Artful Teaching

Heather Francis, Cally Flox
  • 5.0 (4)
  • HOW TO

Bringing teachers out of isolation and into conversation, the BYU ARTS Partnership presents the stories of teachers, artists, administrators, and community members who are working to deepen student learning and improve school culture through artful teaching. The views expressed on this podcast do not necessarily reflect the views of Brigham Young University or the BYU Education Society.

  1. Special NACI Episode: Native Voices Framework

    07/02/2024

    Special NACI Episode: Native Voices Framework

    Episode 42: Artful Teaching Podcast Special Episode: Native Voices FrameworkHeather 0:00 Welcome to the artful teaching podcast! It's been a while. This is Heather Francis and I am back as a co-host for this show to produce a special episode with my friend Stephanie West. She and I are going to be discussing a framework that she has developed as part of her doctoral studies. It's called the Native Voices Framework. She's going to fully describe it in just a moment, but to get listeners right on the topic of what Native voices are: There's the Tribe. You have a Sovereign Nation. They have someone that they've appointed to speak for the Tribe. It's someone sanctioned by the Tribe to be their voice. That is an official type of voice. But then you can have a neighbor who lives next door who has Native heritage, and they have Native experiences and perspectives to share as well. Then you might go into your student’s or child's school and see a Native artist presenting something, and they are another type of Native voice to share. So it's important in education, when we're looking to amplify Native Voices, that we understand these different voices and the different values that they evoke and share with us.  Stephanie West 1:29 You talked about the Native Voices Framework as being part of my doctoral work, and yes, it is, but this really started before then. We've shared content about this for years, so I can't say that this is my work, but more that I have been given the privilege of expanding on it as we've continued to learn more about these different perspectives that are available to us, as well as some missing pieces, which I'll talk about in a second, that help us to clarify how teachers might frame those perspectives and understand how those different various voices, Native voices, can impact their teaching of Native topics. Heather Francis 2:11  This framework is coming out of content that our program coordinator and program manager have been presenting in workshops for several years. And it's really great, Stephanie, that you're formalizing it. We love to see this kind of deep research and thinking. So the first question is, what is the framework?  What is the Native Voices Framework?Stephanie West 2:31 A framework is something that helps us to organize the information that's available to us and make it more applicable to our own work. The Native Voices framework, the image that we've created, which you can see on our website, is in the form of a circle. We felt it was really important to communicate both visually as well as through words. That is more of an Indigenous pedagogy, to also use shapes to communicate information. We have this circle that has a ring of individuals around it that have their hands connected. There's also some coloring to that circle. There's a deep red color as well as a black color, and they kind of blend into each other. It's concentric circles. The image that we currently have is two dimensional. I would love to have it recreated in a three dimensional shape. If we were to see it three dimensionally, I would see it as more like a cone, where it's wider at the base, and comes up to a point at the top. That point at the top is the focus. But the base visually communicates the different values that influence both our teaching of Native topics, as well as the different values that might influence different Native perspectives. We put that on a continuum of both Native values as well as Western values. And most educational systems are Western.  Heather Francis 4:15 Yeah, that's the world we exist in. When we say there's Native perspectives and Western perspectives, we're not saying that it's this against that. We know our own culture, that's one of our guiding principles. We do operate in a very western perspective, and it has certain values underlying it, just like Native perspectives have certain values underlying them. We're just including both of them in this framework. Stephanie West 4:41 One piece of this framework that's helpful when it comes to the values is that, yes, we put it on a continuum, because they're not completely contradictory, but they can be very different. It's also helpful when you have a framework. We don't necessarily, as teachers, think about, how does this value influence the way that I teach? Often, we just have values, and they're just part of our lives. But by having this framework, it encourages teachers to be able to consider, “Oh, this might be the reason why I'm choosing to do it this way.” By making it more evident, we hope that teachers can be more thoughtful in the ways that they include those different values in their teaching. Especially with Native teaching, because for it to be accurate and authentic, you have to make sure that it aligns well with Native values.  