Megwech for sharing your experiences and for your commitment to cultural renewal.
It made me think about when I was involved in the MSU master’s in education summer program held at NMC during the ‘90s. One of my courses was on how to better teach about other cultures. This was before the casinos, Peshawbestown was visibly poor, and there was no native curriculum at Sutton’s Bay schools. (One of my students helped create the tribal school as an alternative.) I was aware of ongoing prejudice.
One of my lockdown projects has been finally to put decades of unpublished research and educational materials onto a website, including some of my other-cultures curriculum. (Unfortunately, much of it used materials no longer available.) I still strongly believe that the best starting point for teaching about other cultures is personal experience stories, whether about puberty fasting, maple syrup camp, or Indian School (like the one attended by Samantha’s mother).
One of the pieces of curriculum I salvaged uses a story about Carlisle Indian School dictated in Anishinaabemowin by Andrew Medler (at the bottom of the Fakelore and Teaching about Other Cultures page).
https://picaresquescholar.wordpress.com/fakelore-and-childrens-books/
I particularly like Medler’s account, because it is subtle and provides opportunity for inference and discussion. I also recommend the American Experience episode, In the White Man’s Image, I believe viewable on YouTube. And if you want something more dramatic, watch Sisters of Mercy, from the first season of CBC’s North of 60, which I used to show in my class (not a dry eye in the house).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LlOGY3Oh1o
There has been some progress in teaching about Native Americans and other peoples of color over the last 25 years, and folks like Samantha and Aaron give me hope. But I am concerned that the same battles continue to be fought over cultural misrepresentation and appropriation.