In 1986, a non-native teacher wanted a teaching unit on Native Americans for her fifth grade class. She asked a Native American teacher to develop a curriculum unit for the class. The Native American teacher did so, as well as expanding the curriculum into a 43 page unit which could be used for all grades. This was the beginning of the Cradleboard Teaching Project, a program through which all students can be taught truthful and relevant subjects from a Native American perspective as well as allowing Indian and non-Indian students to connect and learn from each other.
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The Cradleboard Teaching Project was founded by Buffy Saint-Marie, a Cree woman who has had decades of experience as a singer, songwriter, and political activist. This program consists of traditional school curriculum units that are developed by Native Americans and are written from a Native American perspective. The project uses email, chat rooms, interactive web sites, bulletin boards and video conferencing to connect students with resources and other groups of students.
This program hopes to address several problems in American society. First, there are many misperceptions in our society about Native Americans. There is also a great lack of accuracy regarding Native American history and culture in mainstream curricula. This not only leaves a gaping hole in the cultural education of our children, but it also creates a lack of self-identity for many children of Native descent.
This lack of self-concept is in part to blame for the Native American community having the highest levels of depression and suicide in our country. This also is one of the causes of the high rates of school drop-out, concomitant high unemployment, welfare dependency, substance abuse and high poverty rates among Native American communities.
This interactive program helps give Native American students a sense of self-esteem and empowerment as they learn of their own and other tribal cultures, as well as having the opportunity to share their culture with other students around the country.
The program has science, geography, history, music, and social studies curriculum supplements that are available free at www.cradleboard.org. Check out the interesting topics, such as lodge building, Mayan sports, ancient trade routes, pyramid cities, Mohawk clanmothers, mouth bows, boarding schools, tribal governments, and Native American inventions. This curriculum program has much to offer students of every age.
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