Created For Lakota Middle School students by members of the Lakota community and by Virtuous Reality Interactive, Inc.
Overview Of The Project
Vision For The Lakota Teaching Project
Educational Goals
The Content LessonsPutting the Student Home Pages Online
- Tutorial
- What's On A Personal Home Page?
- Oyate
- Tiyospaye
- The Myths and Stories Section
- The Values Section
- Role Models
- How Do The Oyate and Tiyospaye Fit Into Society
- Who Am I?
The Resource Center
The Lakota Teaching Project is an experimental learning program in which the Lakota Middle School student comes to understand, in increments, more about his/her heritage, Tribal values, stories and role models through examination and discussion of the concepts of Oyate (the People) and of Tiyospaye (extended family), and of Lakota stories and sacred rites.
Learning is facilitated by the technology of the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW). The student gains more information about his/her culture and about him/herself through the exercise of creating a personal home page on the WWW.
A series of assignments and activities -- including class discussions, independent and group research, individual composition and family discussion -- allow the student to master both content and technology.
This project also uses a real-world example, a Lakota Guide, for the students in creating their personal home pages and in exploring the ideas and values emerging from Lakota culture. A South Dakota Lakota woman, Madonna Blue Horse Beard, has created her personal home page with help from VRI members. Students can view the relevant section of the Lakota Guide's home page before they begin developing their personal information.
Lakota words are used throughout the program, with definitions.
The Resource Center contains a section on role models -- which the students will create -- and some World Wide Web "addresses," called URLs for both teachers and students to visit. These include other Lakota or Native American pages, and informational sites, like museum pages.
The Lakota Teaching Project is an educational program created for Lakota Middle School students by members of the Lakota community and Virtuous Reality Interactive, Inc. It can function as a "high tech" complement to schools' existing Lakota and Native American curricula. The vision is that it will respond to the special needs of Lakota students and will:
- HELP Lakota students see themselves as part of a nurturing, interrelated group, the Tiyospaye or kinship circle, that is in turn part of the larger Lakota group, which is in turn part of the broader society.
- ENCOURAGE discussion of family relationships and of Lakota culture among the student and his/her family and extended family.
- NURTURE and reinforce the student's sense of self and identity and help validate that identity within a valued culture.
- INSPIRE students to seek, outside the classroom, more information and a deeper understanding of their heritage.
- INSTILL in the student an understanding of the World Wide Web as a way to communicate.
- IMPROVE the students abilities to communicate with other Lakota and non-Lakota students.
- FOSTER a sense of accomplishment and pride in each student as s/he masters content and technology and creates a visible end-product--the personal home page--and shares that home page with classmates, teachers, members of the Tiyospaye, friends and interested people worldwide.
That the student will:
- Gain better understanding of concepts such as Oyate and Tiyospaye from a traditional Lakota perspective;
- Define aspects of their identity within the context of their Tiyospaye;
- Learn how their Tiyospayes relate to the Lakota Tribe and broader society;
- Understand the concept of the World Web Web and learn how to navigate it and how to use it as a learning tool;
- Acquire the skills needed to create a personal home page on the World Wide Web;
- Contact other Middle School students and classes throughout the world and share information about themselves and participate in joint educational projects with them.
