Native Cultures Through Science

After generations of waiting, the Oglala Sioux prophecy of an economic, spiritual, and social renaissance is coming true. "Now the Seventh Generation is here," and they are creating dynamic change in one the least developed communities in the United States. Providing highly reduced tuition and parental efficacy at excellent schools has allowed many children to break the generational poverty chain.

The iSanti Community School in Nebraska has had a 100% graduation rate two years in a row. That success is in part due to the new cultural program that teaches students about the iSanti Dacotach tribe’s language, customs, and history each day.

A New Mexico network of native schools, called the NACA-Inspired Schools Network, addresses the failure of traditional schooling to incorporate native culture into lessons by designing a culturally relevant curriculum for students. Beyond cultural education, the network also requires students to take at least two Advanced Placement courses and apply to at least 10 colleges to help level the playing field for native students in New Mexico.

The Mvskoke 4-H Ocmulgee Club, in collaboration with Oklahoma State University and MCN Food Distribution, teaches Muscogee (Creek) Nation students hands-on pecan tree planting and food sovereignty skills rooted in Mvskoke cultural tradition.

World Relief Durham hosts a summer program for kids. Like other summer programs, it is meant to reduce summer learning loss—but this is specifically for children from forcibly displaced families. The kids face unique challenges in school and in society, often having been witness to traumatic experiences, so in this program they take lessons, play games, and work with community volunteers to let them just be kids. The program started with 25 participants in 2017 and grew to serve 150 children in 2019.

After Maine mandated Indigenous education in schools, some districts have found effective approaches while others struggle. This story outlines Maine's first Wabanaki studies specialist position, which have developed online learning modules and teacher-training workshops, and districts like Portland Public Schools have created hands-on curriculum with field trips to culturally significant sites. Evidence shows Portland schools are now "largely recognized as Wabanaki studies leaders" after four years of systematic implementation, though there are still more districts working to make similar adjustments.

Montana's Indian Education for All program ensures that both Native and non-Native students have the opportunity to learn the history and culture of local Indigenous peoples, such as through an experiential bison harvest.

The Nisaika Kum’tuks and Tsawalk learning centers provide alternative schooling options for Indigenous students to learn more about their culture and languages. The centers teach a total of 100 students from 23 different nations, many of whom come from single-family homes that are experiencing economic hardship or have been part of the foster care system. While the schools have recently shut down to be consolidated with the local school system, efforts are underway to create a new learning center that continues the mission of combining traditional knowledge and culture with academia.

Waadookodaading is an Ojibwe immersion school that meets state and federal academic standards but does so entirely in the indigenous language by connecting children to their cultural heritage. The school goes through 8th grade and uses the forest as its classrooms where traditional ceremonies and practices are used to teach lessons. For example, students learn math while harvesting maple sap and wild rice and biology through practicing sustainable fishing and hunting. Community elders play an important role in passing on their knowledge to students and the 100 graduates provide hope for the language’s future

Algoma University in Sault Ste. Marie has repurposed a former residential school building into the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre where students can learn about their Indigenous history and heritage. In the past, indigenous people were sent to these schools and stripped of their language, cultures, and traditions. Now, educators at SRSC are teaching newer generations of indigenous students rediscover their culture.