Native American Series 4 | Making Friends with Native Americans

Episode Resources:

Utah Department of Culture and Community Engagement

Native American Teaching Artist Roster: Utah Division of Arts and Museums

List of Utah Title VI Coordinators

Native American Curriculum Initiative Website

www.advancingartsleadership.com/naci

Native American Lesson Plans

www.education.byu.edu/arts/lessons

About the BYU ARTS Partnership

https://advancingartsleadership.com/node/66

Episode Notes:

Cally Flox: Welcome to the Artful Teaching podcast. I'm here with co-host Heather Francis. We have two guests with us this morning, Emily Soderborg, project manager of the Native American Curriculum Initiative, and Brenda Beyal, project coordinator of the Native American Curriculum Initiative. Brenda, we've been answering questions from our teachers, and we have a list of questions here that we've been trying to get to. Let’s jump right in. Our listeners want to know: “How do I meet, connect with, and make friends with Native Americans in my community?”

You May Already Have Native American Friends

Brenda Beyal: You have already met Native American people. You probably have friends that are Native American. The assumption that there are different communities that we have to walk into, to meet people and make friends, is probably something that we need to do away with. There are Native Americans all over the United States—we're still here. We are contributing members of the community.

If you want to make friends or get to know a little bit more about culture, there are many opportunities that you can look for. One is to see if there are any community outreach programs, like in our community, there is the Utah Department of Culture and Community Engagement. Go to their website and you will find a lot of information on different events that may be happening. There are always series or lectures going on; there are museums that you can visit that are maybe hosting an art show done by Native Americans; and, you can also reach out to the Title VI program in your school community. I know that in our community, right now, it's winter. There are storytelling events that are going on up and down the Wasatch Front that you can find out about. It is quite easy to find events that you can go to. But I want to ask Emily, as a non-Native, how would you approach going into an event or, you know, just becoming a part of maybe a celebration?

Building Confidence to Participate in Native Events

Emily Soderborg: I think the biggest thing is just observing first, having a really open mind. I will just go and take my family places; oftentimes, I don't know anyone, but I'll just sit and observe and watch and see how other people are interacting. Be open to try new things. People that I follow on social media, I get information. This helps me to know a little bit about what's going on—just a little bit— which helps me to have conversations that feel more comfortable. Oftentimes, if you have absolutely no idea, no background, then you don't know how to start a conversation with someone. Having just a little bit of information, understanding that there are no wrong questions, believing that we can honestly, openly, and sincerely ask questions, then the people that we're interacting with, whatever differences they may have, whatever culture they may be from, they will recognize that and they will respond.

I know I've asked questions in the wrong way in the past, and I've learned from that. The people that I was talking to said, “Oh, that's probably not the best way to ask that question. Here's a different way to ask it.” For example, asking the question, “Where do you come from?” isn't the best question. Instead, more appropriate questions are,

• “Can you tell me about your background?”
• “Can you tell me where your accent comes from?”
• “Can you tell me where your language is from?”

I've learned from asking questions because I really want to know, and from just doing a little bit of research, so I know what types of questions are appropriate or what things I should ask. Finding the students in your classroom that are Native and connect with their parents. Asking parents questions has been really helpful for me too.

Asking Questions Appropriately Helps Build Community

Cally Flox: Emily, talking about the students in schools—during Arts Express 2022, we had many Native American artists who were there presenting, and each of them shared their stories as they presented. I was struck by how many of them grew up with their friends and their teachers thinking they were Hispanic rather than Native American. Because of that misunderstanding, they never even had a chance to share what their heritage is, and where their relatives came from, or what they connect with, or associate with. To hear that over and over again: “They thought I was Hispanic.” “They didn't understand what my braids meant.”

How simple it is to ask questions! You offered great ideas, Emily, teaching us how to ask authentic and genuine questions and then how to listen. We want to get to know every student in our class. So, we should be asking these questions of everybody:

• “What do you relate to?”
• “How do your grandparents feel about this?”
• “Where does your language come from?”

I love how you ask those questions. When I went to a couple of different powwows, the Native people there are in full regalia and are with their people, and that culture is different—I was the outsider. That was a different way of getting to know them. It's one thing when we're in the majority, but then there's another thing when we're in the minority.

