Every student has ways of making sense out of the world that
surrounds them. It is vital that teachers find new and innovative
ways to instill confidence in their students so that children can
trust their own powers of observation, utilize their own style of
learning, and feel comfortable making rational and logical
connections that expand their knowledge. Developing these skills is
important in learning effective problem solving. Statistically, rural
Alaska students have a poor track record in academic institutions.
Their education has been dominated by a culture that makes little
sense in their immediate experience. There is a serious need to
harmonize traditional ways with western culture if these kids are to
succeed.
Children raised in a rural Alaska village have an intimate
knowledge of winter and snow. What they probably have not come to
realize is how this knowledge has already given them a strong
foundation for such subjects as chemistry, math, and ecology. All of
these children have grown up with a traditional culture interacting
with a modern one, and a network of community members and Elders. Few
have made the connection between complex environmental science and
the knowledge of their grandparents. Faced with huge environmental
challenges, western science is now looking to traditional cultures
for ways of living sustainably on a finite planet. The goal of the
Denali Foundation's snow curriculum is to help make these connections
in the minds of each student. Sound environmental education starts
with a strong understanding of how the natural world functions and an
appreciation of the vast web of interdependencies that we all rely
upon.
Programs that seek to teach scientific methods of environmental
science must realize that there is a strong foundation of traditional
knowledge and a reverence for the natural world. This is a great
setting to teach children the scientific interrelationships of the
natural world. There is a serious need to help students learn not
just good scientific information, but to develop critical thinking,
problem solving, and effective decision-making skills.
The Observing Snow Curriculum of the Denali Foundation
directly targets many of these issues with a strong science program
that employs a wide variety of learning techniques. We also seek to
root the learning experience directly into the local area and to
incorporate traditional native knowledge as an integral part of our
curriculum. Parallel chapters will guide students in an exploration
of snow from scientific and indigenous points of view.
We wish you a pleasant journey as you help school children unravel
the mystery of the winter world as seen through both the eyes of
Native elders and the methods of Physical Science.
for the
Teacher
Cultural Standards:
Educators
A1
Recognize the validity and integrity of the traditional
knowledge system
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Traditional Knowledge and the
Modern School
Traditional knowledge is exemplified in this curriculum
by the words of four Elders from Minto, Alaska, whose
comments were recorded in the Fall of 2000. Excerpts from
those conversations indicate the kind of snow-related topics
Elders wish to discuss and the kind of values they choose to
emphasize. Teachers and students will find similar concerns
and knowledge in their own communities, but the specifics
will vary from place to place and from one elder to another.
In addition to conducting the activities suggested in
this curriculum, students are encouraged to pursue related
topics and document what they learn. You may decide to
document the activities of other seasons or to expand the
study of geography based on the mapping exercise and place
names discovered here. Or you may use these exercises as the
start of a student conducted oral history project for your
area.
Alaska Native Elders have much to teach, a lot of
traditional knowledge to pass on, and a strong desire to
assist in the education of the children in their
communities. Working with the Elders can not only improve
the quality and relevance of classroom instruction, but can
also improve a teacher's connections with and understanding
of the communities in which they teach. However, the
establishment of formal schooling in rural Alaska has
profoundly influenced Alaska Native ways of life and
cultural practices, so Elders in your community may be
ambivalent about western schooling. The large amount of time
children spend in school has been disruptive to traditional
forms of education, and the school system has been a major
contributor to the demise of Alaska Native languages. The
Elders may have had unpleasant experiences with the local
school and may not be comfortable there. Nevertheless,
working with Native Elders to bring local knowledge into
your curriculum is highly rewarding, and you will be
surprised by the depth of knowledge they can bring to your
class and the enthusiasm which students will have for
discovering connections between scientific investigations
and Native ways of knowing.
The readings presented in Observing Snow are a small
sample of what the Minto Elders have to say about snow. They
have generously agreed to share their words to help kids
begin to explore snow related knowledge in their own
communities. The readings can be done individually or in
class. The Class Discussions are intended to provide
practice in making inferences from oral teachings and should
be used to both discover what students already know about
snow and to highlight concepts which might be useful in
integrating indigenous and scientific perspectives on snow.
