Using American Indian Legends to Teach Youths Financial Literacy: Innovative Approaches to Cultural Adaptation

Introduction

In this article, we describe the strengths-based approach we used to develop and conduct pilot testing on a series of financial education lessons for American Indian (AI) youths to address the lack of financial management experiences and limited opportunities available to them (Anderson, Brantmeier, Jorgensen, & Lounsberg, 2010). With funding from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), we launched Fostering Achievement and Connections to Engage Students, a 5-year afterschool initiative aimed at reducing educational disparities for racial/ethnic minority youths in underserved Minnesota communities. Because two of the program sites are situated on or near the Fond du Lac Reservation, where many Ojibwe live, we developed four financial lessons integrating Ojibwe legends and language with engaging activities. We then pilot tested the lessons with middle school youths from Fond du Lac Ojibwe School and Carlton Middle School in northern Minnesota. In this report, we describe our approach and our pilot test results.

We started with the fundamental assumption that contemporary AI life is rooted in historical trauma, defined as "the cumulative emotional and psychological wounding over one's lifetime from generation to generation following loss of lives, land, and vital aspects of culture" (Brave Heart, 2004, p. 7). Because healing and resiliency in response to historical trauma are found in spirituality or connection to culture and language (Walters, 1999; Walters, Simoni, & Evans-Campbell, 2002), we adopted a storytelling framework as a platform for our lessons.

The Ojibwe Culture and Financial Education

Family financial management involves cultural nuances that must be considered when education is developed and delivered (Danes, Garbow, & Jokela, 2016; Meraz, Petersen, Marczak, Brown, & Rajasekar, 2013). In Ojibwe culture, storytelling is a vital part of the oral learning tradition that "expresses values and beliefs, what it means to be human, our need to know why things are the way they are, and how to conduct ourselves in a good way" (Indian Land Tenure Foundation, n.d., "Teacher Background," para. 1). To honor cultural connections and engage youths, we designed financial lessons based on Ojibwe stories and legends. Our approach was not to bring culture back to the people, but rather to simply and humbly incorporate cultural aspects into practical skill-building tools for AI youths.

Methods

Two Extension educators taught the lessons at the Cloquet Forestry Center. We describe the process we used to develop the culturally relevant financial lessons in Table 1 and provide an overview of the four lessons in Table 2.

For each lesson, the legend was shared orally or read individually, and questions were asked about the story. Financial activities and discussion followed sharing of the legend, allowing participants to make connections between the legend and targeted financial concepts. For example, Lesson 3 focused on the importance of knowing how to make good use of resources. We began with reading The Giant Pike legend and discussed the meaning of selected Ojibwe words used in the legend. The educators engaged the youths in a dialogue about access to natural resources, such as through fishing, that added to AI family resources. Next the educators led an informational discussion, explaining that natural resources (e.g., fish, game, berries, wild rice, and maple syrup) are available only during particular seasons. Educators then led the youths through a reflection on the resources available in different seasons to emphasize the importance of planning ahead and saving natural resources for future use.

We collected quantitative survey data from youths about their financial choices before the program began (n = 21, 57% female, 95% AI, average age = 13.3 years) and again at the end of the program (n = 10, 60% female, 90% AI, average age = 13.9 years). Small sample sizes such as ours are common in survey data from the AI population (Dewees & Mottola, 2017). In the survey (see appendix), we asked youths to indicate how often they performed basic financial behaviors on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (all the time) (Take Charge America Institute for Consumer Financial Education and Research, 2012).

Evidence of Success

We report on three levels of evidence supporting this "idea at work."

The survey data did not indicate a change in the frequency of performing positive financial behaviors from youths' reports before and at the end of the program. This is not surprising given the small sample size.

However, the youths offered comments expressing high levels of interest in the legends and activities. In two separate lessons, the legend was familiar to the youths (e.g., "We know that story, our grandma talked to us about this"). After the Needs and Wants lesson, one youth commented, "I want to try to save!" In addition, educators noted that several youths knew many of the Ojibwe words. This familiarity is what seemed to most engage youths in the learning activity.

Finally, a NIFA representative attended one session and made the following qualitative observations in her written report:

The site visit was inspiring and educational . . . The afterschool program began with a traditional Ojibwe Smudging ceremony which is meant to cleanse the environment of negative influences. The Ojibwe Elder conducted the traditional ceremony and spoke on the connection between the Ojibwe people and nature . . . After introductions, the Extension educators led students through an activity using a traditional Ojibwe legend of a young boy going swimming against his grandmother's wishes and being eaten by a pike (fish) to frame the discussion. The Ojibwe language was intertwined throughout the conversations. There was a lot of laughter and youth were clearly engaged with the conversation . . . I learned so much about the culture and language of the Ojibwe Tribal community.

Implications for Reaching Underserved Youths

By weaving AI culture into each lesson through historic stories and Ojibwe language, we delivered lessons that included relevant anchors for understanding resource planning and saving. The use of active-learning strategies maintained the youths' interest and increased active engagement. Our approach proved to be a fun and meaningful way to create financial awareness among AI youths and may be of particular interest to Extension educators working with youths from culturally underserved audiences.

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge funding from NIFA through the Children, Youth, and Families at Risk program. Award #2015-41520-23815. Title: Fostering Achievement and Connections to Engage Students. Program director: Joyce Serido, PhD.

References

Anderson, W., Brantmeier, N., Jorgensen, M., & Lounsberg, A. (2010). Financial education in South Dakota's high Native-enrollment schools: Barriers and possibilities. Longmont, CO: First Nations Oweesat Corporation.

Brave Heart, M. Y. H. (2004). The historical trauma response among Natives and its relationship to substance abuse: A Lakota illustration. In E. Nebelkopf & M. Phillips (Eds.), Healing and mental health for Native Americans (pp. 7–18). Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press.

Danes, S., Garbow, J., & Jokela, R. H. (2016). Financial management and culture: The American Indian case. Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning, 27(1), 61–79.

Dewees, S., & Mottola, G. (2017). Race and financial capability in America: Understanding the Native American experience. FINRA Investor Education Foundation Report. Retrieved from http://www.usfinancialcapability.org/downloads/Native-American-Experience-Fin-Cap.pdf

Indian Land Tenure Foundation. (n.d.). Lessons of our land: American Indian storytelling among the Ojibwe [Curriculum]. Retrieved from http://www.lessonsofourland.org/lessons/american-indian-storytelling-among-ojibwe

Kabaci, M. J., & Cude, B. J. (2015). A Delphi study to identify personal finance core concepts and competencies of first-generation college students. Family & Consumer Sciences Research Journal, 43(3), 244–258.

Meraz, A. A., Petersen, C. M., Marczak, M. S., Brown, A., & Rajasekar, N. (2013). Understanding the long-term benefits of a Latino financial literacy education program. Journal of Extension, 51(6), Article 6FEA3. Available at: https://joe.org/joe/2013december/a3.php

Take Charge America Institute for Consumer Financial Education and Research. (2012). Family economics & financial education program evaluation, 2012. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona.

Treuer, A. (2010). Living our language: Ojibwe tales and oral histories. Saint Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press.

Walters, K. L. (1999). Urban American Indian identity attitudes and enculturation styles. Journal of Human Behavior and the Social Environment, 2, 163–178.

Walters, K. L., Simoni, J. M., & Evans-Campbell, T. (2002). Substance use among American Indian and Alaskan Natives: Incorporating culture in an "indigenist" stress coping paradigm. American Journal of Public Health, 92(4), S104–S117.

Appendix

Financial Behaviors Pre/Post Survey for American Indian Youths