Module 3 Cultural History

Module 3  People, Places and Practices


How can an examination of "culture" in Alaska contribute to an understanding of Alaska History?
In the reading  Why study Alaska history anyway? on the  Alaska History and Cultural Studies website, it raises the point that the study of history needs to extend far beyond a series of facts and dates.   The study of history falls into the liberal arts and humanities.  This is where we can make connections with events, land, people, music, and arts.  From a neuro-developmental point of view, one of my favorite subjects, these connections set the brain "on fire."  Allowing students an opportunity to explore and experience historical connections as they listen to a piece of music or feel a found object allows learning to be "tagged" in the brain, accessible for higher level thinking.  The image below emphasizes how reliant the brain is on neural connections for memory.  As educators, when we ask students to comprehend and assimilate history, we can offer lessons that include culture presented in a variety of ways.  

PET scan showing glucose metabolism in response to human brain activity performing  different tasks. 

Maybe this is why one of my favorite courses in college was a year of the History of Religion.  I looked forward  to each class as the professor carefully collected the art, music, images, and objects to share with us.  The emphasis was on engagement and connections  rather than the recitation of facts and dates.  As the article said, my experience in this course was more like the study of philosophy and literature, with humanity woven in. I imagine my brain was more active during this course!

Gene Tagaban, Tlingit Storyteller

Also mentioned in the previous cited reading, historian William Cronon said that  for  history to be meaningful, it must be told as a story.   I am reminded of the oral traditions present in the Natives of Southeast Alaska and how their stories contain culture.  Tlingit Moon and Tide Teaching Resource: Elementary Level by Dolly Garza intertwines Tlingit storytelling with the Native teaching of science.  There is an important introduction  to inviting and respecting elders in the classroom. Another resource for the classroom is KNBA Stories of our People eleven stories told by Alaska Native people.  PBS Circle of Stories Lesson Plans  oral tradition of Native American Storytelling and how to incorporate it into the classroom.  The lesson plans include ideas for allowing students to record their own family stories. As emphasized in earlier Modules in this course, students who have a firm understanding of their own and other's cultures are more likely to look towards their surroundings and consider looking at history as it contributes to culture.  


Is there an "Alaskan" culture?  How could it be described?
The comment on the Explore Alaska! blog refers to Alaskan culture of being more of a "salad bowl" rather than a "melting pot."  It goes on to say "The various flavors enhance the whole, with the balance the result of an ongoing process of give and take,  confrontation of difficult issues, and adjustments over time. It is a delicate dance with inevitable missteps, reassessment, and slow progress toward an Alaska which honors all cultures and which holds in special recognition its indigenous population." This salad bowl metaphor does create a better description of my view of Alaska over the past 18 years, with the cultural communities intertwined and yet distinct in their culture and history. 

A video describing this is is recollections by Tlingit Elder Cecilia Kunz as she recalls life in Juneau and memories of the Chinese immigrants working in the canneries. Students in Juneau would likely enjoy her descriptions of early Juneau places and people and be able to contrast it with their city today.  This might be a interesting lesson for students in how geography, resources and culture merge as Place evolves as elders describe their memories while referring to Juneau maps.   


I consider the number of students I work with who are first generation and American born.  Born to parents who arrived in this country within the past 10 years.  Obvious is their contrast with "sense of place" for the Pacific Islanders and Asians.  How strong their cultural communities are in Juneau as they redefine their lives in this new landscape and culture.  Their gatherings are rich with traditional foods and language of home.

Filipino Community Float, Juneau 4th of July Parade, 1949

I, too, am a first generation American to one parent who had arrived in the US 10 years before my birth.  Although the landscape change was not as dramatic, the cultural change and loss of ties with family certainly impacted my family culture.  It was not until I was a young adult and went to live and work in my mother's home county that I began to see and understand the nuances in cultural differences between my friend's families and my own experience.  As a language therapist, I was particularly interested in how I had to be in context to understand certain phrases which were often lost in translation as well as world views that differed often from my experience of an American's view. 

Tlingit Elder Elizabeth Katasse


Guidelines for Respecting Cultural Knowledge shares important guidelines for sharing Native culture.  I am new to this resource and this an important document as an educator to rely on  as we share cultural knowledge within the classroom.   Culture is defined from people within the cultural group as well as those outside.  Many of the resources emphasize the importance of inclusion of Elders as primary resources for cultural interpretation.  

