The Chamberlain School District remains committed to honoring the dominant European conquering culture over that of its large American Indian minority population. Last night the Chamberlain school board voted to uphold tradition and again reject inclusion of a Lakota honor song in its high school graduation ceremony.
Sometimes if you want to do things right, you have to do them yourself. Lakota neighbors, if you feel Chamberlain's Lakota graduates need an honor song in their own language, and if your school board won't let you offer that song as part of the ceremony, you still need to raise your voices.
So imagine this: gather a thousand American Indians outside the graduation ceremony. Surround the doors one hour before the ceremony begins. As the students enter the building, Indian and white alike, raise your voices in the Lakota honor song. Sustain that joyful noise until the exact moment that the ceremony inside begins. Then the moment the official ceremony ends and the students begin to file out of the auditorium, resume your singing. Raise that song, a thousand voices strong, until the last student has filed out of the building.
The Lakota honor song is as worthy a part of the graduation ceremony as "Pomp and Circumstance" or any other traditional European song that the high school band will toot from its horns. Local folks, if the board won't listen to you in a meeting, you'll have to make them listen on graduation day.
Ingrained prejudice is hard to root out.
I can't understand what harm one song would cause but I can understand not having one song what harm will be done. How sad
if i heard the report correctly on bill janklow's idea of public radio, offering and burning of tobacco is part of the ceremony.
http://listen.sdpb.org/post/chamberlain-school-board-vote-graduation-honor-song-performance
Cory,as i said before on your blogs. It is okay to take there money in the form of impact aid, but that is as far as it goes !!!!!!!!
Ah yes. Pom and Circumstance. And now as Paul Harvey would say..."here's the rest of the story."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomp_and_Circumstance_Marches
The title is taken from Act III, Scene 3 of Shakespeare's Othello:
Farewell the neighing steed and the shrill trump,
The spirit-stirring drum, th'ear-piercing fife,
The royal banner, and all quality,
Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war!"[1]
But also, on the score of the first march, Elgar set as a motto for the whole set of marches a verse from Lord de Tabley's poem The March of Glory[2] which begins
Like a proud music that draws men on to die
Madly upon the spears in martial ecstasy,
A measure that sets heaven in all their veins
And iron in their hands.
I hear the Nation march
Beneath her ensign as an eagle's wing;
O'er shield and sheeted targe
The banners of my faith most gaily swing;
Moving to victory with solemn noise,
With worship and with conquest, and the voice of myriads.
I'm guessing that the Chamberlain board is educated enough to know the origins of their celebratory song and even see the tie in to the war and genocide of the Native American tribes...
What...they don't even know the history of the song?
Why doesn't someone ask them about their chosen music and the disruptive message it sends.
While I don't know which song was proposed, traditional songs may create a challenge for: "Indian and white alike, (to) raise your voices in the Lakota honor song. " and even to provide an English "translation."
From wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pow_wow:
most lyrics of most songs employ vocables, syllable sounds... The song structure consists of four pushups, singing the chorus and verse through four times. In each chorus the melody is introduced or led off by the lead singer whose is then seconded by another singer who begins to vary the melody before the end of the leader's first line. They are then joined by the entire chorus for the rest of the pushup... Generally, Native American singing follows a pentatonic scale (as if playing only the black keys on a piano) and while, to the outsider, it may sound like we're just pounding a drum and going "Heya-heya-heya-heya" sometimes there are actual words...
Talented singers also sing off-the-beat, placing the words between the drum beats rather than on them, which "is probably the non-Indian's greatest obstacle in trying to learn Indian songs."
Yet, the music is beautiful and it would be powerful to have the honor song adjacent to the ceremony, as you suggest Cory, even if those who can't carry this tune just stood in solidarity with those who can.
Honor song for Sicangu youth http://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=sDemdv2EQGM
Well, guess we should have Viking War songs, Irish Drinking songs, Polish Pickle-making songs, Jewish dances, etc for every ethnic group represented in the graduating classes. Then there is the problem of what music should be played to honor all those that have a half-dozen varieties of ancestors. My wife is some mixture of Scotch, Irish, and English. She was wondering what music we should have raised hell about when our children were graduated.
