Nottoway educator is "Extraordinary Woman"

'Extraordinary Woman' tells real Native American storyOn March 8, Eastern Connecticut State University anthropology professor Julianne Jennings of Warwick was one of just nine women to receive the Extraordinary Woman Award in Providence. The award, which recognizes women from different ethnic origins, recognizes outstanding work in different areas of the community that enhance the resources available for women--resources that Jennings once needed herself.

Jennings, a Cheroenhaka Nottoway Native American, had been giving talks and demonstrations of Native American culture and history but says now that it was a somewhat watered-down and pandering sort of act, giving people the culture as they wanted to see it; out in the woods communing with nature and living the simple life.

“I was acting like the white man’s Indian,” she said, “conforming to the idea they already had of what Indians were. I wasn’t talking about the true story, the story of how Indians suffered because of the European settling of the country.”And:Now, Jennings can tell the story of Native Americans to her students as it was and not as people would like it to be.

“What I teach is not the stories they learned in school or from mainstream culture,” she said. “When I tell them that George Washington’s Indian name translates to ‘destroyer of towns’ some of them get upset but it is essential that people know the truth and the truth is not always easy to take.”

Now Jennings has to think about the next step, which would be a doctorate in anthropology, but for now, it’s telling her students the woman standing in front of them who is not wearing a buckskin outfit is an American Indian.

“We have to dress in buckskin, feathers and beads to be taken seriously, yet those of European ancestry do not have to wear tall black or shoes with buckles,” she said. “Wearing regalia needs to be put back into context with ceremony and not as ‘show and tell.’ Mainstream America has effectively marginalized our inherited way of being but it is past time to tell our story.”Comment:  I hadn't thought about this, but Jennings makes a good point. How many teachers of Indian lore (e.g., Kids in Headdresses Learn Creek Lore and "Grey Eagle" Teaches Stereotypes) give a "watered-down and pandering sort of act." Would schools fire or not hire them if they talked about America's genocidal past as well as the happy-go-lucky forest dwellers and buffalo hunters?

Maybe so, but you wouldn't catch me telling a sanitized version of history. Teaching isn't about making people feel good, it's about seeking and finding the truth.

For more on the subject, see Why Not Tell Children the Truth?