Native Values of Community, Relationship, Responsibility, Reciprocity, & Holism:Stephanie West 5:40 I looked at lots of different content and also reflected back on our experiences from what we have learned as we've worked with Native groups. I was somewhat hesitant to put these different values in as being Native values, because we know that each Native nation and tribe are all very distinct. But these were some values that we found that did cross over multiple different Native groups. The values that we found were: community. Community is so essential with Native communities. Then there is the value of relationship. Relationships are essential to the ways that we learn. When you think about Native communities, they usually learn through multiple different individuals coming together, as well as through different ages. It's often a side-by-side learning, and it's more as a community. Native individuals come together, not just for the benefit of, “What am I going to learn as an individual?” but, “How does what I'm learning benefit the community?” which is related to both community and relationship. Another value is responsibility. When we receive knowledge, we have to recognize that there's a responsibility that comes with that knowledge, and that's a very Indigenous perspective. Another value is reciprocity. As we receive something, we don't just receive it and say, “Oh, it's mine. I can do whatever I want now.” Instead, we realize that with that responsibility comes also a need to use it in a way that will benefit the community. Creating this sense of reciprocity. There are also those ideas of looking back to your ancestors and looking forward. It's this deep connection. Another element of this is the idea of holism, that you're not just educating a mind, but you are educating a whole entire person. There's this attention to “What is this person becoming as a result of the knowledge that they're receiving?” Those are some of the Native values that came out.  Stephanie West 7:50 There are a lot of different Western values that we could have highlighted, but we highlighted these ones because these are the ones that are very evident in our educational systems, and strongly influence the choices that we make. Sometimes these influences have been present for years and years. Many teachers are influenced by the education they received, and they carry it forward. Heather Francis 8:20 What was modeled for us is often what we adopt. Stephanie West 8:23 Yes. So some of the Western values that came out – these are not bad values. Many of these are very good values. Such as scientific skepticism. That's a great thing, right? It's very essential in research. But it’s the idea that we don't just accept something, we are skeptical about it. Another one is this idea of singularity. When we're in school, there's this need to get the right answer, or that there is only one right answer. That can be very different from an Indigenous perspective that may believe multiple answers to be true. There's also individualism, and we, as a society as well as an educational system, definitely emphasize the individual, often over the community itself. You can see this in our standardized testing and in all the different ways that we assess students. Heather Francis 9:19 Graduation, honors, awards, scholarships. Stephanie West 9:23 Exactly. When we assess students, we don't usually assess them as a group and take that as a whole. No, it's individual. Another piece of this is also compartmentalization. When we bring knowledge into the classroom, we often will teach it in its own different subjects. Many teachers try to bring things together, because we're coming to understand the value of making the connections between different subjects. But in general, most of our subjects are taught by subject. Then you learn math or science totally siloed. So those are the different values that came out as I was looking at these. The other piece I described was that circle of people who are connected together. For me, this was really important to include. We feel this when it comes to cultural things, especially a culture that may be different from us, where we wonder, “Do I have a place here? What is my role here?” I felt it was really important to keep that connection there, so teachers could not only see themselves there, but also see the importance of all the different interconnected people that play a role in that.  Heather Francis 10:45 Integrated subjects, integrated people, yeah, I’m getting the idea.  Native VoicesStephanie West 10:49 That's the base layer. The next level is those Native perspectives, those Native voices. We had already shared a lot of content about this over time. We had three different categories that we used. I don't know if you remember when we added the fourth category?  Heather Francis 11:06 Oh yeah, I totally do!  Stephanie West 11:07 Do you want to describe that? Heather Francis 11:09 Yeah! We were publishing our online course, which has a recorded presentation that Brenda and Emily did for teachers in our endorsement program. It covers the officia

