A teaching deck for Native American culture, built by educators.
Thiyóšpaye Culture Cards™ is a physical deck of 70+ cards — Volume 1 — that introduces Native American history, values, places, legends and contemporary leaders one card at a time. Each card carries a subject on the front and a short, plain-language explanation on the back, so a teacher, a parent or a grandparent can start a real conversation without preparing a lecture first.
What this site does
This site is where the deck lives online. You can read about the eight categories of knowledge in Volume 1 — the Seven Lakota Values, the Seven Rites, sacred sites, the South Dakota reservations, Lakota legends, the major spirits, American Indian leaders and notable Native Americans — and see sample cards before you buy. Teachers can preview the fronts and backs of real cards to plan a lesson, then order the deck directly, or download a printable order form for a school purchase order.
It is also a community library. Educators and families who use the deck can share photographs and stories of what happened in their classroom or at their kitchen table. Every submission is read by a person before it is published, so the library stays useful and respectful rather than becoming a social feed.
Behind all of it is one idea: Native American education should be accurate, present-tense and made by people who know the communities it describes.
Thiyóšpaye — Native American Culture Cards™ — 70+ cards, printed in Volume 1.
Who the deck is for
Teachers and schools
Social studies, history and language arts classrooms that need accurate, respectful material a teacher can pick up and use the same morning.
Homeschool families
Parents building a lesson around a single card, letting the conversation carry the rest of the day.
Tribal and community programs
Libraries, cultural centers and awareness events that want a doorway into a culture that is living, not historical.
Curious adults
Anyone who would rather learn from a deck than from a search results page.
Blackbird Partnership Inc.
Blackbird Partnership Inc. is a collection of like-minded individuals with more than sixty combined years of experience dedicated to improving the quality of Native American education. The partnership supports vertical integration in education combined with cultural infusion — a holistic approach that bridges foundational knowledge with real-world application and embeds cultural values throughout the process.
The Culture Cards are that philosophy made tangible. They were written by the partnership, reviewed for accuracy and framed for classroom use, and they are sold and shipped by the same small team that made them.
Questions about the content, a purchase order or a workshop go directly to Sue Cole, Blackbird Partnership Inc..