(L-R) Jesse Old Crow, Marcia Blacksmith, Rad Desjarlais, John Dust, Gabrielle Ivy Brien, Wendell Plenty Hawk and Ashley Bird

"Do you have laws on reservations?"

"Do Indians pay taxes?"

Those were just a few of the questions that curious non-Indian teenagers had for seven of their Indian counterparts from the Crow Reservation after a recent poetry reading at the Smithsonian Institution. In addition to sharing their poems, the Indian students were happy to answer questions about growing up on a reservation in 21st century America.

"Of course we—our parents—pay taxes," answered Marcia Blacksmith, 17, one of the young poets. Blacksmith plans on attending the University of Montana to pursue her passion for writing.

The lack of basic knowledge about Indian life revealed by the questions may have come as a bit of a surprise to Blacksmith and her friends, but is apparently not unusual.

"From my experience, those are pretty typical questions," explains Ceni Myles, a program specialist with the Institution. Of Navajo/Mohegan descent, Myles believes that high schools often fail to teach students much about tribal relations with the federal government. The result is a lot of confusion among both kids and adults.

Working on behalf of the Smithsonian's Living Arts program, Myles thought it would be valuable to bring the seven young Crow poets to Washington, DC so that local high school students could catch a glimpse of what life is like for young Indians who live on reservations.

"It's important for other young people to hear about their realities," says Myles. "Their writings show that their lives are complex, but none of their poems are asking for handouts—they are proud of who they are."

Myles worked with Mick Fedullo, the students' high school writing teacher, to have their voices heard. "Mick is respectful of his kids' culture," says Myles. "He plants ideas and offers structure, but allows their greatness that's already inside to come out even more."

Fedullo has been the "writer-in-residence" at the Lodge Grass School District for the past eight years. All of his students from grades 7 through 12 receive creative instruction from him twice a year. In junior high, they learn to use such basic techniques as similes, personification and alliteration. When they enter the high school, he teaches them how to write poetic forms such as sonnets and villanelles.

"Once they become comfortable writing within the constraints of formal structures, I then encourage them to write free verse using poetic techniques they have already learned," says Fedullo. "The Crow poets who traveled to DC were selected based on the excellence of their writing over the course of five years—I'm very proud of them."

Myles believes that more teachers should follow Fedullo's example in helping their students share their unique stories. "The role of the teacher is to seek out individuals, places, and take the time to do the research," she says. "And students should be willing to learn."

At the conclusion of the students' poetry readings and question-and-answer session, an impromptu lesson in Crow-style traditional dancing was held at the request of the curious high school audience members. Many of the non-Indian students showed their enthusiasm by joining the Indian students onstage for a round of dancing. By the end of the session, they had learned a few lessons from the Crow poets that they won't soon forget.

Mick Fedullo has given Connect for Kids permission to print some of his students' poetry. Click on their names to display their poem.

ashley Bird enjoys playing basketball for the Lodge Grass High School girls' team. She has been the student council president for two years.	John Dust runs on the Lodge Grass High School cross country team. He wants to become a computer programmer that specializes in creating new video games.
Marcia Blacksmith attends pow-wows throughout the U.S. and competes as a traditional Crow-style dancer. She has served as student council vice-president for two years.	Jesse Old Crow runs cross country and track for Lodge Grass High School. He also participates in rodeos as a steer roper and bull rider.
Gabrielle Ivy Brien plays on the Lodge Grass High School basketball team and would like to enter the field of pharmacology.	Wendell Plenty Hawk writes poetry and music lyrics, and is a computer enthusiast. He serves as treasurer of the Careers and Consumers organization.
Rad Desjarlais plays on the Lodge Grass High School football team. Also a saddle bronc rider, he is a member of the Montana High School Rodeo Association and competes at rodeos throughout the state.

Resources:

• Crow Tribe of Indians
• Annual Crow Fair and Rodeo Web site
• National Museum of the American Indian
• For information on culturally-appropriate Indian teaching tools, check out Connect for Kids' September 22, 2003 article Cradleboard Curricula.

Rob Capriccioso is a former staff writer for Connect for Kids.