Emily Soderborg: I've had that opportunity often to be in the minority. You recognize how uncomfortable you might feel, and how, since Native Americans are in the minority most of the time, how they have to approach things differently. Being in the minority helps you recognize how they feel most of the time, and helps you know how you would want to be reached out to how you would want to be responded to. Having those experiences helps you be more able to be the one open and welcoming when you are in the majority.

Finding Commonality Within Our Native and Non-Native Communities

Brenda Beyal: As an indigenous person, if I see someone at an event, or if I invite someone to participate, I welcome questions. I always hope that they do not come into an environment thinking us and them, but rather us as humans that are having shared experiences, and that we have more commonalities than differences. Going into a situation and looking for commonalities helps in any situation, whether it's talking with somebody that is from a different race, or who comes from a different life experience, or comes from maybe a different point of view, religion, that we look for the commonalities

Cally Flox: When we find those commonalities, we see that we are more alike than we are different, that we can learn from one another, and see that together, we make a community. I think that that puts everyone at ease. Brenda, typically when we start a podcast, you start by introducing yourself in your native tongue, right? Because we've jumped right over that today, could we stop and acknowledge one of the beautiful ways we're different is your ownership of your culture through your language.

Brenda Beyal: Yá’át’ééh Shí éí Brenda Beyal yinishyé, 'Áshįįhi nishłį́, Kinyaa'áanii bashishchiin, Tó'áhani dashicheii, Tó'aheedlíinii dashinalí, Ákót’éego asdzáán nishłį́. I just shared with you that my name is Brenda Beyal. I am born into the Salt Clan. I'm born for the Towering House people. I shared my maternal and paternal clans. At the very end, I said, “This is the kind of woman I am.” That's how I ended it.

Cally Flox: Beautiful. Thank you so much. Each time I hear you introduce yourself I reflect:

• What is my maternal lineage?
• What is my paternal lineage?
• What kind of woman do I want to be?

I learned so much in these reflections. We find our common ground as I let you express your individual voice. Remember the day you taught me how to make frybread out in the in the driveway, getting ready for one of our gatherings? I realize we are both cooks for a family. We have both done family reunions and large gatherings before for our different clans. And we did that together that day based on your recipes and your heritage, but it's aligned perfectly with the times that I spent learning cinnamon rolls from one of my great mentors and cooking with my grandmother. Those things perfectly aligned!

Observing Family Relationships at a Native Powwow

One of my most powerful memories when I was at the powwow here at BYU: I was brought to tears watching three different fathers. I sat quietly and just observed, because I love the dancing and the regalia and the interactions of the families. I love watching the families work. I watched three fathers standing in different places, helping their sons don their regalia for their dance: one was a toddler, one was maybe five or six, and one

Native American Series 4 | Fourth-Grade "Utah Indians" Song

41. Native American Series 4 | Utah 4th-Grade Song “Utah Indians”

Episode Keywords:

NACI, Native American Curriculum Initiative, teachers asking appropriate questions about Native content, cultural appropriation, addressing Native stereotypes, indigenous pedagogy, Native American lesson plans, authentic voice, Artful Teaching podcast, Native American, classroom, indigenous pedagogy in the classroom, lesson plans, Native American, tribe, NACI authentic experience, teachers, culture keepers, share, curriculum, lessons, indigenous education, culture, Native American cultural arts, sovereign nation, song, Native American song, Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation, Shoshone Fish Song, choosing appropriate books, Native American children’s books, decision-based model for Native content, tipi, eight sovereign nations, Utah Educational Network

Episode Resources:

Decision-Based Model for Selecting Appropriate Native American Content for the Classroom

Blog Post: Answering Teachers’ Questions about the “Utah Indians” Song

How to Choose Native American Children’s Books for the Classroom

Utah Educational Network Resource: Five Tribal Groups, Eight Sovereign Nations

I Love the Mountains–Damen Doiya lesson plan

Northwestern Shoshone Fish Song lesson plan

Shi Naasha lesson plan: Coming soon!

