When my son was four he announced
to me that “Indians only live in museums.” You can imagine my horror as I
rushed to supply him with examples of contemporary American Indian life.
According to this article in Indian
Country Today, most children still think that “All Indians Are Dead.” I don’t think study accurately reflects the reality on the ground in Montana
because the researcher only coded state mandated history standards, and thus
ignored Montana’s influential Essential Understandings Regarding MontanaIndians, which increasingly have guided classroom instruction since their
adoption in 2001. Nevertheless—the article impressed upon me how important and
transformative Indian Education for All has been—and how important it is to maintain
momentum.
The 9th Annual Indian Education For All Best
Practices Conference will be held in Bozeman this year on Feb. 22-24. Up to 14 CEUs will
be available. At the heart of the conference will be “Tribal Culture Immersion
Sessions” led by well-respected members of tribal culture committees, tribal
college faculty and other cultural experts. Space is limited for what looks to
be an incredible learning opportunity so I recommend registering early. Learn more here.
Looking for some plug-and-play IEFA
lesson plans? Here are ones we’ve created—almost all of which are primary
source based.
Of course, OPI has an even larger number of lesson plans, searchable by subject matter, grade level and topic.
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