Vow to up Indigenous portrayals
The state Assembly Education Committee and Select Committee on Native American Affairs met with educators and tribal leaders Wednesday for a joint informational hearing on improving Native American curriculum and student achievement in California schools.
Assemblymember Jose Medina (D-Riverside) began by criticizing a recent incident at John W. North High School where a math teacher was recorded mimicking Native American stereotypes and dancing in a faux headdress.
“This is fundamental to what we are discussing here today. … At one of our local high schools a mathematics teacher was teaching a lesson where she included a mnemonic device and the teacher began to imitate Native Americans to the point that a student in the class who felt uncomfortable began recording the incident,” he said. “Assemblymember Ramos, Assemblymember Cervantes and I all condemn the teacher’s behavior which was highly inappropriate and offensive.”
Medina noted that such behavior was not an isolated incident.
“Nor was this the first time in any classroom where Native Americans have been represented in such a trite, inaccurate, and harmful way,” he said. “This has been an ongoing failure across the American school system for generations and continues to be a problem that we cannot ignore.”
Oftentimes, Medina said students’ sole interaction with Indigenous culture in the classroom is with “a cartoonish school mascot or an inaccurate, Eurocentric account of history.”
“Not only has this prevented students from having a richer, more accurate understanding of our complex history, but the consequences have been especially harmful for Native American students,” he said. “… We must do better.”
Medina cited a series of studies conducted by the
Obama administration in 2014 that examined the impacts of Native American student achievement and representation in the classroom. Following the investigation, the administration declared a state of emergency for Native youth and their education, he said.
“Among the problems included were underachievement, low retention, limited emotional support, and lack of college preparedness,” he said. “Those observations were made seven years ago. Little has been done in the succeeding time in terms of representation of Native American culture and student support.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and the Northern California Indian Development Council released a report last year that revealed the vast disparities in education outcomes for Native American students in Humboldt County.
The report, “Failing Grade: The Status of Native American Education in Humboldt County,” exposed a system that has repeatedly failed Indigenous students by not providing the skills they need to succeed in school or the workforce.
Following the damning report, Humboldt County educators and tribal leaders held a series of roundtable discussions to explore new ways to engage Indigenous students in the classroom.
Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-Highland) said California schools still lack support for Native American students and fail to provide “a true portrayal of California’s First People.”
“We need to continue to further discuss, not only California Indian culture in the school system, but all Native American culture and the teachings,” he said. “… When you look at the state of California, we’re home to more Native American peoples … but there is still blatant disresepct to the culture that was first here.”
Mary Levi, a fourthgrade teacher and Chair of the California Teachers Association’s American Indian/Alaska Native Caucus, said the Native American curriculum “is an essential component of a culturally diverse education.”
“We continue to find educators needing to have accurate information and curriculum to present to their students. These are all a small step in achieving a much larger picture,” she said. “Teachers face many challenges in finding adequate curriculum resources on this issue. I am fortunate to have local connections to accurate information that don’t romanticize history and present the presence of Native American people.”
Margaret Robbins, Indian Education and Native Language director for the Klamath-Trinity Joint Unified School District, said her district has built a curriculum focused on North Coast tribes.
“Enrollment is approximately 1,012 students, and about 87% of them are Native American,” she said. “In order to meet the unique needs of the students and families we serve, the Indian Education Program developed kindergarten through 12th-grade curriculum based on the history and culture of the local tribes. Yurok, Hupa, Karuk Indian Land Tenure Curriculum.”
Through the district’s curriculum, students have studied local native languages, gone on field trips to traditional village sites, attended ceremonial dances, and explored their natural environments.
“We’re trying to instill in them a strong sense of place and pride in who they are and where they come from,” Robbins said. “…We do our best to make our students feel valued and proud of who they are. In closing, I’d like to recommend that you dedicate funding for an oversight committee to create a framework and establish a process for Native American curriculum adoption to be taught in the public schools.”
Several other speakers reiterated Robbins’ call to bolster Native American curriculum but acknowledged that much of the work begins at a local level.
“Government to government relationships matter locally,” said Heather Hostler, executive director of California Indian Legal Services, during public comment. “…I think statewide curriculums are important as frameworks but, like Assemblyman Ramos pointed out, we are not monolithic. It needs to be applicable to each regional area because of the diversity.”
As the discussion came to a close, Ramos underscored the need to continue the conversation and to do more to support Native American students moving forward.
“These personal stories that you’ve heard today aren’t just about the past, they’re still happening today in our school system. There are some that have not even come to light,” he said.
More information on Wednesday’s hearing can be found at assembly. ca.gov.