Students celebrate Native culture

By Jennifer McBride

Leader Staff

The loudest sound in the People's Center last Thursday came from the lungs of children, who screamed as loud as they could as long as they could while running down a field — a run used to show off their vitality and strength.

This game was one of many activities school children experienced last week for Native American Awareness Week. Kids of all ages left their schools to listen to dozens of tribal members, as cultural activities took place across the valley.

At the People's Center in Pablo, 525 kids ran through the yard in a two-day span. They played stick ball, flung arrows through bouncing hoops and strung beads on pieces of leather. They also were treated to pieces of fried meat and fry bread and a performance of traditional hoop dancing.

The activities drew students from as far north as Kalispell and as far south as Arlee.

According to Rob McDonald, spokesperson for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, the People's Center has been running an educational outreach program from children since 1998. This year, he said, they did something different by focussing on students in grades five through eight.

Younger students traveled to the Koostatah Hall in Elmo, where they watched drum performances and sang. They also listened to traditional Native American stories and ate dried meat and fry bread.

"The beat is the heartbeat of the earth," Riscilla Grimshaw told her class of Linderman elementary students. Grimshaw, who teaches music at both Linderman and Cherry Valley, had her kids sing Native American songs and play hide drums which were handmade by a tribal member.

She told the children that they could respect the spirit of the animal that died to give its hide to the drum by respecting the instruments. She then led the students in a several rhythm games which involved passing sticks and stones around in circles.

Many teachers arranged similar themed activities, whether they led dances or instructed their students in traditional Indian arts and crafts. The halls of schools throughout Lake County were decorated with photos of Indians in full regalia and beaded buckskin or other artifacts of traditional Native American Life. Linderman and Cherry Valley elementary schools had a teepee outside, which children could explore during recess.

CSKT Chairman James Steele, Jr. described how important the week was to the Tribes.

"Native American Awareness Week is one of many ways that the Salish and Kootenai Tribes use to share our heritage. Our ancestors have lived on these surrounding lands for more than 14,000 years. For the past 100 years as Tribal people, we've seen the need to better explain ourselves to the surrounding community. Only by knowing more about each other and respecting each other's differences will we be able to begin truly understanding each other," he said.

He also hopes that the week will help form stronger bonds between people of all races.

"There's been a lot of talk in the communities like in the Ronan Chamber of Commerce about finding ways to improve the relations between tribal and non-tribal people," Steele said. "I hear it from the hospitals and in the governments that have already found a spirit of cooperation and partnership with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. Last year we invited seven hundred students of all backgrounds from the area schools to join us in creating a living portrait of Big Medicine, the white buffalo that lived at the National Bison Range. We value the time of sharing and we are happy that so many have responded and joined in our educational activities."