Course Details
| Course Name | Presenting Abenaki Culture in the Classroom |
| Instructors | Vera Sheehan (Click to Email) Director of Vermont Abenaki Artists Association and the Abenaki Arts & Education Center |
| Location | Online (Zoom and Moodle) |
| Dates & Schedule | September 18–December 16, 2022 Class will meet via Zoom on Sunday afternoons from 1–4 PM, from September 18 through November 20, 2022. There is no class on the following Sundays: September 4, October 9, November 27, December 4, and December 11. |
| Credit | 3 credits available through Castleton University |
| Tuition | $950 standard tuition; $1400 standard tuition with credit |
| Size | 20 participants maximum |
Course Description
Music, history and archaeology, weaving, social justice issues, and heirloom plants . . .
Through a combination of lectures and experiential learning, scholars, historians, and culture bearers will present this vibrant regional culture that reaches back nearly 13,000 years and continues today.
The fifth annual Presenting Abenaki Culture in the Classroom course will provide teachers and homeschool educators with a deeper understanding of how INative American culture continues into the 21st century. Sessions will include history and stereotypes; new resources being developed for use in classrooms and online; age-appropriate activities; and how teachers can better support Abenaki and other Native students while presenting American history and additional academic content areas. The program includes a virtual exploration of the exhibition Nebizun: Water is Life. This rich learning experience will provide educators in all settings with new resources and techniques to help students learn about Abenaki culture, and a forum to receive feedback on lesson plans.
Presented through a partnership between the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association, Abenaki Arts & Education Center, and Lake Champlain Maritime Museum.n, Abenaki Arts & Education Center, and Lake Champlain Maritime Museum.
There is a required group reading and reflection that prepares participants for the first virtual meeting.
Required Reading
Parker,Parker, Trudy Ann. Aunt Sarah: Woman of the Dawnland. Lancaster, NH: Dawnland Publications, 1994.
Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. Longon, UK.: Zed Books, Ltd (Please note – there are two editions of this book. If you wish to purchase the book, the second edition can be purchased through Amazon.com or you may read a digital version of the first edition at: https://nycstandswithstandingrock.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/linda-tuhiwai-smith-decolonizing-methodologies-research-and-indigenous-peoples.pdf)
Wiseman, Frederick Matthew. At Lake Between: the Great Council Fire and the European Discovery of Lake Champlain. Vergennes, VT: Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, 2009.