An Indian Father’s Plea is a text that highlights, like Audre Lorde’s autobiography, how schools create conflict between home culture and school culture. In his letter, Medicine Grizzlybear points out how schools don’t value the entire child and the cultural knowledge that they bring with them to school.

Imagine that you are Wind-wolf’s teacher, and you received this letter from his father. How do you react to this? How do you process this parent’s assertions about all the things his son knows how to do outside of school? How do you take the things that Medicine Grizzlybear brings up in his letter, and make changes in your classroom practice?

Essentially this is a two pronged writing exercise. You are both responding to the parent as a teacher, and responding to the points in his letter about culture.

YOUR SUBMISSION MUST BE IN THE FORM OF A LETTER TO THE PARENT: MEDICINE GRIZZLY BEAR.