The focus of this service organized by the Land Acknowledgement Team will be how Native American best practices are being incorporated into Watersmeet Township School. Ricky White, Lynx Clan, Whitefish Bay First Nation and CEO of First Nations Consultants, will be the presenter. Ricky White is Anishinaabe and a fluent Ojibwe speaker with deep roots and connections to his Native culture and ways of life. He will share his journey of working with Watersmeet School, providing Professional Development for all staff, cultural programming for staff and students, and consistent schoolwide work that has realigned the climate, environment, and culture of the school and created a feeling of belonging.
An article in BridgeMI titled ‘How a tiny U.P. school became a national model for Native American education’ describes how 3 out of 4 students enrolled at the Watersmeet Township School are Native American, but there were days in the very recent past when you wouldn’t know it. Sixty percent of children from the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa tribe were deemed chronically absent during the 2021-2022 school year at Watersmeet School, meaning they missed more than 10 percent of school days. Typically, graduation rates were lower among tribal students than their white classmates, and disciplinary actions were common.
“Following the embrace of Native American language and culture, attendance and learning improved,” said George Peterson, superintendent of Watersmeet School. Just as important to school and tribal leaders, the effort is helping rebuild a cultural identity among Native students that had been systematically stripped for generations.
Native Americans in Michigan, including those who live in the small rural community of Watersmeet on the Lac Vieux Desert reservation in the western Upper Peninsula, have a long, devastating history with government-run schools. Most Native students have grandparents or great-grandparents who were forced out of their homes and shipped to one of the five Indian boarding schools across the northern half of Michigan where they weren’t allowed to speak their language or practice their traditions or religion. While the last of those boarding schools closed in 1982, that generational trauma continues to color the perspective of school among today’s students. Until recently, there’s been little effort to incorporate tribal language and culture into Michigan schools, making classrooms feel disconnected from Native children’s lives.
Ricky White has over 25 years of experience in education as a teacher and administrator. Ricky’s leadership and impact have been recognized by MIEA naming him Teacher of the Year (2001) and Administrator of the Year (2013). As the CEO of First Nations Consultants, LLC, Ricky White is now one of the most sought after Native American consultants. His work centers on sharing, training, and inspiring schools, universities, tribal nations, and organizations to deepen and enhance their understanding of Native Americans, and to strengthen their services, systems and support for Native people using his Native American Best Practices Framework.
Service will be in person and on Zoom.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83975762265?pwd=TC9BcStaTDF4dFZOU2ZsUHhZTERoUT09
Meeting ID: 839 7576 2265
Passcode: KUUF
Following the service is our monthly potluck lunch! Consider bringing an indigenous food item to the potluck. The Sioux Chef Indigenous Kitchen cookbook is a great resource for recipes, or look for recipes online. This is purely voluntary! We can learn by doing!
Contact Joan Chadde if you have any questions:
906-369-1121