Showing posts with label PebbleGo Next. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PebbleGo Next. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 11, 2022

A Second Look at PebbleGo Next



On December 2, 2016, I took a look at "PebbleGo Next" (an educational website for early childhood) because AICL readers had been writing to ask me about it. Based on what I saw on the Pueblo pages, I decided I could not recommend PebbleGo Next. My major concerns were that the site did not use "nation" and that the site's content was presented using past tense verbs which contributes to the idea that we no longer exist.

One of my concerns was that they had used the word "cultures" in their categories. For example, the site said "Southwest Cultural Area." Categorizing Native peoples as cultures or cultural groups is a typical error. We are--of course--people with distinct languages, stories, religions, housing, clothing, but the single most important fact about us is this: we are sovereign nations. No other cultural groups in the U.S. have political status. No other cultural groups have treaties with the U.S. government (some tribal nations had treaties with European governments, too. See for example, the Gäsweñta’ (Two Row Wampum) information about the Haudenosaunee and the Dutch.)

Instead of "cultures," the best word to use is "nations" (or nation when the focus is on a single tribal nation). Editors at PebbleGo read my review and made some changes--but they are superficial. Let me explain by walking you through some of what I see today (January, 2022). 

Instead of "Southwest Cultural Area" the category is now "Southwest Tribal Nations." When you click on it, this is what you'll see:


Clicking on "Southwest Tribal Nations" in the array (it may look different on your screen depending on how wide your browser window is), you'll get an overview grouped in these sections: Introduction, History, Geography, Communities, Cultural Characteristics, Housing, and Food. 

In the Introduction, there are two paragraphs. They both start out with "Southwest culture area." The introduction says that the area "is home to several American Indian groups" and it says they include Navajo, Apache, Pueblo, Hopi, Zuni, Tohono O'odham, Akimel O'odham, Upland Yumans, and River Yumans. There is no mention of them as nations. That's what I mean about superficial changes. Substituting the word on the category page is easy to do. That's a cut and paste task. Making substantive change is harder to do--but necessary! 

In the History section, there are four paragraphs. I don't see the word nation anywhere there. "Groups" is PebbleGo's word of choice in this section. Some information is incorrect. It says that the U.S. government forced all of the Southwest Indian peoples onto reservations, but in fact, some of us are living on the same homelands that we were living on prior to European invasions. Reservations were established and removals did happen, but overly broad information like what I see here mis-educates children. 

In the Communities section, I finally see the words nation/nations, but it is used in an inconsistent way.  This section uses "Akimel O'odham nation" and "Apache" and "Chiricahua and the Mescalero" and "the Hopi nation." Why not use it with Apache, Chiricahua, and Mescalero? In the third paragraph of this section, I see
The Hopi nation is made up of many different villages. Hopi people identify closely with their own village. Their own village is much more important to them than the Hopi nation as a whole." 
Kudos for using nation, but when the word appears with a specific nation, a capital letter is necessary. Style guides and scholars use a capitol N. It should therefore be "Hopi Nation."  The last sentence in that excerpt is also a problem. I wonder about the source for it? I think the Pebble go editors mean to say that people have a strong affinity for the place they live. Some of you reading this review have strong feelings about your hometown and might not have the same warmth for your state.  As written, that sentence is a problem because it undermines the significance of the Hopi Nation's sovereign status. Why include that sentence in the first place? I don't think the editors mean to undermine nationhood, but I think that sentence does that very thing. 

There are two paragraphs in the Cultural Characteristics section. Both are about languages. The opening sentence is "Southwest Indians spoke many different languages." Use of "spoke" rather than "speak" suggests the languages are no longer spoken--and while language loss is an issue--many do speak their language and/or are involved in language projects to teach it to others. For the most part, those two paragraphs use present tense verbs. 

In the Housing section, all four paragraphs use past tense verbs. In fact, Pueblo people--today--build our homes using adobe bricks. Over the course of his life, my dad made thousands of adobes. I've got a wonderful photo of him doing that with his parents when he was a kid, and I've got a photo of my daughter doing it with him, when she was a kid. He built four adobe homes. 

In the Food section, all the paragraphs are in the past tense. We still farm. Navajo people still raise sheep. Though most of us buy meat at the local grocery store, some of us continue to hunt deer, rabbit, and antelope.  

The last observation I have about the overview page is with regard to the illustrations. There are seven. Five show Native people, but they are all shown in a past tense setting. Captions are also in past tense, and the placement of the illustrations doesn't make sense. Here is a screen capture from the Communities section that helps make my point:



Why is it there? The content of that particular section does not mention the Zuni people. A better choice would be an illustration of a Hopi village of the present day. 

When I did my first look at the PebbleGo site, people there wrote to me, nothing the significance of my review and that they were making changes. As noted above, I think the changes are superficial. One thing that I do recommend at their site is the "American Indians Today" page that you can see when you click on the American Indian History page. It is the one on the top left, below:



Clicking to that page you'll read terrific information written by Dr. Karina Phillips. She is a professor at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and a member of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe. Her knowledge and identity make that page exceptionally useful. If PebbleGo wants to improve what they offer, every page must be written by someone like her. The "American Indians Today" page that she wrote is divided into several sections. Over and over, she uses present tense verbs. the illustrations on the page are eight full color photographs of Native people in the present day, like this one in the Government section that shows the Navajo Nation's Council Chamber:



The page created by Dr. Phillips demonstrates that you--PebbleGo--can do better, but you must step up and DO better, on ALL your pages. Until you do, I cannot recommend your site.

