Article Link: http://stage.exchangepress.com/article/meeting-the-needs-of-all-children-an-indian-perspective/5006729/
My nephew's daughter is now five and attends preschool. She came home and told her family that she had learned a new song at school. Her father was very proud of the accomplishment and when I went to visit she was asked to sing the new song for Uncle. The song was "Old MacDonald." She began to sing, "Old MacDonald had a farm. . . ." She paused and thought for a minute trying to remember the words. She began again; still she couldn't remember and had difficulty with the words at the end of the phrase. She thought for a moment more, than began again, this time with the look and sound of confidence. She sang loudly, "Old MacDonald had a farm, hey ya, hey ya, ho."My grandfather was born in 1889 on the southern Cheyenne reservation. He came out of the Tipi and was educated through the boarding school system. It wasn't because he wanted to, it was because he was taken to the school. His clothes were changed, his hair was cut, his lifestyle and his values were changed. Indians have been the victims of forced ...