"Dressing up" for Halloween

Madison County member Wendy Warren writes about ways educators can do better when teaching about Native peoples. This article also address cultural appropriation at Halloween.

"As I thought about the things I have learned that have convinced me that I would never again consider dressing a child in an "Indian costume" for Halloween, I realized that there were probably many other things I have done in my teaching career that were equally embarrassing. Some of the first that come to mind are some of the "Indian art" activities I found in activity books that I used in an honest attempt to teach about Indian cultures. Now I know enough to understand that some of them were quite disrespectuful, in that they trivalized things that were quite important - even sacred- in some Indian cultures. But how can a non-Indian teacher come to know what things are sacred and what are not?"