Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/381166
and middle school," says Carmelo, who attended public school in the Shasta area until she was a teen. "It wasn't just from students, but from teachers, too. I remember the names of the students and teachers who made those comments. I was the only Native girl on the middle school basketball and softball team. I did the best I could to stand up for myself and others." She found public high school to be even more "disenfran- chising" and failed nearly every class in ninth grade. She voluntarily went off to Chemawa Indian School near Salem, Ore., and transferred to Sherman Indian High School in River- side, graduating in 1985. Despite being homesick, she excelled academically and socially. "I was surrounded by beautiful Native people from all over the United States that spoke their native language, sang their songs, danced their dances and feasted on traditional food, and I made many memories and friends. But I disliked the times I had to work as a cleaning person for white families in Riverside." Two teachers who were kind to her influenced her decision to work in public schools. She was 10 credits short of college grad- American school system — and the crisis she believes threatens the future of Native American youth. "I don't want to be negative. I want to be truthful. I don't want to sugarcoat anything," she says. School has ended, but Carmelo's day is far from over. In the library of Bella Vista Elementary School, she tutors first-grader Nate Wilson, helping him sound out vocabulary words he strug- gles with. "Can you say cat? If you put a b instead of a c, does it become bat?" Above Carmelo and the young Native American student hangs a large painting of pioneers and covered wagons. Featured prominently in the artwork is a white man holding a rifle staring menacingly into the distance. The incongruous juxtaposition of cultures represented by the people in the painting and the occupants in the library is a jarring reminder that genocide and disease nearly wiped out the Native American population in this Gold Rush community and the rest of the nation, and that despite that, white settlers are often portrayed as heroes in history books, movies and television. "Hmmm," says Carmelo. "I am right here, in 2014, as a survivor because of my grandparents and parents, who did whatever they had to do to survive genocide and assimilation." Despite the artwork, Carmelo says she is pleased that the school allowed students to research Native American tribes instead of writing reports about Cali- fornia's missions and constructing replicas of them. She points to the many "plank houses" students built from wood, grass and other nat- ural materials that sit atop the shelves. "Asking these stu- dents to recreate the missions is like asking Jewish students to recreate the showers in concentration camps," she muses. "Could you imagine? You might say that it is culturally inappropriate." Growing up American Indian Carmelo knows a thing or two about cultural inappropriateness. Her parents and her grandparents were involuntarily sent away to boarding school in an attempt at forced assimilation, which was common practice. Sending Indian children to boarding schools left a legacy of bit- terness, confusion and heartbreak that continues to affect Indian people to this day, says Carmelo. "I have very clear memories of racial incidents in elementary DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WESTERN LEARNING STYLES AND NATIVE AMERICAN LEARNING STYLES Western: Native: Well defined, organized, works silently at desk. Auditory learner, excels with lecture, verbal instruction and feedback. Competitive attitude for individual recognition. Uses language skills for thinking and learning. Shows respect by making direct eye contact. Informal, noisy atmosphere where students are free to move about. Visual learner, prefers demonstrations and illustrative, explanatory assistance. Leans toward cooperation, group assistance and collective achievement. Uses images for memory and thinking. Defers to authority and elders and shows respect by casting eyes down or diverting gaze. From Learning Styles and Preferences, Northwest Indian College Carmelo sees her job of 15 years as a combination of educator and social worker. Her duties as a Title VII Indian education coordinator are vast. P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y S C O T T B U S C H M A N 35 V O L U M E 1 9 I S S U E 2