August 18, 2021: Voices of the First Light Conference

Teach Native Histories by Starting with the Present

We had the amazing opportunity to attend the “Voices from the First Light” conference for educators hosted by the Mashpee Wampanoag Nation on August 18th. The Wampanoag are called the People of the First Light as the sun reaches them first on the east coast. Darius Coombs, the tribe’s new Cultural & Outreach Coordinator, and Roxanne Mills Brown, Director of Education, welcomed about 40 educators, collaborating with Jose Lugo and other members from professional services at the Collaborative for Educational Services. We heard from speakers on topics ranging from Native learning styles to history to language to food sovereignty and many more.

As we know, you are starting a new school year with your students. Many of you teach about relations between the Wampanoag and English settlers in relation to the settlement of the Plymouth colony in 1620. We thought we would take a moment and share some lessons we’ve learned from this conference and in thinking about teaching Native history.

Our History's Mysteries blog message for today is when teaching Native history, start with the present. Too often, Native people are relegated to the past and talked about as if they have “disappeared”, especially on the east coast. Clearly, this is not true and it makes it harder for Native nations to fight stereotypes, assert sovereignty, and survive culturally.

Here are two specific ideas for teaching about the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe today that we learned about at the Voices of the First Light conference.

1. Wampanoag Language Reclamation Project. In 1993, jessie 'little doe' baird began to work with MIT linguists to reclaim the Wampanoag spoken language which had not been spoken for 150 years. Working with religious and other English texts that had been translated into Wampanoag and looking to sister languages that are still spoken, Ms. baird began the amazing community process of bringing back the Wampanoag spoken language. Speaker and tribe member, Ms. Natana Hicks, spoke to us on Wednesday about her work in the project and the creation of their Wampanoag language immersion elementary school, classes for adults and elders, and the integration of Wampanoag as a World Language in the local public schools. Now young people can continue to learn and develop Wampanoag language skills in their local public schools. Learning about the language helps the Wampanoag nation and everyone understand more about their culture and history as the structure and gendering of words provides a window into how their ancestors understood their environment and all its parts. The language helps identify and define cultural values like the ones students recited each morning in the Wampanoag immersion school: respect, honesty, compassion, humility, bravery and gratitude. Consider starting a lesson on Native history and the Wampanoag with an introduction to this Language Reclamation Project. This can help students see the agency and modern issues for the Wampanoag. Check out their Facebook Page for more information. Consider showing a clip from the film We Still Live Here, a documentary on the Wampanoag Language Reclamation Project. Read more in this article on the project from Cultural Survival. This is a great way to show the Wampanoag in the present and show an amazing story of strength, perseverance, and cultural survival.

2. First Light Oysters, Food Sovereignty and Environmental Responsibility: We had the chance to hear from elders Earle Mills and George "Chucky" Greene about plant and food cultivation by the tribe and efforts to create sustainable land use. Ms. Danielle Greendeer spoke to us about the larger idea of food sovereignty efforts in many Native nations, including the Wampanoag. Read more about food sovereignty on the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance webpage. Mr. Mills spoke about the cultural history of plant use in the tribe. Mr. Greene talked about the summer camp for young people in the tribe to learn about plants and the environment. He showed us photographs of the gardens and the children at work learning and growing. He also talked about the First Light Oyster Project which began in 2009. Oysters naturally filter water. The project aims to farm oysters to improve the water quality of the Popponesset Bay by reducing the nitrogen composites while also farming oysters as an economic venture for the tribe. This project is a great example of Wampanoag civic action, environmental responsibility, and agency. These are all themes we are working on in our classrooms and a great way to start a Native history lesson by teaching about the present.

As you open your classroom this fall and think about teaching first contacts in North America and the alliances and contacts between colonists and Native people in New England, remember to show students that Wampanoag people still live on Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and many other places today and are federally recognized tribes. They are sovereign nations, with their own land, government, schools, police and courts.

Here are a few additional resources to consider:

• Consider looking at our History’s Mysteries Unit on Native Sovereignty and the American Revolution on our 3rd Grade page. Our first mystery investigates Native sovereignty today focusing on the Onondaga and Cherokee nations. You could use it to introduce the concept of Native sovereignty to students or use the model as a way to introduce Native sovereignty by looking at Native nations in your own geographic region. Explore Native nation websites and contact them directly to find out what issues and civic action are relevant today.

• Cultural and Outreach Director, Darius Coombs, worked with Scholastic a few years ago to create a video called “Wampanoag Ways” which can help students learn about the cultural and social practices of the Wampanoag in the past, but also features Wampanoag youth in the present. This would be a great place to start.

• For older elementary students, the story of the Mashpee Nine is an important look at a fight for justice in 1976. Paula Peters told us about her book, Mashpee Nine, and the documentary film she created with the support of Wampanoag youth. The Mashpee Nine were 9 men arrested and beaten in 1976 for performing dance and drum ceremonies on a beach on the tribal land area historically known as "12 acres" during the bicentennial celebrations. They fought for justice and were eventually exonerated. The story of the Mashpee Nine is a good example of how the American justice system can prevail to protect civil rights and how active struggles for justice are important. This incident occurred during a contentious time on Cape Cod as the Mashpee Wampanoag were in legal struggles to regain their land and assert their sovereignty as discussed in this Indian Country Today article.

At History’s Mysteries, we know that teaching difficult histories to elementary students can be challenging. We also know that teaching difficult histories is essential. We had the opportunity to hear from Linda Coombs, from the Aquinnah Wampanoag, who encouraged us to look to primary sources to help students wrangle with the difficult realities of collaboration and conflict between Native peoples in New England and English colonists. She also reminded us that the Wampanoag were one of many Native nations living in New England when the Plymouth settlement began.

Dr. Debbie Reese’s website, American Indians in Children’s Literature, is an incredible source to help guide elementary educators looking to teaching Native history and peoples. She has a great section on her website called: Tips for Teachers: Developing Instructional Materials about American Indians. Check it out!

History's Mysteries would like to give a huge thank you to the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe for hosting this amazing conference for educators!

As always, feel free to contact us with questions or needs. Wishing you a great start to the school year!