Native American Heritage Month

In honor of Native American Heritage Month, I'm passing along a great post from First Nations Development Institute. This is their post for Native American Heritage Month 2014 that includes quotes from Native authors, historical leaders and contemporary leaders in Indian Country.
In their own words:

November is National Native American Heritage Month 2014, and Nov. 15 in particular is “Rock Your Mocs Day” in which Native people stand together by wearing their moccasins (there's also "Moc Mondays" every week during the month). In recognition, the 20-member staff of First Nations Development Institute has created a list of their favorite Native American quotations and films.

“Many of us here are prolific readers and movie-goers, especially when it comes to things by Native authors and filmmakers or about Native history and experiences,” noted First Nations President Michael E. Roberts.  “In doing so, we often bookmark certain quotes or passages that speak to us, both from historical figures or contemporary authors, or we recommend films that, for one reason or another, we think are worth seeing. We think Native American Heritage Month is a great time to share these quotes and movies with both the Native and non-Native worlds.”

First Nations is a 34-year-old, Native-created and led organization that works to build stronger Native American economies and communities.  It is based in Longmont, Colorado, but serves American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities across the U.S.

Dance Fan by Kara Stewart, Art in Photography

See the rest of their post here. Great stuff.

And don't forget about Moc Monday. Not just to show solidarity and support, but hey, comfy shoes to work every Monday in November works for me!

Moc Mondays in November!

Have you heard of Moc Monday?  As a literacy coach in the school every day, I'll be wearing moccasins every Monday in November in support of American Indian Heritage Month. If you'd like to join me in solidarity to raise awareness in our schools of contemporary American Indians, that would be great! 

The official Rock Your Mocs day this year is Saturday, November 15, 2014. But I'll be wearing my mocs every Monday to school, welcoming and taking advantage of students noticing and asking questions. 

Here is a little background on Rock Your Mocs day from a 2013 article. And another background article from USA today in 2013. And a 2013 article with fabulous photos.

My mocs are not nearly as fancy as the ones photographed in the 2013 articles, and yours needn't be either. But if you want a peek at some authentic mocs and mukluks (those count too, and you can wear those also if you have a pair) to die for made by a Native owned company, check out the Storyboots from Manitoba Mukluks They are works of art! (They also have regular mukluks and moccasins).

Don't have any mocs or mukluks? Run out and get some! Mocs are for men and women. You've got until Monday, November 3rd. My main thrust is to let students know that American Indians are alive and thriving all around them, and to dispel stereotypes.  I'd love for you to join me.

Kara

*Teacher's Note - If you plan to wear mocs or encourage students to do so,  you may want to be prepared with a few sentences about stereotypes and Indians today since we may hear some "war whoops" and that sort of thing. For example, upon hearing a war whoop or seeing a child with a feather sticking up from head or similar: "Student dear, I hear you making some sort of war whoop noise. You know, Indians don't really do that. I'm not sure how that stereotype got started, but I want you to know that there are lots of American Indians today and they don't do that. It's one of those things that's offensive to Indians because it's not true." (or hurts their feelings or whatever you feel their age would let them understand).   

Upon seeing feathers sticking up from a headband or similar: "Student dear, I see you have feathers and a headband. You know, Indians are not all the same. There are a LOT of different Indian tribes, even in North Carolina. All Indian tribes are very different from each other. And mostly, the Indians in our area never wore feathers or headbands in that way. There are lots of American Indians all around us today, and that wouldn't be something they'd wear, especially for daily wear. It's kind of a stereotype." 

If it were me, depending on the age of the child, I'd then go on to explain a little about the 'Hollywood Indian'.

If you feel you need some brushing up on how to talk intelligently about contemporary Native Americans, please see the blog series Indian 101 for Writers (and Teachers and General Human Beings). Lots of tips and resources in there.