Overworked and Underpaid?

 A couple of months ago,

I received a bulk e-mail asking for participants in a research-study

That focused on teaching Native American music and culture.

I accepted the invitation.

Long story short,

Out of the hundreds of music teachers who received the e-mail,

Only four responded that we would participate.

Most didn’t respond at all.

But quite a few responded that they didn’t teach Native American music.

The researcher reported that people are afraid to teach it.

They don’t want to teach it wrong.

They don’t want to perpetuate stereotypes.

They don’t know where to begin.

They don’t know where to end.

So they just don’t do it at all.

Both me and the researcher found this sad.

Here we are, living on land stolen from thriving Native American tribes--

Here we are, surviving because of the contributions of Native American tribes--

Completely ignoring their history and culture because we don’t know where to begin.

 

I didn’t know where to begin either.

So I started where I was—

With a music textbook that included a song by the Haliwa-Saponi tribe in northern NC.

I learned everything I could about the tribe and introduced myself to members of the tribe at the NC State Fair.

From there, my research expanded to other tribes and continues to expand each year.

There are a lot of nuances between tribes.

A lot that I still don’t know—

A lot that I will never know because there is so much.

But I’m trying.

And I will continue to try.

Because it is worth it to me to dispel cultural myths and to

Shed light on a culture that holds so much beauty.

 

I find it sad that it’s not worth it to more people

To do the research that it takes to teach Native American music.

Yes. Research takes time, effort, and, in some cases, money.

Yes. Teachers are overworked and underpaid.

But is that really an excuse to overlook a people group who has been

Overlooked and marginalized for far too long?

 

…

 

I recently attended my first pow wow.

I danced in the circle dance,

Holding hands with strangers as we danced in a circle of unity and love.

 

May there be more circle dances,

More unity,

More love,

More connections to the earth and the Great Spirit that created her.

 

And may we be a people not afraid of beginning…

 

Amen. 

Ignorance May Be Easier But Knowledge May Be Redemption

I don’t remember where, but I read somewhere that washing dishes by hand actually uses more water than washing dishes with a dishwasher—and, no, it wasn’t a dishwasher add. Being the dutiful natural resource exploitation fighter that I’m trying to become, I decided that I would start using my dishwasher instead of washing my dishes by hand. The only problem is that my dishwasher doesn’t actually clean many of the dishes most of the time; therefore, I end up washing a bunch of dishes again—by hand. I’m thinking that I’m not saving much water that way…so I’ve decided to go back to washing dishes by hand…and apologizing to God and the universe if I’m wasting water…especially since a whole bunch of water always ends up on my belly.

I decided, too, to scrape the bottom of my pots and pans with steel wool in hopes of helping them work better again. I don’t know what’s happened to them but they’re not cooking as well as they used to. Yet I feel bad getting new ones and producing the trash of the old ones. So I’m hoping I can restore the ones that I currently have. True. There are plenty of new pots and pans that have already been manufactured and will therefore one day be trash, but if I don’t buy them then I am not demanding them and if I don’t demand them—along with a bunch of other people—then maybe the need to over produce will stop. I have to do my part, right?

Sometimes I think that ignorance is easier than this!

Last week, I had the opportunity to rescue a bunch of “trash”—only, it really wasn’t trash at all. It was stuff that other people simply didn’t want and was therefore being thrown away. Here’s how some of it will be used by Barb the Art Teacher, Jacqui the Crafter, Mom the Musician, or a couple of others:

