A Culturally Relevant Approach to Observing American Indian Heritage Month: Remember the 9 I’s

Indian/Native American Heritage Month has been observed in the month of November in the United States for more than 30 years, having been signed into law in 1990. Despite having been recognized for decades, American Indian/Native American Heritage Month is often ignored by teachers or observed sketchily. In 2021, a teacher’s efforts to teach Native American history resulted in mockery. A 2020 article by Madeline Heim revealed that teachers don’t feel equipped to teach Native American history though they are expected to do so.

This month, I offer the 9 I’s to guide teachers in their commitment to teach the truth.   

• Indigenous. Teach students the term “indigenous” and help them to understand why Native Americans are regarded as “native” to the land now known as the United States of America. Students should know that Native Americans were the first peoples to live in the Americas. The term “native” should not be associated with pejorative terms like “primitive” or “uncultured. 
  
• Indian. Explain to students that the label Indian was externally imposed upon Native Americans. Indian is believed to derive from Christopher Columbus when he arrived in the Americas thinking that he had encountered inhabitants of the country of India. Although some Native Americans still call themselves Indian or American Indian, most prefer to be called by their tribe’s names.   
  
• Identity. As with people of most cultures, identity is important to Native Americans. When schools use Native American cultural symbols and traditions as chants, mascots and mottos, they trivialize Native American identities. Talk to students about the ways these school practices can lead to stereotypes and objectification. Stress to students the importance of portraying Native American identities in humanizing ways.  
  
• Invasion. Make sure that students know that Native American nations were (mostly) violently invaded by European colonizers. Teach them the devastating effects that European invasion of the Americas had upon the peoples who occupied these lands (and the land itself). This is especially important when “celebrating” Thanksgiving. Learn the truth and unlearn the inaccuracies about factors such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs, American Indian Treaties, Westward Expansion, and reservations. Use this website to visually illustrate these ideas.  
  
• Invisibility. Teach students that Native Americans still exist. According to the Administration for Native Americans, “There are 5.2 million American Indians and Alaska Natives making up approximately 2 percent of the U.S. population. There are 14 states with more than 100,000 American Indian or Alaska Native residents.” It’s important that students know that Native Americans are not extinct. A New York Times article describes Native American students’ feelings of invisibility. Engage students in conversations about how encounters with European colonizers threatened the existence of Native Americans. Teachers can make Native Americans visible in their classroom by using culturally relevant instructional materials. (See instructional resources below.) Delve into contemporary Native Americans who are helping to shape the country, like the ones recently elected to the U.S. Congress. Discuss current issues facing Native Americans, like Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and the battle to protect sacred lands. Learn more about issues impacting Native Americans.   
  
• Immigration. Native American Heritage Month presents teachers an opportunity to discuss how immigration has shaped the face of the land now known as the United States of America. It’s important for teachers to point-out that, except for Native Americans and enslaved Africans who were forcefully brought to the U.S., everyone in our country is an immigrant or descendent of immigrants. This lesson is particularly important to resist nativist sentiments, such as “Go back to your country.” Guided by questions surrounding belonging, ownership of land, and more, students can explore solutions to complex challenges. Lessons like this are essential to reducing xenophobia.  
  
• Independence (Sovereignty).  It’s important that students know about settler genocide, or the ways that European invasion, land theft, and Indian removal decimated autonomous pre-Columbian tribes. Since that time, Tribal Nations have fought to retain and maintain sovereignty, or the right to govern themselves. Issues of sovereignty still exist. Use this month as an opportunity to have meaningful dialogues about tribal independence within a larger governmental structure.   
  
• Instructional resources. Draw upon resources from the National Museum of the American Indian. They offer workshops for educators, lesson plans, student programs, and more. Similarly, Native American Heritage Month and the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) have a wealth of materials to support teachers. Select instructional materials that do not portray stereotypes and do not present a whitewashed version of history. Teaching for Change offers such resources.  
  
• Include or ignore? Teachers’ values are reflected in what they include in their curriculum and what they ignore. Teaching students about Native Americans/American Indians during the month of November and throughout the school year suggests to students that teachers value the cultures and histories that typically get marginalized in schools. Their refusal to ignore this content demonstrates respect for diversity and their commitment to inclusivity. Many of these topics complement states’ existing history and culture standards. Teachers must teach with intentionality and authenticity. They don’t have to be Native American/American Indian scholars to integrate Native American/American Indian studies into their classroom. They can learn along with their students by taking them on a journey of discovery!