resources: thankstaking & indigenous peoples
16 Dec 2024back in early november, my friend, andrew, asked me if i had any resources on how to talk about thankstaking with his kiddo, my nibbling, francis. i instantly knew who to reach out to… kathy lebrón! when i texted for resources to share with andrew who is parenting a 6yo, she was like “oh, this is gonna need to be an email!”
after the day passed, i realized this lil treasure trove was/is too good to have just a couple inboxes. so here it is! thanks, kathy, for knowing and sharing your knowledge. thanks, andrew, for wanting to teach your kiddo something better.
if you want to see more from kathy, check out @comadres_liberadas.
Hey lawrence!
Here are a few resources centered around unlearning colonial narratives and centering Indigenous peoples with young people.
- indigenous peoples family toolkit
- kids book 1st “Thanksgiving” (written by Indigenous peoples - breakdown of book on IG here)
- List of kids books written by indigenous authors
- list of kids books about indigenous stories
- giving thanks Native American morning message
- haudenosaunee thanksgiving address accordion poster
- decolonizing Thanksgiving toolkit
- family event in Boston on 11/29 with Wampanoag Nation Singers & Dancers
- look for events in your local area featuring or led by Native folks
Framing the conversations
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I like to start with a “KWL” chart:
K (What do I already “Know”?)
W (“What” do I want to learn?)
— POST research/inquiry —> L (What did I “learn”?)
Kids can draw, write, or verbally respond to the KWL chart.
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Start with inquiring about the land your family occupies, use https://native-land.ca/, and use the resources to learn more about that specific tribe.
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Take an Inquiry stance:
Show photo from pilgrim perspective and have child only ask questions for 1-2min. Transcribe the questions into a 2 column chart (left side Native perspective and right Pilgrim perspective)
Then show images from the book from the native perspective and have them only ask questions. Follow same procedure as above.
Then compare and contrast the images and ask child what they notice about the differences and why they think they’re portrayed differently. Address the questions and dig into what other questions your child may be left wondering. Add these to the KWL chart.
Hope this helps!
words / writing / post-processing