Traditional Arts Knowledge, Traditional Ecological Lore: The Intersection of Art Education and Environmental Education

Abstract

Teaching about Native artworks as part of school arts curriculum can serve to pass on traditional ecological knowledge while also contextualizing colonialism's influence on traditional and contemporary Native arts practices. This article explores how schools can actively engage in community arts partnerships with American Indians who have traditional cultural knowledge and can construct standards-based multidisciplinary curricula true to both art and science disciplines. An example from my recent study of a culturally relevant arts program highlights the work in classrooms of a Native basketmaker who did just that.