Representing Our Relatives

Coaching Culture
There were a lot of ups and very few lows this week, which was nice. Sometimes I have to hyper-focus on the ups, I have to focus on the highs just to get through the lows at work.

I help school staff integrate language and culture into the school day. But it’s not about teaching culture. It’s not about adding an eagle or a buffalo somewhere in the classroom. Think about math classrooms or auto-mechanics or carpentry. You can’t just add a symbol; we have to teach culturally. And that is much harder to change.

I dive into people’s teaching philosophy, theories, practices, and behaviors they’ve been engaged in for ten, sometimes twenty years. I usually hear arguments like, “this is not what I signed up for” or “this should have been taught years ago”. There is always a reason to resist; my job is to push past that.

Elementary teachers seem to be the most welcoming to new ideas. Their students are still young and very impressionable, eager to learn, and eager to please. Integrating language and cultural norms or connecting academics to essential understandings is simpler.

Middle school and high school students are different. They’ve experienced more and the teachers know that. They know how hard it is to connect. Learning to teach culturally, while also learning about a massive roster of young adults is daunting. I get that. But I’m a coach. That’s my title. My job is to coach my colleagues and support them as they navigate toward a new way of connecting and teaching.

I’ve met all kinds of teachers. Some haven’t touched culture and language, some that taught three lessons in the first month of school and never talked about it again, then there are those who want to do more but haven’t quite figured out how to yet. That’s where I come in.

The minimum is for teachers to provide three culture and language lessons a year. My goal is to help teachers incorporate one lesson on culture and language every month. That’s feasible, for now. In the coming years, as teachers develop lessons, I know we can figure out a system of sharing ideas and resources when we can move to twice a month or once a week. In small steps, we can grow together and incorporate culture and language in ways that make sense for our students and our educators.

Strength in Stories
I’ve been in this position for about one school year. When I started I was given five projects, two of which were big, all-inclusive, K-12, students, and staff. The first was to develop an Indigenous book list. Any author or story, region or tribe - it didn’t matter. We just need more representation. So I began to dig. Northwest and southeast, Mohawk, Anishinaabeg, or Haudenosaunee - everyone will be included.

There’s this group, the Lakota Culture and Language Committee (LCLC) and as I began to gather, starting with K-5, someone else stepped in and provided a list for middle and high school. We came together to create this. It’s so beautiful because we’re not all teachers or principals but we’re all Indigenous educators and we’re all Indigenous parents. Big decisions like school logos or mottos, anything that involves all of us, are discussed between all of us. We all have a voice with the LCLC and so much good comes from it.

This year, teachers will be able to order books for their class library so they can share them with their students. Next year, we will go bigger and teachers will choose books to order in bulk and create lesson plans to go along with them. 

Our Relatives are More
The second large project came from one of my favorite principals to work with. She mentioned one day how cool it would be to have local Indigenous role model posters. How cool would it be for kids to see people who may be from the same tribe or have the same last name?

As soon as I heard the idea, I was all in. I started asking some elders and older relatives, “if you could list five role models that are educated or helping in their communities, who would they be?” At first, I was a little discouraged. Every person I asked could only name one or two people and they were usually the same people. The same people we all knew because they’ve already been highlighted in one way or another. 

It wasn’t until I started asking people around my age that I started to gain some traction. It was like I hit the lottery. Every person I asked had five different people. My list grew from ten to sixty-five. People from here, from other reservations, people who may not be enrolled but live here and work here. 

I capped my list at 140 Indigenous role models. I was ecstatic. Then I had to reach out to some of them and start the process of collecting pictures and bios. My idea was to start local first. That was hard. I didn’t imagine it could be so hard to get people to talk about themselves. Countless emails went unanswered but I didn’t want to quit. 

I reached out to some Oglala in the West, the Ihanktonwan in the East, and then the Miniconjou in the North. I branched out but I stayed within South Dakota. This group responded in a snap. Within an hour, emails poured in. Responses were so positive. People were excited to participate and wished their local schools would work on a project like this.

This project is still in progress. It has taken months to collect the photographs and bios, multiple email correspondences, and lots of feedback but it’s worth it.

I intend to include as many relatives as I can, regardless of their tribe, registration status, or current location. I know my choice is not approved by all and I will do my best to respect everyone’s opinion but this project is bigger than any one person or tribe. 

In the education space, when I walk into a room, I am usually the youngest person. Culturally speaking, I don’t want to come off as disrespectful and I don’t want to push too hard. I often take a backseat and listen. My instinct is to go to those who want me around, who want my support but these posters are different. There are so many good role models, everywhere, and I want our children to know our people are successful. The schools I work with will all have access but someday I hope these posters will be in schools all across the country.

This is for our children. It’s for our future.