The Native Youth Community Project (NYCP) has been providing grant funding to assist the cultural learning workshops that they have been offering. The Mvskoke Cultural Educators of the present and the future are the primary emphasis of this lesson.
A nature walk, the preparation and cooking of wild onions, the collecting of blackberries, the learning and playing of language games, and the creation of aprons were all activities that were included in the initial rounds of the curriculum.
Lessons that integrated culturally relevant learning with seasonal activities for spring, summer, fall, and winter were offered in classes that had a restricted number of seats.
These seasonal activities were discussed by MCN NYCP Curriculum Specialist works in conjunction with Cassandra Thompson (Mvskoke) of the Cultural Education Resource Council (CERC).
They discussed the potential of these activities to foster future Mvskoke educators and to give resources for any Mvskoke people who are interested in learning.
The importance of the curriculum and the ways in which it will be beneficial to future educators was underlined by Thompson.
“We want to help them find their way to get certification, such as teacher certification, or if it is somewhere that they want to possibly work in tribal education like for our area (MCN),” Thompson said. “We want to help them find their way to get certification.”
We aim to assist them in reaching their goals so that they can achieve success in their chosen sector or job, regardless of what that may be.
There have been meetings held in order to assist in the creation of the cultural learning classes; however, from Thompson’s perspective, they refer to it as “cultural development.” This is for the purpose of honing their cultural abilities, cultural teaching, and tools, and making it better in the future.
The classes that are being established, she thinks, will either aid with sovereignty or assist future programs in passing on cultural knowledge to the generations that will come after them.
As a result of the fact that it disseminates information about cultural practices and enables individuals to comprehend the reasons behind the existence of certain items, Thompson takes pleasure in hosting and instructing lessons that are related to art. During these seminars, she has been recording film in order to assist in the development of programs.
“Having us doing these things so that way we can use our curriculum and to show what it looks like…to show that we are still doing it because one of the things with any curriculum that’s been shared throughout the years, it always puts us in a past tense.
The purpose of this cultural learning session is to demonstrate that we are still living in this world and that we are still present. We want to demonstrate that we are still practicing our traditions.
Over the course of his career, Thompson has been instructing in this manner. Because of her previous employer, Thompson has gained an understanding of the significance of culture and the significance of incorporating it into the program.
According to Thomspons, having lessons that incorporate hands-on activities can assist residents in connecting with one another and being able to participate in activities, whether it be in the realm of language learning, cultural activities, or the development of community.
Thompson stated that rather frequently, adults who take pleasure in these kinds of activities recall having participated in them when they were children or are gaining knowledge that they have never had before.
According to Thompson, “it would be even more powerful if we could convince our communities to begin engaging in more community activities to the same extent as this.”
“The desire to continue learning will help each generation to remain strong in that knowledge and the Mvskoke culture,” said Thompson. “This is something that will help with each generation.”
The reason for this is that kids frequently ask, “What are we going to do when we do not have our language?” If we do not engage in activities that are associated with our culture, then what does that make us?
The statement was made by Thompson, who stated, “I believe that these classes help us carry it on, and maybe it will bring some things back that we did not know we were missing.”