Taos Blue Lake

In 11th grade history, students are learning about the American Indian Movement. This last summer I received a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to study in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We were taken to the Taos Pueblo, outside of Taos, New Mexico to learn more about their sacred river, and its source, Taos Blue Lake.

Taos Blue Lake is in the mountains above the Pueblo. The setting is beautiful, and it is patrolled by Native Americans who try to keep the site sacred and pristine, for to them, it is the source of the Pueblo peoples.

During the disorganized and predatory time of reservations and land grabs, Taos Blue Lake ended up in the hands of the federal government. After years of advocating for the return of their lands, Richard Nixon signed the return of the lake to the Taos Pueblo. He said,
“this is a bill that represents justice, because in 1906 an injustice was done in which land involved in this bill, 48,000 acres, was taken from the Indians involved, the Taos Pueblo Indians. The Congress of the United States now returns that land to whom it belongs… I can’t think of anything more appropriate or any action that could make me more proud as President of the United States.” For this act, they revere him. If you google Taos Blue Lake, you will only find one picture. For the Taos people, it is so sacred, that they do not want it seen by those who are not of the tribe.

Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge, and Somaly Mam

Students in 11th grade just read an article about Somaly Mam and her valiant efforts to diminish sex trafficking in her native country of Cambodia. Somaly herself was sold into a brothel as a young child, escaped to France, and has since returned to lead the efforts to prevent and educate about the extensive sexual abuse of young girls that exists in Cambodia.

Cambodia has a horrific record on sex trafficking. This is partially due to the vacuum left after the murderous Pol Pot ruled in Cambodia, with his Khmer Rouge regime, from 1975 to 1979. The country was left shattered, while generations of elders were slaughtered by youngsters with machine guns.

Pot turned the Cambodian clock back to year zero, forced the people out of the cities onto collective farms, and then taught the young to murder and commit mayhem. The terror diminished only when the North Vietnamese invaded Cambodia and forced Pol Pot to flee.

Dada and the end of World War I

After the destruction of World War I, the world was in upheaval. The shock set in about the waste of the war. Throughout Europe, graveyards and memorials were put in order to commemorate the dead. In culture, there were radical changes. Students in AP Euro are learning about the movement called DADA, which means "ridiculous" or "nonsensical." It reflected the enormity of the death toll and the destruction of the war--one could not make sense of it. It criticized the war profiteers, the moral decay, and the physical destruction of the "Great War."

DADA artists painted, sculpted and created seminal images that seem bizarre or ridiculous. I went to a major DADA exhibit in 1978 in London, England. I didn't quite understand what I was seeing, but I will always remember the bizarre images.

Here's a painting by George Grosz, whose art depicted this troubled time. Grosz grew to admire America and eventually left Germany before Hitler's full domination of his homeland.

The Wild Children of Revolutionary Russia

In Social Studies, grade 9, students will be reading the book Wild Children by Felice Holman. It is the story of the orphaned children after the catastrophic famine and upheaval of the Russian Revolution. Millions of children were left orphaned by the disaster. This is their story. Here is the quote from the New York Times in 1932.

Russia's experience with her vagabond youth should prove a warning to us. The shelterless, or bezprizorni, as they were called, came into being after the overthrow of the Russian monarchy in 1917 and increased so rapidly that they were estimated in a few years' time to number from 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 boys and girls. This army of children, many of them as young as 10 years, terrorized whole villages and cities and became known for their murders, robberies and other acts of violence. The "wild children of Russia" the press termed them.... - Newton D. Baker The New York Times, December 11, 1932

Princess Mary Gift Box

During the first months of World War I, most of the participants hoped the war would be over by Christmas.

Because it was the first year of the war, 1914, Princess Mary, daughter of King George V and Queen Mary, thought of sending each soldier a special gift. A special brass box was designed with a side profile picture of Princess Mary, along with the names of the various allies, including France, Russia, Belgium, Japan, Serbia and Montenegro. It is interesting to note that the Lusitania carried a large shipment of brass destined to be made for the gift boxes when it was sunk in 1915.

What was in the box? Chocolate, a writing pad, a small pencil, a greeting card and cigarettes. The ingredients varied according to who received them: nurses got chocolates, and soldiers from India received sweets. In 1996 (before the internet!), I came across one in an antique store in Calgary, Alberta where I was teaching school. I was able to buy it for my daughter (named Mary) but also for my students to see.

Students in 9th grade were able to do a brass rubbing from the Queen Mary gift box, a death medal from World War I, and a small piece of trench art (in this case a matchbook holder) during their World War I centers.

Good times at Faye Wright Elementary

In our 11th grade classes, students just finished learning about the circumstances behind the Cuban Missile Crisis. All students were attentive and interested in how close we came to nuclear war.

Of course, as a child of the Cold War, I can remember doing drills that were very different than the average fire drill. We had to line up inside the hallway and get down on our knees and put our hands over our head.

The worst part was that was a time when we girls still wore dresses or skirts to school. I can remember one hand on my head and the other trying to pull my dress down! I was going to protect myself from a nuclear bomb by following the drill, but the drill position was awkward.
I can also remember talking with my two older brothers about whether Salem, Oregon was targeted to have a bomb dropped on it....we were pretty sure it was, if the population of our town got above 100,000.

I am so glad my students don't have to live with the fear of nuclear war!

Viva la Vida! Revolutions 1848 and 2011...

Coldplay's recent album includes the song, Viva la Vida. The lyrics are compelling. In the video on youtube that accompanies the song, we see Chris Martin, the lead singer, performing to the backdrop of two famous revolutionary paintings: Gericault's Raft of the Medusa and Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People. As we continue to see the events unfold in Egypt, AP Euro students will be analyzing this song's lyrics and the similarities among the revolutionaries of 1848 and Egypt 2011.

I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own

I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"

One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand

I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field