Media Resources

IIA is dedicated to preserving and honoring Traditional knowledge. This page is a collection of videos our organization has reviewed for accuracy and appropriateness. It is the responsibility of adults to watch these videos before sharing them with children.

Our Native children are impacted by multigenerational trauma. We do not want them unnecessarily traumatized in the name of education. Use our Traditional ways to teach. Adults can watch the video and show it to older children they believe are resilient enough to learn directly from it. But for younger children, the adults must watch the videos and share their understanding through the use of oral storytelling traditions. You can buffer the information you feel would be disturbing and share what you feel the children are developmentally and psychologically able to handle.

Please remember, before the destruction of our languages and traditions by the American Indian Boarding Schools, Traditional Native parenting was loving, democratic, self-paced, and exploratory. Children were allowed to learn based on their interests. They were not taught with a curriculum involving goals, objectives, grades, and other methods of measurement. Adults found creative ways to help get the kids interested. Using their natural curiosity as the attraction to new learning. What do they seem interested in? Is there anything in Native culture that would connect with those interests? If you don’t know, reach out and ask for our help. Children should not be traumatized just for the sake of education. Some Native tricks to get kids interested and curious.

1. Have someone other than the parent or regular teacher present the material.
2. Talk to another adult about what you learned within hearing distance of the children. I always love to listen in on our conversations.
3. Invite an elder to come over and let the kids sleep in the same room where the adults talk and share stories.
4. Remember, old stories are as good as new stories. Uncle Bernie’s personal stories help us build history as much as our Origin stories. Don’t discount the knowledge that is shared. Sometimes, if you were not raised in the culture, you might miss the nuance of the learning.
5. Let kids have something to do with their hands while they are listening to the stories. Eye contact and silence are not always signs of learning and absorbing material, especially with Indigenous children.

History of the Extermination of the Buffalo

Sacred Pipe Information

American Indian Boarding Schools

What it means to be a Warrior