Native American Curriculum Initiative Website
www.advancingartsleadership.com/naci

Native American Lesson Plans
www.education.byu.edu/arts/lessons

About the BYU ARTS Partnership
https://advancingartsleadership.com/node/66

Episode Notes:

Why “Utah Indians” from Utah’s Popular Fourth-Grade Program is a Song to Set Aside

Cally Flox: Welcome to the Artful Teaching podcast. Today we address the next question teachers have asked our Native American Curriculum Initiative experts, Brenda Beyal and Emily Soderborg. In our state, we have a wonderful program that was created in the 1990’s called “This is the Place.” It was written and based on people's understanding and the cultural zeitgeist of the day. Over the years, a sense of awareness emerged that one of the songs on that program, called “Utah Indians” is not ideally suited for representing Native American culture or Native American people. Over and over and over again, we get questions from teachers about this song: “Wow, is this song okay?” “Can I sing this?” Teachers now know to ask the questions, and they are asking intelligent questions, noticing:

• “This song supports stereotypes.”
• “This song is saying things that aren't really true.”
• “This song has that stereotypical beat.”

Teachers are learning to ask the right questions. They’re asking, “Can I use this song?” “What do I do?” Brenda Beyal is the Program Coordinator for Native American Curriculum Initiative (NACI), and Emily Soderborg is the NACI Project Manager. They're here to help us answer that question today.

Brenda Beyal: Thank you, Cally. We have had this question over and over again. When this song was first created, it was acceptable to people in general. Now, in 2023, we have viewpoints and perspectives that have changed. At this point, this song is probably verging on creating a narrative that is inaccurate for children. We want to do what's best for children. We want them to view their fellow friends and fellow community members in a way that is authentic and accurate. I don't know if this song does that.

Cally Flox: This is a song, based on our criteria, that we recommend be set aside.

Brenda Beyal: Yes.

Cally Flox: Too many inaccuracies exist in the song for a simple explanation for children in the classroom. For example, if we're choosing a children’s book, and there are one or two inaccuracies, we can show those to the children and still use the book with modifications. This song is one that needs too many modifications. It's time to set it aside.

“Utah Indians” Song Perpetuates Stereotypes of Native Americans

Brenda Beyal: Right. Perhaps you're a teacher that is on a team that possibly uses the song, or you need to talk to an administrator about the song. Here’s how you can explain why the song “Utah Indians” marginalizes communities. There are a couple of things that we find in the song that are uncomfortable. For example, the very first words of the song—which is supposed to be about Native people—are actually sharing the original perspective that the song comes from.

Cally Flox: Will you tell us what it says in the beginning of the song?

Brenda Beyal: It's, “When white man came…” This song actually tells you what perspective the song is coming from.

Cally Flox: That's an honest point of view. This is a song written from white man's point of view about when white man came to the land.

Brenda Beyal: Yes.

Cally Flox: We want to move forward to restoring some of those cultural bonds and the sharing of the land and a more respectful point of view. At least the song was honest about the perspective they were sharing.

Brenda Beyal: Yes, yes. And that perspective was definitely skewed.

Emily Soderborg: Another thing to consider is that the song never brings Native Americans into the present. The song completely categorizes Native Americans as a historical people. Our discussions with Native families and Native educators show that the song has made many Native children feel uncomfortable and unseen, as to who they are today. So if they're being asked to sing this song, these Native children are not able to represent who they are today. The message of this song is not helping them connect to who they are right now.

Cally Flox: A great example of that was Brenda's nephew. His teacher told students, “Draw a Native American house,” and he drew a teepee. And Brenda said, “Do you live in a teepee? And he said, “Well, no, but that's what the teacher wanted me to do.” If a Native child can't find themselves in a song about Native Americans, that's interesting.

Teaching Children About Eight Sovereign Nations in Utah Instead of Five Tribal Groups

Emily Soderborg: This song teaches the five tribal groups; it goes through each of their names. In our work with the eight sovereign nations, we know these groups want to be known as the eight sovereign nations. We are hoping to help perpetuate their identity as eight sovereign nations rather than just the five tribal groups within Utah. Teachers can help with this concept by using the great “Five Tribal Groups, Eight Sovereign Nations” resource that Brenda and Cally have created with UEN as a performance resource instead of this song. I think a lot of times, the reason why teachers want to continue using the “Utah Indians” song is because it's part of a performance. Teachers want something that they can have students do for parents. But if you want songs to sing, we have also been given permission to sing several Native American songs from the specific tribal nations.

Brenda Beyal: I want to talk about how a teacher can approach a team or an administrator who is encouraging them to continue to sing the song. The song “Utah Indians” not only maintains the stereotype of relegating Native Americans to the past, but also the perpetuates Native American stereotypes through the very beat of the song. It has a strong–weak–weak–weak pattern that is often labeled as the “Hollywood beat.” It's the beat that many movies use to depict Native Americans. It’s definitely not a Native American beat. That sometimes feels jarring when you're a Native American and you hear that beat.

