Without wind stories cannot blow
into existence.

– Byron F. Aspaas, from poem “Bear Creek Park (for Janice)”

It’s November, a great time to decolonize!

In order to reach a state where all students’ heritages and histories are acknowledged and valued, schools and the adults who run them must be clear about their role in delivering on the promises of inclusion and equity throughout a learning community. This month’s links provide a few starter resources for thinking about what it means to move beyond our typically white, Eurocentric curricula and incorporate perspectives that have been traditionally marginalized.

November is also Native American Heritage Month! Let’s celebrate!

For openers, I offer you this helpful study guide on the Harvest Ceremony of the Wampanoag people via the National Museum of the American Indian. As I read this document I was confronted particularly with my own ignorance. In school (or elsewhere) I never learned the name of the indigenous people who saved the colonists from ruin or precisely how those first encounters devolved eventually into war and genocide over generations fueled by colonizers’ greed and sense of superiority. Instead I learned myths that upheld the European colonists as brave and adventurous while erasing the intricacies of indigenous societies on the continent centuries before the Europeans arrived. I’m late to the party in learning more about Native American history and current states of Native populations, but I’m making headway. Join me!

I also want to highlight the tremendous wealth of materials available through the museum’s website specifically geared to educators. 

We can never have enough good books to read so feed your mind and soul with some of these titles:
Celebrate Indigenous People’s Day and beyond with stories by Native writers

And check out this video poem: Responding to devastation that is climate change, “Rise: From One Island to Another” brings together the voices of Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner from the Marshall Islands and Aka Niviâna of Greenland. You’ll find the text of the poem, background information on the creation of the video and further resources on the website. Very cool beans. Recommended for 5th grade and up.

And finally, my colleague Mary Bouras shared this fascinating website: Decolonize the music room. I found lots of connection points, although I am not a music educator. One post which includes responses from a variety of music educators lists 8 Ways to Become a Decolonizing Agent  and serves as a perfect springboard for further thinking about what we may need to stop, start or continue in our own decolonizing efforts. Andrew Ellingsen shares a fundamental wisdom in seeking to include fresh perspectives:
“I don’t know everything, nor can I hope to.  What I do know is that I can learn more by listening than by filling more space with my own words.” 

That’s about it for this month. Admittedly, I have given up trying to keep my selection of options down to just 3 things. Alas, you are all capable people with ample decision-making skills. May your inquisitive educator appetites be sated. 

Be well,
Sherri