Why Indigenous curriculum will benefit students
During my senior year at Arcata High School, I, LeMonie Hutt, and a fellow senior named Isaiah Levy have worked with the Northern Humboldt Union High School District (NHUHSD) and Save California Salmon (SCS) to implement the Advocacy and Water Protection in Native California Curriculum into classrooms in the NHUHSD district.
I am a member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe, President of Arcata High’s Native American Club, and an activist. For my senior year, I wanted to create a more inclusive environment for future students at my high school. My friend, Isaiah, is a student advocate and leader at Arcata High School. He was equally as excited to create this space in academia for Indigenous knowledge.
Save California Salmon created the Advocacy and Water Protection in Native California high school curriculum. The curriculum aims to highlight the voices of tribal members to add an Indgenous perspective in the education on local tribal sovereign rights, history, sciences and environmental issues. This curriculum allows tribes to exercise their right to self-representation in the American educational system, providing tribes autonomy over Indigenous knowledge.
The curriculum introduces Indigenous perspectives on the management of land and water and on tackling the climate crisis. The curriculum is community-centered and has been created by local Native high school students, educators and experts in their fields.
The goal is to plant the seed of Indigenous knowledge in multiple academic disciplines, including environmental science, culinary, social studies and language arts, and to create a learning environment where Indigenous knowledge is not othered.
Isaiah and I began the journey of structural change by spending our free time studying the curriculum in order to best represent its importance. Together, we attended meetings with Save California Salmon to learn the implementation process. At school, we began by going to teachers to pitch the curriculum and although we received supportive feedback it was clear we needed to go bigger.
We then introduced the curriculum to the district’s superintendent, and after some consideration, he enthusiastically joined our project. At this point, I was able to introduce the NHUHSD superintendent to the Save California Salmon team, who now meet together frequently. With the help of instructional coaches from Arcata and McKinleyville high schools, the district was able to create an Indiginous Knowledge Fellowship.
On April 4, 2022, at 4 p.m. at Arcata High School, a historic celebration occurred for the teachers who agreed to take on the fellowship.
The event began with the vice president of the McKinleyville Native American Club giving a land acknowledgment and singing a ceremonial song. Teachers who attended the event had a chance to hear a speech on the importance of introducing Indigenous perspectives to academia by Dr. Cutcha Rilsing Baldy, Native American studies department chair at Cal Poly Humboldt. The event then featured Save California Salmon staff who shared their enthusiasm for seeing the teachers’ support for the resources provided by SCS. The event ended with the high school instructional coaches promoting the Teacher Book Club for Native American Literature.
Isaiah and I were proud to see the impact our student advocacy had created in the school district.
Our district is changing the education system as we know it. In the near future, the Indigenous Knowledge Fellowship holds the potential to create a civic duty by American citizens to protect Native Tribes’ sovereignty and our natural resources for future generations. My personal excitement for the implementation of the advocacy and water protection curriculum is in its ability to connect us all.
For example, in the advocacy and water protection in Native California curriculum, there is a lesson plan for abalone that focuses on its cultural and ecological importance. Abalone can be found on almost every coastline around the world and has been used by Indigenous peoples since time immemorial. When I see another person wearing their regalia that uses abalone in their culture, I feel an immediate connection with them. This is because it shows we both have built a relationship with abalone and have a deep connection to the land.
There are similar lessons regarding subjects like fire, traditional foods and salmon.
In this living curriculum, the material challenges students and teachers to find ways they have connected with land. For this reason, I feel that the curriculum has the potential to create a deeper connection and appreciation of culture across borders. Isaiah and I are delighted to be a part of such a monumental effort and appreciate the community’s readiness to do the work of equity.