Through Tribal Eyes: Change on the Menominee Nation

Notes from our reviewers

The CLEAN collection is hand-picked and rigorously reviewed for scientific accuracy and classroom effectiveness. Read what our review team had to say about this resource below or learn more about how CLEAN reviews teaching materials.

• Teaching Tips
  Teachers may want to create a viewing guide and/or guiding questions for a discussion after viewing, develop a lesson plan, and/or identify where in the curriculum the video should be integrated. Educators may find this suitable as an introduction/overview to climate change and diverse perspectives. The use of this resource could be strengthened by having students (individually or in groups) delve deeper into the questions asked in the video (importance of forest, water, etc.) for themselves (or interview their adults at home with these same questions) and possibly other Indigenous Nations (especially those local to your students). Educators may find that this video may pair well with the climate story activity from the [link https://cleanet.org/resources/58955.html 'Your Place in Focus activity'] (CLEAN ID 58955). This is a good video for including diverse voices on climate change. Teachers should be prepared to address Indigenous stereotypes. Many quality resources on how to respectfully incorporate Indigenous voices/knowledge into the classroom are available with a quick google search. Here's one: [link https://www.burkemuseum.org/education/learning-resources/tips-teaching-about-native-peoples] There is an article linked below the video that may serve as supplementary information for the students: [link https://toolkit.climate.gov/case-studies/college-menominee-nations-sustainable-development-institute-builds-capacity-tribal]
• About the Science
  Members of the Menominee nation (including environmental professionals) discuss their experiences with climate change and how it relates to their culture/way of life. The interviews present experts, however, in classroom discussions should be aware of the "noble savage" stereotype and be sure to address that misconception if it arises. The video includes information on the decline of water quality, acid rain, the biosphere (specifically bees and trees), trash pollution, and the ecosystem changes as a whole. Passed initial science review - expert science review pending.
• About the Pedagogy
  Through this video, students will understand the effects of climate change (and a bit about actions taken to combat it, primarily education) as experienced by various individuals (some ecological professionals; others are solely community members) in the Menominee Nation.
• Technical Details/Ease of Use
  Video length is 15:02 min