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|
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" Old Minto is Menhti
Xwghotthit. That's where I grew up. That's where I was
born, down in Old Village. We used to move around. I think
1930 school start down there, and since that time people
start to stay in one place. They quit moving around, 'cause
kids have to go to school. That's after we grow up, after I
get married. I didn't have that kind of opportunity to go to
school. There was no school until 1930. I was happy for
school because I didn't go to school, and I'm for education.
I like the kids to go to school. It's good for them.
- Evelyn Alexander"
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|
Working with
Elders
Start early. Several weeks prior to starting the
curriculum, ask your students and their parents about who in
the community might be willing to share traditional
knowledge on the topic you are interested in. Talk to the
bilingual program teacher at your school. They probably know
the community well. If the bilingual program teacher is
available and willing to participate in the snow science
curriculum, you'll be much better able to accurately
transcribe the Native language terminology encountered, and
perhaps material from this curriculum can be incorporated
into language instruction.
Identify local experts. Ask community members. A
recommend form for this is: "Who around here knows about
snow and winter survival?" Typically you'll be directed to
Elders, but encourage other community members to
participate. Ask the Elders. They are very aware of who the
experts are on any given topic. You'll probably want to find
3-4 Elders to participate, depending on the size of your
class. A ratio of 3-4 students per Elder is good; 5-6 might
be OK.
Ask politely. Don't be afraid to ask the Elders
for help, but be careful not to pressure them or put them in
a position where it would be uncomfortable to say no. If an
Elder can't help you with this topic, maybe they can help on
a future topic. Don't expect an immediate answer; it may
take folks a little time to decide amongst themselves who is
best able to help with this particular project.
Be clear about the kind of project and amount of
participation you require. The Observing Snow curriculum
consists of a day-long field trip, 2-3 hours of discussion
with students about traditional lifestyles, 1-2 hours of
talking about native snow terms, and an optional 2-3 hours
of participation in the snow shelter and snow pit exercises.
Be patient. Discuss the topic in advance with each
Elder or local expert. Ask general questions and not too
many of them. Listen. Give them time to warm to the topic,
and you'll be impressed with the stories they tell. Assume
that what they tell you is relevant, even if you don't get
it at first.
Find a comfortable context for sharing traditional
knowledge. The workshop begins with a field trip to teach
traditional outdoor skills. This will be the most
comfortable setting for the Elders. It might work best to
find a neutral setting such as the local community center
for the kids and Elders to discuss traditional lifestyles
and snow terminology. You'll probably choose an outdoor
location near your school to conduct the snow shelter and
snow pit exercises, so invite the Elders to observe. After
working with you for a while, the Elders may be comfortable
enough to work effectively in your classroom.
Express thanks to the Elders at the end of the
curriculum. Perhaps the students can report back to the
Elders on what they learned and thank them personally.
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Cultural Standard:
Curriculum
C4
Views all community members as potential teachers
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Reading
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Neal and Geraldine Charlie Talk
About Education
Neal and Geraldine Charlie, along with Evelyn Alexander,
participated in our Snow Science Workshop in the spring of
1999. The following discussion highlights Neal and
Geraldine's feelings about the current educational system
and how native communities and Elders can contribute to the
education of their children and grandchildren. As you read
their words, notice what they have to say about traditional
values, traditional modes of instruction, and how schools
can facilitate the incorporation of traditional knowledge in
the curriculum.
The following discussion was recorded on October 26, 2000
at the Charlies' home in Minto, Alaska. It is edited lightly
for readability while maintaining the feel of an oral
narrative from folks whose use of their second language is
quite expressive. Notice that a transcription of spoken
language is a little different than formal written language.
This is true for people everywhere. Most of that day's
conversation is included, with gaps indicated by ellipses
(...) and editorial clarifications or comments in
[brackets].
How did you decide what to teach
the Minto kids in the Spring of 1999?
