Moving forward: Including and centering Indigenous voices year-round by Rebecca Chatham-Vazquez
| Welcome to the second November Weekend Pick! Dr. Rebecca Chatham-Vazquez is an assistant professor and the director of English Education at North Dakota State University, where she is living her dream, teaching Methods courses and Young Adult Literature and mentoring preservice English teachers. She is in her 15th year of teaching and loves it just as much now as she did on day one. She has taught and worked with pre- and in-service teachers in Montana (very rural), Arkansas (urban), Arizona (urban and rural), and, now, North Dakota (urban and rural). She has been a member of NCTE since 2008, and is a strong supporter of professional organizations like NCTE, its state affiliates, and ALAN. Her research interests include teacher education, rural teacher support, YAL, and methods of teaching reading. She can be reached at [email protected] |  |
As we exit November and head into all things Christmas and exams, I want to leave you with a post that provides you with resources for how to include AND CENTER Native American voices and perspectives THROUGHOUT the year, rather than just during Indigenous History Month.
Some questions you might ask yourself as you continue to ponder this month’s posts and this one, in particular include the following:
- Where can I implement AND CENTER more Indigenous Literature in my curriculum?
- What can I replace that doesn’t serve my students?
- How can I use Indigenous Literature to supplement texts I am required to use?
- Of these sources in this post, what is one I could pick up that might challenge how I am thinking about my curriculum?
- Of these sources, what is one I could suggest to a student tomorrow? What is one I could suggest to my team tomorrow? What is one I could use in my classroom tomorrow?
A couple of key terms to know
For me, one of the most important definitions we can know is the definition of Tribal Sovereignty. According to Google’s English Dictionary, sovereignty means supreme power or authority OR the authority of a state to govern itself or another state. Building on that definition, and at its most basic, Tribal Sovereignty means the right of Indigenous Nations to govern themselves. This right applies and extends to all aspects of life, but the three that seem the most prescient to our work as educators are food sovereignty, educational sovereignty, and the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). All three of these examples tie directly to our daily interactions with children in educational settings, so I have included some resources, too, to learn more about these rights.
For me, one of the most important definitions we can know is the definition of Tribal Sovereignty. According to Google’s English Dictionary, sovereignty means supreme power or authority OR the authority of a state to govern itself or another state. Building on that definition, and at its most basic, Tribal Sovereignty means the right of Indigenous Nations to govern themselves. This right applies and extends to all aspects of life, but the three that seem the most prescient to our work as educators are food sovereignty, educational sovereignty, and the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). All three of these examples tie directly to our daily interactions with children in educational settings, so I have included some resources, too, to learn more about these rights.
SOME Young Adult authors to follow (there are soooooooo many more!)
There are so many amazing Indigenous authors of Young Adult Literature. The cool thing about following them on their socials (I like Instagram the best) and receiving their newsletters is that you learn not only about their past and upcoming books, but you also get to learn about their lives and passions, what current events are important to them and their communities, and about new Indigenous authors. In addition, you will know more about the land on which you live and teach. Some of these authors include:
There are so many amazing Indigenous authors of Young Adult Literature. The cool thing about following them on their socials (I like Instagram the best) and receiving their newsletters is that you learn not only about their past and upcoming books, but you also get to learn about their lives and passions, what current events are important to them and their communities, and about new Indigenous authors. In addition, you will know more about the land on which you live and teach. Some of these authors include:
Joseph Bruchac:, Cherie Dimaline, Eric Gansworth, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Brian Young, Darcie Little Badger, Angeline Boulley, Jen Ferguson, and David A. Robertson:
Just a quick Google search of “current Indigenous young adult authors” will pop up list after list of contemporary YAL authors and books written by Indigenous authors ranging from Publisher’s Weekly to local libraries across the country trying to get the word out.
If you end up following Cynthia Leitich Smith (I can’t recommend this enough because Cynthia is amazing), you will also get to enter into the world of Heartdrum Books, the Native American Imprint of HarperCollins. This imprint prints books by and about Native Americans; it prints picture books, middle grade novels, and young adult novels. In addition, there are educator guides that accompany many of the novels, there are excerpts from the novels, and there is so much more to help you use these texts in class and get them into the hands of the students who need them.
If you have viewed the Weekend Picks for this month, you will see that 4 of the 5 are books from the Heartdrum Imprint and a couple are bridging into the horror genre, an exploding genre of YAL that is full of excitement, terror, and fun!
