Native students connect with culture during new Yakima School District session

Two men and a student sat in a circle around a large drum at the Franklin Middle School music room, singing while they hit it. As the drumming intensified, the beats reverberated off the walls of the room, so much so they could be physically felt.

Later, the drummers provided the music for about a dozen Native American students as they performed for a gathering of family and educators.

Last week, the Yakima School District hosted activities and classes for its Native American students aimed at celebrating and connecting students with their heritage. Led by knowledgeable Yakama adults, the activities included drumming, dancing, beadwork, basket weaving, moccasin making and Ichishkíin language classes.

Students and educators said the classes provided a rare opportunity for students to learn Native arts and languages in a school setting.

“Kids need to know their culture. They need to know where they’re from,” said Jewel Brumley, an assistant principal at A.C. Davis High School who helped organize the classes. Brumley is Alaska Native with Tsimshian heritage.

Creating the classes

YSD held these classes during its winter intersession week. Intersession is a time when students can choose to come to class or take a break. Most classes held during this time are aimed at helping students catch up on courses.

While the intersession period isn’t new, this was the first time the district offered cultural engagement classes, Brumley said.

The district reached out to its Native American students and families to let them know the classes were going on, said Deputy Superintendent Rob Darling, who helped secure funding for the classes. About 22 students signed up to participate, Brumley said.

Students of all grades were invited, and classes were held at Franklin Middle School. Brumley said the school was chosen for its central location in Yakima.

Yakama elders and adults came to help students with crafts, music and dancing. Jacob Davis, principal of YSD’s K-8 virtual program, helped recruit many of the adult helpers. He worked at the Yakama Nation Tribal School for years and knows many families in the area. When he reached out, people were excited to help, he said.

The district also partnered with the University of Oregon to offer students Ichishkíin language classes. Students used Zoom to connect with Professor Regan Anderson and Yakama elder and linguist Virginia Beavert.

Connecting with culture

Over three days, students sewed moccasins, made pony bead necklaces and danced. Parents came on the last day to see what their kids had learned and enjoy a lunch of Indian tacos. For some students, that week was the first time they tried Native crafts.

YSD only accepts students from within its boundaries. The southernmost edge of the district extends to the northernmost part of the Yakama Reservation. That means most Yakima School District students are geographically separated from Native communities.

Fewer than 1% of YSD students identify as Native American, according to data from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. That number may not account for students of two or more races who have Native American ancestry or who primarily identify as a different race.

Since they are such a small community within the school district, Native students might not realize there are other students like them at their schools, Davis said. The classes allowed them to find and connect with other Native students while engaging with their culture.

Moira Boughton is a senior at Davis High School. During the week she learned to make necklaces, introduce herself in Ichishkíin and helped the other students use the sewing machine to make moccasins. She had never completed a pair of moccasins before these classes.

Boughton has Native ancestry, but the parent she gets it from is not in her life, she said. She hasn’t had a lot of chances to engage with Yakama culture, especially within a school setting. The classes allowed her to learn more about that side of herself.

“It’s really nice to learn more about my culture with people who are patient and willing to teach us,” Boughton said.

Caroline Looney led students through moccasin making. She said she’s made hundreds of moccasins in her life, learning the craft from family and friends. During the week of intersession, she had to make a special pair of moccasins for a recently deceased elder to be buried in. She had to stay up late to finish them, but she still came each day to the classes because she wanted to help pass down knowledge to their students.

“Them making their own moccasins will hopefully encourage them to keep going and teach others,” she said.

She was proud to see the students were all willing to help each other as they learned their crafts. She gifted Boughton a pair of bright green beaded earrings she made after she saw Boughton help other students with their sewing.

Several of the elders and adults who spoke Friday said these students are the next generation of craftspeople. They will keep Native culture alive by practicing their crafts and one day pass their knowledge to others.

YSD building bridges

The week represented a chance for students to deeply engage with Native culture, something students and educators said is not frequently offered during the school day. For decades the American education system attempted to erase Native culture, particularly at boarding schools like Fort Simcoe in White Swan.

“Historically schools have denied our Native students parts of their culture, parts of their elders, parts of their traditions,” Brumley said.

In recent years, the Yakima School District has been attempting to reverse that trend and build better relationships between public schools and local tribes. “We’ve been really trying to increase our partnership with the Yakama Nation,” Darling said.

Last spring, Eisenhower High School and the Yakama Nation Tribal School collaborated on a salmon release and cultural exchange day.

Just a few weeks ago, the district began to offer virtual Ichishkíin language classes. Those classes are only open to third- through 12th-grade YSD students, but Darling said some parents expressed interest in joining. The district is looking into adding Ichishkíin classes to its high schools, which would allow students to obtain bilingual and literacy status.

The district is also looking into adding Yakama legends about the natural world to its middle school science curriculum, Darling and Brumley said.

Brumley said with the positive response from students and adults, she sees the district offering Native culture classes during future intersessions.