Post by blackcrowheart on Oct 22, 2005 11:05:22 GMT -5
Indian education law gets new twist
Monday, October 17, 2005 - Bangor Daily News
AUGUSTA - Four years after passing a law mandating the teaching of American Indian history and culture in schools, the state hopes to inspire students to learn more about Maine's tribes and then share the information through an essay competition.
Created by Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, the first annual Maine Native American History Essay Contest calls on middle and high school students to explore at least one aspect of Maine native history and then to write a 500- to 1,000-word composition.
Topics may include the history of American Indian diplomacy, relations between the tribes, relations with European settlers, aspects of American Indian economics, the migrations of American Indians and the effects of treaties with European settlers.
Entries, which must be received by Nov. 18, will be reviewed by a panel of judges that will select a winner and runner-up in both the middle and high school categories. Each winner will receive a $250 savings bond and the winner's class will be invited to Augusta to tour the State House, the State Museum and the State Archives as guests of the secretary of state.
In addition, the winners will be allowed to enter the vault at the State Archives and will have the honor of presenting to the class a number of important original documents pertaining to the state's native tribes. Kept in the vault are such precious papers as Maine's treaties with native people and the journal of Joseph Treat, who explored northern Maine's American Indian settlements with Penobscot Indian Nation guide John Neptune.
"This is an uncommon treat," Dunlap said Friday during an interview at the State House. The papers are rarely viewed and not generally available to the public, he said.
Dunlap said he got the idea for the contest last summer as he drove across the Androscoggin bridge and realized that few Maine residents probably are aware that Androscoggin is not only the name of a river and a county, but also of a native tribe.
He said the competition is a way to build on the new American Indian education law, which was sponsored by Donna Loring, then Penobscot Indian tribal representative to the Legislature. Not only does the contest help students learn about Maine's heritage, but it also adds an element of fun to fulfilling the state requirement. The program offers students and educators "a special opportunity to study Native American history and enhance their appreciation for the substantial contributions native people have made in Maine," Dunlap said.
The competition is important because it validates the law which aims to make the tribes more visible, said Loring, interim co-director of Multicultural Student Affairs at the University of Southern Maine.
Maine's native people have been and continue to be an integral part of the state's history, "but we never got recognized for that," said.
The competition also helps native students learn more about their own culture so they can adequately respond to derogatory comments, she said. And it advances the idea of diversity.
"We might as well start at home in understanding our own diverse background," she said.
Application forms, complete details and educational materials are available online at www.maine.gov/sos. Essays can be submitted by regular mail to: Office of the Secretary of State, State House Station 148, Augusta 04333, or e-mailed to SOS.Office@maine.gov.
www.bangornews.com/news/templates/?a=122104
Monday, October 17, 2005 - Bangor Daily News
AUGUSTA - Four years after passing a law mandating the teaching of American Indian history and culture in schools, the state hopes to inspire students to learn more about Maine's tribes and then share the information through an essay competition.
Created by Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, the first annual Maine Native American History Essay Contest calls on middle and high school students to explore at least one aspect of Maine native history and then to write a 500- to 1,000-word composition.
Topics may include the history of American Indian diplomacy, relations between the tribes, relations with European settlers, aspects of American Indian economics, the migrations of American Indians and the effects of treaties with European settlers.
Entries, which must be received by Nov. 18, will be reviewed by a panel of judges that will select a winner and runner-up in both the middle and high school categories. Each winner will receive a $250 savings bond and the winner's class will be invited to Augusta to tour the State House, the State Museum and the State Archives as guests of the secretary of state.
In addition, the winners will be allowed to enter the vault at the State Archives and will have the honor of presenting to the class a number of important original documents pertaining to the state's native tribes. Kept in the vault are such precious papers as Maine's treaties with native people and the journal of Joseph Treat, who explored northern Maine's American Indian settlements with Penobscot Indian Nation guide John Neptune.
"This is an uncommon treat," Dunlap said Friday during an interview at the State House. The papers are rarely viewed and not generally available to the public, he said.
Dunlap said he got the idea for the contest last summer as he drove across the Androscoggin bridge and realized that few Maine residents probably are aware that Androscoggin is not only the name of a river and a county, but also of a native tribe.
He said the competition is a way to build on the new American Indian education law, which was sponsored by Donna Loring, then Penobscot Indian tribal representative to the Legislature. Not only does the contest help students learn about Maine's heritage, but it also adds an element of fun to fulfilling the state requirement. The program offers students and educators "a special opportunity to study Native American history and enhance their appreciation for the substantial contributions native people have made in Maine," Dunlap said.
The competition is important because it validates the law which aims to make the tribes more visible, said Loring, interim co-director of Multicultural Student Affairs at the University of Southern Maine.
Maine's native people have been and continue to be an integral part of the state's history, "but we never got recognized for that," said.
The competition also helps native students learn more about their own culture so they can adequately respond to derogatory comments, she said. And it advances the idea of diversity.
"We might as well start at home in understanding our own diverse background," she said.
Application forms, complete details and educational materials are available online at www.maine.gov/sos. Essays can be submitted by regular mail to: Office of the Secretary of State, State House Station 148, Augusta 04333, or e-mailed to SOS.Office@maine.gov.
www.bangornews.com/news/templates/?a=122104