Mapping the Beat

This year I am part of a traveling children's theater group called Kinetic Energy that performs educational pieces that are based in the Michigan Curriculum Standards. The piece we are doing this year is called "Mapping the Beat: American History from 1776-1865 through music, geography, and social studies." I love being a part of this show and applaud what we are trying to do, but when this semester began and I started my American history class and my diversity in children's literature courses I started to question many elements of the show. The show is aimed at 5^th -6^th graders, although depending on which school we are at we actually perform for students ranging from pre-k through 7^th grade (so far). The show relies heavily on audience participation. I am getting great practice dealing with incorrect answers from students even though every now and then they throw a new response out that we have not heard before.

One of the most prominent elements I have questions about is our portrayal of Native Americans. We did take precautions to use the most appropriate terminology for every group we discuss or mention in the show. There is a section of the show in which we discuss “typical” and “traditional” Native American things like clothing, living arrangements, and music. I now know more specifically that there is no such thing as “typical” to portray Native Americans in early America. Though many Tribes had similarities, and these increased when tribes were forced to ally and merge when Europeans took more and more land, there seem to be more defining differences than similarities.

The living arrangements we describe break the Native Americans into two categories. One is sedentary and the other is nomadic. The issues I have with this is that many tribes, I now know, were a mixture of these two types. The other issue I have is that we describe the nomadic tribes as moving in pursuit of buffalo herds. Though I think this is true, I think there were other reasons for nomadic nature.

Also, we play “traditional” Native American music. When I hear the music it is what I think of when I think of traditional Native American music but I wonder if I am correct. Our director selected all of the music and I wonder how much research he did into what he chose. I hope that we are not playing something that will offend the heritage of anyone in the audience, or elsewhere, or something that perpetuates a stereotype that I was unaware of.

We also present “typical” Native American clothing. This I know is not accurate at all. Our costume designer did not seem to research anything and went with her stereotypical notions of “Indian Dress.” Student from the audience wear these pieces. I fear that we may be offending someone by this portrayal. I wonder even more after seeing the effect of Chief Illini on the family in the film “In Whose Honor.” Even though our section about Native Americans is so brief, I question what its underlying impact might be on the students. We are trying to educate them and teach them new ideas, but are we simply reinforcing some stereotypes?

I am in a personal debate about this because I know that there is no way for our show to teach these students everything about these topics. We cover so many things in an hour, that I hope that their teachers will discuss the material further with students and bring out any questions or simplifications of our topics. I think that it is important to teach about these topics and I know that they should be initiated early in an educational career. I guess I wonder mostly if its okay to allow the students to dress in this manner since we are simply trying to shed light on the topic and not necessarily saying that all Native Americans were like this. Since we are presenting to elementary students, I question whether it is acceptable to present something in a stereotypical-ish manner even if there is no offense implied. I know that I feel that if someone is offended, even if it is unintentional that it is not okay. However, since this situation is a little different, I just don't know. I am not sure that I am making any sense with my question.

One thing I was pleased about when we were editing through this script was the removal of a pow-wow and war dance demonstration for the Native Americans. They were removed because we could not find a demonstration to learn and share specifically. However, after being in my children's diversity in literature class, I feel much better knowing that we did not attempt those dances because they could have been considered sacred and would could have strongly offended some people.

Another area that I question is our references to slaves and the slave trade. We added a line that defines what an abolitionist is, but we barely make note that abolitionists were fighting for something positive. We also ask the audience to look at a map and share where most slaves were being shipped from in Africa. We do not share that Africans were being kidnapped and sold all across the continent even though the departure points to the Americas were only in the western countries. I feel that this is important for people to know because this impacted the entire continent of Africa and not just a few countries. It completely changed all of the cultures there and the effects can still be seen and felt today there. I just don't know if the students need to learn everything all at once, or if I can leave it in the hands of them and their teachers to learn more about what we present to them.

Please don't get me wrong, like I said I think we are attempting to do great things with this theater program and have had a positive impact on our audiences. I just question more because I think it is my responsibility to do so. I wish that my entire diversity class could see the show and share feedback.