The 4th Friday of September is California American Indian Day. Third and fourth grade classes in California study local and state Indians. Native American Day is a great opportunity to bring elders and other representatives of local tribes to the classroom to share traditional stories and culture as well as information about current issues and concerns of native peoples. In the attached documents there are web resources appropriate for students to learn about California Indians, their history and culture and other additional information.
8th Annual Dee-ni' Day
Public · By Smith River Rancheria
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Howonquet Hall 101 Indian Court, Smith River, California
Smith River Rancheria's 8th Annual Tolowa Dee-ni' Day
Celebrating the Native American Community
This event is open to the general public
When: September 28th, 2013
Where: Howonquet Hall 101 Indian Court, Smith River, Ca
Time: 10:00am - 4:00pm
Traditional Gambling
Raffle Prizes * Stick Games
Horseshoe Tournement
Salmon Lunch - $5.00 *Vendors
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We invite you to attend the 37th Annual California Conference on American Indian Education, March 16-18, 2014, at the Hyatt Vineyard Creek Hotel & Spa in Santa Rosa, CA. The conference theme is “Education Now – Idle No More!” The conference will showcase 37 years of success and growth of American Indian education in California and the impact the American Indian Education Centers have had in American Indian communities.
Menominee Seventh Grader Suspended for Saying "I Love You" in her Native Language
HAWANO, WISCONSIN - What's love got to do with it? Not much, especially if you say the words "I love you" in the Menominee language in front of a certain Wisconsin teacher.
Miranda Washinawatok
Menominee
Seventh grader Miranda Washinawatok, Menominee, found this out.
Miranda speaks two languages: Menominee and English. She also plays on her basketball team. However, two Thursdays ago she was suspended for one basketball game because she spoke Menominee to a fellow classmate during class.
Miranda attends Sacred Heart Catholic Academy in Shawano, Wisconsin. The school body is over 60 percent American Indian. The school is approximately six miles from the south border of the Menominee Indian Tribe Reservation.
"On January 19 I was told by Miranda she was being benched from playing that night. I found out at 4:20 and we were back at school at 6:30 pm so I could get to the bottom of why she could not play,"
said Tanaes Washinawatok, Miranda's mother.
"Miranda kept saying she was only told by her assistant coach she was being benched because two teachers said she had a bad attitude. I wanted to know what she did to make them say she had a bad attitude."
At the school, the teachers and coaching staff seemed to want to cast blame on each other, according to Miranda's mother.
"I wanted to talk to the principal, but he was not there before the game started,"
stated Tanaes Washinawatok. Being a persistent concerned parent, Washinawatok was back at the school by 7:30 the next morning to speak to the principal.
The principal told Washinawatok that the assistant coach told him she was told by two teachers to bench Miranda for attitude problems.
The alleged 'attitude problem' turned out to be that Miranda said the Menominee word
“posoh” that means “hello”
and said
“Ketapanen”
in Menominee that means "I love you."
Miranda and a fellow classmate were talking to each other when Miranda told her how to say "Hello" and "I love you" in Menominee.
"The teacher went back to where the two were sitting and literally slammed her hand down on the desk and said, "How do I know you are not saying something bad?"
The story did not end there. In the next session, another teacher told Miranda she did not appreciate her getting the other teacher upset because "she is like a daughter to me."
By the time, Miranda was picked up by her mother she was upset for being suspended.
"Miranda knows quite a bit of the Menominee language. We speak it. My mother, Karen Washinawatok, is the director of the Language and Culture Commission of the Menominee Tribe. She has a degree in linguistics from the University of Arizona's College of Education-AILDI American Indian Language Development Institute. She is a former tribal chair and is strong into our culture,"
states Tanaes Washinawatok.
Washinawatok has had a total of three meetings with school officials and was promised Miranda would receive a public apology, as would the Menominee Tribe, and the apologies would be publically placed.
"On Wednesday, a letter was sent to parents and guardians. A real generic letter of apology, that really did not go into specifics as to why there was this apology,"
Washinawatok told the Native News Network Thursday evening.
"I still don't think it was enough,"
Sacred Heart Catholic Academy is operated by the Diocese of Green Bay, which ironically has an option on its answering machine for Spanish, but not Menominee. A call put in late Thursday afternoon by the Native News Network was not returned by press time.
updated 1:00 pm est; updated 11:25 am est; posted February 3, 2012 6:59 am est
Native American Perspectives on Restorative Justice:
http://www.ktjusd.k12.ca.us/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=184867&type=d&pREC_ID=384985
The component is under Tribal Law and is called Settle Up
Tribal Law
(15 minutes)
Suggested for all ages
This Tribal Law Video and FAQ booklet helps you to resolve class conflicts using a modified form of tribal law called "settle-up". This program teaches how to work toward student-led mediation in the classroom by teaching background history of what types of laws are involved in traditional Hupa/Karuk/Yurok life. Included in the curriculum is a game to play and pre/post tests. The main objective of settle-up is to help students take responsibility for their actions, and make reparations to a person who has had his/her feelings hurt - not to punish.
Other Native Restorative Justice Resources:
http://www.iirp.edu/article_detail.php?article_id=NDA1
http://www.iirp.edu/article_detail.php?article_id=NDA0
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/wic/summary/v021/21.1gray.html
Peace Making: http://www.nyc.gov/html/oath/downloads/pdf/Mendelowitz.pdf
A Cultural Approach to Restorative Justice: http://www.correctionalnews.com/articles/2012/03/28/model-restorative-justice-in-america
Navajo Restorative Justice: http://sshs.promoteprevent.org/meetings/sessions/project-director-consortia-august-2009/navajo-peacemaking-using-deep-cultural-valu
This conference is put together to enhance culturally appropriate approaches to better serve American Indian Crime Victims and their families and general services to the Native American community. The conference is hosted by The Northern California Tribal Healing Coalition Members that include local Tribes and Native agencies. All Social Service providers and agencies are encouraged to attend!
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