My students explore culture and identity in our classroom, and I want to have this book to enable students to see that their identity, culture, and voices matter. We live in a unique place where students practice subsistence; they hunt, fish, and gather local foods that the land provides as part of their subsistence lifestyle, and this book describes how a nearby community almost lost this central cultural practice because of an uncaring government with an insidious, cold war nuclear weapons testing program.
Students here are mostly Native Alaskan; they're Yupic, Siberian Yupic, and Inupiat, and their cultures have been deemphasized or forcefully suppressed through the educational system for multiple generations. These students' parents and grandparents have been forced to speak English and as a consequence, many no longer speak their native languages. They were sent to boarding schools, often in other states, where they couldn't practice their subsistence lifestyles, and many suffered from abuse. This was all part of a system of forced-assimilation, which had the effect of alienating students and harming Native Alaskan communities.
Forced-assimilation has had a terrible impact on Native communities in rural Alaska. Alcoholism, drug addiction, unemployment, domestic violence, and suicide are all far above national averages. It’s time that schools taught students about who they are and where they’re from, and this book, The Firecracker Boys, deals with this identity issue head on.
Students need to use storytelling to positively change their communities and this book shows that community voices can stand up to and overcome any form of oppression. The small newspaper, The Tundra Times, shows students that people in small communities can be agents of social change and that their voices and actions are both seen and heard.
About my class
My students explore culture and identity in our classroom, and I want to have this book to enable students to see that their identity, culture, and voices matter. We live in a unique place where students practice subsistence; they hunt, fish, and gather local foods that the land provides as part of their subsistence lifestyle, and this book describes how a nearby community almost lost this central cultural practice because of an uncaring government with an insidious, cold war nuclear weapons testing program.
Students here are mostly Native Alaskan; they're Yupic, Siberian Yupic, and Inupiat, and their cultures have been deemphasized or forcefully suppressed through the educational system for multiple generations. These students' parents and grandparents have been forced to speak English and as a consequence, many no longer speak their native languages. They were sent to boarding schools, often in other states, where they couldn't practice their subsistence lifestyles, and many suffered from abuse. This was all part of a system of forced-assimilation, which had the effect of alienating students and harming Native Alaskan communities.
Forced-assimilation has had a terrible impact on Native communities in rural Alaska. Alcoholism, drug addiction, unemployment, domestic violence, and suicide are all far above national averages. It’s time that schools taught students about who they are and where they’re from, and this book, The Firecracker Boys, deals with this identity issue head on.
Students need to use storytelling to positively change their communities and this book shows that community voices can stand up to and overcome any form of oppression. The small newspaper, The Tundra Times, shows students that people in small communities can be agents of social change and that their voices and actions are both seen and heard.
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