This year we have been part of the nationwide project called, " The Cradleboard Project." We had read about the work done by Native singer, artist, and educator, Buffy Sainte-Marie, who realized some years ago that there was a lot of misunderstanding about Native American people today. In an effort to educate non-native and native children she developed this project to have groups of students communicate with each other on a consistent basis. The project pairs a Native American school with a mainstream, or nonnative, school. The two classes of students then spend the year communicating with each other and learning tribe-specific and general Native American culture and history together.

At Tuscarora School we have paired our 5th grade class with a class of 6th graders at Winchester-Thurston School in Pittsburgh, PA. The students have shared information in pen pal letters and exchanged "Goody Boxes." The goody boxes contained items the students felt showed something about their school and their geographic area. Their penpal letters also reflect a little of their individual tastes as well as the culture of their specific areas. Tuscarora students recently shared their experiences "NuYahing" on New Year's Day. They share some of their tastes in foods, school subjects and, of course, popular music and television programs. Often they find their tastes are very similar.

In October two or our teachers traveled to Bellingham, WA to attend the Cradleboard 101 Program at the Northwest Indian College. This program helped us learn more about the purpose of the project and also made it possible for teachers to meet others who are involved in the project all over the country and in Canada as well. Below, you can see some pictures of that very special gathering and also some views of the spectacular scenery of the Pacific Northwest!

June 2001 Update!

In April we were fortunate to have our partner school, Winchester-Thurston, come visit us at Tuscarora School. A few of the teachers got together ahead of time to plan a full day of activities which would give all the students a chance to share their cultures with the group.

The day began with about 60 students and staff arriving in a very comfortable looking bus at about 9:30 AM. We walked them through the school and took them to the gym where they were welcomed by Tuscarora Chief Kenny Patterson, School Principal, Elizabeth Carr, Tuscarora Culture Teacher, Joanne Weinholtz,Tuscarora Technology Teacher, Janneke Bogyo, and Cradleboard founder, Buffy Sainte-Marie. Students were then divided into groups consisting of penpal partners from the schools and other students from the 6th grade at Winchester-Thurston. The groups then spent the rest of the morning learning about various Tuscarora cultural topics such as beadwork, traditional dancing, corn pounding, and wampum. Many local community members made this part of the day possible!

After a tasty lunch of pasta, pizza, moose stew, strawberry punch and frybread, we all got together and did some traditional social dances. Some of the Winchester-Thurston students had the opportunity to play the drums along with the dancing. We learned a lot of different dances and had a lot of fun together.

We were also very fortunate to have Buffy Sainte-Marie join us. She talked to the group about the importance of learning about each other and respecting each other's cultures. She sang a song about the old Indian Schools when children were taken from their families and sent to boarding schools. It reminded everyone of the kinds of things that were happening to Native Americans not so long ago!

Next, the Winchester-Thurston students shared aspects of their various cultures with the group. We had students share Hebrew traditions, Traditional dancing from India, history of Irish people, Russian language, Polish beadwork, and African-American dancing. A group of students also shared information about the city of Pittsburgh.

At the end of the day the group got together for a large group photo and then different groups of students and staff enjoyed time playing lacrosse, playing on the playground and learning the game of "Deer" taught by Tuscarora Culture teacher, Vince Schiffert.

It was a full and wonderful day and one we hope to repeat sometime in the future with other groups of students who have shared part of their lives with each other during the school year!

Buffy and Joanne discuss an important point.

The Lummi Library on the college campus.

Some dancers at the Lummi Nation Pow-Wow.

An ocean inlet seen at dusk.

A view of Bellingham from the roadside.