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Breaking Barriers

In the 1960s, Native American social activist Buffy Sainte-Marie spearheaded a drive to improve cross-cultural curricula and communication in educational institutions worldwide.

Now, Sainte-Marie is expanding her plea for action against cultural stereotypes and spread that message to the University of Arizona community on Friday.

The activist has decided to seek support from UA students and faculty for her Cradleboard Teaching Project -Řa program that gives children an education through the eyes of a Native American -Řand find an in-state coordinator for her organization.

"Even though I got some wonderful pictures from the units (courses) that I was writing...I felt as though it was just dead text about dead Indians," Sainte-Marie said. "The students.were missing an opportunity just by not getting to know culture and other kids."

Sainte-Marie's project provides a core curriculum emphasizing education in geography, social studies, history, music and science through Native American eyes. The program has reached schools on both a national and worldwide level, including one Arizona school in the White Mountain Apache community.

"It's going to change the way they (school teachers) view the curriculum because it is principally western in its concepts," said Norma Jean Higuera-Trask, director of entertainment for Tucson's Gallery of Contemporary and Indigenous Art.

The gallery, located at 302 E. Congress St., will open its feature premiere exhibition of Sainte-Marie's digital art, Saturday from 6-9 p.m.

"We are trying to solve the two problems that have always been around in Native American education," Sainte-Marie said. "One, it's too generic and being about everybody, it's about nobody or.a teacher in Texas not only can't get her hands on it but if she can, she's not equipped to deal with such a big unit."

The Cradleboard Teaching Project helps schools achieve a narrow focus on educational units to create "user-friendly-for-everybody" sized classes that will ensure greater benefits and success to both students and faculty, she said.

Sainte-Marie said she is concerned about mainstream core curriculum because she does not feel teachers present their students with important and useful information about the Native American culture. Instead, she said the same history about the same groups of Native Americans is being taught in a non-interactive classroom.

"Native American people suffer from being misperceived all of our lives, Sainte-Marie said. "Mainstream people suffer from having their time wasted with a bunch of bologna that doesn't profit anyone."

Her concerns prompted her to begin an educational networking system through the project, by putting students in touch with one another.

"All of a sudden, it wasn't just poor old Sitting Bull and poor old Geronimo - that same old picture again - all of a sudden the thing made sense," she said. "In science through Native American eyes, we're trying to provide things from various perspectives of Native people - things that just make sense."

Sainte-Marie hopes to recruit UA students and faculty in a lecture about the project on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in room 102 of the Center for English as a Second Language building.

"If we get the students there, we will have a talk with her and get them excited in what she's talking about," Higuera-Trask said. "It's extremely novel, it's new, it's cutting edge. It's so much more than getting the degree - it's bringing life and vitality to education."

Sainte-Marie said she wants to remind the public that Native Americans are still a valuable and important part of society.

"(We're) trying to be a presence and let people know we are still here," she said. "We're not all dead and stuffed in the museums alongside the dinosaurs."