Joseph DuShane-Navanick said one of his teachers handed him back a paper with a note: “I can’t even read this, so I’m not going to try.” Read his essay about how he felt left behind as a Ute student in K-12 in this new sltrib project.
Joseph DuShane-Navanick on the Ute Reservation. A member of the Ute Indian Tribe, he is planning to attend the University of Utah next year.
My time at Todd Elementary was just about what one could expect: P.E., music class, recess, school lunch. But I don’t remember much about being educated there. Sure, there were lessons about math, English, spelling — none really seemed to matter, though, as much as recess did. There was just a handful of Native kids in the whole middle school — no one dressed like us, talked like us or even shared similar experiences. It seemed my Native culture and beliefs were not valued or celebrated at this new school. The precious memories of attending sweat with my grandma, celebrating the coming of spring with the Bear Dance, learning to sing with my uncle, the smell of coffee paired with frybread and eggs. I was just another kid who happened to be brown and different.
I was deeply hurt and discouraged from what the teacher wrote. I felt behind, stupid and even more out of place than before. Back to my English problem, I still very much was struggling and did my best to pass; however, that changed when I got to Vernal High School. I was in my sophomore year, taking English, and my teacher at the time was very much loved in the school. He had been there for years — teaching most of the students’ parents when they went to school.
Now I had some, but not all, of the tools I need to do better. And all it took was someone who cared enough to show me.
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