appropriate service to indigenous peoples is a fundamental principle of Alaska public libraries and that the best professional practices in this regard are associated with culturally-responsive services, collections, programs, staff and library environment. While the impetus for developing the guidelines was service to the Alaska Native community, as the library directors worked on the guidelines it became clear that they could be applied to other cultural groups resident in Alaska. The guidelines are presented as basic statements in four broad areas. The statements are not intended to be inclusive, exclusive or conclusive and thus should be carefully discussed, considered and adapted to accommodate local circumstances and needs. The guidelines may be used to: * Review mission and vision statements, goals, objectives and policies to assure the integration of culturally appropriate practice. * Examine the library environment and atmosphere provided for all library users. * Review staff performance as it relates to practicing culturally specific behavior. * Strengthen the commitment to facilitating and fostering the involvement of members of the indigenous community. * Adapt strategies and procedures to include culturally sensitive library practices. * Guide preparation, training and orientation of library staff to help them address the culturally specific needs of their indigenous patrons. * Serve as a benchmark against which to evaluate library programs, services and collections. * These guidelines were developed by: Judith Anglin, Ketchikan Stacy Glaser, Kotzebue Nancy Gustavson, Sitka Marly Helm, Homer Greg Hill, Fairbanks Ewa Jankowska, Kenai Tim Lynch, Anchorage Dan Masoni, Unalaska Carol McCabe, Juneau David Ongley, Barrow Lotsee Patterson, Facilitator Karen Crane, Director, Alaska State Library George Smith, Deputy Director, Alaska State Library Nina Malyshev, Development Consultant, Alaska State Library Library Environment * A culturally-responsive library is open and inviting to all members of the community. * A culturally-responsive library utilizes local expertise to provide culturally appropriate displays of arts, crafts and other forms of decoration and space design. * A culturally-responsive library makes use of facilities throughout the community to extend the library's mission beyond the walls of the library. * A culturally-responsive library sponsors ongoing activities and events that observe cultural traditions and provide opportunities to display and exchange knowledge of these traditions. * A culturally-responsive library involves local cultural representatives in deliberations and decision making for policies and programs. Services And Programs * A culturally-responsive library holds regular formal and informal events to foster and to celebrate local culture. * Culturally responsive programming involves members from local cultural groups in the planning and presentation of library programs. * Culturally responsive programming and services are based on the expressed needs of the community. * Culturally responsive programming recognizes and communicates the cultural heritage of the local area. * Culturally responsive services reach out and adapt delivery to meet local needs. Collections * A culturally-sensitive library provides assistance and leadership in teaching users how to evaluate material about cultural groups represented in its collections and programs. * A culturally-responsive library purchases and maintains collections that are sensitive to and accurately reflect Native cultures. * A culturally-responsive library seeks out sources of materials that may be outside the mainstream publishing and reviewing journals. * A culturally-responsive library seeks local community input and suggestions for purchase. * A culturally-responsive library incorporates unique elements of contemporary life in Native communities in Alaska such as food gathering activities and the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) into its collection. * A culturally-responsive library encourages the development and preservation of materials that document and transmit local cultural knowledge. * A culturally-responsive library makes appropriate use of diverse formats and technologies to gather and make available traditional cultural knowledge. * A culturally-responsive library develops policies for appropriate handling of culturally sensitive materials. * A culturally-responsive library reviews its collections regularly to insure that existing materials are relevant and appropriate. * A culturally-responsive library collects materials in the languages used in its community when they are available. Library Staff * The culturally-responsive library reflects the ethnic diversity of the local community in recruitment of library boards, administrators, staff and volunteers. * A culturally-responsive staff recognizes the validity and integrity of traditional knowledge systems. * Culturally-responsive staff is aware of local knowledge and cultural practices and incorporates it into their work. For example, hunting seasons and funeral practices that may require Native staff and patrons to be elsewhere, or eye contact with strangers, talkativeness or the discipline of children. * A culturally-responsive staff is knowledgeable in areas of local history and cultural tradition. * A culturally-responsive staff provides opportunities for patrons to learn in a setting where local cultural knowledge and skills are naturally relevant. * A culturally-responsive staff utilizes the expertise of Elders and culturally knowledgeable leaders in multiple ways. * A culturally-responsive staff will respect the cultural and intellectual property rights that pertain to aspects of local knowledge. * Culturally-responsive library staff members participate in local and regional events and activities in appropriate and supportive ways. | |
