November was Native American Heritage Month. All Ponca City Public Schools have been learning about the culture and traditions and have been celebrating their heritage.

Students in Rena Clyburn’s class watched a short film about a Native American woman, Marie Wilcox, who is the last fluent speaker of Wukchumni. For seven years, she created a Dictionary in order to keep her language and culture alive. Students used the information to engage in learning activities, to explore the cultural element of language, and to consider the impacts of language loss and language revitalization efforts on Native communities. The five tribes studied include: Ponca, Tonkawa, Osage, Missouri, and Kaw.

In Steve Pensoneau’s Title VI classroom, students created two poster boards with information regarding Native American service in the military – “American Legion Post 38: First All Native American Legion” and “Veterans Day: Numerous Native Americans who have been a part of the American Military since the founding of the American republic.” They also created a third poster board chronicling the history of a sport/leisure activity called the Ponca Shinny Game.