07/17/2024
“What we are teaching and doing here transcends the classroom because students take what they’re learning home and teach their families,” Mary Bowman said. Mary is the head of school or Unci of the Oceti Sakowin Community Academy in Rapid City, SD.
OSCA provides an Indigenized education for Lakota students by Lakota teachers. Mary has countless stories of the impact the Academy has had on her community. Parents and grandparents often tell her that their students take home the traditional teachings they learn at school and share them with their families.
OSCA was developed around four core values: wačhaŋtognake (generosity), wóksape (wisdom), wóohitike (bravery), and wówačhiŋtȟaŋka (fortitude). These principles were adopted as a means to change the narrative of Indigenous people that is taught to students in most US history classes across the country. The often inaccurate and racist lessons are based on a white perspective and glorify the impacts of colonization. Mary’s goal for Indigenous students is to give them a strong cultural understanding of their history and people; to correct the story and provide students with a foundation to understand what really happened to their people.
𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨, “𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘌𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯: 𝘙𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘤𝘦𝘵𝘪 𝘚𝘢𝘬𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘈𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘺,” 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘕𝘋𝘕 𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴
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