“Rooted Together” introduces Muscogee culture to children beginning at birth

(MUSCOGEE RESERVATION) Catalyst News, a nonprofit sister organization to Crosswinds News, recently launched a new initiative designed to help Muscogee children ages 0 to 5 strengthen cultural identity through hands-on learning activities.

Developed in collaboration with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Native Youth Community Project (NYCP) and other MCN departments, the “Rooted Together” cultural toolkit helps families introduce children to Muscogee identity, heritage and culture through weekly activities, language resources and interactive learning materials - beginning even before birth.

Ten caregivers of Muscogee children are currently testing the toolkits, which include language lessons, music and movement activities, daily life activities, and crafts. 

NYCP Curriculum Specialist Cassandra Thompson helped develop the toolkit lessons and recorded training videos for the toolkits. 

“It's definitely about sovereignty, keeping those things sacred,” Thompson said. “The more that our tribe grows, and everybody's in different areas, it's harder to stay connected to our culture.” 

Thompson said the goal is to help caregivers keep the culture alive while helping children better understand who they are.

“Whether you're Native or not, if you have a Native child, you want them to know where they come from, where their roots are,” said Thompson.

Sarah Brewer, whose husband is Muscogee and whose two children are Muscogee citizens, said she appreciates having a resource to help her children learn more about their culture and background.

“We're big, big on education in this house, and big on family,” said Brewer. 

She told Crosswinds News their family has the original Muscogee allotments and the paperwork along with it, but the cultural connection has been lost throughout the years. 

“Teaching our kids the language and the stories is important to us and this was a great opportunity to do that,” Brewer said.

Their family began experimenting with the toolkit this week. Brewer said they are enjoying the process, with her older daughter especially appreciating the maps that show the tribal jurisdictions and boundaries.  

“I like how it was organized,” said Brewer. “It was easy to adjust it to both age groups of my kiddos. The older one got her own little notebook and was writing down all the words that were learning and using with the flashcards and the little videos from the QR codes. We’ve been touching on them throughout the week.”

For Thompson, sharing Muscogee culture with her own three children has been very important, as she has watched them all grow into tradition keepers themselves. 

Tragically, Thompson lost her daughter Sutv this past February, as the toolkit was being developed. The “Rooted Together” cultural toolkit has since been dedicated in Sutv’s memory.

“She was always with me,” said Thompson. “She was also always teaching. When people would ask if I could teach something, she might go and teach finger weaving or she might help me teach how to do moccasins. Or she might go with my mom to help do food or her sewing classes.”

Thompson said her daughter loved Muscogee culture and sharing it with others, and was studying to become a teacher before she passed away.

Thompson said that shared passion for teaching helped her continue working on the toolkit through her grief and gave her another way to stay connected to Sutv.

She said she hopes these toolkits will leave a lasting impact on the children who use them. 

“It creates these core memories of you actually sitting down with your children,” Thompson said. “And maybe someday when they are part of a ceremonial grounds or the Native churches or even just in a cultural setting, they understand it a little more because it's something that they learned through this kit.”

This project was made possible thanks to a grant from the Oklahoma Clearinghouse for Early Childhood Success.

Caregivers will continue using and testing the toolkits throughout the summer.

Following the pilot program, Catalyst News will analyze caregiver feedback to improve the toolkits and explore ways to make them more widely available for children to strengthen identity and connect to culture in the future.