Students teach others about American Indian culture

Middle-schoolers in program create lesson plans on children's books

By Venice Buhain | The Olympian • Published February 10, 2009

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LACEY – Students in Nisqually Middle School's Native Culture class were surprised at how attentive first- and second-graders can be when listening to a book being read.

"They were dead silent," said Tomarrah Douglas, a seventh-grader.

"Until we got to the funny parts," said Kondra Montgomery, an eighth-grader.

Last week, Tomarrah, Kondra and eight other students in the Native Culture class presented lessons and games to students at Evergreen Forest Elementary School for the book "The Good Luck Cat." The project was made possible by a $1,000 grant from the North Thurston Public Schools' Multicultural Advisory Committee.

Nisqually Middle's Native Culture class teaches American Indian students at the school the culture and history of the North American tribes, with projects such as bead work, said district Indian Education specialist Laura Lynn. The Nisqually Middle class meets two or three times a week, she said.

The grant will allow the Nisqually Middle School class to develop lesson plans for several children's books with themes about contemporary American Indian life, Lynn said.

For the lesson on "The Good Luck Cat," the Nisqually Middle students focused on vocabulary words, talked about pets, and created a board game based on the events in the book. The book by Joy Harjo, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation in Oklahoma, is about a girl who wonders whether her missing cat may be out of its "nine lives." The cat's adventures involve some aspects of American Indian culture, such as a powwow and a bustle, which some tribes use as ceremonial dress.

"I explained about Oklahoma," said Tomarrah. She used a map to explain where the characters in the book live in relation to where Evergreen Forest Elementary is.

The Native Culture class picked the book to work on first because they thought younger children can relate to having a pet, Lynn said. The lessons on "The Good Luck Cat" and the future books can be used by any district elementary school teacher in the future, Lynn said.

The students who took part in this lesson also learned a little about teaching to younger students.

Grace Allen, 13 and an eighth-grader, said that she was surprised by how cooperative the younger classes were.

"The first-grade class asked a lot of questions," Tomarrah said.

"You have to be patient with them, because sometimes they don't understand everything," Kondra said.

Venice Buhain covers education for The Olympian. She can be reached at 360-754-5445 or vbuhain@theolympian.com.