Native American Study Question

[scootiepie]

I am going to do a short unit on Native Americans at a co-op class.    I wanted to do something hands-on, and I was toying with the idea of looking at the

meanings and symbolism of the ceremonial and war paints;  and perhaps let them even pick a pattern to do on themselves.

 

Then I came across one website that said this is considered to be insulting to Native Americans.    Sort of like doing blackface.

 

Any truth to this?    Not interested in debating, but I certainly don't want to cross any lines.  

[Tanaqui]

Well, let's look at it this way. Would you encourage these kids to dress up like Jews if you were studying Judaism? Or to make their own Mormon "garments"?

 

If you wouldn't do that, then you probably shouldn't do this.

[Slache]

The natives that I've known would not have considered that insulting.

[Tsuga]

I think dressing up in costume can be taken the wrong way. War paint is a touchy subject because it's assumed to apply to all indigenous peoples of N. America. I personally would choose something less likely to be misconstrued like weaving baskets of making pottery.

[Farrar]

Well, let's look at it this way. Would you encourage these kids to dress up like Jews if you were studying Judaism? Or to make their own Mormon "garments"?

 

If you wouldn't do that, then you probably shouldn't do this.

I can't imagine doing Mormon garments, but I can totally imagine letting boys don yarmulkes while studying Judaism. When I was teaching, we visited a mosque and the best part for the girls was getting to learn about all the different ways to cover your head and then bringing scarves and covering their heads (a requirement for the visit). Similarly, we've dressed up in traditional costumes as part of learning about different ancient civilizations over the years - often in museum exhibits for children, including in the children's area at the Smithsonian American Indian Museum.

 

That said, I wouldn't do the activity the OP suggested simply because many American Indians would find it offensive. But also, there's no way I'd teach a unit on First Peoples for a co-op. I'm not trying to be a bit snarky when I say this - I'm totally sincere. From what I can understand, there are almost no traditional children's learning activities (games, cooking, costumes, arts, crafts) that are "allowed" for American Indian cultures without being offensive. I've sort of come to the conclusion that young children shouldn't study American Indians in the same fashion they study everywhere else.

[Aurelia]

I wouldn't do face painting. It's part of a sacred rite, and could easily be taken wrong. Would you be upset if someone taught your children about what it means to be a Christian by putting them in dress-up play clothes and makeup, and then choosing a child (one who has zero experience with any part of a traditional church service) to give a sermon? Because that's kind of what the face painting thing is like. 

 

When I was in 4th grade, my teacher split the class up into different tribes from around our state. We were given paper bags to decorate as "clothing" for "our" tribe, but we had to do some research (mostly reading the packets we had on all the tribes to find what pertained specifically for ours) to figure out how to decorate them correctly. Then, we had to make a presentation on the habitat, diet, homes etc., while dressed in our lovely paper bag shirts or skirts.

[SporkUK]

Yes, it's redface. I wouldn't take part or sign up for a class for my kids where that took place. I really do not understand what that would teach and I do not think anyone outside of those groups could properly teach the meaning of such things.

 

If one really wanted to do a class about American Indigenous people, surely one about either the ones that used to live where one is and what happened to them or the ones that live there now and their connections to the wider community would be more informative than falling back to stereotypes. There are over 500 American Indigenous nations -- very few of them used ceremonial war paint compared to the whole. Likely similar to the amount of European nations war paint historically. I do not think many would teach about Europeans by discussing war paint and their meanings and I think focusing on anything like that for Indigenous peoples teaches the wrong message. 

[CelticHaiku]

What about something hands on relating to housing: making adobe bricks or layout of a long house. Whatever applies to the peoples you are studying. If you want something ceremonial without being disrespectful research the meaning of headdress and print out several old photographs of actual individuals and let the students decode the meaning of their headdress. You could do the same with totem pole carvings if you are studying the pacific northwest. If you want students to actually recreate something then find something similar to medieval European crests - something that has meaning they can apply in their own way but does not have religious or spiritual significance. I don't know what that would be but maybe someone with more knowledge of Native Americans could suggest something (perhaps the designs on tepees? I really don't know enough to say if this would fit the bill). Or you may, as someone suggested above, do something relating to regular clothing and talk about how the attire related to the environment where the particular tribe lived. There is actually quite a variety of clothing compared to what we see in old westerns films.   

[Ravin]

How about trying their hands at beading? That's a contemporary craft still practiced and not necessarily sacred/spiritual.