Of the official reasons Chamberlain school board members gave for the denial of the honor song, having to include representative music from every ethnic group in the class was low on the list. The first reason was that "Board President Rebecca Reimer said a feathering ceremony already was added for a ceremony prior to graduation, and an honor song doesn’t seem necessary." http://www.mitchellrepublic.com/event/article/id/79595/ So that deflects DW's argument since they have already added just this ethnic component to the series of events without incurring a call for Viking war songs. (Anglos Shakespeare and Sir Elgar are already represented as Jana points out.) Another reason the song was declined was because "School board members said they want to make sure graduation is about recognizing educational achievements rather than favoring one culture over another." It was unattributed "others" who said "the ceremony could become too lengthy or require other cultures to be integrated as well." (mdr) Cadwell, who was behind the effort to include the song has been clear: “Over the years the school board has stated that they do not allow religion to be part of the ceremony. They are obviously confusing the honor song with a religious ceremony,” he said ... “The honor song is exactly that, a song that acknowledges the efforts of all the students graduating and encourages them to continue their education.”
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/04/25/will-south-dakota-school-district-allow-native-honor-song-graduation-149030 The final unarguable reason according to Supt. Johnson is that they “wanted to keep the graduation ceremony in the tradition that it has been.” Interestingly, they do not share the opinion of other SD schools like Lyman, Rapid, Pierre and Winner where Supt. Carrier said: “I believe it has added to our graduation exercise.” The virtues of Polish pickle-making songs aside, conflating one's past ancestry with the here-and-now tribal identity these students hold is an unfortunate direction for this discussion.
Tribal member students belong to two nations: they, by virtue of the US Constitution have dual citizenship in the US and, presumably, the Lakota Nation. Presumably the non-Indian students of Chamberlain can make no claim of dual citizenship granted and fostered by the US Constitution. It is as fitting to play two songs, one honoring each, as it is to play the national anthems at US-Canadian hockey matches or the national anthems of the Olympic finalists.
It's long past the time for the school board and non-Indian citizens of Chamberlain to grow up.
Let them sing their songs in "their nation".
The professionals of ethnic specialness are at work again. They can't make a living without this kind of controversy.
Using John's analogy - "their nation" is, for dual citizens, "their nations -plural. So with this - 'Let them sing their songs in "their nation"'- that is, on their reservation OR at their high school in Chamberlain - have we actually come to an agreement on this issue.? yeahiknowireadtherestbutitwouldhavebeenkindacool
Sorry Doug, but I will respectfully disagree.
Is ethnic specialness like shutting down the main street of downtown Sioux Falls for Oktoberfest and celebrating the country that started WWII? Having kids cut out green construction paper into shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day? Or maybe having a national holiday and month long national shopping bacchanal to honor a dark skinned, Middle Eastern Jewish kid born out of wedlock who turned his back on His parent's religion?
Heck Doug...our state bird is an immigrant species that we celebrate every year by shooting as many as possible. (ooohhhh...sorry bad analogy....but that does explain some of the thinking in SD.)
Our history is stained with the cultural genocide and the theft from an entire race of people. That has led to far too many consequences that we choose to ignore or despise. We can continue this course or we can look to repair the last 150 years of our actions.
With that in mind...think about how we will cheer a child who overcame physical or mental obstacles to earn a diploma. Now think about how we should cheer on a child who has overcome 150 years of bigotry and cultural rape and assault and how that is an important part of healing and overcoming past bad acts.
If anything Doug. Don't allow any more "very serious people" to give uninspired, tired and platitude laced graduation speeches...for no other reason than someone said that it had to be done.
No one likes, listens or appreciates those 10 minute snooze fests...but that is accepted...because you know...they are very serious and white.
Think about it, does the ritual of giving someone, who is only important to administrators the time we can never get back, more important than celebrating kids who have succeeded in the face of being a part of a culture we tried our best to kill?
I don't know. One more boring 10 minute plagiarized pile of platitudes or 3 minutes of music that has meaning to those that have fought great odds?
My hope is that someday the valedictorian of the class will use the time allotted for his speech to say nothing other than "if you will silence my friends then you have silenced me" and then stand mute for the same amount of time as the Lakota Honor Song would take.
Hey, just a note to future valedictorians at Chamberlain HS...you would be a rock star by doing the right thing and gain national attention for trying to right injustice. You would be a person who shows wisdom, empathy and even more importantly earns respect. Trust me...no speech you will ever write will make more of a difference. That would look damn good on a resume!
John, I like that "dual nations" argument. We acknowledge our Canadian neighbors with their anthem just for a silly little hockey game. A third of the kids graduating from Chamberlain belong to another nation, and their school board doesn't want to acknowledge that in one of the most important ceremonies of their lives.