I. TUTORIAL How To Use The World Wide Web This tutorial, written expressly for the Middle School student, teaches basic skills in accessing and navigating the World Wide Web ( WWW). If the student does not already know how to access the Web through the school computer, this will be a necessary introduction. It takes the student, step-by-step, through the mechanics of accessing and using the Web. It is accompanied by a Web Workbook that presents all information in hard copy. The teacher might 1) Go through the tutorial lessons with the class as a whole; 2) Have students work through the tutorial individually or in groups; 3) Both of the above. It will be important for the student to master this material in order to create his/her personal home page. II. WHAT'S ON A PERSONAL HOME PAGE? Pre-requisite: The student has mastered the Tutorial "How To Use The World Wide Web." Class discussion centers on what a home page is and on the different type of information that might be included on a home page. Students should understand the structure of the home page they will create and the pieces of information they will be creating and locating. Assignment : 1. Look at Madonna Beard's personal home page in the "Guides" section. 2. Look at some of the home pages from students at other schools (These pages are available through a link in the ÒGuidesÓ Section so students can "jump" directly to several examples.) Note To Teachers: While this Teacher's Guide assumes each student will create a personal home page and have it loaded onto the World Wide Web site, it is also possible to use other approaches. The students could save their pages on a diskette, then display them via computer when completed. Or, they could create a personal notebook and place each section they create, along with drawings and pictures, in this notebook, which they can share with others. III. OYATE 1. What is Oyate (The People) ? Assignment: Read the Oyate section on the Web site. Collaboration: Class discussion might center on how many students know their Tribe or band. a. What does the idea of Oyate mean today? b. What is each student's personal relationship to the Oyate? c. How does the Oyate relate to the broader society? IV. TIYOSPAYE 1. What is Tiyospaye? Class discussion might focus on the analogy of a class as a group of "related" people. Also, the analogy of a basketball team or club or gang (negative) can be used. Assignment: View the Section on Tiyospaye on the Web site. Assignment: Look at some of the Native American WWW sites listed in the "Resources" Section. Look at Madonna Beard's Tiyospaye in the "Guides" section. Assignment: View the section on "Hunkakaga" (the making of relatives) in the "Rites" section. 2. Who is in your Tiyospaye? Class discussion might include -Identifying family members, - Concept of Hunkakaga Assignment: Each student should create a family tree showing their ancestors as far back as each can go. Assignment: Students should talk with their families about Tiyospaye, then create a Tiyospaye circle including everyone who is in their Tiyospaye and show their place in it. When this is completed, students save the information on their personal PC diskette. V. THE MYTHS AND STORIES SECTION 1. Core Concept The class should explore the concept of myths and stories and why they are important. What do myths and stories accomplish, and why do people tell them? Who in the student's Tiyospaye tells stories about Lakota history or about the past? How do you find a lesson in a myth or story? 2. Madonna Beard's Myths & Stories Section. Assignment: Students should look at the "Favorite Myths and Stories" portion of her home page. 3. An Example Using one myth or story (from the Myths section or from an example the teacher chooses) students discuss the meaning and what they have learned from that specific myth/story. They should discuss how the teachings of the myth/story apply to their lives today. Discussion might be conducted: In small groups of students; or by individual students presenting their opinion to the class. 4. Students Create Personal Content Assignment : Each student talks with members of his/her Tiyospaye to find out their favorite myths/stories. The student picks one and summarizes it in his/her own words using the computer to write and to store the favorite myth on the personal diskette. They answer the questions: What did you learn from this? and What does this mean to you? How does this apply to life today? Or--The student might take one of the three myths in the "Myths" section and rewrite it as if it were a present-day story. Assignment: Each student draws or finds a photo or artwork that is a depiction of the myth/story, or creates something. Each student saves his/her myth/story and illustration onto the personal diskette. 5. Collaboration Students share their myths/stories with the class, or with small groups within the class, and discuss the lessons and meanings in each other's examples. Students discuss what they learned from the process of finding a myth or story, interpreting it and illustrating it. VI. THE VALUES SECTION OF THE PERSONAL HOME PAGE 1. Core Concept Discussion can center on what being part of a group means? -What does being part of the class mean? -What does being part of a team or club mean? -What does being part of a Tribe mean? -What values are related to being part of each of these groups? 2. An Example Assignment : Students should read through the Values section of the Web site. 3. Madonna Beard's Home Page Assignment: Look at the Values portion of Madonna Beard's home page. 4. Students Create Personal Content Students will be answering the questions: a. What does each value mean to the Tiyospaye? Students define the values in their own words. b. Who in their Tiyospaye exhibits each of the values? c. How can one be... (the value)? Assignment: Each student should write a story that teaches others abut one Tribal value. Save this essay to the personal diskette. 