Not only is the landscape of Alaska raw and dynamic, also are the cultures which exist within it.  The long Native history of Alaska conjures an image of the deep rock formations with each new culture establishing itself in relation to what has existed before. These new cultures might be the another "pioneer species" taking root and thriving, yet dependent on the new environment they are in.  

My children and their friend, creating place and culture in Alaska.

Module 3  Reflections

O.K. Blogging is becoming easier and I find myself attending less to technical aspects and more focus on the content (despite the errant font issues). I find that I wander through links of photos and resources and realize that a great deal of time has passed.  A good sign that I am enjoying this learning process!  I wonder about the great photo resources from the Alaska State Museum on the Alaska Alive! website.  Any guidelines on how to access those?  Thanks.

Module 3  Colleague's Blogs

Appreciated Claire's blog (Alaskan History Blog) reference with our responsibility to teach others about the human impact on the environment. 

Agreed with Chris (Learn Alaska or Bust) that some of the content of the course will be a challenge to link with our educational courses but that it was great to learn about!

Explore Alaska blogger, Joel, has a great photo of a moose on his banner.  He also emphasizes the possibility of concurrent global discussions that are possible due to access to technology.  

Module 1 Colleague Blogs

Enjoyed Diane's description as a newcomer to the Last Frontier http://dianeisexploringalaska.blogspot.com/

 Crystal shared a great cultural inclusion activity on her blog

 http://crossingalaska.blogspot.com/ with Tlingit elders.

http://mycoveandbeyond.blogspot.com/  has some great links to resources in Southeast Alaska by Marg.

Module 2

How does digital information change our understanding of natural systems?

I enjoyed exploring the plethora of the digital resources that were presented in this module on natural history.  Certainly access to information is important for scientists, educators as well as citizens.  These resources allow complex concepts and scientific data to be presented in a way that is accessible to non-scientists. 

The ability for scientists to share information, data and research on natural systems through digital technology enhances the development of a deeper understanding of our natural environment.  This could create a larger web of information where connections and contrasts might be created through access to digital catalogues, search engines and clearing houses.   This might be especially important in Alaska due to our isolation where professionals may not have the opportunity for on-going contact and dialogue related to their work. 

Remains of Eagle Village on the Yukon River in eastern Alaska after rapid ice breakup in early May 2009.Photos by Carl Stapler/National Park Service.

As I went through the videos of break-up, tsunamis and volcanoes, my two elementary aged children were pulled from their activities to investigate what mom might be watching for her “adult class.”  The images and videos immediately engaged them and promoted observation, comparison and discussion.   The availability of these resources to share with students in the classroom would be a way to increase interest and understanding of the learning objectives. As a special educator, I also know that allowing learners’ access to information using a variety of input modalities is important, Images and video with sound can support increased engagement and comprehension of the concepts and content.   

How have Alaska’s natural systems changed over time?

The word that kept entering my thoughts as I reviewed the materials on Alaska’s natural systems was “dynamic.”  Evidence of this dynamic system is apparent to me on my daily commute to work.  I enjoy living in an environment that gives us daily reminders of our dependence on the natural world.    The land on which the elementary school sits where I worked with  children today was relatively recently covered with glacial ice.

Location of Mendenhall Glacier in southeastern Alaska. Post-LIA terminus positions are overlain on a 1996 aerial photograph. Datum: UTM8N, NAD27. (Motyka et al, 2002 http://www.polar-remotesensing.alaska.edu/case_glacier/area.html

Another personal reminder of natural system changes in Alaska I was while hiking in Wachusett Inlet in the east arm of Glacier Bay during a kayak trip.  We were surrounded by fields of dry rock, alder leaves decomposing in the cracks.  Dryas claiming it’s territory on rocks in a carpet of large, spongy circles.   This was a recently receded glacial zone and possibly we were the first humans to set foot in the newly revealed landscape since the most recent ice age. 

 Dryas patch, Glacier Bay National Park.

Photo courtesy of National Park Service

Most impacting of the resources were the stories of Native Alaskans sharing their observations of changes in their environment during their lifetimes as well as through historical records passed down through generations.   The Iñupiaq people of Barrow described the impact of changes in the ice and it’s effect on their subsistence activities vital to their culture and survival (Arctic climate perspectives,Teacher’s Domain).   Their deep  understanding of sea ice and it’s impact on their whaling activities was reflected in their voices. This powerful message of climate change is immediately accessible to educators, the media or any interested party in gaining information beyond the facts and figures of data to share the personal effects of a changing environment.  

