S moke S ignals
january 1, 2014
5
OiEA building Native curricula plans
Historically accurate
and culturally relevant
lessons on Indian life
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
The Oregon Indian Education
Association held its second of three
regional summits in Grand Ronde
on Friday, Dec. 13, to help lay the
groundwork for designing Tribal
history and sovereignty curricula
for fourth, eighth and 10th grades
in Oregon schools.
The curricula will be aligned with
Oregon common core standards. A
previous effort, in 2005, was not
aligned with Oregon standards and
was not widely used.
The first regional summit was
held at Lewis and Clark College
and the last will be held in South-
ern Oregon.
The Grand Ronde summit is
part of a project of the Education
Association and Lewis & Clark
College. It will hold three working
group sessions in addition to the
summits.
The Education Association cur-
ricula will complement the Grand
Ronde Tribe’s work in developing
a fourth-grade curriculum and,
later, curricula for eighth and
10th grades, said April Campbell,
the state Education Department’s
Indian Education specialist. Previ-
ously, she was the Grand Ronde
Tribe’s Education Department
manager.
Both sets of curricula will teach
local Tribal histories and sovereign-
ty. The Grand Ronde fourth-grade
curriculum is currently being used
in the Willamina School District,
with feedback and analysis to fol-
low before it is completed.
The Oregon Indian Education As-
sociation will complete its process
with a draft of each curriculum
seeking review and adoption by
Oregon Tribes and the state De-
partment of Education. Completion
is still a few years out, said Trinity
Minahan, Adult Education coordi-
nator and facilitator of the Grand
Ronde curricula efforts.
The project has welcomed repre-
sentatives from all nine federally
recognized Tribes in Oregon, the
state’s Government-to-Government
Tribal Education Cluster, Tribal
education departments, teacher
education programs, educational
administration programs, com-
munities with signifi cant Native
American populations, Title VII
(K-12 Indian Education) admin-
istrators, Indian educators and
administrators, and the Oregon
Department of Education.
The project lead is Se-ah-dom
Edmo (Shoshone-Bannock, Nez
Perce, Yakama), coordinator for the
Indigenous Ways of Knowing Pro-
gram at Lewis & Clark Graduate
School. The curricula consultant
is ChiXapkaid (Dr. Michael Pavel,
Skokomish), Sapsik’wałá (Teacher)
Education Project Director, College
of Education at the University of
Oregon.
Minahan provided Grand Ronde
input at the summit. She was one of
many Tribal educators presenting
the Grand Ronde experience in cre-
ating a fourth-grade curriculum.
She described part of Grand
Ronde’s experience with lesson feed-
back forms from teachers, journal
writing from students, and provid-
ing fl ash drives and teacher binders
for PowerPoint presentations.
Both curricula will give Oregon
students “historically accurate and
culturally relevant information
about Oregon Tribes,” she said.
Matt Bucknell, K-5 Elementary
School lead, said that educational
outings teach about “the many
kinds of learning.”
For Kathy Cole, Cultural Educa-
tion and Outreach manager, les-
sons include history, specifically
pre-Termination, Restoration and
sovereignty, as well as Grand
Saying goodbye
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Terri White is gifted a Tribal Pendleton blanket by Joani Dugger, left,
Grand Ronde Tribal Housing Authority executive assistant, and Shonn
Leno, GRTHA interim executive director, during her retirement party at
the GRTHA offi ce on Tuesday, Dec. 17. White retired as the Tribe’s full-
charge bookkeeper for the Housing Authority after 1 years of service.
Ronde culture, specifically lan-
guage, fishing and hunting, and
Native plants.
Jan Looking Wolf Reibach, Land
and Culture Department manager,
said that Grand Ronde invites
members of the Tribe and Elders
to visit classrooms in session, and
schedules fi eld trips to the Tribe’s
facilities and plankhouse “for a
visual perspective.”
Tribal Historian David Lewis
described the Tribe’s efforts put-
ting together exhibits and outreach
that explain Tribal culture and
history.
“It’s important to listen compas-
sionately,” he said.
Because Indian histories were
never written down, written his-
tories are new in Indian culture,
he said.
Work is now under way at the
Tribal museum, Chachalu, that has
been part of the Reservation plan
since 1985.
“Children must feel safe as a base
for learning,” said Wren Christo-
pher, a second-grade teacher in the
Scappoose School District.
“We look at Grand Ronde as a
circle where all play a role,” said
Reibach.
“The Tribal community,” said
Curriculum Consultant ChiXap-
kaid, “is the only place to get the
Native story.”
The indigenous historical frame-
work draws on the teaching style
of indigenous Tree people, teach-
ing from the growth of tree rings,
he said.
At the core of the tree is heart
wood, and at the core of Tribal
knowledge is ancestral teachings
and sovereignty. Native people
learn from this age-old way of
understanding, according to a
summary of the project. It gives
students a sense of who they are
and where they come from. As the
tree rings grow outward, they are
represented by state-Tribe relation-
ships, student and family relation-
ships, community and wider society
supporters, and advocacy.
Culture Committee member Mar-
cus Gibbons asked about the role
that spirituality plays in Native
American education.
“There are powerful lessons in
trying to see the world in a differ-
ent way,” said Robin Butterfi eld,
program supervisor in the Offi ce
of Native Education in Washington
state. Before the Oregon effort, the
state of Washington completed its
Native American curricula, “Since
Time Immemorial: Tribal Sover-
eignty in Washington State.”
“We’re teaching from a head/
heart/hands principle,” she said.
“Teachers and students are co-
responsible to look beyond their
selves.”
“We’re becoming sophisticated
because we’re reaching back to our
ancestors,” said ChiXapkaid.
“The inclusion of a Tribal his-
tory curriculum in public schools
is an important part of helping our
communities understand who we
are, where we come from and what
we have endured,” said Reibach.
“As Native people, we understand
that their children are ours and
our children are theirs. We are all
related. When you are stronger, we
are stronger.”
Oregon’s Social Sciences Aca-
demic Content Standards include
criteria specifi c to Oregon Tribes
and school districts are looking for
historically accurate and culturally
relevant curricula that meets state
standards, said Campbell.
“The Oregon Tribal Histories and
Sovereignty Curriculum Design
project provides an opportunity
for Native communities to design
curricula and to meet those needs,”
she said. “Additionally, infusing
culturally responsive curricula and
pedagogy in classrooms enhances
student learning environments and
improves student performance. The
work occurring through this project
will assist the Oregon Department
of Education’s efforts in closing
the opportunity gap for AI/NA stu-
dents. I look forward to seeing this
monumental project process.”
“This is a great showcase for
Indian education,” said Rebecca
Dobkins, assistant professor of An-
thropology at Willamette Univer-
sity and faculty curator of Native
American Art at the Hallie Ford
Museum of Art in Salem.
The project is funded with a
$50,000 grant from the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation and
$40,000 from the Meyer Memorial
Trust. n