The obvious logical conclusion: We should quit allowing folks to sing "O Canada" at US hockey games.
Henry Kissinger wrote that treaties are only kept if they are mutually beneficial to both parties. There is no good reason to keep treaties that created nations of people perfectly able to be citizens of one nation.
If the treaties were to provide health care, etc., it should be limited to the number of Native Americans alive at the time of the treaties.
The continued idea of independent (meaning nearly totally dependent if language means anything) nations at this time makes no sense. It just provides professionals of ethnic specialness an opportunity to prove that no good deed goes unpunished.
Join northern and southern Dakota and offer Statehood to the tribes and Mexico.
Mexican statehood for the tribes!
Doug, I feel uncomfortable applying Kissinger's realpolitik as the driving paradigm for our domestic politics. Can we not recognize a moral obligation to the people we conquered as a basis for our ongoing policy? Or do we really just say, "Yes, we sinned to take from you what we now have, and we leave justice for the afterlife"?
I don't understand Wiken and his definition of "ethnic specialness." One minute he illogically suggests that Republicans oppose Obama "because he's black" and the next he takes umbrage at the thought of a native honor song sung at a graduation ceremony where 30% of the graduating students will be native.
On the topic of this thread I can see both viewpoints as valid. Allowing the feathering ceremony seems a reasonable compromise. If the native students were a majority of the population I might feel differently about the school board not allowing the honor song. Of course, I don't live in that district - but if I did and didn't like the decisions of the school board I would work to have them voted out.
However, on Wiken's assertion that treaties should be honored only when it is convenient, I take umbrage. How can a nation be trusted to honor its future contracts if it fails to honor its past treaties? We as Americans should expect our nation to keep her word and to deal in good faith, and if our leaders should fail to represent our country with honor, we should work tirelessly to have them replaced.
Help me out on this "feathering ceremony." MDR says it was to take place today at the St. Joseph Indian School. It's just for Indian students. How does that represent a compromise in incorporating minority culture in the actual graduation ceremony?
You have a point Cory. As the native students make up a significant portion of the graduating class, it doesn't appear the school board is making a reasonable effort to accommodate both cultures.
Is there some magic percentage that a group must reach within the student body or local population to qualify it for inclusion of its cultural practices in the mainstream?
It's just a matter of common sense Cory. A just majority should attempt to compromise with and include a significant minority - which is entirely different than caving to the loud demands of a very small minority. These matters would have to be decided on an individual basis and between the groups involved - and then judged for equitableness by the voters. While I can't name a "magic percentage," anyone with common sense can see that a culture that comprises 30% of a population deserves a more serious consideration of some inclusion of traditions and values than a culture that comprises 2% of a population.
Speaking as a very well educated College Senior, as well as a Member of the Crow Creek Sioux tribe.....
I think Brandon is trying to take a stand on behave of his people. He wants to get his message across that there needs to be more done to show recognition to Native American students in the Chamberlain community. Just having a feather ceremony will not suffice.. Native Americans have the HIGHEST high school drop out rate in the UNITED STATES and to many Native Americans it is a great accomplishment to graduate from high school. Especially with so many young Natives facing the worst kind of odds such as poverty and alcoholism just to name a few. I also do not understand why people are so afraid of having this be part of the graduation ceremony...It's just a song people. Its a song that would not take more than a few minutes...The seniors are not asking for a million dollars or the world. Just one simple honor song. After many years of seeing so much racism in South Dakota, I still cannot understand what non Natives are so afraid of. As a strong Christian I hope that there can be a common ground found between the Chamberlain Community and the Crow Creek Sioux tribe, if not for themselves than for the young generations to come.
It seems that on the one hand students are told to be tolerant of and live in harmony with people regardless of their race, religion, etc., but then we avoid exposing them to anything that might help them learn about the people they are supposed to live in harmony with. How can we teach students about the history and culture of the United States by sterilizing everything we do? You say thirty percent of the students are Native American? Let's have an honoring song so we all know what that is. A majority are Christian? Let's have a prayer so we all know what that is. Neither of these are going to hurt anyone, but both will expose students to the culture of their neighbors. Suggestions in Rapid City that an elective course be offered studying the history and literature in the Bible is being greeted with the same ignorance. I wonder how students can argue for or against anything about which they know nothing. Knowledge is power. Ignorance is dangerous.