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Cup'ik Region: The Mapping Project Names Ancestral Sites by John Angaiak:You can visualize Elders in their younger days traveling the rivers by kayak and seal skin boats, often for days. They camped for months at a time gathering food to see themselves through harsh winters. Out there were hundreds of sites they could choose to subsist on, knowing every site by heart and how far away it was. It was the land Cup'iks knew so well. They had to know it, and take care of it. It was everything-food, shelter and preservation of their distinct culture. These people left us a lasting imprint that we have always had land that will last beyond the future of generations to come. If we could read their minds and hear their voices now, this story would read like no other. Qissunamiut and Hooper Bay, Alaska are taking a step back in time to preserve their future. They are working on their mapping project. It is a painstaking process. The terrain has hundreds of lakes, rivers, rolling mountains and tributaries to name-all according to their living Elders. This project is a defining moment for both villages as teacher John Pingayaq put it, "This is a way to revive and preserve the heritage and the culture of the people." Similarly, Mr. Bosco Olson of Hooper Bay echoed, "To preserve and record the original names and locations of rivers . . . areas of fish, berries, plants, etc., camping . . . a lot of poignant memories for the Elders returned." He went on to say that "The Elders despair at the loss of knowledge of our lands . . . especially our hunting areas." The application of the mapping project seems broad. For instance, search and rescue teams can use the information in winter and summer in the vicinity of the two villages. Mr. Olson points out, "In some winters, there is a rash of lost snowmachine riders. If they know or recognize an area, if equipment breaks down, stops, etc., then the traveler(s) can and will be able to relay their location or stop and remain till rescue arrives." Mr. Pingayaq credits private sources of funding for making this project possible, such as Ford Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation, Tides Foundation and Lannan Foundation. This mapping project is one of the few that were funded in 1999, along with other tribes across the country and in Hawaii. Through the mapping project come the voices of ancestors. They beckon their children to know their land by names. They want them to know that their land is not a vast empty spread. The map comes alive. Mr. Pingayaq went on to say that "Our vision and purpose in undertaking this project is to document the traditional knowledge and subsistence lifestyle of the Qissunaq people, to create new linkages between the Elders and the youth through the transmission of traditional ecological and cultural knowledge of our homeland, to inspire other communities in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region to undertake Native mapping projects and to convey to the outside world some of our traditional ways of knowing." Throughout the mapping project, Hooper and Qissunamiut involved Elders as advisors who are knowledgeable about the area. Students are involved. The students from the Cultural Heritage Program at Qissunamiut School interview Elders as part of their Social Studies and History courses about the land that surrounds them. It is about the study of their origins. When asked about how the mapping project would be used in the schools, Bosco Olson summarized, "To be able to have curriculum at the school and even at home, sitting down with your parents-especially grandparents-and going through the maps could be a way of telling traditional camping, hunting, fishing areas that they or others may have utilized . . . with a little more probing, the Elders would name the area where they had been . . . Elders despair at the loss of knowledge of our own lands . . ." Through the mapping project come the voices of ancestors. They beckon their children to know their land by names. They want them to know that their land is not a vast empty spread. The map comes alive. When you look under the microscope, it is dotted with hundreds of their remains spread across the horizon to let their grandchildren know that the land had been claimed already on their behalf. We can imagine those people that lived before them, too. They walked and lived on the same land. There is no such thing as an empty or unclaimed land. The remains of their ancestors cannot be counted because they are too numerous. There are too many out there that will stay there forever so that their grandchildren will have land upon which to subsist. The mapping project has taken on a new meaning as well. It is going to be part of the school curriculum very soon. No politics, period. It is going to be taught. All it takes now is to put the finishing touches on a little more before it is ready. Finally, as a Yup'ik/Cup'ik coordinator for AKRSI program, I am very privileged to work with Qissunamiut and Hooper Bay planners on the mapping project that will make a big difference for their students. This project complies with our internal mission between their office and mine that says, "Our mission is to be leaders in recreating our timeless Yup'ik/Cup'ik past through innovation." | |