Emily Soderborg: That beat is used to create stereotypical Native American music written by people that are not Native American. With a vocalization, it might sound like, HI–yah–yah–yah, HI–yah–yah–yah, HI–yah–yah–yah. This is not anything you're going to find in any Native American music. And I grew up with music like that, and I know now that it is stereotypical. When we know better, we do better—we change.

Knowing Better, Doing Better: Listening to Marginalized Voices

Cally Flox: I think that's a really important point. Brenda generously said at the very beginning of the episode that people thought this song was okay, in the 90’s when this was written, this was how the culture saw things. But I do want to acknowledge that there were people who knew it wasn't okay. There were people who felt marginalized every time the song was sung. S

Native American Series 4 | Viewing History from Multiple Perspectives

Episode Keywords:

Indigenous pedagogy, teachers asking questions, Native American voices, amplify Native voices, history, importance of multiple perspectives, transcontinental railroad lesson plans, Native American historical timelines, answering questions, cultural appropriation, reflective listening, asking with genuine intent, honoring the no, listening, listening to amplify Native voices

Episode Resources:

Amplify Native Voices Online Professional Development Course
Artful Teaching Podcast Episode 19
Decision-Based Model for Selecting Appropriate Native American Content for the Classroom
Native American Children’s Books
Why a Hula Hoop is Different than a Native American Hoop
Native American Round Dance
Tips for Teaching Native American Art Projects Without Cultural Appropriation
Real and Ideal: A Closer Look at Westward Expansion (Transcontinental Railroad) lesson plan
Bear River Massacre Commemoration
Women’s History Month: Mae Timbimboo Parry
Bring a Native Artist to Your Classroom

Join our Native American Curriculum Initiative mailing list!

Native American Curriculum Initiative Website
www.advancingartsleadership.com/naci

Native American Lesson Plans
www.education.byu.edu/arts/lessons

About the BYU ARTS Partnership
https://advancingartsleadership.com/node/66

Episode Notes:

Heather Francis: Today I am introducing our content that was previously recorded at the end of 2022, when we filmed Brenda Beyal and some of our NACI team at a recording studio to capture some of the knowledge, experiences, and stories that we have to share with teachers, educators, and interested community members. We are asking questions about the Native American Curriculum Initiative and the principles and practices that have led our work up to this point. In today’s episode, Brenda answers questions about the importance of teachers asking questions with a genuine intent to understand. Then, after asking questions, she describes the importance of being prepared to listen attentively. Asking questions with genuine intent and listening attentively is one of the seven guiding principles that guide our work in the Native American Curriculum Initiative. You can listen to Episode 19, or check out the landing page on our website for NACI to learn more about our guiding principles.

This specific guiding principle is really important to us as we work with Native partners and make sure that we're creating educational resources that not only amplify their voices and bring increased representation to the classroom, but also gain approval by their official voices and tribal councils. Listening attentively is really important. That's why we asked Brenda to explain some of her thoughts on this principle. In this podcast, Brenda invites Stephanie West to discuss this topic. Stephanie West is an instructional designer studying instructional psychology and technology at Brigham Young University. She's on our NACI team, and she and I designed the online PD course. Another podcast episode focuses just on the PD course. Since she has been doing a lot of the grading in the online course, she knows a lot of the questions that teachers are asking, like “Why is it important to ask questions with genuine intent and to listen attentively?”

Why is it important to ask questions with genuine intent and to listen attentively?

Brenda Beyal: One of our guiding principles that has been so important for us as we've done our work with NACI is the idea of asking questions and listening attentively. When a teacher asks me a question, I don't ever think a question is too small or insignificant, especially when it comes to culture. Because when a teacher asks a question, it makes me feel like this teacher really wants to know more, and possibly wants some guidance. That's how I feel when a teacher asks me a question. I want to ask you, Stephanie, since you are the creator of the PD course, what kind of questions do you get from teachers who are taking the PD course?

Stephanie West: That's a great question. I think that a lot of teachers really want to know what's appropriate. I think that's the biggest question that we get: “What can I teach? What can I not teach?” Those are the biggest questions. Other questions that they might ask are: “How can I teach this? And do it in a respectful way?” I think those are probably the most frequent questions we get.