1) Scrap paper will be used for drawing/coloring designing.
2) Old give-a-away mirrors will be used to help the students with self portraits. I rescued an entire box of these.
3) A plastic cart will be used to roll paint supplies around the classroom.
4) An old display box will be made into a piece of art.
5) A perfectly good, wall-sized art picture frame will be used to house a piece 0f art from grandchildren to grandmother.
6) A wooden house frame will made into a piece of art.
7) Unused chopsticks will be made into art journals.
8) Animal bingo chips will be used for an art lesson on creativity. Barb gives her students two animals and has them combine them into one new animal.
9) A table easel will be used for teaching and holding big books.
10) Pocket folders will be used for art journals.
11) Hanging file folders will be used for organizational stuff.
12) A wall filing system will be used to sort mail.
13) Desk filing systems will be used to organize classroom folders and art.
14) Three ring binders will be used for a county-wide art teacher meeting, to hold choir music, and at an after school tutoring program.
15) Old banners will be used as drop cloths.
16) A portfolio carrier will be used to transport student art work to the county wide art show.
17) The Five Love Languages book and teaching pack be used as a church study.
18) Two teaching packs on financial freedom will be used as church studies.
19) A magnetic board and picture frames will be used to hang pictures.
20) An upright desk paper holder stands will either be used to hold papers at the computer or to hold books for the kids to see.
21) A CD holder will be used to store teaching CDs.
22) Rigid square tiles will be used as square templates.
23) Bendable square tiles will be used in a print project.
24) Wooden desk trays will be used as pet beds or some other crafty thing.
25) An entire box of “Making The Church Work” will be distributed to people who want them.
26) Magazine holders will be used to store, well, magazines.

And…there’s more…but I can’t think of what it is right now.

Yes, it took me quite a bit of time and effort to make sure stuff wasn’t wasted. As people threw things out, I picked them up. But it’s totally worth it to know that perfectly good resources are being put to good use…by friends and family members—by associations and churches—who actually needed the resources not to be thrown into the trash.

I spent a good portion of last week singing the chorus of, “Rescue The Perishing.” I might be wrong…but maybe rescuing reusable “trash” really is part of rescuing the perishing…and maybe my simple actions of being mindful of the water that I use in washing dishes and thinking twice before throwing away my pots and pans really is part of redeeming this world.

Get UnCARBONated

As I glanced through my Toyota Center Newsletter last week, I didn’t expect to find an article that I could use for work. But I did. The article was called “Get UnCARBONated,” and I was challenged by its closing points:

What can be done to improve our own carbon footprints without detracting from our quality of life? The answer is “carbon offsets.” According to the Collins English Dictionary, a carbon offset is “a compensatory measure made by an individual or company for carbon emissions, usually through sponsoring activities or projects which increase carbon dioxide absorption, such as tree planting.”

While simple behavior modifications are encouraged such as using public transportation, unplugging household items when they are not in use, and cutting back on unnecessary energy consumption, another simple way to improve your carbon footprint is by planting trees and supporting reforestation work efforts such as American Forests’ Global ReLeaf and Carbonfund.org. Reduced carbon emissions aren’t the only benefit of these efforts; reforestation and carbon offset projects also create jobs, preserve wildlife habitats, protect biodiversity and improve local environmental quality. It’s a win-win for you and your environment.After reading the article, I went a mini-hyper-focus about doing my part to improve my carbon footprint. Instead of leading a women’s retreat activity that originally called for cut flowers, I led the activity with plants (cactuses). When I saw a bamboo plant whose tag said, “O2 For You: Houseplants With A Purpose. Generates Oxygen. Adds humidity to room air during dry conditions. Creates healthier living environment. Purifies the air of impurities,” I decided to buy it. And then I finally decided to buy a new pot for the plant that I’ve had in my office since it was given to me as a thank you in the fall.

This morning, I named my plants Carl the Cactus, Bill the Bamboo, and Pete the Plant. This afternoon, my co-worker Donna and I repotted Pete. [Well, to be truthful, Donna repotted Pete and I observed and listened so that I could learn.] I am going to talk to and nurture Carl, Bill, and Pete and attempt to learn more about plants. I’m also going to look into reforestation efforts and promote carbon offsets as much as I can.

What about you?

Do you have plants/flowers and trees that you tend to? Do you name them? If so, what are their names?

Do you support reforestation or other tree planting efforts?

Have you made behavior modifications to improve your carbon footprint? If so, what are they?

Do you have something else to share about becoming UnCARBONated?