Hey Chris, I'm an itinerant art teacher here in Berkeley, CA and I want to tell you a very positive story. I taught my elementary students the day after Indigenous People's Day. I asked them if they knew why they had the day off. One said "no clue!" One said, "it used to be called Columbus day, but now we call it something else." The thi…
Hey Chris, I'm an itinerant art teacher here in Berkeley, CA and I want to tell you a very positive story. I taught my elementary students the day after Indigenous People's Day. I asked them if they knew why they had the day off. One said "no clue!" One said, "it used to be called Columbus day, but now we call it something else." The third said, "Indigenous People's day" Before I could speak, they went off ragging on Columbus. Some of it was funny and some of it was right on. One seven year old said, "hey, but we're still taking about Columbus. How do we talk about Indigenous people." This particular child is proudly Jewish and already knows that murder whether it happened 500 years ago or 5 minutes ago is wrong. That gave me segue to talk about the positive contributions of native people. (These children are too young to read "Indian Givers" by Dr. Jack Weatherford.) We also named our local tribes - Ohlone, Miwok, Yurok - and how to care for this unceded land. They had great ideas. We only had a little time to make art, but the discussion was worth it. Stand tall and thanks for creating this space.
That’s beautiful. My tween & teen were enraged to learn about *buffalo bill* and could not comprehend why some people consider him an American hero. The kids are alright.
Hey Chris, I'm an itinerant art teacher here in Berkeley, CA and I want to tell you a very positive story. I taught my elementary students the day after Indigenous People's Day. I asked them if they knew why they had the day off. One said "no clue!" One said, "it used to be called Columbus day, but now we call it something else." The third said, "Indigenous People's day" Before I could speak, they went off ragging on Columbus. Some of it was funny and some of it was right on. One seven year old said, "hey, but we're still taking about Columbus. How do we talk about Indigenous people." This particular child is proudly Jewish and already knows that murder whether it happened 500 years ago or 5 minutes ago is wrong. That gave me segue to talk about the positive contributions of native people. (These children are too young to read "Indian Givers" by Dr. Jack Weatherford.) We also named our local tribes - Ohlone, Miwok, Yurok - and how to care for this unceded land. They had great ideas. We only had a little time to make art, but the discussion was worth it. Stand tall and thanks for creating this space.
That’s beautiful. My tween & teen were enraged to learn about *buffalo bill* and could not comprehend why some people consider him an American hero. The kids are alright.
I love this. Miigwech for sharing!