Brenda Beyal: Sometimes we've gotten questions about very specific parts of the curriculum, whether it's a dance or a song, or or even a book. Teachers want to know: “Is there cultural appropriation with this project I'm going to do or with this story?” Is that what you have found also?

Stephanie West: Absolutely. I think those questions that you're talking about are more specific questions, but they still fall under that same umbrella of the more general question: “What is appropriate? What is respectful? Am I appropriating?

Brenda Beyal: Yes. As we were creating the timelines, we wanted to make sure that we were truly amplifying the Native voice. Can you tell me how the guiding principle of listening attentively and asking questions has helped us produce a wonderful timeline for each of the Native tribes?

Stephanie West: I think that listening (first asking), but then the listening part is really, really key to that. I think that Native individuals have not felt heard for so many years, or if they have been heard, they have been misheard. Listening—it's not just asking the questions, but it's also the listening—and creating the timelines has been an incredible experience. I feel like I have learned so much. When I met with some of the Native groups, it was slightly uncomfortable at first. Their discomfort likely came from a place of distrust of us, at the beginning. It took time for us to establish any kind of relationship. Our listening was key to that relationship because at first they didn't trust us to actually listen. Going back to another principle, some Native groups didn't trust us to honor their ‘no’ if the answer was a ‘no’ for some of the things that we asked about. What's been really interesting for me is that we have a large amount of silence in our conversations: we'll ask a question, and then we don't get a response for a while. We don't get a ‘yes,’ or a ‘no,’ or any specific answer. Then, through a very indigenous way of teaching, they'll tell us a story. Instead of answering directly, they tell us a story. Through that story, we come to understand the answer to the question that we asked.

Brenda Beyal: Using reflective listening and making sure that we're telling the story, or what they're telling us, in an authentic manner—not inserting ourselves into the story, and not allowing our way of viewing life to skew what they're saying.

Stephanie West: There are lots of reflective questions that go into that. Once they share a story, or share a perspective, then we reflectively question to make sure that we've clearly situated the information that we're creating in the timelines. It's a very reflective process. We continue to go over and over one particular piece, one event in the timeline, until we know that it is exactly worded the way that this native group would like it worded.

Brenda Beyal: It's interesting that we started our NACI project with the question, “What would you like the children of Utah to know about your cultural ways, your history, your tribe?” We use reflective listening to help develop all of these resources that we are developing now. Questions are always invited and welcomed. Questions are the foundations of our projects.

Stephanie West: I think one piece of advice that I would give is that no question is offensive if it's truly, sincerely asked with the intent of amplifying a Native voice and really coming to a sense of understanding. Sometimes as teachers or individuals, we're afraid to ask a question. But if we are truly sincere, I think that the individual that we're talking with understands

Native American Series 4 | Native Voices & Tribe-Approved Lesson Plans

Episode Keywords:
Native American pedagogy and the arts, indigenous pedagogy, Native American lesson plans, authentic voice, Artful Teaching podcast, Native American, intuition, classroom, artist, indigenous pedagogy in the classroom, lesson plans, Native American, tribe, NACI authentic experience, teachers, culture keepers, share, curriculum, lessons

Episode Resources:

BYU ARTS Partnership YouTube channel

Amplify Native Voices PD Course

I Love the Mountains–Damen Doiya lesson plan

The Great American Bison lesson plan

General Native American lesson plans

Native American Curriculum Initiative Website
www.advancingartsleadership.com/naci

Native American Lesson Plans
www.education.byu.edu/arts/lessons

About the BYU ARTS Partnership
https://advancingartsleadership.com/node/66

Episode Notes:

Building Partnerships With Native Groups & Distinguishing Among Authentic Native Voices

Heather Francis: Welcome back to the Artful Teaching podcast. This episode includes recording with Brenda Beyal from the end of 2022. These recordings document and archive some of her wonderful thoughts about Native American curriculum and indigenous pedagogy and their relationship to arts education. In our last episode, Brenda talked about what indigenous pedagogy is and how it's connected to the arts and arts education.

We asked her about the Native American Curriculum Initiative, who it benefits, and why teachers, administrators, parents, PTA members, and community leaders are interested in this work. We design arts-integrated lessons about Native American lived experiences and cultural practices and we do it with tribe approval. Brenda discusses why tribe approval is so important to all of the educational products that we develop.