 Neal:
I tell you, we lose too much of our native way. We already
lost too much. And it's one of the things we decided, that
we should start teaching our grandchildren things. Right
now, our age. We used to go out there someplace with our dad
or our older brothers, and they teach us what we have to do,
being out there. That's the Indian way, find out things.
Right now we hardly see our kids. Leave eight o'clock in the
morning.
Geraldine: They're in school all day, not learning
nothing at home. Most of them don't know nothing about going
out, how to build fire, how to survive.
Neal: And that's the kind of things we're facing
today. That's not only here, it's like that in Fairbanks,
everywhere. I think that there's really a lot of important
things young people learn out in the country, out on the
land. Cause animals themselves are created by God and they
got lots that they can teach, animal. And we were taught to
respect animal, don't laugh at animal. How can you laugh at
something your gonna eat? We see them crazy things, they
make hamburger dance before they eat it, on TV.
Geraldine: He means them commercial [a
television commercial for a fast food restaurant]. Yeah
there's commercial about hamburger jumping around and
talking. And our old Traditional Chief Peter John, he got
mad when he saw that. It's not right, he said.
Neal: We were taught to respect animal. If you
kill him, if you kill him to eat, you make sure you use all
of it. Make sure you use it all. Like if they kill moose, we
use the stomach, we eat the marrow. Just the bones we don't
eat on moose. We use the head, the meat on the head. We use
the moose skin for clothes. So that's the kind of things
that our children should know. So they don't play with
animal or laugh at animal, stuff like that.
Geraldine: We were taught to respect each other,
too. Never put each other down. And we were always taught to
help. If you know your neighbor or friend need help, you
gotta help, don't let it go. It was all these things they
taught us. Never talk back to Elder. If an Elder tell you
something, don't talk back; that Elder know what he's
talking about. Like right now today teenagers get mad at us
if we tell them what's right. They don't know any better. I
find out a lot of kids, right now their mothers and fathers
don't teach them like we used to, long time ago. It's really
hard to get along with that.
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Neal: Another important thing that they used to tell young
people is, don't laugh at crippled people. Don't laugh at blind
people, or people that can't hear. Or if you see a man walking,
paralyzed one side, don't laugh at them kind of people. They used to
tell young people that kind of thing. Don't pass up old man or old
lady. If you see they need help, you help them right away on what
they're doing. What happen is, maybe that old person might pray for
you so that you'll be in good health or you'll be lucky. That's the
way they advised our young people. They don't only talk about snow,
they talk about life [laughs]. What really life is. And be
careful. Be careful with axe, be careful with knife, be careful with
your gun. Right now kids and people just use guns to hurt each other
and I think that's just plumb wrong, there. Axe and knife and gun is
very good tool when you're out in the woods, and that's what it's
for. I'm just talking about the advice they used to give us. And
today, after we get pretty old, we find out that's right. What they
used to say is true.
.....
Another thing they used to tell our young people about is don't talk
too fast. Don't say things you'll regret. Don't brag in front of your
friends. Right now today we hear kids say "I'll kill you." That's an
awful dirty word there. That's not right to say that. That's plumb
wrong to say that kind of thing, especially when they're just
starting out in life. They should never use that kind of a talk. I
think this world would be a lot better off if we get back to loving
one another. And try to do good to each other. In our language we
call that hwtlani [taboo]. Hwtlani means if you
say "I'll kill you," it might happen that way.
Geraldine: Your words might come true.
Neal: What you say might happen. If you think bad about
your friend it might happen; that kind of thing. So you try to keep
your mind clear all the time. Try to think about the good thing, that
kind of thing. That's what you call healthy for young people.
Geraldine: There's a lotta lotta more things. You can sit
there all day, all week and you'll pick up a lot of things we use in
our life.
Neal: There's a lot of ways we could talk about in front of
young people. Young people is not seem to be listening the way they
should be listening. The young people are not listening hard enough.
How did your Elders teach?
Neal: The way we're talking.
