ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on curriculum at the institutional level. For the first time in its history, an elementary school in the district formally acknowledged Native Heritage Month as a school. To do so, the principal invited a Native dancer to perform at a schoolwide assembly. While the performance may have provided a culturally relevant experience for Native students, the performance also invited the broader student population’s stereotypical prior knowledge about Indians. Moreover, while the Native dancer thoughtfully mediated his performance to disrupt dominant assumptions, the survivance story questions whether, and especially without explicit preparation, these performances reproduce, rather than disrupt stereotypes. Situating the survivance story within longstanding conversations about American Indian Day and the value of Indigenous performances for non-Native audiences, the survivance story also explores the questions whether Indigenous students benefit from such performances and wonders how these months might privilege Native students’ learning. Taking seriously critiques of the value of heritage months in general, this survivance story explores whether Native Heritage Month can be strategically wielded in service of Native sovereignty.
