DOCUMENT RESUME RC 023 331 ED 459 978 Buffalohead, Priscilla; Sterner, Michele AUTHOR Indian Education: An Intergenerational Approach. TITLE PUB DATE 2001-00-00 NOTE 7p. Descriptive (141) PUB TYPE Reports EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. *American Indian Education; *Community Involvement; DESCRIPTORS *Cultural Education; Cultural Maintenance; Elementary Secondary Education; *Extracurricular Activities; Family Programs; Field Trips; Gardening; Handicrafts; *Intergenerational Programs; *Parent Participation; Program Descriptions Osseo School District MN; *School Based Enterprises IDENTIFIERS ABSTRACT The Indian Education Program in the Osseo School District (Minnesota) serves approximately 200 American Indian students in grades K-12 from 27 schools and a variety of tribes. The Program's intergenerational approach reflects tribal traditions in that generations learn together and grandparents, parents, and students are involved in the decision-making process. In addition to weekly and monthly culture classes, postsecondary preparation activities, and advocacy, the Program has created a number of family-based after-school, weekend, and summer activities. Traditional tribal seeds are used in a garden managed by parents and students. Another Program feature is a craft business, where Indian elders, and community members, and parents teach students to make traditional Indian crafts items that are sold at vendor booths, pow-wows, and craft fairs. Students have created a Web page and catalogue for the business. Entire families are involved in drum, dance, and language classes taught by Elders and other community members with knowledge and understanding of their tribal culture and heritage. Field trips familiarize students with Indian cultural history and postsecondary education. A parent and student-run newsletter keeps the community informed about Program offerings. The Program's success is based upon several factors that can be duplicated in other programs. Staff, parents, and students agree to work toward common valued goals. Staff are hired who understand how to locate funding, work with Indian community members, and recruit those who have valuable cultural knowledge and skills to share. Program staff members and parents learn how to collaborate with representatives from other community programs with similar goals. The ideas of all participants are valued and put into action. (TD) be made Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can from the original document. "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS U.S: DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement MARERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY EDUC TIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) tjr (sc:f INDIAN EDUCATION: AN INTERGENERATIONAL APPROACH his document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. liectA v-efcr 0 Minor changes have been made to improve By reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this docu- TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES ment do not necessarily represent official INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." Priscilla Buffalohead and Michele Sterner OERI position or policy. The Indian Education Program in the Osseo Area Schools serves approximately 200 American Indian students, grades kindergarten through twelve, who attend twenty-seven different schools in the district. These students represent a variety of tribal backgrounds. Seventy per cent are Ojibwe from reservations in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and North Dakota; fifteen per cent are Dakota or Lakota; and the remaining ten per cent are Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Yuchi, Pawnee, Otoe, Mohawk, Comanche, Cheyenne, Carrier, Washoe, Potawatomi, Ho-chunk (Winnebago), Powhatan, and Apache. The Osseo School District is the fifth largest in the state of Minnesota with a student population of The district boundaries include several communities located in the northwest suburbs approximately 22,000. These communities include inner and outer ring suburbs as well as established rural of Minneapolis. communities. The ethnic composition of the district is sharply split between what district personnel refer to as the east and west sides. East Side schools include up to 50% minority enrollment while West Side schools are predominantly white. In response to concerns of Indian parents, the Osseo School District created an American Indian Parent sought state and federal funding to The committee and the district then Advisory Committee in 1990. better serve Indian students. For the first few years, program staff included on half-time position and In the fall of 1995, two new staff members occasionally one full time position when funding was available. were hired and the program began to grow. Creative ideas and excellent proposal writing skills led to financial stability for the program. The Indian Education staff who came together in 1995 faced the awesome task of creating a sense of Then, as well as today, American Indian students in the community where none had previously existed. 