Geraldine: I remember my grandmother used to tell me,
you're going to that certain person, so just sit down. She'll tell
you a lot of things you need to know. And I used to do that. That's
how I learned to sew, a lot of things. She told us a lot of things,
that old lady. Stories, about how to make a living. Our parents think
we're too tired of listening to them so they send us to somebody
else. (laughs) He'll [the boys] have to go to somebody else's
house and listen to another person tell stories. That's how we
learned.
Neal: We used to gather up in one old man's house. And he
used to tell us stories. He tell us about stuff like that. That's
what you call Indian education. We're talking about stuff here that
young people should know.
.....
It used to be very, very important that we understood our native
languages. They had to teach us that, 'cause they can get across
better to us in our native language. And I think that's one of the
really truthful things we're missing, as Native people. I believe
that we need to get back to our native languages and understand one
another.
River Times, Fairbanks, Alaska
Neal Charlie, son of Moses and Bessie Charlie, in modern dance
dress.
Photographed possibly at the Eskimo-Indian Olympics,
1970
Did they tell you a lot of traditional
stories?
Geraldine: Yeah, we pick up the good parts of it. Sometimes
when they think we get too bored they tell us funny stories in
between, you know. Make us laugh. It gets pretty interesting when
they do that, you know. Otherwise we just sit there and listen,
listen, listen. But some people will find a little time to tell us
jokes and funny stories. After that we start all over again. Just
like going to school.
Neal: And them old time stories was really interesting
because we understood them. And right now if I tell a story about the
one that died here a long time ago, speaking this language I don't
tell it right. I don't tell it the way it should be. Last night
[at a memorial] them old people they sang some of our old
native songs.
Geraldine: Mourning songs they call it.
Neal: Them songs could get back way back before we seen it,
before our time. It's like they speak to us again. They tell us what
it was like way back then. And today we find out it's just the same
thing. When they sing them it sounds like it's still the same. That's
the way they used to teach us. Stories and songs and advice. They
explain who made the song, who it's after, and the meaning of the
things in the song. That's part of the way we had to learn. There was
no paper and pencil them days.
Where and when did your Elders tell
stories?
Geraldine: In the evenings is when everybody quit working.
Every evening is when we used to go around for story time. Take a
walk to somebody's house. In the daytime everybody's too busy. Until
school start is when everybody just changed the whole thing for us.
They had to go to school and spoil everything for us. Maybe that's
where I learned how to speak English [laughs]. Yeah, I'm
pretty sure if there was no school we would just speak our language.
Neal: Anyway, I think that there's a lot of it that they
had to repeat it over, over, over. They have to repeat it. It's not
just one day thing. They pound it right into us, because nothing is
written down, you have to remember.
...
And that advice, you better listen, cause it's not gonna be written
down. Your gonna have to accept it and try to hold it. Just like old
man Chief Andrew Isaac said. One time I hear him say, lots of advice
old people used to give me. He said lots of it I get a hold of it, I
hold it, remember it, he said. And I think that's one Indian way,
that's Indian way. That's the way they have to learn it. Not to look
at it on a paper all the time. They gotta use their little brains for
something [laughs]. My dad before he died, I don't know how
many times he made that same speech. You young people try to hold
each other together. Try to hold each other together. Try to hold
each other together. He repeated that quite a few times. All good
solid advice. Today right now it's all true, it's all true. It's good
to take care of yourself. That's a short cut way to say it. Take good
care of yourself.
How do you feel about Elders teaching at
school?
Geraldine: I believe that, like he said, if we had our own
place we'd be more open, more free to talk the way we want to talk.
But up there [the school] we gotta watch the time. Hurry up,
hurry up, hurry up. Twenty minutes or ten minutes is all the time
they give us.. They do make time, but you can't teach nobody in 20
minutes.
