The Ways, Prayers in a Song: Learning Language through Hip-Hop

In Prayers in a Song, Tall Paul explores the connections between language, identity, and landscape. He raps about how language shapes identity, and about his own sense of disconnection from the lands and traditions of his ancestors. His original hip-hop brings together the modern and the traditional, illustrating some of the struggles of the urban Native experience.

The Ways is a series of stories from Native communities around the central Great Lakes. This online educational resource explores connections between traditional ways and those of today. Additional resources including an interactive map, student learning questions, and an essay can be found at: theways.org/story/prayers-in-a-song