We do a lot of partner-building with tribal members and cultural representatives. We build partnerships with Native artists and personal contacts who have Native heritage. We have learned that a broad spectrum of different voices represent the Native American experience. In this episode, Brenda distinguishes between authentic Native Voices—culture bearers or knowledge keepers, who are the keepers of native knowledge—and official voices. Official voices are those that can officially speak for a tribal nation or Native group.

Who is the Native American Curriculum Initiative for?

“Who is NACI (or the Native American Curriculum Initiative) for?” Brenda invites Emily Soderborg, who is the NACI Project Coordinator, to answer this question. Emily is non-Native, and she speaks about her non-Native experience creating materials for the Native American Curriculum Initiative, and how the initiative has benefited her. Brenda adds her experience and how the vision of this initiative to amplify Native voices has benefited and impacted her in her own life.

Brenda Beyal: The Native American Curriculum Initiative, otherwise known as NACI, is for non-Native and Native people alike. Emily, how do you feel like NACI has helped you as a teacher and an educator?

Emily Soderborg: Working with NACI has opened my eyes to so many new ways of seeing things and doing things. I feel more self-confident. I feel like I've been able to immerse myself more in understanding and sharing things in appropriate and accurate ways. I'm not Native, and I grew up with a lot of stereotypes in the learning that I was given. I think it's changed how I approach things and how I teach others around me. It's made me more empathetic and more willing to try new things.

How NACI Amplifies Native Voices in Schools

Brenda Beyal: I think NACI is for Native teachers and Native people, because we strive to amplify our Native voice. Having that feeling of being recognized and acknowledged is a way of reconciling some of the hard struggles in the past that have been invisible to so many people. We as a group–especially Native Americans–have been invisible because of other people's stereotypes, or overgeneralization of culture. I feel like NACI just helps to bring greater authenticity to Native people in general. I think what we're doing with lesson plans, curriculum building, and resources is that we are helping students to see themselves within the curriculum. They can see themselves in the books that teachers read; non-Native children can have a window into other perspectives and ways of living and knowing and doing other than what they were raised with.

Emily Soderborg: What I have loved is that as we have worked with the eight sovereign nations, the biggest thing they say is, “We are still here. We want to be seen.” NACI is amplifying those voices. Students, teachers, and Native artists’ voices all matter: everyone has a voice, everyone has a right to be heard. As we work together, we can create awareness of others without lessening our own culture. NACI is for us all, so that we can all recognize how we can learn from others and how we can share with others.

A Safe Place for Asking Questions about Native Culture

Heather Francis: I would like to add my own voice to theirs and talk about the impact NACI has had on me. I am also non-Native. I'm very interested in other cultures, and I want to understand people with different experiences better. NACI has been really enlightening for me, because I didn't know very much about the Native American experience before this initiative. I've spoken in past episodes about some misconceptions about Native American experience and Native American people that I had in the past, when I was an educator. I think I shared the story of a student that I had in my dance class: I taught middle school and she was quiet in class, she didn't really like to move, and she seemed a little resistant. At an assembly, she performed a jingle dance with the Native American students at our school. I had no idea about her cultural experience that had this rich embodied movement practice. I felt sad that I hadn't known that information yet. I'm loving being a part of this initiative and learning from Brenda, Emily, our designers and our native partners.

But I also want to add that this initiative has provided an emotionally safe place, because some cultural questions are very sensitive, and I am not sure if I'm asking the cultural questions correctly. I don't know if I'm even allowed to ask. Brenda, Cally, and the whole NACI team has developed an environment where no question is a bad question and where curiosity is applauded: every time I have a question, it's like, “Thank you for asking, I would love to clear that up. I'd love to tell you more.” That just feels really good. This initiative has provided a really safe place to ask hard questions, questions that are hard for me. If you're a teacher who's interested in learning more about the Native Americans, in your classroom and in your community, come join us for a workshop, come look at our lesson plans, email us, talk to Brenda—this is a really great place to ask your questions. Another great place to ask your questions is our online course, Amplify Native Voices, a one-credit PD course on Canvas—feel free to sign up. The next question is, “Why is tribal approval on our educational materials so important?”

Why is Tribal Approval on Our Educational Materials Important?