2 BEST COPY AVAILABLE district attend several different schools, come from different tribes, live in different communities in the district, and come to the program with widely varying amounts of connection to and knowledge of their The first step in developing a sense of community, the Parent Committee and staff agreed, tribal heritage. was the creation of a common mission for the program that all parties could agree upon. The Indian Parent Advisory Committee, after much discussion, came up with the following mission statement: "The purpose of the Indian Education program is to empower Indian students and their families to enhance their educational This mission statement potential through special, unique, and culturally related educational programming". reflects three key values: the importance of our children, the importance of education, and the importance of American Indian culture and heritage. As the staff brainstormed program ideas, it became apparent that best approach for delivering In all tribal traditions, educational services to this unique community is an intergenerational approach. education took place in family and community environments where generations of families taught and The staff therefore decided that even though school programs separate generations based learned together. Program staff also realized that grandparents, parents, on age, our programs would include whole families. Their ideas also had to be carried and students had to be actively involved in the decision making process. out in concrete ways so they could see their ideas actually blossom. Osseo's Indian Education Program offers services to all Indian students in the district in the form of In addition, the weekly and monthly culture classes, post-secondary preparation activities, and advocacy. staff and Parent Committee have created a number of family-based after school, weekend, and summer After the staff proposed the idea, the school One of these projects is the Native Youth Garden. activities. For the past two years, in late spring, Indian families district found land that could be used for gardening. have come together to plant seeds that are part of the original stock of seeds used by American Indian gardeners for generations. Among several other varieties, the seeds include Omaha Pumpkin, Moves Slowly Parents and students plant these traditional Native crops in hills as our Sunflower, and Wild Goose Beans. ancestors did. The students have chosen the phrase, Three Sisters, to label the food crop sections of the The name is derived from the Iroquois phrase for corn, beans, and squash. The fourth, and final garden. This section is dedicated to healing plants our ancestors section of the garden is called the Healing Garden. used to treat the sick both spiritually and physically. The Healing Garden includes, among other plants, Prairie Sage, Sweet Grass, Sweet Flag (Muskrat Food), and varieties of Coneflower. As news of the Indian Education garden project spread, program staff began to get requests to share seeds. The program has shared gardening ideas and seeds with the Upper Sioux Community in Western Minnesota, Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College in Northeastern Minnesota, and with NAES College In return for these seeds, the Menominee students and staff on the Menominee Reservation in Wisconsin. American Indian families in the district not shared their 1000-year-old squash seeds with Osseo's program. only plant the garden each year, but also water, weed, and harvest the plants throughout the summer. The most recent development in the garden project has been the creation of a video so our vision of a Native Youth Garden can be shared with others. Another feature of Osseo's Indian Education Program is an American Indian student run business For the past five years, the students have created a number of enterprise called Little Buffalo Crafts. The students sell these items at vendor booths during Indian Education authentic traditional craft items. Conferences, at pow-wows and craft fairs in the Twin Cities Indian Community, and at school events. The students earn points for making crafts and selling them. They also earn points for attending Saturday These sessions are led by Indian Elders, Indian community mentorship sessions throughout the year. members, and parents who teach the students how to make particular items. One parent, a member of the Carrier Nation of British Columbia, taught the students how to make baby moccasins out of moose hide. Carrier Elders provided the moose hide to the program. The mentors have been a valuable part of the business because community Elders, artisans, and parents who become involved in the program promote the students in the larger Indian community. The vendor booth business has also linked the students and their families with a network of Native people throughout the state. The students who participate in Little Buffalo Crafts earn a paycheck every few months. The amount of money they earn is based on the number of points they have accumulated from participating in With the help of a district technology consultant, mentorships, making crafts, and selling at vendor booths. five of the students worked for eight weeks to create a business Web Page on the Internet. Other students Some of the participating students have put their earnings into a helped to create a business catalog. Still others are able to buy presents for their parents and Others take guitar lessons. college fund. Participating students have learned a wide variety of hands on skills: creating art and craft grandparents. products, carrying out basic principles of organizing and running a business, developing public relations Parents are actively involved in the student skills, and learning the fundamentals of Web Page design. They