Neal: Like we said before the way they learn is they had to
sing these songs in between. And then after that they get to advise
the kids about things. And we can't do that up there, we can't do
that in that school building. Another thing is that we're pressed for
time for telling stories. If we're gonna tell a story it might take
quite a while to do that, that kind of thing. If we have our own
place where we feel like we could just do it, we might have a better
chance at it. You really want to get down to brass tack of things,
the only way you really could do it is put a camp out there and stay
in that camp for a while. To show the young people how if they need
to build a sled or snowshoes you have to look for certain kind of
birch. And teach them that kind of thing. And teach them how to hunt
bear den, teach them how to set snare for rabbits, Indian way. We use
sinew. They catch rabbits and ptarmigan in them, them snares I'm
talking about. The only thing is, rabbits you gotta set different
from the way you set for ptarmigan. You make it so it'll spring up
and that rabbit will hang down, so he doesn't chew that sinew off.
That's what I've been saying. You really want to get down to it you
gotta take it out there, where it's at, out in the country. Get them
out there where the action is, then they'll learn.
Discussion:
- How were Neal and Geraldine taught by their Elders?
- What are the important things they feel young people should
learn?
- What values do they emphasize? Can you think of other
traditional values in your community?
Activity: Field Skills with
Elders
Ask
Elders and Local Experts to teach you traditional
winter skills in the field.
Time: 6-8 hours
Materials: Tools and Equipment appropriate to the
activities
recommended by your Elders and Local Experts
This activity is a good way to introduce the snow science
curriculum by giving Elders a chance to teach what they know
best in an environment in which they are comfortable. Topics
related to the winter environment are chosen by the Elders
depending upon their particular areas of expertise. Examples
include, emergency skills such as fire making, shelter, and
making meltwater. General technical skills might include
snowshoe technique, tying snowshoe bindings, trail breaking,
and tracking.
Making tea from snow water is fun and involves
relevant skills and observations.
Arrange for a field trip. Small groups of student with
each Elder is preferable.
Have students document what they learn and check their
conclusions with their Elder instructors. Later they'll make
connections between the practical skills and observations
from the field trip and the scientific concepts they learn
about snow.
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Cultural Standard:
Schools
B2
encourage experimentally oriented approaches
|
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Cultural Standard:
Educators
provide opportunities for students to learn through
observation
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Discussion
- What skills do Elders choose to teach? Why do you think they
chose those topics?
- Are traditional skills important to us today?
- What do local experts know about snow? How do snow conditions
affect traditional activities?
Traditional Education is based on observation, practice, and the
oral transmission of knowledge. Despite the relatively rapid pace of
cultural change that has taken place in Alaska during the past
century, a great deal of traditional knowledge is being practiced in
Native communities today, and Native Elders, having spent a lifetime
learning their culture, are ready and able to pass it on. Schools can
contribute to the success of their students and well-being of their
communities by incorporating native knowledge in their curricula.
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" To make your luck better
you gotta take care of yourself. Neat, nice and clean.
Xo'iltanh, they say.
Xo'iltanh means try to stay nice and clean,
don't do anything wrong. If you do something wrong, bad luck
will turn against you. Xo'iltanh. My dad
give me a lot of advice every morning before he go out,
before he go hunting. Just like going to school. He talk all
Indian, too, he don't talk no English. When you're going out
in the woods or anyplace like that, any place where you're
gonna travel. We say k'onaniltayh.
K'onaniltayhmeans be careful yourself, be
careful of danger.
- Wilson Titus"
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Observing Snow
Introduction
The Four Corners of Life
Water: the Stuff that Makes Snowflakes
Snow on the Ground Changes Through Time
Exploring Native Snow Terms
Glacier Investigations
Open Note Review
Conclusion
Bibliography & Resources
Observing
Snow is intended as a journey to bridge the gap between the old
and new, the traditional and the scientific, Native and Western
approaches to education. A generation of sharp young minds from
Native communities are encountering substantial roadblocks when faced
with the typical western school curriculum. Observing Snow is an
attempt to teach basic core subjects, especially science, and
listening and reading comprehension, using materials that make sense
to the Alaska Native student. Snow is a natural choice. Everyone who
lives in the interior subarctic has a personal and intimate knowledge
of snow.
