Native Intelligence

Two new programs in Washington state make American Indian culture the core of schools' subjects—and success.

By Richard Seven

Linda Middlebrook and her 1st graders at David Wolfle Elementary School in western Washington State are talking about what they’ve learned from Uncle Jerry’s Canoe , a children’s book they’ve been reading. The tale, about a couple of American Indian kids who want to ride in the vessel with their grandfather, Jerry Jones, a canoe carver of the Tulalip tribe, is a simple one, but there’s subtle calculation in the fact that all three characters are Native Americans and that they launch a traditional canoe and not, say, a fiberglass sailboat.

Middlebrook, who speaks with a Long Island accent but wears a tribal art necklace, brings out a paddle to show the students, about 20 percent of whom are Native American. “See this design on the end? It’s the [Port Gamble] S’Klallam tribal symbol,” she tells them, pointing out part of the 3-foot-long specimen she carved from yellow cedar. “Remember how we talked about holding onto the paddle if the canoe tips over? Remember why?”

“Because it floats!” one boy shouts after...