serve as mentors, transport the students to various vendor locations, look for business as well. marketing opportunities, and occasionally sell for the students during school hours. Entire families are involved as well in the dram and dance classes, and Ojibwe and Dakota language These classes are taught by Elders and other community members with classes sponsored by the program. Parents and students have the opportunity knowledge and understanding of their tribal culture and heritage. Parents often work on dance and traditional dance. to learn pow-wow songs, drumming, fancy dance, The classes culminate in a pow-wow held during the spring of the outfits for their children during class. District families particularly appreciate the language classes. There are few family members who year. Because the classes are offered to entire families, family know how to speak their Native language. members can practice the language together at home. The drum and dance teachers and language teachers have also become stakeholders in the program because their unique skills are utilized and appreciated. They subsequently promote the Osseo Indian Education Program in the larger community. In addition to these culturally based educational experiences open to all Indian families of the district, the secondary program offers an overnight camping field trip to secondary students and their parents. These trips culminate in visits to historical sites in Minnesota relating to Ojibwe and Dakota history. The students and parents really enjoy this opportunity as many of the students have never before experienced overnight camping and exploring greater Minnesota. Also open to secondary students is the opportunity to explore post- The Indian Education program offers four field trips a year for students and parents secondary education. The experience has been a wonderful opportunity to visit and learn more about college and university life. The college trips have even motivated some parents to go back and for both the students and their parents. earn their own college degree. The most recent offering of the Indian Education Program came about as an idea from parents. Some parents and students wanted to take a class about Indian history and culture. Since one staff member had already taught at the college level, she agreed to facilitate this class and research the possibility of offering NAES (Native American Educational Services) College-Twin Cities, agreed to sponsor the it for college credit. Because many of the families who were interested did not have the funds to pay for college credit, course. the staff at NAES College and Osseo's Indian Education Program wrote a grant to the Two Feathers Fund of This grant covered the cost of processing college credits, books, and other the St. Paul Foundation. The staff then sought a location for the class than would not be intimidating, because for most of materials. The class ended up being taught at the the participants, this class would be their first college experience. Comfortable chairs, coffee, and desert added to the classroom atmosphere. home of one of the parents. Nineteen grandparents, parents, high school and junior high students signed up for the eight-week course. 6 These students now have two college credits. This approach Eighteen participants finished the course. proved to be another effective way for parents and students to experience post-secondary education together. To keep all American Indian parents and students in the district informed about program offerings and achievements, the Indian Education Program publishes a newsletter three times a year (Fall, Winter, and This newsletter has proved to be an effective instrument for reaching both the Indian community Spring). and the local educational community. The newsletter includes recurring articles about Indian tribes, cultural lesson plans, college information, web site news, individual student achievement, biographies, and book Parents and students also write articles for the newsletter periodically about famous Indian reviews. ancestors and other pertinent subjects. The success of Osseo's Indian Education Program is based upon a number of factors that can be First, a solid agreement needs to be reached between staff, parents, and duplicated in other programs. students to work toward common valued goals. Second, successful programs depend on hiring staff who understand how to locate funding at the national, state, and private foundation level so that programs have a funding base for several years. Staff members also need to understand how to work with Indian community member, and recognize and recruit those who have valuable cultural knowledge and other skills Third, staff and parents need to learn how to network in the community to find to share with the program. other programs that have similar goals. Collaboration with these programs can enhance individual program offerings. Finally, a successful Indian Education Program is a flexible one, where the ideas of all participants are valued and where these ideas are carried out. Michele Steiner serves as the irnerican Indian Culture and Language Teacher for the Osseo School Bistrict. Priscilla Buffalohead is the Indian rducation Cultue She is an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. Specialist for the distiict. She is the author of a number of curriculum units and articles about Auzerican Indian history and culture. 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