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Developing Culturally-Responsive Curriculum by Esther Arnaq Ilutsik:Greetings to the first Bilingual/Multicultural Education/Equity Conference of the 21st century. I am honored and humbled to be standing before you-honored that I have been asked to speak and bring forth issues that need to be addressed by all of us as we enter the 21st century, and humbled by the great expertise that is assembled in this room. I will begin with an oral story, as is the tradition of the Y up'ik people, told and shared by my late mother Lena P. Ilutsik. She begins: And then there was this blackfish swimming up the river, maybe he was heading down the river. As he was going along he came to this fish trap. Well, he got inside and he probably had others with him. While they were trapped inside of the fish trap, they heard a person coming up on top. Well, when he got to them he pulled them up. Well, he poured those blackfish into his pack. Then that person said, "Oh my, one of these blackfish is so big! What a big blackfish." Well, he brought them home. He packed them and brought them home. When he got home he told his wife to cook the blackflsh. He wanted to eat that big blackfish. Well, she cooked and she cooked them. When they were cooked that man apparently ate that blackfish, the one he was praising. Well, he (the blackfish) got inside of that man, he was still conscious even if he was cooked. Well, he was inside the man, and when he got tired of being in there he went out of the man. Well, that man passed him. It was during the time when outhouses had not been introduced to the people yet. And people just used to go on the ground. Well, that man passed him and the blackfish who was still conscious just stayed in the man's feces. Then as he was staying there this dog started coming toward him. Well, that dog ate him. Well, he stayed inside of that dog. Then by and by when he wanted to go out that blackfish went out. Well, when he went out he stayed there in the dog's feces. As he was laying there he saw a person walking toward him. Well, when that person got to him and when he stepped on him he lost consciousness, Well, this is as far as the story I heard went. (translated by Virginia Andrew, 4/16/97) Why do I begin with a story? As a Yup'ik, as an educator, as a parent and as a lifelong learner, I find myself a part of a cultural group and a world in transition. Some of us have found ways to retain some of our oral stories and we do this by providing a theme story for the curriculum units that are developed and integrated into the school system. We, as educators, need to demonstrate by example. If we believe in something we need to demonstrate that we can also utilize the model and method of approach in our own teaching method. Addressing a group of people and sharing our knowledge and ideas is a method of teaching. Too often we hear potentially unique and aspiring methods but they are not utilized by the messenger. We need to share the approach that we are using within the classrooms. This is the theme of my presentation to you. I will be referring to it during the remainder of my talk. In the meantime, think about why would a mother share the blackfish story with her children? Remember, within the Yup'k culture, as with many other indigenous cultures, stories were told without being analyzed. They were told so that the listener would have his or her own interpretations, so that at some point in his or her life the story would surface and meaning would become clear-that is why the story was shared with me. One of the blessings of parenthood is that it makes us reflect back on our own educational experiences, both at home and in the school setting. We, as parents, are concerned about the education that our children will receive. We want the best for our children. We want to make sure that they have a good foundation-a good understanding of who they are and where they fit into this world that is being presented to them. Far too many of us remember ourselves as the "invisible" people with an aspiration to adopt the dominant culture's model. Remember the reading series, Dick and Jane and their dog Spot? What did it show us? It provided an ideal American, caucasian family living in suburban America-a mind set laid down subtly showing us that our little humble dwellings did not fit the ideal that American education was after. It brings to mind the man who desired the largest blackfish in the fish trap. The desire was so great that all the other blackfish were invisible. We too have looked at the ideals that were portrayed in the schools, in the textbooks, and other materials as the big blackfish and all other aspects of our life became invisible-our traditional foods, our stories, our dances, etc. Our desire was to consume and become like the big blackfish. Fortunately at some point in our life, we expelled the big blackfish. We became disillusioned, confused and disoriented with what we had desired. Like the man in the story, we expelled this blackfish from our body and mind, but unfortunately the blackfish still did not lose consciousness. We still find ourselves being drawn everyday to adopt another life form. Parenthood makes us bold and inquiring of what is being taught and emphasized in the school setting. We begin some innocent investigating. On the surface, the curriculum looks promising, but