Experiencing American Indian Heritage Month
By Darlena Estelle AKA Esther D. Glenn, Media Coordinator
R.N. Harris Elementary School, Durham, North Carolina
In year one, month three of my librarian experience in 2019, we were asked to bring a Native American children’s book to our district-wide media coordinator meeting. A seasoned colleague shared We Are Grateful by Traci Sorrell published by Charlesbridge in 2018. I remember being completely intrigued with the title which was also in Cherokee. The book was passed around the table, I perused it, took notes, and stored that information away. Back in my school library, I looked up all the titles that were shared in the meeting and found none in the collection. I did find one novel written about the Trail of Tears that was also a previous Elementary Battle of the Books title. At this point in my teaching career, I knew a little bit about Indigenous people or what I like to call, “The First People;” however I did not know enough as a rookie librarian to sufficiently share knowledge with young learners.
In 2018 I volunteered at the North Carolina Museum of History’s 23rd annual American Indian Heritage Celebration in Raleigh, North Carolina. In 2019 I attended the North Carolina School of Science and Math’s annual Pow Wow in Durham, North Carolina. These two interactions brought me up close and personal with NC native tribal members. I asked questions, I listened, I watched, I took pictures, I learned. Flashback to April 2018, my antennas were opened to observation at the opening of Durham’s 150 Sesquicentennial Celebration on the American Tobacco Campus. I heard honorable mention to the native tribes whose land the City now resides on: the Eno, the Shakori, the Occoneechee.
The Eno River runs through Durham and Hillsborough, NC so of course I’ve experienced the river before; however, it was the First Hike of January 1, 2023 in celebration of The Year of The Trail at the Eno River State Park that I saw this area in a whole new way. Upgrades were planned for the park and a new educational center was being added. I took the opportunity to explore the Eno River State Park’s new educational center one Sunday afternoon in October. I was so excited talking to the park ranger and information desk personnel. I asked questions, I listened, I read, I took pictures, I learned. Falling after Hispanic Heritage Month and Halloween and in the month of Thanksgiving, Native American Heritage Month receives no recognition in my school. Now I had a pretty exciting and full Hispanic Heritage Month this year with my first HHM diverse titles Book Tasting. It was truly EPIC! However, after the visit to the newly opened Eno River State Park educational center, I was absolutely resolved to celebrate Native American Indian Heritage Month in the library.
At the Durham County Library, I checked out picture books and put them on display in the school library. One of the main books I shared with learners was We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga (oh-ja-LEE-hay-lee-gah) with a CD recording. Back in July 2023 while at NCCAT in Cullowhee, NC, I visited the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. Coincidentally, author Traci Sorrell was there to present her books in the museum. I did not see her, but nonetheless, it was significant to me that I was in the same space she would be in later. In all my reading and research of late on Indigenous people, Traci Sorrell is a major author and her voice is one of enlightenment.
By the end of November 2023, I was able to present Native American programming incorporating reading, research, history, and culture for the Pre-K through Grade 5 students I serve in the library. I shared my personal pictures and videos of my experience at the Eno River State Park and the 2023 NC Museum of History’s Native American Heritage Celebration. I also shared the Lumbee Tribe’s Youtube.com channel as well as a recent PBS documentary filmed at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts about the duality of Modern Indigenous Culture. I used bookmarks with upper elementary students I had been collecting for years from the National Museum of the American Indian mailers on Geronimo, Pocahontas, and Sitting Bull as springboards to cooperative learning & research activities using credible databases available to all students. I even made a photo collage announcement for teachers and staff of the month-long library recognition and placed one in each of their mailboxes.
Overall, I am proud I brought this important programming to the school library. Finally, I am grateful that during our December 2023 bookfair, I was able to purchase at least 15 beautifully illustrated and accurately written Native American children’s books. In 2024 our school library will have a collection of its own for readers to check out and enjoy!
Check out the my SMORE newsletter for more tool.
.png){kind=spacer}