Brenda Beyal: From the very beginning, when we started writing lesson plans, we knew that we wanted to go right to the source. We asked the question, “What would you like the children of Utah to know?” We went to the tribes, and we asked them these questions, all of the tribes gave us something different. When we wrote the lesson plans, it was important to us that we captured authentic voices. So, we went back to the tribes. We worked with them. We read the lessons. Every word was approved by the Native tribes and the reason why, when a teacher is teaching Damen Doiya (which is from the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation), and they are teaching the song that has been approved to sing by the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation, they can feel confident. If someone comes in and says, “I don't think this is appropriate for you to be singing this song,” the teacher can say, “I am using this lesson from this lesson plan, and right here, it shares the tribal seal. It shows that this lesson was developed in partnership with and in collaboration with the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation. They reserve the right to be able to share this song with the children of Utah.” That says a lot: that shows that you are being sensitive, you are trying to be authentic and as accurate as possible, and you have given your due diligence to teaching indigenous content in such a way that you are creating an environment where you are being inclusive in an authentic manner.

Heather Francis: Like Brenda described, we spend a lot of time building relationships with our Native partners to make sure that they r

Native American Series 4 | Indigenous Pedagogy and the Arts

Heather Francis: What we have for you in this series is really special. At the end of 2022, we took Brenda Beyal into a studio to video record an interview.

When Brenda presents for teachers, a whole flock of teachers gather around her at the end of her sessions. And, our sessions don't always end on time, because there's so much that Brenda has to share with teachers—teachers just keep raising their hands. They have so many questions. Even when the session is over, they don't leave without getting a chance to talk to Brenda face to face, one-on-one about their particular questions. She's really grown to be a thought leader in our community, and a great representative of many native and indigenous voices that are to be shared. She's an authentic voice. She is a Navajo/Diné woman. She is an educator of over 35 years, she has worked in educational and native communities for a really long time. You've heard her on the podcast before: she just has such a gentle, humble and genius way about her.

We took Brenda to the studio and recorded her answering some questions that we thought would be really important to have documented and answered. These videos are now published on our YouTube channel. Today, we're sharing two of the questions Brenda answered in the recording studio.

1. What is indigenous pedagogy?

2. How do the arts support indigenous pedagogy?

Brenda and many of our NACI team members who design our tribe-approved lesson plans speak about the relationship between arts, arts, education, native culture, and native or indigenous pedagogy. Brenda gives a fabulous answer to that question in this episode. Let’s start with the first question that Brenda will answer: what is indigenous pedagogy?

What is indigenous pedagogy?

Brenda Beyal: Indigenous pedagogy is a framework that uses cultural teachings of indigenous peoples. There are structures within that framework that can be used by teachers to help them to become more culturally responsive in their classrooms.

Storytelling:

One of the very first frameworks I can think of is storytelling, using story to help children learn a concept, or putting across an idea or even using story for correcting behavior. There are many ways that indigenous people use stories, but it is threaded throughout all of their cultural ways.

Place-based learning:

Another I would say structure and indigenous pedagogy is place-based on the idea that you use the historical, the environmental, the cultural place from where students come from. To help teach content, another indigenous structure would be learning by doing, using all of your senses, to help you to learn things that you should be learning. Within that structure, you could have side-by-side coaching, you would have time when you are able to reflect and listen in such a way that it helps you to just learn and do. That's an indigenous structure.

Learning from mistakes:

Another structure that I feel strongly about is that mistakes are to learn from and not to be graded on.

Cooperative learning:

Within all of these structures learning through collaboration is important. Indigenous pedagogy contains the idea that people have responsibilities within a group. As children learn, through play-space learning, through learning by mistake, side-coaching, all of those share the idea of collaborating and cooperating together.

Heather Francis: I want to recap and honor what Brenda recognized as part of indigenous pedagogy. She talks about how storytelling is a part of indigenous pedagogy and place-based learning where the historical, environmental, and cultural background of the students is used to help teach content in the classroom. She also talked about how indigenous pedagogy includes experiential learning, learning by doing, using all of your senses to help you learn. This includes side-by-side coaching, and I love how she focused on reflection and listening.

Brenda is so good at modeling reflection and listening while sitting in Zoom meetings—I can just see her lying back in her chair and nodding her head and thoughtfully taking in what people are saying during conversation. She's so good at listening.