investigating further we find that certain textbooks, including the ones for the "core" curriculum adopted by the district and used by the teachers, haven't really changed that much since the Dick and Jane series. Now, instead of a dog named Spot, we have a dog named Bingo. Although animals from our environment may be portrayed, they are often presented with misleading information. One can wonder how our Elders would have presented this information. What would be their focus and would the information be presented in a culturally-local relevant way? Actually, I was shocked to find that none of the stories contained in one of the current reading series portrayed any of the North American indigenous peoples. There were tales from Japan, China and even Africa, but nothing from the indigenous peoples of North America. Again, we have become the invisible people. Our children can be portrayed as the dog desiring the feces of the man (the fantasy culture), with their own cultural identity again being invisible. Sure, the bilingual education and other federal programs that are offered are supposed to address this need for identity and equity, but they do so at a cost. Our children often go to these classes with reluctance, and the teachers that are hired for these positions are often paraprofessionals who are allowed only 30 minutes or less for instruction. Many of these teachers have very little training, if any, and most have to create their own materials that are often looked upon as second-rate in comparison to the flashy, colorful textbooks and materials that are being used by the primarily non-Native certified teachers. We, as the parents, want these types of attitudes expelled, much like the blackfish expelled by the dog, so that we can stamp out the undesirable and give our children the opportunity to start afresh with a new consciousness and a positive attitude about themselves. Alex Lopez practices his storyknife skills. Photo by Esther Arnaq Ilutsik. Some of us parents have taken it upon ourselves to make those changes. After attempting to go through the administration to make changes, we realized that this would require many, many years of re-education and redirection, while our children are in school now and need that foundation to set the stage for their future education. How do I as a parent make sure that my child receives the strong foundation that I so desire? As an educator, I always welcomed parent involvement, so that would be the key to getting into the classroom and influencing the teacher. I was in a fortunate stage in my life when I was between jobs and had time to enter the classroom. I was also fortunate to have been able to select the teacher that I wanted for my child. This teacher, Ina Bouker, happened to be a colleague, a member of the Ciulistet Research Group, a friend and most importantly, a relative who shared my vision of taking the Yup'ik knowledge of our Elders and bringing it into the regular classroom. We wanted to achieve integration in the true sense, not integration with 30 minutes of Yup'ik instruction three times a week, but on a daily basis through the regular certified teacher. In this way, it could truly elevate the status of the local culture. One of the first units we tackled was the "Heartbeat Unit." This stemmed from a Ciulistet Research Group meeting that was hosted up in Aleknagik where the discussion focused on Yup'ik dancing. How do we take this information and bring it into the regular classroom? Ina Bouker had this brilliant idea of integrating this information into the health strand of the school district curriculum. The heart would be the focal point. The heartbeat would connect well with the beat of the Yup'ik drum-the beat of life. The three main Yup'ik colors (red, black & white) naturally became a part of the study with basic patterns introduced and emphasized while the Yup'ik dancing and the stories they tell provided the natural flow. Legends of the Yup'ik people were shared and told through the Sonor games (a board game adapted from the Yakutsk-Sakha, the indigenous people of the Russian Far East). What a wonderful and truly memorable experience for my daughter and her classmates. In fact she still talks about the experience she received in second grade (she is now in the seventh grade) and it was not too long ago when I was at the local grocery store during "the rush" when I heard a voice, "Esther, where have you been?" I followed my eyes to the voice and saw one of my daughters former classmates. He continued, "Why are you not coming to our classes anymore? I really miss you." I was fortunate to get a job with the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative through the University of Alaska Fairbanks/Bristol Bay Campus where I have been able to continue with the curriculum process we started with the heartbeat unit. I followed my child and made sure that at least one of the units taught in her classroom focused on the local culture. In the third grade we focused on the Yup'ik fancy squirrel parka with an emphasis on patterns and the history of the Yup'ik people. At the fourth-grade level we completed the patterns on the parka integrating it into the math strand and at the fifth-grade level we looked into Yup'ik basketry. But the most important thing is that I continued to work with Ina Bouker and her students. Here we integrated many different units of study into her classroom. All the knowledge that we shared within the classroom was information that our Elders shared with us in our Ciulislet