Tuscarora School celebrates culture

Niagara Wheatfield Tribune, May 24, 2007

Students and families at Tuscarora Elementary School celebrated their heritage last Thursday on “Culture Night.”

“It’s really our whole school getting together,” explained event coordinator Joanne Weinholtz, the Culture teacher at Tuscarora Elementary, where approximately 130 students from the Tuscarora Reserve attend school in kindergarten through sixth grade.

“It gives our people the opportunity to show things that they’ve carried on,” said Chief Leo Henry of the Turtle Clan, who attended the event, along with Chief Stuart Patterson of the Bear Clan. The language is alive and well at the school, Henry said.

The event was open to the public and integrated the curriculum in displays of art, music, dance, language and literature. Patterson said the traditions are stronger today because of the language programs that the Tuscaroras have been able to re-introduce into the school curriculum. Betsy Bissell, a language teacher, said the language classes were restarted in the 1970s, but a whole generation of students were denied instruction in their own language.