By Jennifer Riepl, Education Leadership & Inclusive Teaching
Overview
Working with Indigenous youth has opened my eyes to the many disparities in education, from elementary through university. As a math and history teacher, I’ve used many different textbooks and resources to meet the needs of my students and while improvements have been made, the majority of the curriculum available is still very Anglicized.
I began my teaching career in Cameroon, West Africa teaching history for grades 6-12 and setting up a special education program at the American School of Yaoundé in 2007. The textbooks available to me were written by White authors and presented a very colonized version of history. The internet was unstable on the best of days and I was working with an old overhead projector and maps that were not current. I was able to get items shipped to me via the American embassy and my parents were sent shopping many times during my first year in country. Along with newer textbooks I was able to order, I used Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States” and James W. Loewen’s “Lies My Teacher Told Me” for 8th and 10th grade U.S. history and 11th/12th grade Global Issues.
When teaching Ancient Civilizations, I enlisted the help of my students who were either from the countries we were learning about or had been stationed there with their parents. The students created lessons based on the country or region they were familiar with and I got to be a student! Parents were involved also, we had many feasts in our classroom as we traveled the globe in our studies.
Barak Obama was running for president while I was in Cameroon and many students asked if I would vote for him because he was Black. This led to many amazing in depth conversations about politics around the globe, especially the topic of slavery. I grew up in a very White city, was taught a very whitewashed version of history, and only once I was out of that setting and into one where I was a minority did I begin to see just how poorly our education system treats People of Color (POC).
My first job stateside was teaching math at Chief Leschi for the Puyallup Tribe, across the state from where I grew up. During my six years at Leschi, I learned more about tribal history in Washington state than I did in elementary, secondary, and university. I began to indigenize the curriculum I was using by writing my own math problems and assessments that discussed fishing, hunting, beading, weaving, drumming, and singing. Student buy-in, especially in math, a topic many students despise, increases when they see themselves and their communities represented authentically.
I have been working for the Suquamish Tribe for seven years, teaching math, history, and STEM/STEAM, and have continued to indigenize my content as much as possible. The idea of decolonization is not new and improvements are happening but as university staff, we need to do more. This workshop discusses the first steps you can take to begin decolonizing your content and curriculum.
Step 1: Understand historical & generational trauma of Indigenous Peoples of Washington state.
Step 2: Learn about the land you occupy.
Step 3: Reach out to the tribes near you.
Step 4: Participate in tribal community events.
Step 5: Showcase Indigenous authors, scientists, mathematicians, astronomers, athletes, entertainers, healers, etc.
Resources
Books
- Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer (2013)
- highly recommended the audiobook narrated by the author, hear the beautiful Potawatomi language
- Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese (2012)
Movies & Videos
(I show these in 7th grade WA history)
Indian Horse (film)
‘How the U.S. Stole Thousands of Native American Children’
Tribe Information
The Tribes of Washington (map)
Washington Tribes (youtube channel)
Federally Recognized Tribes of Washington State
Since Time Immemorial: Tribal Sovereignty in Washington State
Articles
Why tackling the global industry of fake Indigenous art is like playing ‘whack-a-mole’
Chief Seattle (Seattle, Chief Noah [born Si?al 178?-1866])
New Center for Indigenous Health to address American Indian and Alaska Native health inequities
Cultural Appropriation: the Scariest Part of Halloween
‘I stood alone’: indigenous student’s struggles with ethnic isolation
‘Say her name’: Missing, murdered indigenous women report hits close to home
8 Native American Scientists And Their Important Contributions
7 Indigenous Pioneers You Need to Know
7 Indigenous People in STEM You Should Know
Boarding Schools & ICWA
“Kill the Indian in him, and save the man”: R. H. Pratt on the Education of Native Americans
Lost Generations — Our Stories
Other Resources
Suquamish Language Program
Burke Museum
Duwamish Tribe
Tribal Maps | GOIA
MOHAI
New Center for Indigenous Health to address American Indian and Alaska Native health inequities
Historical trauma and cultural healing: Video series