6
S moke S ignals
FEBRUARY 1, 2017
'It’s always been interesting'
CURRICULUM continued
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the accomplishments of the stu-
dents, but she also was pleased
with Hart and his willingness to
incorporate the Tribe’s curriculum
into his classroom.
“He did an absolutely amazing job
teaching the material and adapting
the curriculum to fit his students
and his students work completely
reflected it,” said Reeves. “They are
pretty incredible. There are no tipis
or buffalo, but instead longhouses,
bentwood boxes, wood sheds, ca-
noes and baskets. The intention of
the curriculum was to challenge the
stereotypes of Natives and that is
exactly what it did.”
Reeves said she was impressed
with students’ desire to learn about
Chinuk Wawa.
“We gifted them a Chinuk dic-
tionary and they labeled their
structures in Chinuk, which was
so awesome,” said Reeves.
Reeves said she sought and re-
ceived permission from Tribal
Council Chief of Staff Stacia Mar-
tin to display the dioramas in the
Tribal Governance Center Atrium.
Hart said that he grew up playing
lacrosse for St. John’s Preparatory
School when he lived in Danvers,
Mass. He started as goalie for one
year of varsity lacrosse for Syracuse
University before transferring to
Linfield College in McMinnville to
finish his playing career.
Hart said his interest in lacrosse
– a sport invented and played by
the indigenous population of North
America – helped spawn his inter-
est in Native culture and history.
“There has always been an appre-
ciation of Native culture and I grew
up in Massachusetts so obviously
it’s a big part there still,” said Hart.
“It’s always been interesting.”
Hart said another factor for him
being interested in local Tribal cul-
ture on behalf of his students was
that as vice president of the Ore-
gon Council for the Social Studies,
where he is one of 12 board mem-
bers, he works to ensure that every
unit covered in the classroom needs
to be taught in context to what was
happening in Oregon at the time it
occurred.
“Even if we cover World War II,
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Part of the lesson included students creating dioramas that represented the
way Tribes in the Pacific Northwest lived. This project was created by Logan
Meneley, Brayden May, Terra Callaway, Caylib Newan, Kalob Wertz, Logan
LaChance and Danea EagleStar.
for example, we need to cover what
does that mean for Oregon,” said
Hart. “In looking at Native cultures
we really decided to go deeper into
Northwest Native culture and
what is it really about and what
does it really mean for what was
going on in Oregon and the history
of Oregon. The Tribal curriculum
definitely allowed us a great step-
ping stone to start putting things
together and what we wanted to
cover and how we wanted to include
it in what we do in the classroom.”
Reeves said she was impressed
by the dioramas created by the
students.
“They put so much work into
these things,” said Reeves. “I was so
blown away. It completely reflected
the Tribes here in the Willamette
Valley. These were longhouses with
wood sheds in the back and that
had canoes.”
Tribal Council Secretary Jon A.
George said he thought the student
dioramas now on display in Grand
Ronde until Friday, Feb. 3 were
well done and reflective of students
who had been taught well.
“When looking over the display
it shows me today that our Na-
tive curriculum is working,” said
George. “I’m amazed at the detail
and structure of the plankhouses,
canoes and especially the basket
work. These kids should be very
proud of themselves.”
Tribal Council member Chris
Mercier agreed.
“The dioramas indicate to me
that the students are well-informed
in terms of how local and regional
Tribes lived. Not a teepee in the
bunch,” said Mercier. “I thought it
was really cool that they attempt-
ed to recreate some of the Pacific
Northwest-style art into their cre-
ations. At a glance you could tell
they’ve been taught more accurately
about how Tribes here differed from
elsewhere – they weren’t just gener-
ic-type pieces.”
Reeves said Hart did exactly what
the Tribal curriculum calls for with
his students – he made the curricu-
lum fit his class.
“I always tell teachers to do that
every training I do,” said Reeves.
“He totally did that. He did a phe-
nomenal job with it. He’s one of
those teachers you want your kid
to have.”
Reeves visited the classroom at
Faulconer-Chapman School when
the students were studying the
language component of the curric-
ulum and brought fluent Chinuk
speaker Elaine Lane with her to
the classroom.
“She did a presentation teaching
them some words and talking about
the history of it and the kids … they
loved it,” said Reeves.
Hart said many of his students
now want to know if they can take
Chinuk language classes to satisfy
their language requirements in
school.
“They’ve been really intrigued by
that and they want to learn more
about it,” said Hart.
Hart said he also was proud that
the copy of the Chinuk dictionary
gifted to his class is already show-
ing signs of wear after just a few
weeks.
“The kids are in it all the time,”
said Hart. “There is a major interest.
The more we incorporate this into
our classrooms the more people re-
alize and appreciate what really the
history of this valley is. Mercedes
has been phenomenal to work with.”
Hart said one of the best expe-
riences he and his students have
had during the school year so far
occurred very naturally while work-
ing with the Tribal curriculum. He
said it was as if the entire class-
room had been transported back in
time and he pointed it out to them
when it happened.
Hart said the students were
sitting in groups with authentic
Native music playing in the back-
ground. One of the students was
practicing on the drum while others
chatted and laughed while weav-
ing baskets and making bentwood
boxes.
“We had a village atmosphere in
the room while we were working
which was a really cool element
to bring that culture to life in that
room,” said Hart. “I said to them,
‘Guys this is what would have re-
ally happened.’ ”
Reeves said she could tell the stu-
dents loved what they were doing
and that they were really learning.
“This curriculum really can
change and empower students
who actually get to experience it
in a positive way,” said Reeves. “I
think it’s that full circle.”
Chachalu Museum
closing for construction
Chachalu Museum and Culture Center will be closing to visitors
and not available for tours starting on Thursday, Feb. 9, because of
phase II construction.
The last day that the current exhibit hall will be open is Wednes-
day, Feb. 8, said Cultural Center Coordinator Rebecca Knight.
Cultural Resources staff will continue to be based out of areas with-
in Chachalu during construction. Staff members will be moving into
temporary office spaces and will be retaining their phone extensions.
During construction, it will not be possible to stop by the offices
for services or to interact with staff without making prior arrange-
ments by phone.
A notice regarding construction will be posted on Chachalu’s front
door. However, cultural classes will continue to be held at the same
locations through construction.
For more information, contact the Cultural Resources Department
at 503-879-2226.
“We are excited about this buildout and look forward to welcoming
the community into newly renovated space within the year,” Knight
said.
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