Teacher Naomi Last Horse Black Elk speaks with one of her students at a unique school that integrates Native American culture, history, and language into lesson plans. Photo Credit: South Dakota News Watch
Many excellent Native American educators serve students of their own culture very well. One of these is Naomi Last Horse Black Elk, a teacher of Oglala Lakota descent. Naomi serves as an educator of Native American culture at the Oceti Sakowin Community Academy located in Rapid City, South Dakota.
Naomi was born and raised in Kyle, South Dakota, on the Pine Ridge Reservation. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in K-12th Lakota Studies Education from Oglala Lakota College. Raised by her grandparents in a traditional setting, the Lakota language was always spoken in the home. As a young girl, many things were taught to the children in her community, including beading, sewing, preparing traditional foods, foraging, harvesting, and butchering meat, She has been teaching Lakota language for over 11 years.
In her classroom, Naomi uses evidence-based, culturally-focused teaching methods, curriculum, and environments that are intended to improve the academic performance of her young students.
Naomi takes her position as a role model very seriously. “I became an educator to inspire, promote and contribute to the seventh generation, through language, culture and values,” she explains. “I promote indigenous education through speaking always, listening always, and encouraging always to our young ones to learn our language whenever and wherever, the goal is to never stop,” she continues.
In Naomi’s classroom, students encounter an environment that is decorated with Lakota numbers, letters, and translations. She creates lessons from books by Native authors and Native folk tales. She encourages a spirit of kinship among her students, who often refer to one another as “cousins.”
To learn more about Naomi and the unique school where she teaches, click on this link to an article about her published by South Dakota News Watch.
