November, which is recognized as National American Indian Heritage Month, pertains to more students than one may realize. According to Joseph Rousseau, Lincoln Public School’s American Indian Education Demonstration Grant Coordinator and Lakota tribe member, there are over 2,100 American Indians attending LPS, with 60 unique nations, native languages and cultures represented.
Rousseau believes that learning about the culture and heritage of American Indians is important as it relates the bigger picture of history as a whole.
“American Indian history is the United States history and it’s important for all of us to know that history, to know the truth, so that when we hear about it again as adults, we’re better prepared to understand why things are today, the way they are,” Rousseau said.
LSE has its own substantial body of Native American students, who receive recognition during November; recognition which LSE counselor and Native American Caucus sponsor, ReeAnna Armagost believes is significant.
“It was a whole way of life that was disrupted, and land was taken. So, it’s an opportunity to learn more about that and [to] celebrate Native Americans,” Armagost said. “That they’ve survived and they’re strong and to celebrate and bring awareness.”
When Armagost helps students share their Native heritage during November, she’s not just celebrating culture, she’s celebrating survival. National American Indian Heritage Month is a reminder that, despite centuries of erasure, Native voices are still here, still strong and still shaping classrooms today.
Recognition can take many forms as National American Indian Heritage Month has a different meaning for all. For Susan Townsend, a Native American K-12 School Counselor with LPS, Native American Educational Success Team member and member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, this month presents an opportunity to recognize past and present contributions of American Indians.
“I think it’s a great time to honor our culture. And I think it’s cool because I think it’s a good time to think about not just what we were in the past, like, trauma that we’ve gone through in the past, but to think [about] what we’re doing now and the great things that we are contributing,” Townsend said. “So to keep teaching about current Indigenous issues and not just the past, you know, suffering and trauma from the past, but what we’re doing now to make a difference in the country.”
Rousseau believes that as far as understanding the past of American Indians goes, awareness and land acknowledgements are important. Additionally, Rousseau says that National American Indian Heritage Month is important because it helps to fight present stereotypes about American Indians.
“They might think we’re extinct. They might think that we’re savages,” Rousseau said. “They might think that we are no longer around, you know that we’re not sitting next to you in the classroom or we’re all just banished to a reservation.”
To help combat stereotypes, learn more about American Indians and to spread awareness, Armagost suggests being open-minded and respectful when asking American Indian people about their culture.
Though she encourages asking questions and loves “that people would want to know more about it, about other cultures,” she emphasizes the importance of respecting how much people want to share and walking that “fine line”. By this she means using inclusive and correct language, understanding that some students have more shy personalities, so they prefer not to share as much and recognizing that some American Indian people are more immersed in their cultures than others.
Other ways in which students not of American Indian heritage can be involved in this celebration and the recognition of their peers’ heritages and cultures is through doing their own research, immersing themselves in Native culture, such as through food and music and going to American Indian events and exhibits, including UNL lectures and events at the Indian Center.
Through attending events and doing research, participants of National American Indian Heritage Month help to recognize the continued existence of American Indians during periods of displacement, assimilation, erasure and more, which Rousseau deems as a notable achievement of American Indians.
“Most people think that we are extinct. We’re no longer here. What would describe us is resilient and strong and we are still here. And there is proof of that,” Rousseau said. “There have been many attempts over time to erase us from this land. And yet, despite all of those attempts, we are still here in every school building, every classroom. We still have our culture and our ways and our language.”
