Race/Ethnicity - Native Americans
I choose the Native American culture because of all the groups in the Race/Ethnicity category, it is the one I have the least experience with (It may have something to do with that I am from New Ulm and, as the group showed, there was a big conflict in 1862 and there were no Native American children there when I was growing up and very few there today). I have some very strong views related to the whole hunting and fishing cases - they should follow the same laws as everybody else - even though I am not a hunter or fisherman and the whole ideal with being a separate nation and enjoying the benefits of that status yet enjoying benefits from our national government as well (taxation issues, casino development). I know that there have been wrongs committed to them as a whole group but that was in the 19th century and we are now in the 21st century. If we and they are committed to inclusion then the first step should be to “include” them and not distinguish them into a separate nation.
The above pretty much describes my feelings towards the Native American population. Some thoughts I had while watching the presentation concerned the importance of music and family in their culture. The passionate views regarding music and its significance to the pow wows was interesting. I did not know that music was such a big part of their culture. The importance of family, especially the extended family, really went against my knowledge of their culture. I always pictured the Native American as a solitary figure who only banded together when needed. The fact that they have such a strong extended family kinship is probably the reason they have survived the long period of oppression they have endured. While I still believe that someday they need to shed their status of a separate nation to be totally included in American society, I think there is much we can learn from their culture (family, conservation) to help us face the challenges that the larger American society faces.
One thing I can do now to reduce the oppression that the Native
American population is bring out the positives of their culture in conversations
I have (I am not the only one who has strong views regarding hunting rights)
that involve the Native American population and what we can learn from
them. In the future as a teacher of social studies I will include
the Native American viewpoint when covering American history as a counterpoint
to conventional history. I also think it would be fun to go to a
pow wow and witness the event firsthand.
Ability
I have had some experience with people and children who face challenges due to their limited physical or mental abilities although I never felt really comfortable around them. From my point of view, a person with full physical and mental capabilities (or so designated by society) I could not place myself in their shoes, so to speak, to understand the challenges they were facing to a fuller degree. I did not have the kind of thinking that they should be shut up and kept out of sight, but rather I know they have challenges and needs but why should I be bothered with them, let someone else deal with them.
The presentation on ability not only made me think a little bit about this population but helped me experience some of it. The small group session where we had to put on the vaseline smeared glasses and spread peanut butter on a piece of bread and pick out the safety pins out of a bowl of rice was an eye opener. From this I felt, as much as possible, how it feels to be unable to perform basic things that I take for granted. The session, and to a degree the class, has helped me understand that there is some satisfaction to be gained in the small things and the person in the classroom who has to deal with these issues is me, not somebody else.
One thing that I have already done towards reducing the oppression of this group is to adjust the seating/classroom arrangement of my Public Achievement group at Dakota Meadows Middle School. In my group of four I have a child who needs the use of a wheelchair so I have insisted that we have a room with chairs rather than a hall or open space to meet in so that we can sit in a circle of chairs (wheelchair included) and all are on the same level rather than four of us sitting on the floor and the other in his wheelchair.
In the future, I will continue to look for access and inclusion
type of issues such as above but will also look at issues such as the length
of time required to complete tasks that may be easily done by the majority
of students. Because of some disabling condition (motor skills, vision,
hearing) it may take a student longer to accomplish some tasks and I would
give them the time to complete these tasks.