SOME social media accounts to follow:
In addition to following authors on social media (I’ve included the two I reference the most for my own work below), there are a few accounts I follow on Instagram to keep informed and keep learning:
@cynthialeitichsmith - this is her author account on IG
@davidrobertsonwriter - this is his author account on IG
@tumbleweed_nutrition - this is an account of a nutritionist who is Dine and lives on the Navajo Nation
@illuminative - this is the IG account for IllumiNative, a Native woman-led racial and social justice organization
@indiancountrytoday - now known as ICT (Indian Country Today), this is IG page to disseminate news, entertainment, and opiniosn about and relevant to Indigenous communities
In addition to following authors on social media (I’ve included the two I reference the most for my own work below), there are a few accounts I follow on Instagram to keep informed and keep learning:
@cynthialeitichsmith - this is her author account on IG
@davidrobertsonwriter - this is his author account on IG
@tumbleweed_nutrition - this is an account of a nutritionist who is Dine and lives on the Navajo Nation
@illuminative - this is the IG account for IllumiNative, a Native woman-led racial and social justice organization
@indiancountrytoday - now known as ICT (Indian Country Today), this is IG page to disseminate news, entertainment, and opiniosn about and relevant to Indigenous communities
SOME state-level resources:
I also have included some state-level resources from my home state of Montana that anyone has access to and can use to support their teaching of Native American literature. What you might also find is that your state department of public instruction has Indian Education specialists who work with the tribes (federally recognized or not) in your state and also your subject-area curriculum specialists to bring Indigenous voices into the curriculum.
Montana Office of Public Instruction. (2020). Indian Education in Montana. Montana Office of Public Instruction. https://opi.mt.gov/Educators/Teaching-Learning/Indian-Education
This is the link to the Indian Education for All page of the Montana Office of Public Instruction. Montana has a constitutional mandate to incorporate Indian Education for All in all subjects and in all grades.
The following are collections of activities and poems put together by educators and available for use in classrooms:
Fedulo, M. (2013). It’s like my heart pounding - Imaginative writing for American Indian students and implementation of Indian Education for All. Montana Office of Public Instruction.
Susag, D.M. (Ed.) (2012). Birthright: Born to poetry - A collection of Montana Indian poetry, for the secondary level. Montana Office of Public Instruction.
I also have included some state-level resources from my home state of Montana that anyone has access to and can use to support their teaching of Native American literature. What you might also find is that your state department of public instruction has Indian Education specialists who work with the tribes (federally recognized or not) in your state and also your subject-area curriculum specialists to bring Indigenous voices into the curriculum.
Montana Office of Public Instruction. (2020). Indian Education in Montana. Montana Office of Public Instruction. https://opi.mt.gov/Educators/Teaching-Learning/Indian-Education
This is the link to the Indian Education for All page of the Montana Office of Public Instruction. Montana has a constitutional mandate to incorporate Indian Education for All in all subjects and in all grades.
The following are collections of activities and poems put together by educators and available for use in classrooms:
Fedulo, M. (2013). It’s like my heart pounding - Imaginative writing for American Indian students and implementation of Indian Education for All. Montana Office of Public Instruction.
Susag, D.M. (Ed.) (2012). Birthright: Born to poetry - A collection of Montana Indian poetry, for the secondary level. Montana Office of Public Instruction.
SOME theoretical and supplemental texts
Lastly, I have some theoretical texts that you might enjoy reading if you are hoping to ground yourself more deeply in the literature.
McCarty, T.L., & Lee, T.S. (2014). Critical culturally sustaining/revitalizing pedagogy and Indigenous education sovereignty. Harvard Educational Review, 84(1), pp. 101-124.
In this article, McCarty and Lee build on the concepts of Culturally Relevant/Responsive and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies; however, McCarty and Lee focus specifically on how these prior theories might be turned towards and used within Native American communities. My favorite aspect of this article is its tie between tribal sovereignty and education sovereignty.
Tuck, E., & Yang, K.W. (2012). Decolonization is not a metaphor. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 1(1), pp. 1-40.
In this extremely powerful article, Tuck and Yang challenge educators who use the term “decolonization” to describe a changing of curriculum. Tuck and Yang argue that this term is not a metaphor but that decolonization is actually the physical unsettling of colonial mechanisms and is different from curricular changes. Educators need to be clear on their use of terms.
Tuhiwai Smith, L. (2012). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and Indigenous peoples (2nd ed.). Zed Books Ltd.
