Guilford County students learn about Native American culture from members of NC tribes

Guilford County Schools elementary students learned about North Carolina Native history and culture this week. 

The Native Literacy Live virtual assembly kicked off with song and dance from Guilford County community members of different tribes. 

Stephen Bell is a member of the Lumbee Tribe and the coordinator for the American Indian Education Department which hosted the event. He said the assembly was meant to supplement what students are learning in class.

“I invited all of your teachers to join us so that you could learn a little bit more about Native history that you might not have gotten from your book, or your textbook or what your teacher was sharing,” Bell said. 

About 2,000 students from 28 schools tuned in to learn about Native regalia, songs, dances, food and history. 

Patrick Suarez, a member of the Meherrin Tribe, taught students how to say "hello" and "thank you" in the Native language. Raven Dial-Stanley of the Lumbee Tribe held up a map of the state and pointed out different tribal territories. 

“We actually have a very wide variety of different tribes that inhabit this beautiful state," she said. "And one thing that's amazing is a lot of areas that you probably are already familiar with and know, actually are home to many Native Americans.”

She also taught students the “round dance,” or as she likes to call it, the “friendship dance.” 

“It's honestly a dance where we bring our Native and non-Native brothers and sisters together to truly show community and to truly show how we come together as one," she said. 

Guilford County Schools is home to Native students from more than 35 different tribes and nations.

Amy Diaz covers education for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.