Bringing National Native American Heritage Month to the Classroom
November is National Native American Heritage month, and there’s good news for teachers: the internet is packed with ready-to-go resources for you to bring to the classroom.
More and more we’ve seen the International Baccalaureate program recognize the importance of bringing indigenous culture and knowledge into the classroom. In IB Literature and IB Language & Literature, four indigenous American authors are on the Prescribed Reading List: Louise Erdrich, Sherman Alexie, Joy Harjo, and Leslie Marmon Silko. Indigenous writers from other parts of the world are on the PRL as well: Thomas King of Canada, Witi Ihimaera of New Zeland, Ayu Utami of Indonesia, Miral al-Tahawy of Egypt, Buchi Emecheta of Nigera and Elif Şafak of Turkey, to name a few.
In Theory of Knowledge, one of the five optional themes is knowledge and indigenous societies. In this theme, focus is placed on “knowledge that is deeply embedded in the culture and traditions of particular communities of knowers, and how what might be seen as ‘traditional’ indigenous knowledge and societies operate today” (Theory of Knowledge guide).
Whether you’re teaching an IB course or not, we have some suggestions for bringing National Native American Heritage Month into the classroom.
Your first stop should be the official website of National Native American Heritage Month. A calendar at the bottom of the page highlights events—some in person, some online—and the toolbar at the top will take you to resources for teachers. On the resources for teachers page, there’s a great lesson on American Indian History and Heritage, and lists of ready-to-go lessons and resources from:
The Library of Congress, like this one called “Native American Newspapers: Studying the History through the Eyes of the Community.”
National Archives, which uses DocsTeach for lessons like “Analyzing a Photograph of a Young American Indian.”
National Endowment for the Humanities and Partner Organizations, with over a dozen different lessons including studying “Remember” by Joy Harjo.
National Gallery of Art, which has aactivities using primary sources in their lesson “Uncovering America.”
The National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, and Smithsonian Folklife Magazine also have many lessons for teachers to chose from.
If you’d rather bring in literature written by an American indigenous writers, check out:
Louise Erdrich’s debut novel Love Medicine; the novel The Round House, for which she won the National Book Award; The Plague of Doves, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction; or The Night Watchman, which did win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. If you’d like something shorter, check out her 2009 short story “The Leap.”
Sherman Alexie’s works have probably already crossed your path, like his YA novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which won the 2007 U.S. National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. Alexie also writes poetry, like the powerful “How to Write the Great American Indian Novel.” It’s worth noting that in recent years allegations of sexual harassment by Alexie have started conversations about whether or not he should still be an author we promote in schools.
Joy Harjo, who is a favorite of ours. We have an entire page dedicated to the teaching of her poetry collection An American Sunrise. She’s also the author of Poet Warrior, and Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings.
Leslie Marmon Silko received the MacArthur Foundation Grant in 1981 and the Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994. She has written works such as Ceremony, Storyteller, and Almanac of the Dead.
Whether you’re looking to add a new text to your curriculum or to find a lesson that will take just one class period, resources abound, and what we’ve shared barely scratches the surface. We hope these resources are a good starting point and that you find a lesson that’s just right for your classroom.
Happy National Native American Heritage Month!