Kalispel to share culture, heritage with students
—Photo courtesy IDAHO MYTHWEAVER Priest River Elementary students partcipate in December’s activities with the Kalispel Tribe. A second visit by the tribe is taking place today.
—Photo courtesy IDAHO MYTHWEAVER Priest River Elementary students partcipate in December’s activities with the Kalispel Tribe. A second visit by the tribe is taking place today.
—Photo courtesy IDAHO MYTHWEAVER Kalispel tribal member Raymond Finley demonstrates to Priest River Elementary students the techniques of grass dancing in December 2015 visit to the school.
—Photo courtesy IDAHO MYTHWEAVER Kalispel tribal member Kayleen Sherwood explains a display she brought to show Priest River Elementary students in December 2015 visit to the school.
Kalispel tribal members are visiting Priest River Elementary today as part of project, “Kalispel Heritage in Our Backyard.”
The visit, the second between Kalispel tribal cultural specialists Raymond Finley and Kayleen Sherwood, and 60 fourth-graders at Priest River Elementary School, will take place Friday, April 15 at 12:30 p.m. The students will present to their Kalispel visitors what they have learned over the past three months about the Kalispel heritage in their own backyard since the Kalispels first visit and immersion into Kalispel cultural ways took place in December 2015. Idaho Mythweaver provided student materials and lesson plans for the fourth-grade teachers to facilitate classroom learning after that first visit. The Kalispel and their ancestors have called Priest River and the vast, surrounding region home for thousands of years. The project is funded by Idaho Forest Group of Laclede.
This second, culminating event completes the third year of an educational project sponsored by Idaho Mythweaver of Sandpoint called “Kalispel Heritage in Our Backyard.” Its primary goal is to engage students in expanding their knowledge of Bonner County’s indigenous people, while promoting stewardship of natural and cultural resources in our greater community. It is designed to promote the authentic understanding and respect for the indigenous people of our area — the Kalispel Tribe of Indians — and their traditional way of life, a subsistence lifestyle entirely dependent on living in harmony within the natural world.
Last year’s school project, also funded by Idaho Forest Group, brought tribal educators into the classroom to work with students at Farmin-Stidwell Elementary School in Sandpoint. The first year’s project with Washington Elementary in Sandpoint was funded by Idaho Mythweaver, Bonner County Human Rights Task Force, and the Idaho Humanities Council through a Teachers Incentive Grant.
“Our local kids have been eager to learn about the First Peoples here, and this year was another successful effort at doing that, so pending continued sup-port for a fourth year, we hope to continue the project in the 2016-17 school year with another school,” said Jane Fritz, volunteer director of the nonprofit educational organization.
Information: Jane Fritz at janefritz@frontier.com