A staggering 87 percent of references to American Indians in
all 50 states’ academic standards portray them in a pre-1900 context. That means students are graduating from high
school without even basic knowledge of contemporary Native challenges or
culture, said Sarah Shear, associate professor of social studies education at
Pennsylvania State University in Altoona.
Shear, who this year earned a PhD in learning, teaching and
curriculum from the University of Missouri, spent two years examining
state-mandated U.S. history standards, coding each state six times in an effort
to understand what students are learning about Natives. The project began when Shear was teaching an
undergraduate class in multi-cultural education. When she asked what students
knew about America’s indigenous people, hands shot into the air. “What they told me is that they learned about
Thanksgiving and Columbus Day,” she said. “Every once in a while a student
would mention something about the Trail of Tears. It was incredibly
frustrating. They were coming to college believing that all Indians are dead.”
Shear partnered with other researchers to analyze states’
academic standards, lengthy documents that dictate what topics teachers should
emphasize, including names of important people, dates, events and concepts.
Textbook authors often tailor materials to meet those standards. The study revealed a shameful lack of
meaningful Native content, Shear said. “All
of the states are teaching that there were civil ways to end problems and that
the Indian problem was dealt with nicely,” she said. “They’re teaching that
this is what needed to happen in order for the United States to become the
United States.”
The study also revealed that all 50 states lack any content
about current Native events or challenges. “Nothing about treaties, land
rights, water rights,” Shear said. “Nothing about the fact that tribes are
still fighting to be recognized and determine sovereignty.” In some states, politics plays a huge role in
determining academic standards, Shear said. Politicians, not educators, decide
the “grand story” that teachers will tell students. In other states, standards
may be simply—and shockingly—out of date. Either way, Shear said, the effect is
a white-washing of history, a focus on the Euro-American story that is so
narrow there’s no room for an indigenous narrative.
Shear’s research is being published in an upcoming issue of
Theory and Research in Social Education. Meanwhile, here’s a snapshot of her
findings:
- Across all the states, 87 percent of references to Natives portray them prior to 1900, with no clear vision of what happened after that.
- In half of the states, no individual Natives or specific tribes are named.
- Of the Natives named in standards, the most common are Sacagawea, Squanto, Sequoyah and Sitting Bill.
- Only 62 Native nations are named in standards; most are mentioned by only one state.
- One nation, the Iroquois, is mentioned in six states.
- Only four states—Arizona, Washington, Oklahoma and Kansas—include content about Indian boarding schools.
- New Mexico is the only state to mention, by name, a member of the American Indian Movement.
- Washington is the only state to use the word “genocide” in relation to Natives. That word is used in the standards for fifth grade U.S. history.
- Nebraska textbooks portray Natives as lazy, drunk or criminal.
- Ninety-percent of all manuscripts written about Native people are authored by non-Native writers.
Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/11/17/all-indians-are-dead-least-thats-what-most-schools-teach-children-157822