    28 min
  2. Native American Series 4 | Making Friends with Native Americans

    04/17/2023

    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 FriendsBrenda 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 EventsEmily 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 PowwowOne 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 was eight or ten. I watched the caring of these fathers as they went through the ritual of putting on the regalia, getting ready to dance, and then watching these little boys follow their fathers out into the hallway and go down and line up to get ready to enter for their dance. I went, “Oh, my goodness, families are universal. Families are the same.” They had their rituals; my relatives have our rituals of baseball games or river rafting. But the emotional connection was just the same. I just saw the power of parenting in the time these fathers were spending with their children.   Brenda Beyal: Cally, that just warms my heart because it brings me back to the commonalities: seeing how we're alike rather than looking for differences. I'm not saying that we don't acknowledge the vibrant diversity of people in general, but underneath that all we all have love for family, love for ancestors, and

    18 min

  3. 03/16/2023

    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 AmericansBrenda 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 GroupsEmily 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 VoicesCally 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. So what I'm really grateful for is that as a culture, we've come to a place to start listening to those marginalized voices and saying, “Oh, this makes you uncomfortable. Teach me why.” Now, we can know better and do better. We're not faulting anybody who wrote this beautiful program that's been used in schools for 30 years, one that many children have embraced and loved and grown up doing. We want to acknowledge how important this “This is the Place” program has been in the development of many children learning the history of our state. We're trying to say, “Yeah, this is a great program. Now, how can we make it better based on some of the understandings that we have right now? How can we be sensitive to this particular marginalized group, bring them into the present, and strengthen our communities today?”   Indigenous Experience is an Essential Part of Utah HistoryBrenda Beyal: I love that this teacher is asking this question because they want to be inclusive. Someone may say, “Well, let's just not do anything with Native Americans.” It’s impossible to talk about the history of Utah without talking about indigenous people within the state. If you're nervous, and you just say, “Well, let's just not do anything,” then you're creating a greater void in all children's narrative of how Utah became a state. Another point that one could bring up in seeing the need for the song to be replaced is that some of the lyrics use the terms “Great Spirit” and some lyrics say that Native Americans worshiped wind, fire, and wat

    21 min

  4. 03/08/2023

    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 that. Brenda Beyal: There are some specific questions that were asked such as, “Can I do this dance without having a Native American in the classroom? Or it might be, “I've always done this art project, and now that I've taken the course I'm wondering if this is an appropriate art project. I feel like it might be verging on cultural appropriation.” There might be another question, something simple, like, “Why do you call traditional dress regalia? Why don't you call it a costume?” There have been questions such as, “Do you call yourself a Native American or American Indian? Or, “What is the best term to use?” All of those questions vary, and we welcome them. If you have questions that you would like to have answered, please email us. Hopefully, we can give you some answers. If not, we will definitely send you to people or organizations that can help you. [See Episode Resources for a list of blog posts that provide helpful answers to some of these questions.] Heather Francis: In this next clip, Brenda shares the importance of looking at history from multiple perspectives. She talks about how she believes that history is often told from one perspective and that there's danger in “the single story.” She describes why multiple perspectives are important to her and how working on some of our general Native American lesson plans, like the one on the transcontinental railroad are really important because they offer multiple perspectives on events in history and other events that impacted the lives of those living here in the state of Utah or the territory of Utah. Whether you're teaching Utah social studies or not, understanding history from multiple perspectives, and including Native perspectives on history, is really important. Brenda Beyal: Often I feel like history is taught from one perspective, and there is a danger in just that one perspective or in that single story, because you lose the complexity of

    16 min

  5. 03/02/2023

    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 CultureHeather 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 read every word of our educational products, that they approve, and that they confirm that it is the story they want shared about their tribe or their nation. As an educator, I love knowing that the tribes have approved this content—that approval does give me confidence. If you experience using one of these lesson plans and feel that confidence, we would love to hear about it! Please share your experience with us through email or social media.  Distinguishing Among Native Voices  Brenda Beyal: In our work, we have included authentic voices, culture bearers and knowledge keepers, and official voices. There are distinct differences between these three: An authentic voice is someone who has that lived experience. I'm going to share the example of my husband: my husband has the lived experience of going to a Native American boarding school at the age of five. His voice is authentic in that experience. I cannot speak to that; I do not have an authentic voice about boarding schools, other than that I live with a man who has experienced some historical trauma. Lived experience

    16 min
  6. Native American Series 4 | Indigenous Pedagogy and the Arts

    02/23/2023

    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 PedagogiesHeather 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 and art experiences that you can use to help your class become more culturally responsive. You can see them built into our lesson plans found on our website. Heather Francis: There you have the first two questions and answers that Brenda recor

    13 min

  7. 11/23/2022

    Native American Series 3 | Mathematics and the Hoop Dance: Venn Diagrams, Proportion, and more | Terry Goedel

    Terry Goedel, World Champion Hoop Dancer and retired Math Educator shares how he sees mathematical patterns in the hoop dance, the importance of this Native tradition to his family, the story he performs with his hoops, and his individual journey to hoop dancing.

