Native American Series | Supporting Teachers with Cultural Sensitivity | Brenda Beyal & Chris Roberts

11/16/21 • 24 min

Culturally-Responsive Classrooms: Helping Students Become Global Citizens

Chris Roberts, Provo City School District Arts Coordinator and Beverly Taylor Sorenson Arts Integration Coach, became involved in the Native American Curriculum Initiative when he and Brenda Beyal connected while teaching together in Nebo School District. Brenda and Chris’s “creative discontent” with teaching the same way everyone else did inspired them to do something more for children. They asked: “What is best for the students in our classrooms?” and “What will help them to become global citizens?” Together, they developed a multi-age program for students based on the arts and environmental education.

Native American Content at Arts Express Summer Conference for Elementary Teachers

Shared ideas about culturally-responsive teaching—specifically around Native American content—shaped Brenda’s and Chris’ presentation ideas at the Arts Express Summer Conference for elementary educators. Their presentation responded specifically to teachers’ questions about how to teach indigenous content appropriately and how to create culturally-responsive classrooms. Teachers developed new confidence and an “opening to a door that they were previously nervous about entering, especially when it comes to culturally-responsive pedagogy.”

Helping Elementary Teachers Create Culturally-Responsive Classrooms

All teachers are doing the best they can with the information and knowledge they possess. When Chris sees a teacher struggling to teach with cultural sensitivity, he asks questions such as, “How did you get the idea for your lesson plan?” or “How do you think a Paiute in your classroom would have reacted to your lesson?” These questions prompt empathy, which is a learning journey that supports understanding and sensitivity.

Teachers must be careful and intentional about the stories they share and the language they use. Chris shares a story about students’ replicated masks of the False Face Society, a healing society from the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois people). These masks are meant to represent evil spirits trapped inside of a sick person’s body and members of this society wear them while dancing to scare the evil spirits away. However, because the False Face Society is a very spiritual and sacred healing practice, it is culturally insensitive for teachers to ask their students to create the false face masks themselves.

Brenda continues by sharing how the term “_kiva_” has been used for a long time to represent a central space within a school. However, a “_kiva_” is a spiritual place that the Hopi and Pueblo people use for their sacred ceremonies and their councils. Brenda has met many teachers willing to become allies with the Pueblo and Hopi people to reclaim their voice by letting go of language that is culturally inappropriate and insensitive. She acknowledges that it can be difficult to approach an administrator or a team member to initiate change and understanding, but reminds teachers that being in a place of learning, the environment must allow for learning and changing to continue, especially when “no” is the answer.

Mistakes Are a Part of Developing Culturally-Responsive Pedagogy

Goodwill, or accepting that others make mistakes, is a NACI guiding principle. Brenda reminds listeners that from our mistakes, we learn, fix what we can, and move forward. Chris shares a story of a mistake: towards the end of his teaching career, he taught the Bear Dance, which is a special ceremonial dance that represents the awakening of a hibernating bear. He recognizes now that not asking anyone and not contacting the tribe to see if it was culturally appropriate to teach this content was a mistake: now, he knows that this dance is not one that the Ute tribe teaches to those outside their culture.

As Chris’s story demonstrates, Native American pedagogy sees mistakes as opportunities for learning:the hope of the NACI team is that if someone makes a mistake, that we also recognize their learning, and encourage forward momentum.. The Native American Curriculum initiative will continue to provide context, background information, and accessible culturally-responsive resources to help teachers cultivate an atmosphere of inclusion in their classrooms.

Culturally-Responsive Classrooms: Helping Students Become Global Citizens

Native American Content at Arts Express Summer Conference for Elementary Teachers

Helping Elementary Teachers Create Culturally-Responsive Classrooms

Mistakes Are a Part of Developing Culturally-Responsive Pedagogy

Previous Episode

Native American Series | 7 Guiding Principles when Partnering with Native Tribes | Cally Flox, Brenda Beyal, Heather Sundahl

Partnering with Native Tribes
Over the past three years, Brenda Beyal and her Native American Curriculum Initiative team have worked to create a culture of respect and inclusivity, building relationships of collaboration and creating lesson plans that include the native voice. The inception of this work began when the NACI team asked representatives from native tribes, “What do you want the children of Utah to know about your tribe?” Teaching artists collaborated with tribal representatives to create lesson plans with relevant and appropriate content, as well as a tribal seal of approval.

As the NACI team worked with tribal representatives and other partners across the state, seven principles emerged as a code of conduct and philosophy for how the team and partners engage in the NACI initiative.

1. Embrace Partnership & Reciprocity
The first principle is to embrace partnership and reciprocity. Cally, Brenda, and Heather reflect on an experience with the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation. Patty Timbimboo Madsen contacted the NACI team, looking for someone that could film the nations annual commemoration ceremony of the Bear River Massacre—the largest single slaughter of Native American lives in American history. Heather reflects on the sacredness of the event and the privilege of helping this tribe reclaim their story. Reciprocity—the act of offering something without expectation of receiving anything back—always leads to receiving more than you give.

2. Know Your Own Culture
Knowing your own culture is the second principle: everyone participates in a multifaceted culture with many layers. Taking time to learn and embody our own culture enables confidence and deep listening when learning about other cultures. Developing awareness around the traditions and values of your family’s culture makes it easier to be curious about other groups and how they explore and live those same aspects in different ways.

3. Ask with Genuine Intent, Listen Attentively

Asking with genuine intent and listening attentively is the third guiding principle. At the onset of the initiative, the NACI team asked native people, “What would you like the children of Utah to know about your tribe?” Listening with genuine intent and letting go of preconceived answers enabled the team to receive their authentic answer.

