U & D

clip from Homeland

One of the media resources identified for middle and high school Native studies in Maine’s Wabanaki Studies – Suggested Curriculum Integration is a DVD (or video) called Homeland - Four Portraits of Native Action.  It was a new resource to me (how I did I miss it?), so I have checked it out – and purchased it.

First, purchase from Katahdin Productions – other distributors charge ridiculously more.

Second, download the free Study Guide, also from Katahdin Productions. Although the guide is directed at the 9-12 classroom, an 8th grade social studies or literacy class can use it effectively.  The general integration ideas are very good, but the teacher has to be a little creative in linking this to other “activism” topics in the curriculum.  Some ideas for grade 8 in Maine would be: Civil Rights Movement, Women’s Suffrage Movement, Gay Marriage (current issue in Maine),

There are four 20 minute segments in the video, each one highlighting, in narrative documentary form (great for student engagement) a contemporary Native ACTION campaign.  What a great model for our students!  Of interest to Maine teachers is the last segment, “Sacred River” (link will bring you  to a short from the DVD). It highlights Penobscot (former) Chief Barry Dana’s efforts to hold the Lincoln Pulp and Paper Company (name used in video) accountable for pollution of the Penobscot River (that is putting it very briefly – the story is much more complex).

What I like about the program is the embedded sense of both NOW and of ACTION.  Your students, after watching this short, will understand that the Penobscot nation is not just a name on a map and a bullet in the history book, but a culture (with sovereingty, continuity, economic issues, territory…) that continues to fight for all of the same. Teachers should access the resources made available online for Wabanaki Studies (see link above).

Students who which to take this topic on as an I-Search project could access tribal and other resources from the the Study Guide.

Of course, they would also want to access the Lincoln Paper and Tissue (note name change) Environmental Stewardship site (with connections to corporate representatives) and the archive of related newspaper articles available to Maine laptop students via MARVEL!’s access to Maine NewsStand archive of state newspaper articles.

The Internet is wonderful in its nowness – I would hope that teachers would use this topic and this video to integrate social/cultural/economic action study, Wabanaki study, communication literacy, and the research process.