--Debbie Reese, January 11, 2022



Friday, December 02, 2016

Not recommended: PebbleGo Next

Eds. note: Please scroll down to see additional review content, submitted on December 5, 2016.

In the last few months, I've been getting email from AICL readers who are asking if I've looked at Pebble Go Next database. Here's a description:
PebbleGo Next is the next step in research for students grades 3-6. Launching with a States and American Indian studies module, PebbleGo Next is carefully aligned to grades 3-6 curriculum objectives. The databases is simple to navigate and offer key reading supports such as read-along audio and word-by-word highlighting along with a variety of downloadable, including prompts to inspire critical thinking.
PebbleGo Next is published by Capstone. On their page, they write that they're the leading provider of nonfiction materials for struggling and reluctant readers.

The "American Indian" content of the PebbleGo Next database is arranged in geographical sections, called "Cultural Areas." Framing our nations as cultures is a typical error. We are--first and foremost--nations. A better arrangement would be something like "Tribal Nations in the Southwest" instead of "Southwest Culture Area." Not using our status as nations means that PebbleGo Next has no way to address important facts, like this one: we have jurisdiction over our reservation homelands.


Based on the lack of crucial information 
about our sovereign nation status
and what I list below in my close look 
at the Pueblo tab in the "Southwest Culture Area," 
I do not recommend the PebbleGo Next database. 



Introduction

The single, most significant error, is the failure to use the word "nation" to describe the Pueblo Nations of the southwestern part of the U.S.

We do not call our ancestors "Anasazi" which means "Ancient Ones." Anasazi is a Navajo word. The best way to refer to our ancestors is...  ancestors.

History

Use of "the Ancient Ones" in "After a drought in the 1300s, the Ancient Ones moved south and built villages along the Rio Grande River" is awkward. Better to say something like "After a drought, the Pueblo peoples moved south and built villages along the Rio Grande River."

The information about Pueblo homelands being "ruled" by Spain from the 1500s to 1821, and Mexico from 1821 to 1848, and then the US from then on, is simplistic. Each of those nations (Spain, Mexico, U.S.) recognized the Pueblo peoples as nations. This was acknowledged by a series of canes, given to Pueblo leaders, by officials of those nations. The last one was from President Lincoln. For reference, see the documentary, Canes of Power.

Use of "Anasazi" in the timeline is incorrect.

The entry for 1680, in the timeline, is incorrect and incomplete. That year (1680), the Pueblo Nations drove the Spanish out of our homelands.

Traditional Homes, Food, and Clothing

All the information is in past tense.

Family Life

All the information is in past tense.

Government

Finally, a page with a present tense word ("Today...") but the information is too broad and some of it is incorrect because of the broad description.

Beliefs

It is good that present tense is used, but why is the section called "Beliefs" rather than Religion? Information, as with the page on Government, is too broad, making some of it incorrect.

Traditions

In the first paragraph, past tense is used to describe traditional dances, ceremonies, and prayer. The second paragraph is written in a way that suggests that we've moved away from that, to doing it for tourists and as "festivals" that we "celebrate throughout the year." That is inaccurate.

Modern Life

The description of our traditional homes "sometimes covered in adobe" is inaccurate. Our traditional homes are made of adobe bricks, and, plastered with adobe mud, and/or stucco.

The information on "jobs" is incomplete. Native people do more than just work in factories, vineyards (?) and uranium mines. Some of us are teachers, lawyers, engineers, librarians.

The line that "many return home to their villages on the weekends" suggests that those with "jobs" can't live in their homes on reservation lands each night, which is not true. Some do, some don't. Written as it is, the suggestion contributes to a perception that our homelands are isolated and stuck in the past, which isn't true.

__________
Update, December 5, 2016

Jenna Wolf, tribally enrolled with the Muscogee Creek Nation, and librarian at Beaver Country Day School in Massachusetts, submitted this review of the Muscogee content at PebbleGo Next:
I have navigated through PebbleGo Next and also found a lot of issues. The section on Muscogee (Creek) Nation fails to mention much about land allotments after the Trail of Tears, and it only briefly mentions the Dawes Act in its timeline; nary any mention of the implications of signing and forced signings thereafter, as well as how its used as a roll now for tribal enrollment. Just a few things I noticed. The history section just MENTIONS the Indian Removal Act and the Trail of Tears, in the timeline only and not in the narrative section. Big mistakes and blaring holes.
I also did a cursory read through some of the other tribes to which I have personal affiliation via friends and family (Navajo, Isleta Pueblo). I was disturbed on a basic level just about the language used--so much past tense BEYOND the history section and many problems with the Modern Life section. Take for instance the section of Navajos--it mentions they are weavers and jewelers but CAN also have other jobs. This is similar to a book I weeded from our collection about the Navajo which said "they even like to wear blue jeans!".
Just wanted to give you some quick feedback about what I noticed.
This would not be a complete or appropriate resource in my opinion.