5. Collaboration Group or class discussion of the different values and how they derive from and also are part of and support the Tiyospaye. Moral dilemmas might be discussed: When might the value be applied in a negative way. Students discuss the work they have done and what they have learned. VII. ROLE MODELS [THIS IS AN OPTIONAL PROJECT] Each class selects one Lakota person who is admired and respected. It should be a person who is readily accessible to the students. The students will interview the chosen individual and create a profile of him/her. The class should cooperatively decide what information to solicit and what questions to ask in order to find that information, creating an Interview Guide. The class might focus in on how that person reached the position s/he is currently in or became the person s/he is today. The chosen person might also be asked to talk about difficulties or problems they have overcome in the past and relate this to what Values they feel helped them become who they are. Students might want to ask for or take a photograph of the role model. The profile can then be uploaded to the "Role Models" section of the Resource Center, where the profiles will be available for all students to view. VIII. HOW DO THE OYATE AND TIYOSPAYE RELATE TO THE BROADER SOCIETY 1. Core Concept - Mitakuye Oyasin - "We are all related." Each Tiyospaye exists as part of several larger social groups. Students should revisit the "Tiyospaye" and "Oyate" sections of the WWW site. They should also be directed to use the links in the "Resource" Section to ÒjumpÓ to other Native American pages on the Web. Current day Pow Wows and Sun Dances can be discussed as ways in which different Tribes come together. The Tiyospaye is also part of the larger social structure of the state, nation and world. It also has a relationship to the earth, to animals, and to all of nature. Discussion of how the Tiyospaye relates to the larger society and to animals and nature. 2. An Example The teacher might use one student's Tiyospaye and show how it relates to a Band or Council Fire. Questions: How does the Tiyospaye relate to the rest of Lakota society? How does it relate to other Indian and non-Indian societies? How do we as individuals relate to animals, trees and plants, other objects in nature? Students might pick an object from nature or animal and observe it and then say what lessons they can find in the behavior of the animal or object. 3. Students Create Personal Content Each student links his/her Tiyospaye to other groups. They might tell a story about how someone in their Tiyospaye works in or for the good of society or how they relate fo nature. The information is saved to each student's personal diskette. 5. Collaboration Students discuss, in small groups or in larger class, how they and their Tiysopayes are part of larger groups. Students discuss what they have learned from this activity. IX. WHO AM I? 1. Core Concept Everyone exists and defines him/herself in a context. Students can understand their identities in the context of the Oyate and Tiyospaye they have already described. By reviewing the Personal Home Pages they have created so far, they can develop an overall concept of who they are. 2. Madonnas Beard's Home Page Assignment : Students should look at the "Who Am I" portion of her home page. 3. An Example Class discusses Madonnas Beard's "Who Am I" section. 4. Students Create Personal Content Students write an overall statement of who they are. They might answer questions such as: - Who am I within my Tiyospaye? (Refer to Lakota language describing relationships in the "Tiyospaye" section.) - What Values do I think are most important to me as an individual? - What does my myth/story tell me about myself? - If I were an animal or object in nature, what would I choose to be? Why? They should pick or design a symbol to represent themselves. Students save this to their personal PC diskettes. 5. Collaboration Students discuss their insights into who they are. Students discuss what they learned from the whole process of creating their personal home pages. Do they feel differently about themselves than when they started? What do they think of what they have created? CREATING THE STUDENT HOME PAGES At this point, each student has a PC diskette with his/her personal home page on it. The page can now be loaded onto the WWW server computer where the Lakota Teaching Project Site resides. Any student should have the option of NOT having his/her page put up on the Internet. These pages can be viewed by millions of people all over the world. Not all student pages need be placed on the Site. The class or teacher might select a few pages to be uploaded, or all pages may be uploaded. Student pages will most likely remain on the WWW for a limited period of time based on the storage capacity of the Web server computer. If the class decides to have a "Tiyospaye night" (when parents and members of each student's Tiyospaye are invited to the school to view their pages), PCs in the school's computer room could be used to show the pages from the diskettes. THE RESOURCE CENTER The Resource Center portion of the Web site includes the following:
- Lists of World Wide Web "addresses", or URLs, of sites that will be of interest either to students or to teachers. These URLs are hyperlinked to the actual page, so the user can click on the listing and go directly to that site on the WWW.
- Role Models. [To be created by the student classes.]
- The Teacher's Guide for classroom use.
- Information on people who contributed to the Lakota Teaching Project.