thank you ignorance
So, yesterday at the daycare, I came in to see a lot of cheap, paper 'tents' made out of butcher paper taped to our fences. On these paper tents were pasted the names of Native American tribes. Now, we were not learning about Native American culture and the history behind them, we were not teaching any Native American ways of living, or how they traditionally built their homes. (This was obvious in the selection of 'Hopi' as one of the Native American names on those 'teepees'.) No, some idiot had just stuck tribal names on these paper tents in some cute gimmick to appeal to the children. I should add that, along with 'Hopi', there was a 'Navajo' tent.
The only people on those 'tents' that actually did make tents were the Cheyenne, but even then...you are using the names of living, breathing, wronged people to make our little privileged children feel more authentic. None of these children know who the Native Americans are, or where they are. Most of them think they are all dead and gone. Most of them aren't even aware of the basic history of white settlers killing them and driving them off their land, and you are letting them play around with these names like they're toys.
When I spoke to the children about it, they agreed that using the names was 'mean' and 'not fair'. But when I talked to the teachers, I got two responses. One, from Miss Diane: "We were just trying to make it more interesting, we didn't expect it to be hurtful," and the other response, from Miss Erin: "They're just names, they don't mean anything. It's funny." Great. I'm glad to know that the cultural and historical genocide of Native Americans and the troubles and prejudice they deal with even today is funny. I'm glad to know you think their culture is a shiny toy you can pick up and play with without any understanding of what it means and the suffering behind it. You stupid bitch.
The only people on those 'tents' that actually did make tents were the Cheyenne, but even then...you are using the names of living, breathing, wronged people to make our little privileged children feel more authentic. None of these children know who the Native Americans are, or where they are. Most of them think they are all dead and gone. Most of them aren't even aware of the basic history of white settlers killing them and driving them off their land, and you are letting them play around with these names like they're toys.
When I spoke to the children about it, they agreed that using the names was 'mean' and 'not fair'. But when I talked to the teachers, I got two responses. One, from Miss Diane: "We were just trying to make it more interesting, we didn't expect it to be hurtful," and the other response, from Miss Erin: "They're just names, they don't mean anything. It's funny." Great. I'm glad to know that the cultural and historical genocide of Native Americans and the troubles and prejudice they deal with even today is funny. I'm glad to know you think their culture is a shiny toy you can pick up and play with without any understanding of what it means and the suffering behind it. You stupid bitch.