    17 min

  8. 11/17/2022

    Native American Series 3 | Observing, Experiencing, and Researching the Bear Dance | Emily Soderborg

    35. Native American Series 3 | What I learned about the White Mesa Community Bear Dance | Emily SoderborgEpisode Summary In this episode, Emily Soderborg shares her experiences attending the Bear Dance with her family on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation. Emily shares what she learned about the White Mesa Community and their Bear Dance stories and traditions. Episode Keywords: Native American, classroom, arts, artists, teachers, culture, authentic voices, students, indigenous pedagogy, Native American art, Native American Curriculum Initiative, elementary arts education, fry bread, arts integration, Bear Dance, community, White Mesa Community, Native American pedagogy. 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 Follow Us: Native American Curriculum Initiative Mailing ListBYU ARTS Partnership NewsletterAdvancingArtsLeadership.comSubscribe on Apple PodcastsSubscribe on SpotifySubscribe on Amazon MusicInstagramFacebookPinterestDon’t forget to peruse the bank of lesson plans produced by the BYU ARTS Partnership in dance, drama, music, visual arts, media arts, and more. Search by grade-level, art form or subject area at www.education.byu.edu/arts/lessons. Episode Notes  Cally Flox  Welcome to the Artful Teaching podcast. We are back again in our Native American curriculum initiative series. Today we are talking to Emily Soderborg, who is one of the researchers and writers on our team as the project manager in the Native American curriculum initiative. As part of her research, Emily recently attended a Bear Dance, and she's here to share her story.   Emily Soderborg The Bear Dance is done at different times of year with the different Ute nations. So just so people are aware, there are three federally recognized Ute nations. One of them is the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, sometimes also known as the Northern Ute. Then you have the Southern Ute, and then you have the Ute Mountain Ute. The Bear Dance travels from different communities. It starts in Randlett, in the Uintah area, and then it goes to Whiterocks, and then Fort Duschene. Then it goes down to Ignacio, in the Southern Ute area. Then it goes to Towaoc (toy-yak). In Towaoc, by that time, because they do the dances on different weekends, it's around June. The dance is performed in sequential order. Each Bear Dance has its own Bear Dance chiefs. So not just one, but they have multiple chiefs that are in charge of knowing the songs of organizing the events. Out of those, each of them has specific people that sing different songs, but they also call it the Bear Dance circuit. Because the Ute people, no matter which nation they're from, some travel with and go to every single Bear Dance. They feel like the bear is actually traveling with the Bear Dance. As the dance is performed in Randlett, with the first thunder, the bear starts to wake up, the bear is growing, it's waking up—coming up out of hibernation. And it stems from this story. This is the story I heard. I talked to Jack Cantsee Jr., who is one of the White Mesa community’s Bear Dance Chiefs. He said, ‘There were two boys lost in the forest. A mother bear found them and she raised them. As they reached adulthood, she sent them back out. She taught them this dance. Then, they went and taught the dance to the communities that they were in.’ This is part of a ceremonial dance, but it's also a social dance. When the White Mesa Community was trying to figure out how they were going to fit their Bear Dance in with all of the other Bear Dances, they turned to their elders. This was Jack Cantsee Junior's grandpa and his great grandparents. They said, ‘We haven't had a chance to do our Bear Dance.’ As a community, they decided that their Bear Dance would be done in the fall, and instead of bringing the bear out of hibernation, their Bear Dance was to send positive energy with the bear to put it back to sleep as the last Bear Dance of the season. There are no Bear Dances from June until Labor Day. On Labor Day, I went down to witness the White Mesa community Bear Dance. They were sending the bear to go back to hibernate. Heather Francis Bear Dances only happen from September to June? Emily Soderborg No. They happen from the first thunder in the spring, which is usually March. So you have Randlett, Whiterocks, Duchesne, Ignacio and Towaoc. All five of those happen in the spring, in March, April, May, and June on different weekends. The White Mesa communities’ dance is on Labor Day weekend. Heather Francis There's a big break there in July and August.  Brenda Beyal My understanding is that there are times that the Bear Dance Chief decides whether the Bear Dance is going to be held or not. Emily Soderborg Yes. Jack Cantsee Jr. said that the Bear Dance chiefs, he, and three others decided to cancel the dance the first year of COVID, which they hadn't done in a really long time. Last year, they decided that it would only be Ute members of the White Mesa Community that were allowed to participate. It was very small. Prior to that, and then this year, for the first time in two years, the Bear Dance was open to the public: anyone was able to come and watch and participate. As I went down there, I didn't know exactly where I was going. I had talked to the education director, and I told her I was coming. She's the only one from the White Mesa Community that I've actually met in person. So I was going—not knowing where we were going. They just had big signs that said, ‘Bear Dance this way.’ So I just followed them. I was going partly because I was doing research. But I was also just going with my family over Labor Day weekend with my husband and my two little girls. We were giving our girls this opportunity to experience something new and different. Just because in my work with NACI, it's kind of changed the way I view things, I want to give my children more opportunities to see things through different perspectives. That's part of the reason we went. I had no idea where I was going, what I was doing, I just followed signs, because I knew that it was happening on Labor Day weekend. Thankfully, they didn't start on time, which happens as people are setting things up. I had 45 minutes to talk to Jack Cantsee Jr. I am not in any way, shape, or form an expert, I am just sharing my one experience talking with Jack Cantsee Jr. and then watching what was going on. He explains the dance. The Bear Dance is done in a corral that they've built. It's a round circle, with an opening facing the east. They framed the corral with wire, and leaned juniper trees up along the wire, all the way around this huge circle. Jack was telling me that as you enter from the east, and you go to the left, that that's like the circle of life. It is birth. As you get around to the back, directly across from the entrance, is the stand where the singers are singing with their notched sticks. They didn't use any drums, they were just using the notched sticks. That part of the circle represents adulthood. As the dance keeps traveling around, it goes to the elders. It's just this cycle of life happening. Being there and seeing the corral that they were in made me recognize this dance is a really, really simple dance. It's easy to do. But—the setting, and the symbolism can't be replicated without the Bear Dance chief. It can't be replicated without the tribal members building that corral and having those specific things in place. I recognize that, even though this dance might want to be replicated by teachers, because it is a very, very simple dance, it's just walking forward and backward—without the setting that it's in, it would totally change the feeling of the Bear Dance. Heather Francis  You had a family member who got to experience the Bear Dance? Emily Soderborg Yes. As I was talking with Jack Cantsee Jr., I was asking him, “So who is allowed to dance in this?” He said, “Well, anyone can dance.” But I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt because it was 103 degrees. It was really, really hot. He told me, “Well, you would need to be wearing a skirt. And you would need to have a shawl to be able to dance.” As a female, I wasn't participating. But, it is a female-driven dance. The females are the ones that ask the males to dance. Jack Cantsee Jr. said, “If your husband's here, he needs to be ready and willing to dance because if he gets asked, he can't say no.” It's just part of the dance that males have to dance. I asked Jack, “Do males need to wear something specific, like the females need to wear skirts and shawls?” He said, “The only stipulation is that he shouldn't be wearing shorts.” Well, my husband was wearing shorts. But since we'd stayed overnight, he actually had pants. I said, “Hey, would you be okay changing into pants in case anyone asks you to dance?” He changed and he was wearing pants. I had my five-year-old and my three-year-old, and we were just watching. We took our camp chairs with us. We had a big umbrella. We were just sitting. You just sit right on the edge of the corral. Most of the time, three or four women dancers would go ask men that were sitting in a certain area really near the singers to dance. But they did a special memorial dance for someone who had passed away. And Jack, who was one of the Bearer Dance chiefs, invited all of the women who were ready to dance to ask someone to dance. Then, 40 or 50 women were dancing instead of four or five. Almost every single male there was asked to dance. My husband got asked to dance. He went out, and they lined up men across from women. Then, there is someone who taps them on the shoulder. That tap tells him that he can break away from the lines, so he can start moving forward or backward. Thankfully, they actually did a song first

    24 min
See All (43)

Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Bringing teachers out of isolation and into conversation, the BYU ARTS Partnership presents the stories of teachers, artists, administrators, and community members who are working to deepen student learning and improve school culture through artful teaching. The views expressed on this podcast do not necessarily reflect the views of Brigham Young University or the BYU Education Society.

Information

  • Creator
    Heather Francis, Cally Flox
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2024
  • Episodes
    43
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2024 BYU ARTS Partnership

You Might Also Like