Capstone Reflection

I'm attaching the link for the video I did at our recent Capstone presentation at UWB, May 19th. I selected the title based on researching the boarding school experience; a man said that the day he let go of his mothers' hand was the day he lost his innocence. I chose to cover the historical account of boarding schools in a video as I felt it allowed me to deliver a lot of information in a short amount of time. I began with photos of Native Americans dressed in their regalia and a few other items such as a woven hat and intricate bead work. Often history would like to portray Native Americans as uncivilized and savage. These complex images shows that they were not. The rest of the video will speak for itself. One of the main reasons I chose this topic is personal, both my parents were in boarding schools and I have lived with the impact of that historical trauma all of my life.

I should note that this was only an introduction and the remainder of the time I tried to focus on the positive efforts being done to reduce the Native American Achievement Gap. It is important for me not to frame this account as perpetrators & victims, but as a resilient people overcoming the oppressive acts waged against them ~ that we did not only survive but we will thrive~. The future of Indian students is not doomed because it is in our power to help them succeed. And in the words of Sitting Bull, "Come let us put our minds together and see what life we can make for our children." I believe we will rise to the occasion and ensure that our Indian kids get the education all students deserve. ;p

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYgd6XJYo9I


Best,

Mona