Happy Native American Heritage Month! To celebrate and acknowledge Native American culture throughout history, here are 4 Native American figures in education that changed how people learn.
Sequoyah
Sequoyah single-handedly invented the Cherokee syllabary in the early 19th century, creating a universal written language for the Cherokee nation. He experimented first with pictographs and then with symbols representing the syllables of the spoken Cherokee language, adapting letters from English, Greek, and Hebrew. Soon after, Cherokees throughout the nation were teaching it in their schools and publishing books and newspapers in their own Cherokee language.
Read more here: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sequoyah
Betty Osceola
Betty Osceola is an American environmental activist, educator, and airboat captain. Osceola has led numerous public prayers walks and environmental awareness campaigns across South Florida, often focusing on threats to Indigenous land, water quality, and climate justice. She has been recognized as a Miccosukee tribal judge and serves on the Miccosukee Everglades Advisory Committee.
Read more here: https://saveculture.org/oral-history/betty-osceola/
Robert Warrior
Robert Warrior is a distinguished professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of Kansas. Warrior also publishes and co-authors Native American Literature, promoting American Indian Nationalism and the history of Indigenous North America. Warrior has also received awards from the Gustavus Myers Foundation, the Native American Journalists Association, the Church Press Association, and others.
Read more here: https://www.theasa.net/about/governance/presidents/2016-2017-president-robert-warrior
Angela M. Miller
Is a passionate community builder, researcher, and strategist who served as the assistant chancellor for diversity, equity and inclusion and chief diversity officer at UW-Platteville. Additionally, she served as the university’s chief of staff, providing executive leadership and operational oversight of the chancellor’s office with a master’s degree in educational leadership and policy analysis.
Who is your favorite Native American in education? Let us know in the comments!
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