A chance to teach Native American history
George Washington would have flunked American history. As if myths about cutting down cherry trees and having wooden teeth haven’t caused enough issues, consider the lessons offered by Darlene Kascak, director of educational programming for the Institute for American Studies in Washington (the one in Connecticut). Kascak notes Washington never mentioned Native Americans when he proposed a national day of thanks in 1789.
“This holiday was something fabricated,” said Kascak, a member of the Kent-based Schaghticoke Tribal Nation.
The perspective of Thanksgiving as a day of mourning for many Native Americans is just one of countless lessons that should be taught in American classrooms.
There is still resistance to getting the story right. A proposal to add Native American history to the curriculum in Connecticut classrooms failed in the 2019 General Assembly. But recent history could reshape this one. The Black Lives Matter movement sensitized many people, including lawmakers, to the need to embrace policies of inclusion.
So state Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, is wisely trying to seize the moment by reviving her 2019 legislation. Her last effort came up short in deference to a mandate for the instruction of Black and Latino history. It would have been appropriate to have invited educators to craft a lesson plan that is inclusive to Native Americans as well, but none of this is easy.
This is not Osten’s only initiative related to Native American culture. Others will surely seem like easy fixes to some state residents, and heresy to others.
They include the removal of a statue of U.S. Capt. John Mason, who led the Mystic Massacre, from a niche on the exterior of the Capitol in Hartford. A gallery of photos of supposed iconic Connecticut figures currently includes a Native American from Pennsylvania, which Osten would favor being replaced by something more appropriate to our state’s tribal nations (her district includes the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation in Ledyard and the Mohegan Reservation in Uncasville).
Like many lessons about Black and Latino history, these would likely be challenging passages in textbooks.
“It’s about the loss of land, genocide and the continued marginalization of people,” Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation Chairman Rodney Butler said of the history of Connecticut’s First Peoples.
The bill, which would add lessons to social studies classes, has the support of the five tribes recognized in Connecticut, which also include the Golden Hill Paugussett Indian Nation, the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation and the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation.
Some schools already have related offerings, which could serve as a road map moving forward. But the potential is great, and must include input from the tribes and other historians. For many teachers, it could be akin to a coach taking on a sport they have little experience with.
The state Board of Education’s approval of a curriculum for Black and Latino courses this week made Connecticut the first in the nation to require such classes.
That’s proof enough that history can be changed.
The perspective of Thanksgiving as a day of mourning for many Native Americans is just one of countless lessons that should be taught in American classrooms.