Lorèn Spears

Lorèn Spears, MsEd, (Narragansett/Niantic) is an educator, essayist, artist and two-term Tribal Councilwoman of the Narragansett Tribe in Charlestown, Rhode Island, where she currently resides. She is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island and the University of new England; and taught for over two decades, including 12 years in the Newport Public School system working with underserved children. Spears is also the Executive Director of one of the oldest tribal museums in the country--the Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum, located in Exeter, RI. This site was originally home to the Dovecrest Restaurant and Trading Post, founded by Eleanor and Ferris Dove. A few years after the museum was founded by Eva Butler and Princess Red Wing in the 1950s, the Dove's donated their property to provide the museum a permanent location.

Native American Education

The museum has helped her with many of her personal endeavors, including the publishing of her essay in the book The Pursuit of Happiness: An Indigenous View, the Narragansett People Speak in 2005 as well as serving as the site for her school. Spears is a strong advocate for integrating more Native history and experiential learning into school curricula, as well as standing up for Native American children in the public school systems. As a child, Spears struggled to reach the caliber of her first grade classmates in her public school class in rural Rhode Island. She reflects on the experience, stating that “it was the perfect story of the low expectations white teachers have for Native American children” (Coeyman).

In an unfortunate sense of déjà vu, Spears watched her eldest son struggle through first and second grade. This is when she decided to take some action; the discrimination of, and lack of respect for, Native children had gone on too long. Because of this, in 2003, Lorèn founded the Nuweetooun-meaning "our home"- School. This was a K-8th grade day school for Native American children (but also open to the public), located on the museum site, that used a curriculum based in Native American tradition and culture as well as standard academic subjects like math, literature and science. Her mission for the school was laid out in her essay featured in The Pursuit of Happiness:

We are committed to an experiential, integrated and collaborative learning environment in which we strive to develop well-rounded, enthusiastic and self-motivated learners. They experience education that embraces their Learning styles, honors their multiple intelligences, and enriches their educational, social spiritual and cultural development.

Lorèn has achieved this idea of experiential learning in various ways including having her students learn to work with and appreciate nature by trekking through a nearby forest to identify various trees, animal tracks and vegetation, making a gallon of maple syrup from 40 gallons of maple sap and travelling to Bluff Point State Park in Groton, CT to receive a hands-on lesson on “how archaeologists use fine-mesh screens and water to recover small-scale remains” (Silliman). She has also taught her students about the importance of the Three Sisters, which consist of corn, beans and squash, to the Narragansett people and many other Native American tribes. Each student at the Nuweetooun School, therefore, created either a picture or a poem about the Three Sisters, which were inspired by the Three Sisters Garden located on the grounds of the Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum. These depictions were collected and composed into a book, The Three Sisters: Pictures and Poems. The proceeds from selling this book were incorporated back into funding the school.

Narragansett People and Nature

In another endeavor sponsored and published by the museum, Lorèn, her mother Dawn Dove, her daughter Laurel and her grandmother Eleanor Spears Dove collaborated with other family members, tribe members and artist Holly Ewald to create “an environmentally-themed collage art book that presents Indigenous perspectives on the history of the Mashapaug Pond, the last remaining natural freshwater body in Providence, Rhode Island” (Farris). At one time in the history of the Narragansett People, the pond served as a venue for the young people to learn how to fish, swim and navigate canoes; it was also a very important factor in the physical and psycho-spiritual well being of the Narragansett community (Farris). Lorèn further explores the importance of nature in her poem “Roaring Brook,” which has yet to be published:

Every spring the brook’s water was glistening and full
Roaring from Arcadia, over falls and rocks;
We swam all summer in the pool
We thought it was deep
Our memories fun-filled and cool

Like the Mashapaug Pond, this brook served as a place for young Narragansett people to explore. Unfortunately, due to more than a century of industrial pollution and surface water runoff, the Mashapaug Pond can no longer contribute to the lives of the Narragansett community. However, Lorèn further describes in “Roaring Brook” how her community worked hard to preserve these important natural landmarks and the significance of continuing the preservation:

Grandfather, Chief Roaring Bull,
Always kept the brook clean…
…So long as we heed nature’s call:
Care for Mother Earth and her creatures
So that Roaring Brook can be enjoyed by all

In addition to heeding nature’s call, Lorèn strived to enrich her students with the culture in which they live, and grew up. As a result, every day at the Nuweetooun School begins with a Friendship Circle, a tradition of Narragansett people. Other cultural classroom activities include beadwork, finger weaving, basketry and the use of some Narragansett words (Hopkins).

Struggles and Achievements

Unfortunately, the Nuweetooun School was faced with a series of crises from 2009-2010. In 2009, the water pipes in the school building were discovered to have traces of metal in them, thus making the water unsafe to drink. Since the school is a non-profit organization, they relied on grants and fundraising to fund their school. With the help of this fundraising, the school was able to fix the plumbing issues in July 2009 (Thanks). The following year, the school was faced with more problems. In March 2010, the Supreme Court made a ruling that removed 31 acres of land out of trust from the Narragansett reservation in Charlestown. Because the tribe had much less land for money-making ventures, they had less money to provide to the school. In addition, Rhode Island was hit with devastating floods, which forced the school to go on hiatus, where it remains today (Davis). In light of these events, in 2010 Spears was also chosen as one of eleven Extraordinary Women honorees for Rhode Island. This award exemplifies the very nature of Lorèn Spears—extraordinary. In the words of Narragansett Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas, the Narragansett People “…support her in all she is doing and seeking to accomplish. She is an exceptional woman…” (Rovetti).

References

Coeyman, Marjorie (29 July 2003). "The school that Loren built; Native American children lag behind other minorities in academic achievement. One Rhode Island woman wants to change that." The Christian Science Monitor.

Davis, Paul (Mar. 2009). "U.S. Supreme Court ruling latest setback for Indians". The Providence Journal.

Farris, Phoebe (September 2012). "Through Our Eyes: An Indigenous View of Mashapaug Pond". Cultural Survival Quarterly. Retrieved 7 April 2013.

Hopkins, John Christian. "Nuweetooun - Our Home - School". News from Indian Country.

Rovetti, Leslie (29 March 2010). "It's official: Narragansett educator, curator Loren Spears is extraordinary". Westerly Sun. Retrieved 6 April 2013.

Spears, Cassius, Jr., comp. The Three Sisters: Pictures and Poems. Exeter: Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum/ Nuweetooun School, 2009. Print.

Spears, Loren (2005). The Pursuit of Happiness: An Indigenous View of Education. Exeter, RI: Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum. pp. xx.

"Thanks to You, WE REACHED OUR GOAL!" Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum and Nuweetooun School. Nuweetooun School, 2 June 2009. Web. 4 Apr. 2013.

Through Our Eyes: An Indigenous View of Mashapaug Pond. Exeter, RI: Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum. 2012. pp. xx.