They settled in front row seats and sounded out the
words for different animals, welcome (binndagen) and points on the compass.
"You
all know the casino in Sault Ste. Marie, Kewadin?" asked Ojibway instructor Teresa Magnuson. "It means
'north.'
Though the
Indian Education program has been around for more than 20 years, it only recently was opened up to students throughout
the county's nine school systems when it was transferred to KRESA from the Kalamazoo Public Schools, said program
director Val Kettlehut.
In addition
to the weekly culture classes, students of Native American ancestry are eligible for tutoring assistance and help
in KRESA's computer labs.
And unlike
some Native American programs in other areas, the school-sponsored Indian Education effort does not require a child
to be from a specific tribe or have a certain percentage of Indian ancestry. Students from kindergarten through
12th grade can take part.
"We have
identified 267 students in Kalamazoo County so far who can participate," said Kettlehut. "There is no
minimum blood quotient or requirement, either. Nobody has to prove anything to participate."
Though students
can be descended from any tribe in any part of the country, most of the instruction centers on the Three Fires
Tribes of Michigan - the Potawatomi, the Odawa (historically known as Ottawa) and the Ojibway (Chippewa).
Having that
focus on Native Americans indigenous to Michigan drew Michigan State University student Angie Shinos to attend
a recent culture class.
An Ojibway
who grew up on a reservation near Traverse City, Shinos said she's pleased to see children taking pride in their
heritage rather than shunning it - something that still goes on today.
"When
I went to school there were still kids who would tease you about (being Native American)," Shinos said. "As
far as I know, this is the only off-reservation program like it around."
Instilling
a sense of pride and belonging is part of the reason Black Bear drove to Kalamazoo from his Ann Arbor home to speak
to the 50 or so people about the sweat lodge and his experience growing up on a South Dakota reservation.
"I hated
being Lakota and I wished I was a white guy," said Black Bear. "Now I enjoy knowing that I have had 1,000-year-old
knowledge passed on to me. Through my own ignorance, I negated a lot of what was taught to me." |