Linda Tuhiwai Smith is a member of the Ngati Awa and Ngati Porou Iwi (Tribes) and is a professor of Indigenous Education at the University of Waikato in New Zealand. If you feel like you are moving towards wanting to do research of your own, then this book might be the place for you to look. In this powerful response and challenge to Western research methods, Tuhiwai Smith presents methodologies that see Indigenous people as subjects and agents able to conduct their own research in their own ways rather than objects to be the concern of other people’s (often dehumanizing and unethical) research.
First Nations Development Institute. (2018). Indigenous Food Sovereignty Sources Guide. First Nations Development Institute. https://www.firstnations.org/wp-content/uploads/publication-attachments/Food_Sovereignty_Bibliography_FINAL2.pdf
This document presents the reader with a lengthy bibliography of sources, places to look to better understand Indigenous food sovereignty. It provides links to agricultural, health, and nutritional resources both nationally and internationally.
Adichie, C.N. (2009, July). The danger of a single story [Video]. TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare
In this Ted Talk, Chimamanda Adichie talks about the importance of presenting multiple stories about any group of people and of avoiding a single story. In other words, if the only stories students in school read/see about Black people are stories of slavery or from the Civil Rights Movement, then those are the only stories students know about Black people: ones of struggle. Instead, Adichie argues that students should see Black people in multiple stories and roles and understand that, just like any other race, Black people experience the full range of emotions, work a range of jobs, live in the current world not just in history, and more. These ideas apply to any group of people.
Lastly, I have some theoretical texts that you might enjoy reading if you are hoping to ground yourself more deeply in the literature.
McCarty, T.L., & Lee, T.S. (2014). Critical culturally sustaining/revitalizing pedagogy and Indigenous education sovereignty. Harvard Educational Review, 84(1), pp. 101-124.
In this article, McCarty and Lee build on the concepts of Culturally Relevant/Responsive and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies; however, McCarty and Lee focus specifically on how these prior theories might be turned towards and used within Native American communities. My favorite aspect of this article is its tie between tribal sovereignty and education sovereignty.
Tuck, E., & Yang, K.W. (2012). Decolonization is not a metaphor. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 1(1), pp. 1-40.
In this extremely powerful article, Tuck and Yang challenge educators who use the term “decolonization” to describe a changing of curriculum. Tuck and Yang argue that this term is not a metaphor but that decolonization is actually the physical unsettling of colonial mechanisms and is different from curricular changes. Educators need to be clear on their use of terms.
Tuhiwai Smith, L. (2012). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and Indigenous peoples (2nd ed.). Zed Books Ltd.
Linda Tuhiwai Smith is a member of the Ngati Awa and Ngati Porou Iwi (Tribes) and is a professor of Indigenous Education at the University of Waikato in New Zealand. If you feel like you are moving towards wanting to do research of your own, then this book might be the place for you to look. In this powerful response and challenge to Western research methods, Tuhiwai Smith presents methodologies that see Indigenous people as subjects and agents able to conduct their own research in their own ways rather than objects to be the concern of other people’s (often dehumanizing and unethical) research.
First Nations Development Institute. (2018). Indigenous Food Sovereignty Sources Guide. First Nations Development Institute. https://www.firstnations.org/wp-content/uploads/publication-attachments/Food_Sovereignty_Bibliography_FINAL2.pdf
This document presents the reader with a lengthy bibliography of sources, places to look to better understand Indigenous food sovereignty. It provides links to agricultural, health, and nutritional resources both nationally and internationally.
Adichie, C.N. (2009, July). The danger of a single story [Video]. TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare
In this Ted Talk, Chimamanda Adichie talks about the importance of presenting multiple stories about any group of people and of avoiding a single story. In other words, if the only stories students in school read/see about Black people are stories of slavery or from the Civil Rights Movement, then those are the only stories students know about Black people: ones of struggle. Instead, Adichie argues that students should see Black people in multiple stories and roles and understand that, just like any other race, Black people experience the full range of emotions, work a range of jobs, live in the current world not just in history, and more. These ideas apply to any group of people.
Conclusion
My dear friends, I hope that any and all of these resources help you as you think about your curriculum throughout the year. Please reach out to me anytime with questions, and please reach out to your local/state experts for help, too. Thank you all for being the amazing educators that you are!
My dear friends, I hope that any and all of these resources help you as you think about your curriculum throughout the year. Please reach out to me anytime with questions, and please reach out to your local/state experts for help, too. Thank you all for being the amazing educators that you are!
RSS Feed