CD ROM looks at science from a Native perspective

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A new CD ROM produced as part of the Cradleboard Teaching Project lets children learn basic scientific principles while teaching them about Native American history and culture.

Science: Through Native American Eyes provides children with information about sound, friction, and construction of Native American lodges, using video, audio, animation and text to teach the science behind each subject, while incorporating aspects of Native culture into the lessons.

The principles of sound section, for example, examines how sound is produced by a variety of traditional Native instruments, including flutes, drums and rattles. Students can also listen to the work of Native musicians through a Cradleboard jukebox feature.

The principles of friction section looks at the science behind sleds and toboggans, and lets kids put what they've learned to the test by playing an animated game based on the traditional sport of snow snake.

The Native American lodges section looks at a variety of traditional housing styles used by Native Americans, examining both materials and methods used.

The CD ROM was designed for use by students from Grade 5 up, as well as by adults. It's the first in a series of 15 CD ROMs being planned as part of the Cradleboard Teaching Project, dealing with different aspects of the project's core curriculum.

The project was founded in 1996 by Buffy Sainte-Marie- singer, songwriter, artist, activist, and former teacher-to give teachers materials they can use to include information about Native American history and culture into teaching of core curriculum subjects. The project offers curriculum units at elementary, middle school and high school levels, covering Geography, Social Studies, History, Music and Science.

Start-up funding for Cradleboard was provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, which also funded development of the Nihewan Youth Council on Race, another project initiated by Sainte-Marie through the Nihewan Foundation, a non-profit corporation she founded in 1969.

The Canadian content on the CD ROM is quite extensive. Canada is also well represented in the principles of sound section, which includes performances by Stoney Park, Red Bull, the White Fish Juniors, Robbie Robertson, and Sainte-Marie herself. As well, 29 out of the 87 items examined in the lodges section are Canadian.

Even without the Canadian content, the CD ROM would be relevant to Canadian students, because the focus of the disk isn't on teaching specific aspects of Native culture.

"It's about science," Sainte-Marie explained.

"It's not really about the tribes of anywhere. It's about science, and it's not really focused on location. In other words, it's not about tribes in Mexico, but we do mention the Mayans and the stuff that they've done. And it's not about Aboriginal people of Alberta, but we do mention things that just happen to have been done in a certain way in Alberta. So it's really about science."

In addition to working to incorporate accurate information about Native culture into the school curriculum, the Cradleboard Teaching Project also runs a program designed to link non-Native and Native students, partnering classes and giving each class opportunities to share information about themselves, and their respective cultures. This is done through the project's interactive website, through e-mail and video-conferencing, and sometimes through face-to-face visits.

One of the project's newest initiatives is working to expand Cradleboard into Canada.

"We're working on it. We're in the teacher training stage right now. We're training teachers in order to bring it to Canada right now. So it's not as though it's imminent. But the CD is available to everybody," Sainte-Marie said.

For more information about Science: Through Native American Eyes, or the Cradleboard Teaching Project, visit the project website at http://www.cradleboard.org.