As the festivities of the Thanksgiving holiday draw to a close and our household shifts to the feelings and thoughts of the Christmas season, I find myself in an overwhelming state of relief. Many find relief at this time of year in realizing the completion of endless meal planning, food prep or simply by no longer having to clean their homes to the point that it looks like no one lives there. Rather, my relief comes from knowing that the endless, awkward dialogue between me and my daughter’s educators can, for now, be laid to rest.
Having spent many of my growing up years in the Pacific Northwest I am acutely aware of how privileged I was to have been exposed to so many different traditions of the indigenous people of that area. Now that I live in Ohio, where there remains a devastating lack of indigenous people, I knew when sending my daughter to school that cultural sensitivity to North America’s indigenous cultures within the school system may be a challenge. Having parented foster children who attended public school, I knew that this issue would be at its most challenging during lessons planned in preparation of the Thanksgiving holiday. Knowing this, I requested a meeting with my daughter’s school teacher to discuss her curriculum for the month of November. My daughter’s teacher thoughtfully obliged by immediately scheduling a formal meeting which also included the school’s headmistress.
As the day of the meeting approached, my husband and I engaged in long discussions about our value systems regarding cultural sensitivity toward the variety of indigenous cultures of North America. Included in these discussions was the understanding that not all individuals put so much importance on being sensitive to this diverse group. I also had to acknowledge that, during my discussion with the teacher, I may find myself in a position wherein there would be little to no room for compromise with regard to her lesson plans. To prepare for this, we developed an informal list of “non-negotiable” items or values that we did not want compromised by the teacher’s lesson plans. Included in this list of non-negotiable items was any learning activity that projected a negative or unrealistic stereotype of the indigenous people of North America, the use of derogatory song lyrics, images or story content or any subject matter that would make any member of any indigenous group appear less than the cultural majority. While this list of non-negotiable items may seem obvious and simplistic, one might be surprised.
In addition to our list of non-negotiable items, it was also my hope that my daughter’s teacher include into her lesson planning the understanding that indigenous people are by no means extinct, that they are not all the same, specifically that they do not all wear “buckskins”, live in “tipi’s” and that they do not all ride horse. Perhaps my hopes were too high.
When the day of the meeting arrived, I entered into what would become a very uncomfortable dialogue, with an open mind and a heart set on mutual understanding. Soon after the meeting began, my concerns for cultural sensitivity were, unfortunately, validated. After making the statement that she couldn’t promise not to use the term “Indian” during her lessons, my daughter’s teacher, along with the school’s headmistress continually asked me throughout the meeting what was culturally inappropriate about having the children engage in activities like making paper tipi’s for their Thanksgiving table, or coloring pictures of children in buckskins pictured with “pilgrims”. While they were obviously being as painstakingly respectful as they could, when they asked why I had a problem with each of these learning activities, it became clear to me that the two were merely trying to placate a concerned parent rather than trying to reach further cultural understanding through open dialogue.
Finally, when I was asked why I had a problem with counting the “little Indian” heads going into a tipi or reading a story about a “little Indian chief” I had to use what little tact I had to say that such activities are dehumanizing. What soon became overwhelmingly clear to me during this meeting was that I was seen as oversensitive, at best. Knowing that I didn’t want my daughter to suffer from what ill regard her teacher may develop for me as a result of this meeting, I struggled throughout the meeting to remain positive and work toward an understanding. Eventually, I found it necessary to declare a cease fire by stating that it was clear that we had different perspectives on the issue. From there, we went over each activity and piece of curriculum planned for the month while they had me point out which items I had a problem with. The teacher then decided to have the class engage in those learning activities on a given day while I opted to have my child stay home. One of the learning activities that my daughter would miss out on was a craft project during which the children would make a paper head band with feathers sticking out of it after which time they would cut a paper sack to look like a buckskin vest. Because these items would be worn during a class pow wow celebration, and because I did not want my daughter to feel excluded in any way, I opted, instead, to have my daughter wear to this celebration a piece of authentic regalia that would actually be worn to a pow wow.
To say that the month of November proceeded without a hitch would be farfetched. However, when issues would arise, like for instance when my daughter would come home with a tipi or other inappropriate item, I would respond quickly with my daughter by educating her as best I could about the given item and as respectfully as I could with the teacher by maintaining an open dialogue about my concerns. The fact that I did have to remain so vigilant did surprise me, however. As I had stated during my meeting with the teacher and headmistress, it would occur to me that an educational institution would want to continue to learn and always seek new knowledge to pass on to its students. Unfortunately, my experiences over the past month have given me all evidence to the contrary. What I found almost as disheartening as the inappropriate curriculum content itself was the realization that a teacher wouldn’t want to change curriculum over the course of a thirty year career even after having concerns raised by parents.
I don’t claim to have any more than a basic knowledge of the vast number of indigenous groups within this country nor do I think myself qualified to set the standard of cultural sensitivity in any way. To have a conversation with such a person would be, without a doubt, enlightening. Rather, I am simply sharing the real-life experience of a mom trying to ensure that my child receive the most culturally appropriate education possible. I am sure that I am not alone and that other parents have faced similar challenges. It is my hope that sharing my experience offers some sense of camaraderie and encouragement to all those facing similar issues in taking an active role in educating their children.
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