Teaching Music During Native American Heritage Month with Respect & Care

 Teaching Music During Native American Heritage Month

November is Native American Heritage Month - celebrating and honoring respectfully in your music classroom is a must!  It's not about being perfect, but rather about making inclusive and informed choices.

Responsible Resources

Selecting resources that reflect a culture when you yourself do not identify within that culture can be tricky.  Find trusted resources, leaders in the community, then elevate their voices by using them in your classroom.

https://nativeamericanheritagemonth.gov/ 

https://www.ncai.org/initiatives/native-american-heritage-month

Indigenous illustrators and authors have created beautiful books that make for beautiful tools in elementary music classrooms.  Some of my favorites are:

• 
  I Sang You Down to the Stars - This makes a great compare & contrast lesson on lullabies between "Ho Ho Watanay" & "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."  Tasha Spillett-Sumner and Michaela Goade  are the two Indigenous creators of this wonderful story telling of a Cree mother preparing for a child.
• We Are Water Protectors (buy it here)  
  
  features art Michaela Goade as well!  The Lesson in TPT connects music & literature in addition to bringing to light a call-to-action to protect the Earth.  Referring to the pipelines tarnishing sacred land as a black snake, the language is lyrical & stunning! 
  
• 
  Nibi's Water Song  features Chief Lady Bird's illustrations & Sunshine Tenasco's beautiful story. Nibi, the Anishinaabemowin word for water, is also the name of the Indigenous girl searching for clean drinking water. Her determination inspires her community to join in her song and reflects what water activists are hoping to achieve globally.  The lesson's composition activity uses Chrome Music Lab: Song Maker which is free & allows students to create music (Core Arts Standard #2).

Stay Away from Stereotypes

When you know better, do better.  Many of us were raised on stereotypes being the norm, even encouraged.  That meant all turkeys wore pilgrim hats, virtually ever Native American portrayed lived in a tipi and wore feathers in their braid.  

Not everyone South of the Mason Dixon line wears cowboy boots everywhere with straw in their teeth, right?  Same principal applies.

Instead, consider exploring how music was used in various cultures, often in ceremonies & celebrations.  Music is a universal language, so consider using it as a tool to communicate in lieu of spoken words: Native American Navigation.  This project is best suited for middle school students who can compose rhythms for cardinal directions & are ready to connect music & culture (Core Arts Standard #10)

Practice Inclusion

Do your homework.  Spend time reading & researching so that you can use inclusive language, understand the nuances within various tribes & nations, & be able to speak comfortably during class.

When looking at your library & classroom repertoire, you may come across a piece like Linda Spevacek's "Native American Blessing" from J.W. Pepper.   It can be hard to research each title and composer to discern whether or not it is the right choice for your school.  DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging) practices are just that; practices.  No one is asking for perfection right off the bat, but rather to be mindful in your approach as you strive towards a more inclusive classroom.  With that in mind, I took a look at the song & applied Orff & Kodaly approaches to sing & play "Native American Blessing" in class.

Choose Joy

There is far more to teach during Black history month than slavery, more to teach during Women's history month that about the suffragettes, and much more to teach during Native American Heritage Month than Thanksgiving.

Sing, dance, laugh, & celebrate this month with a grateful hard & joyous spirit!  

I'm always interested in learning more, so if you have resources to share, I'd love to check them out!