Boston Collegiate Charter School: Why Native American Curriculum Should be Taught Throughout K-12 Education
Annawon Weeden cuts an imposing figure, arriving at my classroom wearing a black T-shirt that says “Party Like It’s 1491,” a hat ringed with purple and white wampum, and New Balances,. Students launch into their questions: “Why did you become an activist?” “Do you ever think of giving up when others don’t listen?”
I’d invited Weeden, a Mashpee Wampanoag educator, to visit my high school English class in Boston. When I began teaching American Literature, I felt the course had to encompass Native American literature. I started with Tommy Orange’s novel There There. But the book is set in Oakland, California, and I wanted its message to ring closer to home.
Weeden had once driven from New England to California to protest a white math teacher’s use of redface. Before his visit, my students watched a video of his impassioned speech to the school board. We discussed how cultural appropriation undermines the right of all students to learn — and can, as happened with Weeden’s own brother, result in self-harm and suicide.
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