Post Thanksgiving Thoughts

Thanksgiving can be a wonderful time of getting together with family and reflecting on all the things we have in life to be thankful for, but there is one thing I hate about this holiday. It plays a huge part in continuing our stereotypes of Native Americans. Recently, I found myself cringing when it was mentioned that a child I know had dressed up as an Indian at school last week, because her teacher had told the students to come to school dressed as either an Indian or a pilgrim. I could not bear to ask for a description of what was worn by her or her classmates. I can only imagine... How many "Hows" do you think were uttered during the course of the day? It makes my head spin.

It infuriates me how ignorant so many classroom teachers are. I used to hate the month of November when I was a public school teacher as I watched so many of my colleagues perpetuate stereotypes and not even bother to teach the real story of Thanksgiving or discuss differences between the many tribes of the Americas. When I made my concerns known, I was always met with a glazed silent expression or an, "Oh, but the kids think it's so fun."

One of my favorite poets, Joy Harjo recently posted on this subject on her website. A portion of the post states the following:

THE NATIVE AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE
"Young children's conceptions of Native Americans often develop out of
media portrayals and classroom role playing of the events of the First
Thanksgiving. That conception of Native Americans gained from such early
exposure is both inaccurate and potentially damaging to others," says
Debbie Reese in "Teaching Young Children About Native Americans," an
ERIC Digest (May 1996).

For example, a visitor to a child care center heard a four-year-old
saying, "Indians aren't people. They're all dead." "This child," Reese
says, "had already acquired an inaccurate view of Native Americans, even
though her classmates were children of many cultures, including a Native
American child."

Check out her entire post here www.joyharjo.com