I also love that mistakes are to be learned from and not to be graded on. And that indigenous pedagogy includes cooperative learning. Learning through collaboration with others and taking responsibility for the part you play in a group is important. These are all great examples of how a teacher, like she said, could be really culturally responsive in their classroom by including these indigenous pedagogical strategies.

The next question that I asked Brenda is about the connection between the arts, arts education, and indigenous pedagogy. She actually uses all of these elements of indigenous pedagogy and uses storytelling to teach us about how the arts and these pedagogies are connected. I hope you enjoy this answer as well.

How do the arts support indigenous pedagogy?

A previously recorded interview with Brenda Beyal, Heather Francis, and Cally Flox.

Brenda Beyal:The arts and indigenous pedagogy pair well, they tell hard stories. They reach children—the arts reach children—because the structures in the arts are so inviting. That's why our NACI program is a part of the BYU Arts Partnership. We went on a tour yesterday to an art department. As we were traveling through the different spaces within it, I noticed indigenous pedagogy just genuinely and authentically being used. We went into an art gallery, and it was a faculty art show. Each of the faculty members was telling a story through their art and through their medium. It started with maybe their own cultural story, their own historical way, or it was place-based in that environment.

We went to another space. There were students who were doing printmaking; there was one student who had the same prints. There were just so many prints on her table. We asked her, what are you doing? And she said, I'm trying to get my print to look like this. Somewhere, she had a model, and someone had shown her, but now she was learning through her mistakes. She didn't stop. She just continued to learn. She was becoming resilient in her art. She was also learning by doing. Another place that we went, they were oil painting, and there was a still-life there. As the girl painted, she kept looking at the still life, looking at her colors. There was a teacher right there in the middle of the room who was right there, willing to side-coach, willing to model, and she was in a safe space where she could experiment and learn. I feel like the arts naturally have indigenous pedagogy embedded in them.

Now, if you don't believe me, let's invite an artist in and see if my indigenous structures match up to what they were taught in their art form. So, Heather, can you come in? Can you tell me about your world of dance? And how you see indigenous pedagogy: side-by-side coaching, cooperative learning, learning by mistakes, that we learned from our mistakes?

Heather Francis: First, I want to point out, I think there's one more indigenous pedagogy that just happened, which is the inclusion of family.

Brenda Beyal: Intergenerational learning! Yes, definitely. Thank you for reminding me.

How Dance Incorporates Cooperative and Embodied Learning as Indigenous Pedagogies

Heather Francis: We're not blood, but you, you are like my auntie. And now you are doing this with me? Yes, mentoring me, but also including me—thank you. In dance, there's lots of storytelling, we use movement to express what either happened, is happening, or what we hope will happen; or, how we're feeling, how we felt, or how we hope to feel. We use movement, which is very sensory. You talked about how indigenous pedagogy is embodied: it's learning by doing, it's using all your senses. So I include intuition, that sixth sense. When an artist is creating, they'll often get to a part in their process where they have a problem that they've identified: “Oh, I want it to be this way,” or, “ Oh, that didn't work out how I wanted.” You have to use your intuition to make the next right step. Sometimes it might be a tool you do know that a mentor taught you. Or, you might have to create it yourself. But you have the intuition to make that choice. The ability to make choices like that is something you learned as an artist. And what was another one? Oh, cooperative learning. There is lots of cooperation in dance, especially when you're dancing with a company. Or if you're co-choreographing, making the decisions with other people during productions, you have your lighting designers, stage set, costumes, programs, marketing—the whole production team has to cooperate together.

Brenda Beyal: So do you see how I feel like indigenous pedagogy pairs so well with the art forms? Absolutely. Can you tell me about this in your art form? Can you tell hard stories through dance?

Heather Francis:Oh, yes! We do tell hard stories through dance. I've seen women who've lost babies express their pain and grief. I've seen Native groups express the pain of land acquisition from outsiders. I've seen people express the pain of not being understood, feeling like an outsider. There are hard stories that the arts do tell. Some are narrative and tell hard stories that happened historically. And I've seen that in Australia, some Maori people did a dance that seemed….at least from my perspective; it's all about interpretation too, right? So they might have been having a great time, and I thought they weren't.

Brenda Beyal:But that's okay. Because you have different perspectives. Thank you for joining me. Our lesson plans are built on an indigenous pedagogy paired with the arts. There are many activities