> ...I'm thinking that it might be good to learn more about this program
> and perhaps to find someone in the New York City area from within our NAT-EDU
> community to see whether there might be some opportunities for the long-term
> project to take advantage of this program as a means of, for example, getting
> Native American artists and storytellers into direct contact with students,
> and whether we might be able to help build some bridges that would otherwise
> be lower down on the list of priorities in this project's planning between,
> say, social studies and art classes and those divisions of cooperating museums
> that would have the resources to invite Native American artists, historians,
> craftspeople, et. al. to participate - and we might be able to help them to
> locate and link up with such people.
This is what I have been doing in Westchester County, a suburb of NYC. I
occasionally get some interest from people in the city but the big problem
is finding Native presenters at reasonable fees. I charge $250/half day
when I do a workshop and the Native people I bring in usually receive
between $250 and $300/half day. I do not take any money for arranging
workshops for other people unless there is a need for coordinating several
speakers into a program at which time I charge the school a nominal fee to
cover expenses. The schools do not have the money to pay $800-$1000 for a
presentation. Since this is irregular work, it is difficult to make a
living at it. The speakers also must be available during school hours so
they need regular jobs with good flex time or need to be retirees.
There is in NYC, a Native American Parent group which has been working on
the goal of incorporating a more balanced curriculum into the system. I
don't know if they are available through e-mail but will inquire and let
Gary know.
Sken:nen kenhak
Sandy