Fair Lawn –The artifacts from three different groups of Native Americans helped highlight the culture and tradition of the country's first inhabitants for students at Radburn School.
NICK MESSINA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
A fifth-grader bangs a Native American drum, just one of the artifacts on display at the school. Performers with the Redhawk Native American Arts Council, Cliff Matias, Maria Scala and Wayashti Richardson, shared Native American dances and songs with students. A first-grader wears a Native American headpiece.
As part of Native American Day on April 30, the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) presented assemblies, workshops and crafts throughout the day for students in all grades with help from TIC TOC and the Newark Museum.
"We would be nowhere without our parent volunteers and PTA funding," said Elisa Hirsch, a PTA member who organized the event with Marion Paganello.
A day devoted to learning more about one culture started when the school joined TIC TOC, which stands for To Introduce Culture To Our Children. The educational organization exposes students to fine and performing arts by providing member schools with exhibits and collections on a rotating basis.
Three classrooms were set up at the school with artifacts. One focused on Eastern Woodland Native Americans and another on those from the Southwest and Plains with items provided by TIC-TOC's rotating collection. The third display about the Pacific Northwest Native Americans came from the Newark Museum. In each room parent volunteers serve as docents to describe the items to students.
"We planned crafts that tie into the different regions," said Paganello.
Students in the lower grades heard about a Three Sisters Garden and tried to create one of their own. The three sisters are corn, beans and squash, which complement each other nutritionally. Corn provides support for beans, while the beans help absorb nitrogen from the air and convert it to a form that corn can use. The leaves from the squash shade the soil, preventing weed growth and deter animal pests.
Third-graders made cornhusk dolls, while the fourth-grade classes created teepees out of tortilla. With paper towel rolls, fifth-graders made totem polls.
Examples of totem polls were on display in one of the artifact rooms. In another there were rattles, necklaces, a flute, photographs, arrows, belts, moccasins, headdresses and bowls and ladles created of gourds.
"Everything has a purpose and a meaning," said Paganello about the items. "Nothing is wasted."
During the day students also saw a performance by the Redhawk Native American Arts Council in Brooklyn, N.Y. Three performers, dressed in costume, taught the students more about Native American cultural traditions through dance and song.
For one demonstration, music teacher Felicia Ruffman served as a volunteer.
"She is going be our maiden in our love flute story," said Cliff Matias, one of performers and culture director for the group.
With Ruffman acting the part, he described how a flute could be made and then played for the woman he loves.
The day also included stories being read and music programs. Students also had a chance to watch programs about Native Americans through Discovery Education Streaming.
Each year the day also includes a social action project. This year students collected pennies for Running Strong for American Indian Youth. The organization's goal is to help American Indian people meet their immediate survival needs – food, water, and shelter – while supporting programs designed to create opportunities for self-sufficiency and self-esteem.