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Annawon Weeden cuts an imposing figure, arriving at my classroom wearing a black T-shirt that says 鈥淧arty Like It鈥檚 1491,鈥� a hat ringed with purple and white wampum, and New Balances,. Students launch into their questions: 鈥淲hy did you become an activist?鈥� 鈥淒o you ever think of giving up when others don鈥檛 listen?鈥�

I鈥檇 invited Weeden, a Mashpee Wampanoag educator, to visit my high school English class in Boston. When I began teaching American Literature, I felt the course had to encompass Native American literature. I started with Tommy Orange鈥檚 novel There There. But the book is set in Oakland, California, and I wanted its message to ring closer to home.

Weeden had once driven from New England to California to of redface. Before his visit, my students watched a video of his impassioned speech to the school board. We discussed how cultural appropriation undermines the right of all students to learn 鈥� and can, as happened with Weeden鈥檚 own brother, result in self-harm and suicide.

As a child, Weeden himself encountered racism in school. 鈥淚t was the teachers, not even the students, who called me the worst names,鈥� he recalls. 鈥淚 had long braids. They鈥檇 call me sissy, queer, say, 鈥楾he girls鈥� bathroom is over there.鈥欌��

Weeden鈥檚 own pedagogy couldn鈥檛 be more different than the harassment he faced in his youth. He meets students鈥� questions with some of his own: 鈥淗ave you ever seen a square bird鈥檚 nest?鈥� Heads shake no. 鈥淚鈥檓 gonna bet we鈥檒l never see one. Because the square is not a shape we see in nature. Look around. We鈥檙e surrounded by squares.鈥� He gestures to our classroom, students鈥� notebooks, the Boston skyline. Weeden asks students to consider whether the way things are now is natural.

In Massachusetts, students learn about Native people in two main ways: through the lens of Thanksgiving and in third grade, when the allocate time for a deep dive into Native history. So that鈥檚 the age group Weeden primarily works with. 

But there are certain topics 鈥� like forced sterilization or King Philip鈥檚 War, one of the deadliest conflicts in New England history 鈥� that you can鈥檛 broach with young kids. 鈥淲e need middle school curriculum. We need high school curriculum,鈥� Weeden says.

For the past four years, I鈥檝e partnered with Weeden in 10th and 11th grade English. At this age, students are deciding not only their postgraduate plans, but the values by which they will live. If students鈥� only in-depth exposure to Native Americans is in third grade, how can they be expected to understand Native people as adults?

鈥淚t should be every year,鈥� Weeden says. 鈥淭he key is consistency.鈥�

Many of the students at Boston Collegiate Charter School, where I teach, have heritage outside of the U.S. 鈥� from Cape Verde to Ireland to the Dominican Republic. Many would consider their families indigenous to those places. But few claim Indigenous American heritage. So students鈥� final project, presenting a lesson to their peers, is an act of allyship 鈥� teaching about another culture without speaking for that group. Like There There, the project aims to expand their ideas of what it means to be Native.

One common oversight is to think of Indigenous people as a monolith, when there are so many distinct tribes. 鈥淭he reason I鈥檓 a Wampanoag is because of the land that I鈥檓 on. Cape Cod is where you see the sun rise,鈥� Weeden tells my students. 鈥淲e always identify ourselves as People of the First Light. And right now, we are in Boston, home of the Massachusett tribe. People say that word, Massachusetts, without ever questioning, What does it mean? It means Great Barren Hill Place.鈥�

In some other states, Native culture is more visible. In Washington State, tribes guided revision of the state history standards. Now Indigenous studies are addressed in every year of K-12 through the In the Southwest, Weeden says, 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 go there and not see the Navajo, the Apache, all their artwork and pottery. It鈥檚 synonymous with the culture.

鈥淲hy New England chooses to only promote colonial history鈥�that鈥檚 something for New England to examine,鈥� he continues. 鈥淚鈥檓 sad and disappointed for the focus to be just Thanksgiving. I don’t want to be a token add-on to that narrative.鈥�

As an educator, I believe in not only teaching about Native history, but inviting Native speakers into my classroom. I鈥檓 grateful that my school has funded these visits. There are also low- and no-cost online resources to connect students with local tribes. But until Massachusetts and other states recognize that education about Indigenous peoples must be sustained, consistent and inclusive of living Native people, we will not be able to overcome the ignorance that characterized Weeden鈥檚 youth.

鈥淎 lot of what I was attacked for as a kid, it鈥檚 because people had no clue,鈥� Weeden reflects. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 have encountered that abuse if people were taught the right things about our culture. I don’t even honestly work with Pre-K and early childhood enough 鈥� you can never start too early. It鈥檚 weird how our culture is considered so foreign even though we’re the Indigenous people of this land.鈥�

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