Research meetings. It was like we were finally learning things about our culture that we had missed when we went to school and now were learning them and were able to share this information with the next generation. It reminded me of what Moses went through in the Bible. Most of you know the story about Moses, how he was found floating in a basket on the Nile River by the pharaoh's daughter and was educated in the finest institutions in the then-known world. Eventually, when he was called to take his people into the wilderness, he spent another 40 years literally uneducating himself from his previous training. So it is with many indigenous peoples around the world and in North America. We have been sent to schools and literally educated out of our culture. The results have been truly devastating to many of our people, but some have miraculously succeeded and are now realizing that the knowledge of our Elders and our people is important and that this knowledge base must be taught to the future generations. Michael Filipek listens to his heart as part of the Heartbeat unit. Photo by Esther Arnaq Ilutsik. The documentation of this knowledge base must be authored by our own people. We cannot continue to rely on outside experts-professional people with prestigious degrees-to come in and study our culture and write about how we should integrate this information into the school system (even if it is reviewed and acknowledged by indigenous educators.) We need to do it ourselves-we need to demonstrate to the world that we have come to a point where the information provided is authentic and is based on interpretations by local indigenous people. We cannot continue to accept information written by a person "looking in." We cannot continue to read information that was obviously written by a person from another cultural perspective. We cannot continue to serve in the role of providing corrections and apologies. We are entering an era where we, as indigenous educators, have to author our own materials with confidence in our own abilities. We can strengthen our role by getting the Alaska Standards for Culturally-Responsive Schools to be addressed by the local schools as well as through the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development. With commitment and determination, we are able to gather the knowledge of our Elders and bring it into the classrooms. We are able to author our own materials, test them in the classrooms and develop them into resources that will be available for other educators. In conclusion, we, like the man who stepped on the dog's feces and destroyed the consciousness of the blackfish, have arrived at a point where we are slowly beginning to "crush" out all the misinformation that has plagued and stereotyped us in the past. We are, by demonstration, showing the world that our cultural knowledge can be portrayed in a positive light by our own people. With this foundation we will be able to enter the 21st century with confidence-confidence that our cultural identity will play an important role in laying a solid foundation down for our descendants. Our descendants will fill those leadership roles that require an understanding and respect of themselves and other cultural groups. We will once again become whole-a complete person-that is the ultimate goal of the Yup'ik people. | |
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Dig Afognak by Sabrina Sutton:The Kodiak Area Native Association (KANA) is in its second year of Spirit Camp. There are two sessions where registered children are flown out to the Dig Afognak site and spend about a week at the camp. KANA has cultural activities that include local Native artists, dancers and elders. It has been a success. The Alutiiq Academy of Elders Cultural Camp was held at the Dig Afognak facilities on Afognak Island. This was funded from the Kodiak Island Borough School District (KIBSD) and the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative. The participants included Kodiak school teachers and Alutiiq elders. The dates of the camp were August 10-August 16. The KIBSD coordinator is Teri Schneider. Teri was encouraged to do this camp after experiencing the Old Minto Camp held outside of Fairbanks. Now you can see that life on the little island is more than just a tourist stop during the summer. | |
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Dixie Dayo Assumes SOP Editorial Responsibilities:On behalf of the AKRSI staff we would like to express our appreciation to Lolly Carpluk for the contributions she has made as the editor of Sharing Our Pathways over the past four years. Thanks to Lolly's encouragement and vigilant editing, the newsletter has provided a valuable means for educators throughout Alaska to share ideas, insights and practices that are making positive differences in the lives of rural and Native students. Lolly's responsibilities have changed to incorporate teaching graduate courses on Documenting Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural and Intellectual Property Rights. Dixie Dayo has taken over the SOP editorial reins starting with this issue. Dixie, from Manley Hot Springs, has been associated with the AKRSI as a project assistant for three years. She is well equipped to assume the newsletter editorial tasks along with the editorial support, layout and graphics of Paula Elmes. We look forward to many more stimulating issues in which rural educators share their pathways to a quality education. | |
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