LITR 4332 American Minority Literature Model Assignments Research Project Submissions 2013 research post 2

Felicia Coglianese

April 22, 2013

 Learning about Native Americans

Looking back on grade school and only learning the negligible curriculum that was taught about Native Americans makes me wonder what really happened, and why is it not being taught to further children’s education. The only thing I remembered talking or hearing about was what the Native Americans wore and how they wore it. We also learned that we pushed the Native Americans out of our land and force them to conform to the norm of the European-American culture and become Americans. By forcing the Native Americans to conform, the Native Americans lost everything they knew about their culture and could not show or act upon being a Native American.

            “Students still have a limited understanding of the diversity and complexity of Native American cultures (Helms)”. In elementary school depictions of “the First Thanksgiving” with the Pilgrims is what all children think about when they hear Native Americans or “Indians”. Even today, “many students’ perceptions of Native Americans are derived from traditional western movies that depict plains “Indians” as the antagonists of civilization and progress (Helms)”. Teachers seem to focus the entire curriculum on Thanksgiving and that it was Pilgrims and the Native Americans who were set out to “give thanks” to the population. It seemed as though the schools’ wanted to replace Native American children’s traditional religion and culture with the new American culture. Unfortunately, many teachers were taught the same curriculum in school, as are children today, and are unfamiliar with Native American cultures therefor, teaching the same inadequate curriculum to their own students. Many stereotypes are being portrayed as Native Americans as well, such as schools using “Indians” as their mascots and logos (Black).

            By changing the stereotypical prospective that students have on Native Americans they must need to “investigate the diverse cultural and technological achievements of Native Americans in a meaningful way (Helms)”. The environment is also a key item to learning about Native Americans because they used so many natural resources as a part of their lives. By learning how much natural resources Native Americans use it will help students gain a better understanding of the role the environment plays in shaping human societies.

            In conclusion, Native Americans should be focused on more, just as every other culture in American history. Today, “many states have enacted laws providing for scholarships, tuition waivers, or grant programs for Native Americans (website)”. It seems as though many schools are starting to do different programs to teach elementary schools more about Native American cultures. Hopefully students will grasp a better knowledge about the Native Americans and would want to learn more about them as they continue their education.  

Bibliography

Black, J. (2002). The "Mascotting" of Native America. American Indian Quarterly, 26(4), 605- 622.

Helms, E. C., Hitt, A. M., Schipper, J. A., & Jones, A. M. (2010). Native American History in a Box: A New Approach to Teaching Native American Cultures. Social Studies, 101(4), 160-165. doi:10.1080/00377990903283908

http://indianeducation.spps.org/college_tuition_waivers_for_native_american_students.html