Teaching Financial Skills Through Indigenous Games and Activities

Learning about finances doesn't have to be dull and dry. By incorporating Indigenous games and activities, you can make financial education engaging, fun, and culturally relevant for Native American youth. This guide explores how traditional games and activities can be adapted to teach valuable financial skills, empowering the next generation to build a strong financial future.

1. The Power of Play

Engaging Learning: Games and activities create an interactive and enjoyable learning environment, making financial concepts more accessible and memorable for young people.

Cultural Connection: Incorporating traditional games strengthens cultural identity and connects financial lessons to ancestral knowledge and values.

Hands-On Experience: Hands-on activities provide practical experience with financial concepts, such as budgeting, saving, and decision-making.

2. Adapting Traditional Games

The Gift Game: Many Native American cultures have traditions of gift-giving and reciprocity. Adapt these traditions into a game where children learn about budgeting, saving, and making thoughtful choices about spending.

Counting Games: Traditional counting games using beads, sticks, or stones can be adapted to teach basic math skills, counting money, and understanding value.

Board Games: Create or adapt board games that incorporate financial concepts, such as budgeting for expenses, making investment decisions, or managing resources.

Storytelling and Role-Playing: Use storytelling and role-playing to illustrate financial scenarios, such as planning for a powwow, starting a small business, or saving for a future goal.

3. Creating New Activities

Mock Marketplace: Set up a mock marketplace where children can practice buying and selling goods, learning about budgeting, pricing, and making informed purchasing decisions.

Community Service Projects: Engage youth in community service projects that involve financial planning and budgeting, such as fundraising for a local cause or organizing a community garden.

Financial Literacy Workshops: Host workshops that incorporate traditional games and activities to teach financial skills in a culturally relevant context.

4. Connecting to Cultural Values

Respect for Resources: Emphasize the importance of respecting resources and avoiding wastefulness, connecting financial responsibility to traditional values of sustainability and environmental stewardship.

Long-Term Vision: Teach the value of long-term planning and saving for the future, drawing connections to the Seven Generations principle and the importance of providing for future generations.

Community Well-being: Highlight how financial literacy can empower individuals to contribute to their community, support tribal initiatives, and build a stronger collective future.