4. Accepting ‘No’ Gracefully
The fourth principle is accepting the ‘no’ gracefully. Often the NACI team asked questions, hoping for a certain answer but quickly learned that they were in the wrong. Disingenuous conversations or manipulating a ‘yes’ out of someone are not really consent: it’s not a true offering and it’s not a real partnership. Accepting the ‘no’ completely and gracefully empowers both the giver and receiver, opening the door for more meaningful opportunities and conversations.

5. Allow the Time Needed for Authentic Growth

The fifth guiding principle is to allow the time needed for authentic growth. At the outset of her work, Brenda assumed meeting all the tribes in a conference room and asking questions would provide all the content they needed. Three years later, the team still works to build authentic relationships. Trust, understanding, and a willingness to share takes time— there can be no deadlines.

6. Importance of Original Sources

Principle number six is the importance of original sources. Using multiple voices and broad perspectives helps the NACI team make sure they are bringing forward accurate and authentic sources in history into the present moment. Seeking authentic voices actively helps establish relationships, balance perspectives, and enrich lesson plans.

7. Assume Goodwill, Learn from Mistakes

The last principle is to assume goodwill and learn from mistakes. NACI team members gently inform each other of new information so they can learn to do better. Mistake-making is an inevitable aspect of learning for everyone involved: partners, tribal members, and other collaborators are all experiencing a process of trial and error: growing together requires respect and grace from all sides.

Weaving a Tapestry of Understanding and Collaboration

Bringing the seven guiding principles together into a coherent whole, Brenda shares a memory of her mother, a Diné, Navajo weaver, setting up her loom. The part of the loom holding the vertical threads is called the warp. The warp provides foundational support to the intricate designs created by the weft threads, just as the guiding principles of the Native American Curriculum Initiative act as the warp of the tapestry that their team is weaving. Every part of the NACI, whether it’s working with artists, tribal nations, or part...

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Native American Series | 5 Tribes and 8 Sovereign Nations in the Utah Region | Brenda Beyal, Cally Flox, Heather Sundahl, Stephanie West

Brenda Beyal, program coordinator for the Native American Curriculum Initiative, Stephanie West, an instructional designer working on the NACI asynchronous professional development course, and Heather Sundahl, a writer and editor with the Native American Curriculum Initiative, join Cally Flox to discuss the term ‘sovereignty.’ What does it mean to be a sovereign nation? How can we talk about tribal groups versus tribal nations versus sovereign nations?

Five Native American Tribal Groups in Utah

First, the hosts define what it means to be a “tribe.’ There are five tribal groups in Utah; within those tribal groups are eight sovereign nations. Cally shares a pneumonic device: “SUNG-P” that helps her remember the names of the five tribes: Shoshone, Ute, Navajo, Goshute and Paiute. The Navajo and Shoshone want to be called Nations; the others—Goshute, Ute, and Paiute—want to be called Tribes. These three groups have two sovereign nations each, which makes eight sovereign nations total in Utah when added to the Navajo and the Shoshone.

What is a Sovereign Nation?
Heather, Cally, Stephanie, and Brenda discuss the various meanings and layers of a sovereign nation. To Brenda, sovereignty is having the ability to self-govern, much like states self- govern themselves. While the definition of sovereignty denotes a nation-to-nation relationship with the federal government, Stephanie reminds us that sovereignty existed long before colonizers came to North America. Over time, the definition of sovereignty has evolved due to changing laws and attitudes.

Why Sovereignty Matters to Indigenous People

574 sovereign nations exist in the United States, eight of which are in Utah. However,over 200 more tribes are seeking federal recognition through a long and elaborate process. Sovereignty is important because it provides access to resources and funds, but most importantly, it provides opportunity for reclamation and recognition.

The Utah Flag bears an outdated representation of the tribes of Utah. When it was created in the 19th century, Utah was home to six tribes,represented by an eagle with six arrows in its beak. Now, since the Bannock Tribe has been relocated to Idaho, there are only five tribes. Heather hopes the flag will offer a more accurate representation of Utah’s native tribes when officials completed its redesign..

The hosts explain that the money Native Americans receive towards healthcare and scholarships is treaty money. This money was given by the federal government as a compromised remuneration in exchange for Native land, and was probably under-negotiated at the outset. A current Supreme Court ruling allows for abrogation of Native treaties, or the modification of treaties over time without the consent of the relevant indigenous group: every single Native American treaty has been changed over time, often without the consent of Native Americans. To summarize: previously negotiated funding is not a gift; it comes at a price.

Land Acknowledgements: What is a land acknowledgement? How do I make one?

Another way listeners can move toward reciprocity and restitution is by practicing the act of land acknowledgement. Understanding that the definition of Native land is complex and includes three sometimes distinct types (tribal, reservation, and ancestral), land acknowledgement is the awareness and appreciation of the ancestral lands of a group of people who were caretakers much further back than our ancestors were. Brenda shares an example of a land acknowledgement in this episode and in this blog post.

As part of a land acknowledgement, offer a pledge to be a thoughtful steward by sharing specific ways that my family will help care for the land: pick up trash, or donate to a program that helps spread awareness about environmental consciousness, contributing to a scholarship fund for people whose ancestors were once on this land.

In an effort to create awareness, activate empathy, and learn the beautiful principles that the Native people have to teach us about caring for our land, the BYU ARTS Partnership regularly offers land acknowledgements at conferences and professional development meetings.can. Brenda and Cally remind listeners that although mistakes and injustices have been made in the past, we live in a time when we can make a difference. We don’t have to look back and feel shame, but rather we can propagate a spirit of unity that propels us forward towards reciprocity and restitution. We can help Native people reclaim their history and heritage now by communicating, validating, and honoring their feelings and stories.

Learn about tribal land, reservation land, and ancestral land.

Native land includes tribal land, reservation land, and ancestral land. Sometimes these ...