I attended a presentation and discussion titled Kumiai/Kumeyaay Transborder and Transnational Education: Intermixing Traditional and Formal Education by Cynthia Vasquez. Cynthia is currently a Ph.D. candidate at University of California, San Diego and the workshop was sponsored by the Native American and Indigenous Scholars Collaborative (NAISC). Cynthia works at two schools located on reservations: one in Juantos de Neji on a Kumiai reservation in Mexico and one in Campo on a Kumeyaay reservation in the U.S. Cynthia’s research and community services are focused on the Kumiai/Kumeyaay Nation’s process of bridging traditional knowledge and formal education. In addition, Cynthia illuminates how the Kumiai/Kumeyaay Nation is affected by the U.S./Mexico border. The event was held on March 14, 2016 at San Diego State University.
I chose to participate in this event because I have little knowledge about the Kumeyaay people’s culture and felt it important to learn more about their specified educational needs. I was also very interested in this workshop because of the focus on transborder education and the problems caused for the Kumeyaay people from the U.S./Mexican border. I felt that this is such a lesser known topic to public it would be an extremely valuable opportunity to be able to learn more about these issues and share this information with others.
Due to the trauma the Kumiai/Kumeyaay have faced from colonization and the creation of the U.S./Mexican border, there is a need to make the formal education system more accessible in a way that is culturally valuable. In order to allow Kumeyaay students better access to formal education, Cynthia suggested that the formal education system should utilize their traditional knowledge in order to better support Kumeyaay students education. Traditional knowledge can include ecological knowledge, oral history, and ethnoatronomy. While in the past formal education has been used as a means to acculturate Native Americans and wipe them of this traditional knowledge, Cynthia spoke about claiming formal education as a space for survival and preservation of culture. An key intervention that Cynthia spoke about was the need for increased preservation of the Kumeyaay language through language classes and camps. The methods of the classes are unique in their holistic approach. Rather than overtly teaching using traditional methods, Kumeyaay language teachers teach using more immersive techniques, such as completing daily activities in the language, going on walks in nature and using the language to explain, and use of personalized picture/language books. These methods are more beneficial to the students because they are more in line with their traditional knowledge.
Many of the students in school on Kumiai/Kumeyaay reservations face unique challenges and are often taught to have a victim mentality. When working with this population, it is important to use a strength-based approach to combat such mentality. While it is important to recognize the current and historical traumas these students have faced, it was suggested that focusing too much on this can lead to learned helplessness. Counseling groups at the aforementioned sites are called “Resiliency Groups” rather than counseling groups or anger management groups. Students are also encouraged to determine their own strengths and make that the name of the group.
Another important counseling tool suggested for use with Kumeyaay students was incorporating cultural aspects into the counseling group. This is important because it honors and values the student’s unique culture and the importance in plays in their identities. Healing, through the use of smudging or burning of sage, has been positively used at the beginning of groups to start when cleansed energy. The use of weaved baskets and the stories they tell have also been used as a way to value culture and discover patterns.
A page from a Kumiai language booklet children in the language class used. Note that children write the numerical representation as well as the word and a picture to foster a fuller comprehension of the language. In these language booklets, pictures are incorporated with various words in both Kumiai and Spanish to help children make a meaningful connection with the language, which is a very important part of their culture that has largely been lost.
A pamphlet Cynthia provides to teachers at schools who work with Kumeyaay students. Many of the teachers at the schools are White and know little about Kumeyaay culture and the importance of incorporating their culture into the educational setting. As described above, it is extremely important to incorporate Kumeyaay culture into the classroom so that traditional knowledge and formal knowledge can both be utilize to better support and motivate Kumeyaay students' learning.
A page from the pamphlet. These pages list various effective teaching strategies that should be used when working with Kumeyaay students. Important factors include building trust with the students and the teacher learning along side the students.
Another page from the pamphlet. This describes pieces important to Kumeyaay culture. Many teachers and staff have little knowledge about Kumeyaay culture. This serves as a positive introduction to staff so that they can gain a better understanding of the students they are working with.
Sarah Nakutin
Thanks for attending Sarah!
ReplyDelete