Tri-Valley School

Location
Tri-Valley School
P.O. Box 400
Healy, AK 99743

Contact
Sheila Craig, Technology teacher
Phone: 907-683-2267
Web site: www.denali.k12.ak.us/tri-valley/trivalley.html

Rediscovering Coyote and Raven:
The Ancient Art of Spirit Masks Moves Into the Digital Age

—By Joyce Riha Linik

Around campfires, generations of masked dancers have re-enacted legends of a long-ago world. They’ve told stories of Coyote the trickster and of clever Raven, said to have stolen the sun and brought light to the skies. Today, one small-town school in the Alaskan wilderness is bridging these tales of the ancients with modern technology as students take the study of spirit masks high-tech.

At Tri-Valley School near the northeast edge of Denali National Park, middle school students are researching animal symbolism on the Web, designing three-dimensional masks with computer graphics programs, and making and editing digital movies of their mask-making endeavors. Along the way, they learn about differences in world cultures, practice their writing skills, and gain exposure to the fine arts.

This 10-week interdisciplinary project is the brainchild of Tri-Valley technology teacher Sheila Craig. She came up with the idea after participating in an intensive professional development program called ARCTIC (Alaska Reform in the Classroom through Technology Integration and Collaboration) two years ago. This effort, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, helps teachers learn to weave technology into instruction in relevant and useful ways and to design effective learning environments that incorporate technology.

"ARCTIC introduced me to project-based teaching and made me think about using technology tools in a different way," Craig says. "I used to teach computer applications courses," where technology skills were separated from other academic disciplines. "Now," she says, "I teach academic content using technology as a tool" to support learning.

The difference for students is clear. Craig reports that lessons are "more meaningful and more relevant" to them—"things make a lot more sense." In short, she says, "It’s a more holistic way of learning."

It wasn’t only the technological angle of the spirit mask project that resulted from Craig’s ARCTIC experience. It was there that she saw the artistic potential, as well. During the training, Craig spent a semester team teaching in Columbus, Ohio, with another Alaska participant, Marilyn McKinley, a fine arts specialist. Because Craig’s little school in Healy had no art teacher, she seized on the chance to blend art and technology for the enrichment of her students back home. Craig credits McKinley with helping her develop the spirit mask unit and figure out how best to integrate the subject areas.

Craig had another motivation for teaching the spirit masks unit. "We have a very diverse population in Alaska," she observes. Alaska Native populations in the state include the Inupiaq, Yup’ik, Alutiiq, Athabaskan, Tlinkit, and Tsimshian, among others. Craig felt her students, who are primarily white, should learn about and gain an appreciation for these rich and varied cultures. "It’s important," she says, "that kids have tolerance for people whose ideas are different than their own."

During the course of the project, students study animal symbolism in indigenous cultures, not only in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, but around the world. They also examine values and beliefs regarding such fundamental issues as the passage of time, treatment of the elderly, and child-rearing practices. Comparing traditional Native American and European values leads students to higher levels of thinking and inspires animated discussions among those who identify with elements of both cultures. Ultimately, Craig says students see that "we are this melting pot of cultures."

The exploration eventually brings students to the study of Northwest Coast and Yup’ik spirit masks, which were often used for telling stories about daily life (for instance, stories of the hunt). They were also employed for teaching lessons through cautionary tales, not unlike such European American classics as "The Tortoise and the Hare" and "The Ant and the Grasshopper." Finally, students choose an animal that intrigues them—one whose characteristics and qualities they admire, feel they possess, or hope to develop. They then create a mask to represent their "spirit animal," designing it first on the computer and then building a three-dimensional plaster version with their hands.

Sam, an eighth-grader, is moved by native legends of the raven. In his journal, he writes that he has chosen the raven not only because it is intelligent and sometimes tricky, but also because it is "a leader," a trait he himself hopes to attain. His mask, painted black with highlights of blue, features a prominent orange beak. At each temple, he incorporates a traditional Native American element by attaching a feather on a beaded leather string.

Another student, Jessie, selects the clever and discreet fox as her inspiration. To mimic the texture of fur on her mask, Jessie attaches red and white feathers.

While a lot of students create images of local animals such as caribou, moose, and bear, Craig is surprised to see how many kids are drawn to exotic animals from distant places. Letitia, for example, picks the tropical clown fish because of its colorful body and its graceful way of moving through the water, "kind of like dancing or flying in a dream."

Throughout the mask-making process, students work collaboratively, documenting the experience with digital photographs and videos, and helping each other with technical challenges. They then create their own movies and multimedia HyperStudio stacks. The students keep an online journal throughout the project and write a variety of essays. Finally, they present their work to their classmates.

A number of state standards are braided into project goals. For example, students:

• Gain an understanding of the historical and contemporary role of the arts both inside and outside Alaska
• Use technology to explore ideas, solve problems, and derive meaning
• Organize and use information to create a product
• Apply elements of effective writing and speaking
• Learn to create and perform in the arts

"It’s really an alternative-type class," says Craig. "Some kids are motivated by the hands-on element of art and technology." For that reason, this project reaches students who might otherwise be left behind. It has been especially effective with troubled and learning disabled students. "Adults sometimes have misconceptions that these students won’t be successful at technology," Craig says, "but that isn’t the case." Often, in fact, "they pick it up and blow people away. Technology is one area where kids who don’t experience success in other areas can experience success."

The students in Craig’s multiage class voice disappointment that the mask project comes around only once in their middle school years. But she is working to develop other projects that are equally "exciting and inspirational and motivating." In fact, Tri-Valley School now provides common prep time for teachers precisely so they can collaborate on just this kind of interdisciplinary project—an owlish gesture, to be sure.