Reflection

Taku Inlet, near Juneau, Alaska

I appreciate the resources pulled together for this course, thanks!  It has been very enjoyable to spend time learning more about Alaska and considering my role in sharing this with students.  Hoping the blogging experience gets a bit more free flowing for me in the next entry....

Module 1

Why is a sense of Place important?

Alaska Federation of Natives Convention

Sense of place begins as a baby enters the family and care giving rituals surround him within the context of shelter, foods, sensory experiences. A caregiver’s response to the first cries of an infant may be a culturally driven gesture that is thousands of years old, passed down through the generations. Language is also introduced in these first days with the baby surrounded by comments, sounds, vocal play, and motherese, again each unique to family and culture. These early relationships form the foundation for a secure sense of self. Culture, language and place are what forms this sense of self from which a child continues to develop and learn. Feeling safe and secure in your home and place creates a secure sense of self. With this security, it is then that an individual has the possibility to explore, question, investigate, and integrate. All qualities we as educators hope children develop and bring to the classroom as learners. I believe that as educators, creating a learning environment that creates security and comfort allows the child to access relationships needed in order to communicate and learn. The provision of a bridge between home, culture and classroom is essential for integrated learning. A typical American early childhood classroom consists of manipulatives, sensory materials, books, music that are not familiar to many of the children coming from diverse cultural backgrounds. Efforts to allow the child to connect and related to cultural and place-based activities, music and materials is important in fostering developmental growth.

In adult learning classes where I teach about language development, I ask the participants to recall one of their earliest memories of play. As the group reflects on these memories, they all have elements of emotion, relationships and place. Rare is a memory of play alone or without description of the environment, the emotional tone or others. The article Alaska's Cultures Education and Cultural Self –Determination By Paul Ongtooguk, http://www.akhistorycourse.org/articles/article.php?artID=281, describes the devastating impact of removing culture through the imposition of American style school models. The self determination by Natives that continues today is clearly communicated in a powerful and hopeful way by this author. 

Garibaldi, Oregon Coast

 I have lived in Alaska longer than any other place. Although my early experiences with the land, environment, and people were in a different place, it is those early experiences that I believe fostered sense of self in the context of place. It was my interactions with the environment in Oregon and the people in my circle of family and friends that propelled my curiosity and drive to learn. I am reminded that my early memories of my sense of self within place are all sensory and emotion-based; pulling up a crab pot and celebrating the large catch with my dad, making sand crab villages with friends for hours, making clothing out of leaves for dolls with my sister. My play schemes and activities were likely imitated or passed down from others in my circle. Again, these early play experiences within my environment allowed access to explore this “place” in the context of relationships.

I am in continual wonder at the availability of opportunities as an adult learner in Alaska.  How fortunate we are to live in smaller communities  surrounded by raw beauty with instant access to Place.

How can an awareness of Place create better learning for Alaska Students?

While viewing the video of the Cup'ik people of Chevak, Alaska, "The Spirit of Subsistence Living." Teachers' Domain. 27 Feb. 2009. Web. 12 Feb. 2012. <http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/ean08.sci.life.evo.spirit/>., it brought my thoughts to learning about place.  Learning through the senses, through experience, and over time about the place that you live in.  Watching their hands immersed in the sand, smoke wafting into their faces over the fire, wind that came from far out on the sea brushing their skin. 

Communication and sharing the knowledge of their ancestors and their relationship to the land is learned in a multisensory and experiential way.  It is an integrated experience that demands immersion and experience beyond a textbook.   As we bring students to exploring history and culture, I wonder about how students can access Place through the senses and attach it to their cognitive system.  Place-based education is a model that emphasizes learning in their own community and surroundings as a basis for understanding other world views and issues.  

I often begin with young children “What do you know?” as a springboard for “How is this new idea, story, object different or similar from what you know?”  Due to the child's developmental delay, answering these questions are yet possible.  However, in my lesson planning for each student, I try to be mindful of a sense of comfort, familiarity, competency at the most basic level.  I consider the emotional response and engagement as a indicator of connection with place. In early childhood, we have the luxury of designing lessons that allow children multi-sensory access over time to weave in their cognitive and language connections.  Is it possible to learn about Place without understanding and knowing your own Place?   That is a question I will certainly continue to ponder. 

Reflection:

I was impressed by the variety and depth of resources available to Alaska educators that are available through digital media and introduced in this course.  I am looking forward to exploring more deeply, especially content related to my specialty. 

The structure is very accessible and clear.  I spent a great deal of energy getting my blog set up and wonder if a live meeting initially may assist those students who are new to blogging.  I would like learn how to cite resources digital resources correctly on a blog.