Read on Twitter
This quarantine is no match for the family bond we’ve created with @InsideNatGeo Explorer, Gena Steffens. Our partnership is part of the Educator-Explorer Exchange with @NatGeoEducation.
And it’s 100% hearts before brains around here.
And it’s 100% hearts before brains around here.
We unpacked what we already knew about uncontacted tribes/peoples, and then reflected on those perceptions.
Which were we certain must be true? Which ideas did we know were incorrect? Which were we uncertain about?
Which were we certain must be true? Which ideas did we know were incorrect? Which were we uncertain about?
Next, it was the polling feature in Zoom to the rescue—which allowed us to modify the four corners activity we would normally do in-person in the classroom.
Once we’d thoroughly exhausted the discussion on our own perceptions, we settled on four basic beliefs we’d all agree to operate with for the rest of the project.
Finally, we did a brief overview of the Yanomami—an indigenous, uncontacted tribe of the Amazon who occupy the largest forested indigenous territory in the world.
Gena helped us to ground all of our new knowledge in practical examples from her work in the field. We’ve been following along all year with her story on the Arhuaco—an indigenous, isolated tribe living in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta of Colombia. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2019/11/indigenous-protectors-sacred-peaks-secret-until-now/
Gena emphasized that indigenous people are not inferior or primitive. They just have entirely different kinds of knowledge and technology.
She explained how the four indigenous societies of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta escaped from the conquistadores—and why, as a result, there is virtually no religious syncretism there today.
And we got to dust off our old vocab word (syncretism) and use it in a new context.
And we got to dust off our old vocab word (syncretism) and use it in a new context.
Gena helped us understand the worldview of the Arhuaco—and the spiritual significance of the mountain. Climate change is causing the glacier at the peak to melt (the heart of the world) which prompted the Arhuaco to seek outside help.
We learned that this story Gena covered has roots dating back to her teenage years, when she first read about this sacred mountain in a @InsideNatGeo magazine. 15 years later, she wrote the sequel to the story she’d read at age 14.
We are beyond grateful for this partnership! Gena is helping us understand what it means to be responsible storytellers, as we prepare to tell the story of illegal mining activities in Yanomami territory. Thank you @NatGeoEducation. You’re changing minds and hearts.
And a huge shoutout to @9thWorldHistory! Without Kim, none of this is possible. She selflessly shared the lesson she painstakingly designed for her own students in Boston. Teamwork for the win! I am humbled and grateful to work with such a ridiculously talented thinking partner.
