Page 478 - Cultural Studies of Science Education

37 Indigenous Stories: Knowledge Is Sometimes Where You Least Expect to Find It 453

kinnikik, exchanged gifts, and prayed that the creator god would look kindly on their
gathering and hear their good words.
Finally, Tucumthe rose to speak to our council of chiefs: “Brothers, I wish you to listen
to me well so that you understand why I have come all the way from where the sun comes
up to speak to this grand council. Brothers, the Americans have made treaty after treaty
with the red man and have broken every one. He kills our women and children and takes
our lands and then hides behind his army. He gets our old chiefs drunk with his strong
whiskey and convinces them to sell land that does not even belong to them. Those who sell
the land must be punished and they shall suffer for their conduct.
But, my Chiefs, as I stand before your wise council, I humbly ask that you and your
warriors join the Shawnee in our fight, not against those old chiefs who sell the land, but
against those Americans who swindle those old men with their strong drink and cheap
presents. Brothers, I say that if you choose not to join us now, who will come to your aid
when the American want to cut down your mighty forests to fence their land and when their
broad roads pass over the graves of fathers. Soon, brothers, you too will be driven from
your Native lands as leaves before the winter storms. Stand with me brothers in our Great
War confederacy. Fight with me to reclaim all the lands the creator gave his red children.
Many of us may die in this noble cause. And we must all die sometime and isn’t it better
to die defending your families than to live like paupers. If it is your time to die, be not like
those cowards whose hearts are filled with fear of death, but sing your death songs, my
chiefs, and die like a hero going home. Confederacy or extermination is your only choice,
my brothers. Which do you choose?”
When he sat down, it was so quiet you could almost hear a leaf falling in the forest, and
then the council exploded with clapping and whoops and tomahawks were flying in the air.
Even the wise old chiefs could not hold back the young warriors. And so the Menominee
made ready for war.
The use of storytelling in the Menominee classroom is an illustration of the infusion
of culture and tradition in the classroom, which is, very much similar to what
Chigeza and Whitehouse are trying to do in their science curriculum. Menominee
children enjoy and relate to the stories because these narratives are grounded in
their everyday way of living and being in the world.

The Connection between Native Americans and Aboriginals

In reflecting on our own work, the following question arises: How does research in
the Menominee context connect to the indigenous knowledge systems important for
the work of Chigeza and Whitehouse? This sort of research can lead to a more
interdisciplinary acceptance of diverse indigenous customs and traditions that could
be incorporated in schooling and society. The language, culture, and knowledge of
indigenous peoples should be recognized, respected, and accepted by schools and
teachers of indigenous children if these children are going to be successful.
There is much to be learned from the history of Native Americans for the teachers
of Aboriginal children. Traditionally, government policy and practice in the United
States has been one of cultural acculturation and assimilation. This has been in
actuality a detriment to Native people by breaking down the culture and social
fabric of indigenous knowledge systems. The message to the people became one of: