Conversations About Power and Contemporary Indigenous Youth in the Lumber Primes (K/1)

As teachers here at the Center School, we are privileged to be able to teach explicitly about racism and bias and uncomfortable history without the fear of censure or backlash (which is not the experience of many educators around the country). We also have the responsibility to center this teaching in our work with children. 

When we, as adults, talk about racism (and other -isms), bias, and injustice, we bring with us decades of experiences, cumulative learning, and some degree of understanding of the nuance and complex history that surround these subjects. In the Lumber Primes, as educators who work with some of our youngest learners, we are always thinking about how we can broach these topics bravely and honestly, and also in developmentally appropriate ways. In our minds, being "developmentally appropriate" does not mean shying away from hard subject matter or difficult history, but it does mean that we have to think critically about where children are in their cognitive development and what conversations are necessary to help impart some of the nuance and context that is essential to truly understand how things like systemic racism affect our society.

Two years ago we identified "power" as an essential topic to address with our K/1 students, because an understanding of power dynamics, and the power of individuals, groups, and systems provides a useful foundation when discussing things like racism and colonialism. With practice we have become more comfortable talking about power in ways that are accessible to young children (though we are still learning). This past week we began a series of conversations about power with the Lumber Primes that will continue over the next few weeks and help anchor many of our future discussions. 

What do you think about when you hear the word power?

D  Well, power… I think about flexibility, about moving on about hard things.

R  What kind of power? Like magic, electricity? What I know about people with power is that usually people with power use it for bad things, like the government sometimes uses its power for wars.

L  Powers is like the power to run fast.

E  I have a lot of ideas. 1. Some people like bosses have power so they can control things. 2. People have the power to do good. You can’t just get power, someone who has power can give it to you. 3. Some people who don’t have power might fight to get power, but the other people might fight back because they don’t want to share their power.

J  It helps people do things.

W  Like the power to run or build a bridge.

T  My question is, how would a rocket ship get enough power to launch off the ground only from a fire?

R  The power to swim and the power to learn. We have the power to learn, and do what you want to do without being told, “Hey we have to go learn this now.”

F  You need power to lift heavy things like heavy weight. A blacksmith has power.

A  Like magic powers!

RF The power of Qi to heal with.

D  Power is like if someone has a bad idea and says, “Come on, let’s do this,” but you could just say, “No, that would be breaking the rules.”

L  Airplanes and birds have the power to fly.

Ra  Power like power for trees to grow.

E  Having the power to make mistakes and feel good about it. Even if you’re mad, you can turn it into curiosity.  You have the power to be nice to people. 

T  You have the power if someone says, “Let’s do this…” but you know it’s not a good idea, you can say, “My body, my choice.”

Ra  People have the power to choose what they wanna do. Nobody’s in charge of you.

Ro  Some people have power that’s good and some have power that’s bad.

RF  Power for streams to flow and water to freeze.

Ri  Power to climb and walk.

A  Power to build, and do stuff.

E  The power to say no! Power to say, “Sure that’s OK, I’m fine.” The power to say, “It’s OK but can you get a teacher please.”

D  If you’re in a fight, you have the power to go get a teacher to help solve the problem you’re having.

Is power good or bad?

D  I think it depends, like if you’re trying to say that Black people are bad then you are using your power for bad. But if you help someone, then you’re using your power for good.

R  I think it depends too because of government and mayors. The government uses power to get your money and then uses the money to buy weapons for wars. Protests have a good power because lots of people are working together to stop something, and that’s good power.

I  The power of the people. I went to a protest and people also said. “People power on the rise. Now it’s time to organize!”

A  Power for nice people. They would share it with the other people and go to a community to share more power with other people, like family and friends.

Ri  I think power is a good thing because they can use power to share with other people.

L  Power is good because people can use their power to stop the bad.

W  Good. Most powers are good, but not all of them.

J  Power is good. In the witches song it says power “is not something to fear, it's a pleasure to share.“

RF  In this case, good, because I’ve been going to rallies for people because their home is being taken away. We are chanting for them. I chant  for them.

E  I agree, it’s good. It’s bad if you start a war with your power. If you don’t use your power for that, then it would be good.

Ro  It depends.

When we talk about "big ideas" with our students, we often avoid giving a definition until after students have had many opportunities to share their own thoughts and hear their peer's ideas (even though sometimes the children get frustrated with us and ask why we won't just tell them the "right" answer). Next week we will define power as "being able to make something happen or not happen" and introduce the difference between internal power (the power we all have in our hearts, minds, and bodies) and external power (the power outside of us, like the power held by governments, leaders, and teachers, the power of organizations and collective action, the power held by people because of fame or money or privilege).  

Indigenous Life Today: Examples of Non-Fiction and Realistic Fiction

After reading the non-fiction books Young Water Protectors: A Story of Standing Rock, and Autumn Peltier, Water Warrior, we asked the Lumber Primes to think about how Autumn Peltier and Aslan Tudor chose to use their power:

"She was using her power as a water fighter to tell the other people to stop polluting the water."

"He was using his power to say that water is important and, "Kids can't drink oil." Animals and plants can't drink oil either."

"They were using good power to help the water."

"She was telling people to use their power to keep water clean."

"She was using her power to protect something that really deserves to be protected."

"He was using his power for good, and so were all those other people who wanted to stop the pipeline."

"Using water protector power to help the water and the earth and the animals and plants and people."

After reading two examples of realistic fiction, students helped identify which part of the stories were true and which parts were not true. For example, the variety of powwow dances described in Bowwow Powwow, like Jingle Dance, Grass Dance, and Fancy Dance are real. The dream the main character, Windy Girl, had about her dog participating in his own powwow was not real. In The Very Last First Time, the main character Eva was not a real person, but it's true that the Inuit people have been living along the shores of Ungava Bay in Northern Canada for generations and generations and still live there today. It's also true that, due to knowledge about the land that has been passed down for generations, the Inuit people know when and where it is safe to collect mussels beneath the ice when the tide is out.