Upstander Academy Workshops for the National Park Service

Why upstander academy?

As the United States prepares to commemorate the 250th anniversary of its founding, we seek to support a broader understanding of the American tapestry by recentering the history and contributions of persons Indigenous to what is now the United States. For too long, the teaching of American history has elided, avoided, or distorted the past of the first peoples to inhabit this land as evidenced in the exhibitions and programming of museums and public history sites. This harms us all. It harms those of us who are non-Native because it gives us a distorted sense of the past and our place in it, and it denies us an appreciation of Indigenous knowledge systems that represent thousands of years of experimentation and observation. It also harms Native peoples because it demeans and erases them from the history of the United States and confines them to narrow spaces where their contributions are labeled as folklore, myths, or “ancient wisdom.” 

To strengthen the American tapestry and weave together past, present, and future, we must acknowledge that all voices, knowledge systems, and histories matter, and that the Original peoples of this land have much to contribute to everyone’s understanding of the history of the land, our country’s origins, democratic principles of governance, and guidelines for how human beings can live in respectful and caring relationship to the land, waterways, and all forms of life. The Upstander Academy, founded in 2016, has developed an approach that addresses this need by working with educators, museum professionals, faith leaders, and employees of the National Park Service.

Scope of services

Upstander Academy staff offer a three step process to support your needs before, during, and after a training workshop, as outlined below:

Step 1: Workshop Planning Meeting

Upstander Academy staff will schedule a planning meeting to prepare for your workshop. The meeting will cover these topics:

  • logistics:  when and where the training will take place

  • information about the participants: roles and the region they serve

  • NPS’s desired learning objectives for the cohort

Based on the information collected during the planning meeting(s), the Upstander Academy faculty will select the appropriate training modules to include in your workshop.

Step 2: Workshop Delivery

All Upstander Academy workshops include the following training modules:

  1. Introduction to Key Concepts
    During the workshop, Upstander Academy faculty introduce and unpack with participants the meaning and relevancy of colonialism, settler colonialism, erasure, un-erasure, genocide, Indigenous knowledge systems, survivance, historical and intergenerational trauma, and positionality. 

  2. At least one documentary film module
    Upstander Project’s documentary films focus on Indigenous history and futures. The faculty will select the most appropriate documentary film(s) to include in the workshop. Each film module includes viewing and group discussion, as well as the introduction of viewer guides and other resources for all participants. NPS workshops often include one or more of the following film modules:

    • Dawnland

    • Bounty 

    • Weckuwapok

3. Step Into History of Original Peoples (SIHOP)
SIHOP, or Step Into History of Original Peoples, is an adaptation of The Blanket Exercise founded by KAIROS, a Canadian ecumenical organization. SIHOP is an impactful and approachable tool to teach the history of the land upon which the United States was established. It relies on a carefully worded script that includes the narration of a series of primary sources (treaties, speeches, policy statements) that tell the story of the land, its people, and what transpired after Europeans came here not just to trade but to occupy the land and build a new society with a new narrative governed by new norms and structures. Upstander Academy staff and faculty narrate the script and organize participants into a variety of roles that are activated at different moments. SIHOP invites participants to fully engage their heads, hearts, and bodies, to the best of their abilities. Most participants stand during this experiential activity that compresses the vast and complex history of the land and its peoples into ninety minutes. At key moments, participants are asked to sit down, depending on their pre-assigned roles.

SIHOP will be carefully and thoughtfully debriefed in Talking Circles that create a safe and brave space for sharing and deepened reflection.

All Upstander Academy workshops are designed with the following outcomes in mind:

  • Learn about impact of settler colonialism on the land and U.S. history

  • Wrestle with definition of genocide and its applicability

  • Interrogate the relationship between genocide and settler colonialism

  • Watch documentary films about Indigenous history and futures, and discuss their relevance 

  • Consider new approaches to your work based on new knowledge

Step 3: Post-workshop Follow-up Sessions

Upstander Academy faculty are available to NPS staff after the workshop for follow up meetings so participants can pose new questions, continue the conversation, unpack the applicability of what they learned to their ongoing work, and probe more deeply with support from the UA faculty. 

Workshop Pricing

Upstander Academy’s workshop training modules are available to NPS for procurement via Standard Form 182 (SF182).

Upstander Academy offers several training modules that can be combined to meet the learning objectives for a particular cohort, therefore the total cost of your workshop will depend primarily on which training modules are delivered. There may be an additional charge for large cohorts that require additional faculty.

A one-day workshop for up to 8 hours will accommodate $50k worth of training modules. Each additional partial day or full day of modules will be billed as a separate workshop.