Celebrating Native American Heritage Day at East Grand School

On Oct. 8, the bill “H.J. Res. 62: Native American Heritage Day of 2008” became law. Friday, November 28 is recognized as Native American Heritage Day. It is a day to recognize the achievements and contributions of native people to the United States. It celebrates the multicultural differences of native people and helping people gain an appreciation for all cultures. Being a native person of the Wesget Sipu tribe, I helped the East Grand School students celebrate this holiday on Monday, Nov. 24. The Maine Youth Voices, a group of high school students, assisted with this celebration.
    The preschool to second grade students learned the importance of seeds, beads, and shells to the tribe. Students were placed in three groups to recognize that the native people lived off the land and used the materials that were around them. One group was recognized as the forest people. They received more wood beads. The second group was recognized as the ocean people and were given shells. The third group was given seeds to recognized that they farmed, the farm people.
Travel was an import aspect of the way tribes moved from one location to another from what students are familiar with today. The students easily stated that native people walked, ran, and jogged. They recognized horses as another mode of travel. The horses were sometimes used to drag poles to carry loads. The final mode discussed was canoeing. The students could see that four wheelers, as suggested by one student, and other modern vehicles had not been invented at the time that was being discussed.
Each people or group was asked to think about what kind of necklace they wanted to make and got to travel to the other tribes to trade. The students discussed the importance of respect and friendship. They were told about the work that went into the preparation of seeds, shells, and beads. These items could be used for exchange and were valuable. The items that were made from beads could be used to connect families or relate histories. They were very important to the economy of the tribe.
First the tribes/groups were asked to sort their beads into two groups, the ones they wanted to keep for their necklaces and the ones they wanted to trade. The ones to keep were placed next to the student. The woods people were the first to travel to the other two tribes. They were allowed to trade with students and adults at any table. Next, each of the other two tribes was given a chance to exchange beads. The students were very respectful and cooperative.
The final step was to put the necklace together. Students were given yarn and a scotch tape needle to finish the necklace. Students could see the work that went into getting the beads strung. Sometimes, the holes might be too small or their tape needle would fall off, but with the all the difficulties, the students put together wonderful necklaces.
The third through sixth grade made dream catchers. The legend of the dream catcher was told to the students. Long ago, the people recognized the importance of the sun. Spiderwoman helped them to capture the sun. A spider would make a lodge/web early in the morning. Dewdrops would form, sparkling in the rising sun, and capturing it. Tribes used dream catchers to recognize the circular path of the sun. The dream catcher was used to capture bad dreams, just as a web captures insects. The circular hole in the middle allowed for the good dreams to come through. Feathers were used to show the “good air” with the movement and was often placed near babies for their health.
The students were told about respect, independence, and sharing. Each pattern did not have to be perfect because it represented each unique student. Groups were given yarn and a pair of scissors. They were given a small red branch and told to connect the branch making a circle, a raindrop, or a snowshoe shape. They were shown the knot that was needed and were helped to weave the dream catcher.