Omitting Indigenous History

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Arizona State University *

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MISC

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History

Date

Oct 30, 2023

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docx

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Uploaded by AgentBison3853

Omitting Indigenous History Dear Board of Education, The erasure of indigenous history being taught in American history in the school system has become overly accepted. Teaching and educational systems are failing to give a real account of where America began. Allowing the tribes and nations of Indigenous and Native American peoples to become obsolete is unacceptable. An erasure of indigenous history is happening in textbooks and teachings, and the learning of indigenous people and practices is diminishing. Bias I found says “Whatever has been said or what has been taught (or not taught), one thing is certain: For a significant portion of this country's history, Indigenous perspectives and histories have been continuously marginalized and covered up in favor of histories that focus on settler colonialism and the ways in which the American settler colony has built itself up “(<i>Erasing Indigenous History, Then and Now</i>, n.d.). One of the main issues that have been observed is that indigenous culture and tradition are being written out of American history. Eliminating indigenous history is the equivalent of omitting the turning point for American elevation points when settlers arrived. This needs to be fixed to give a more genuine version of American History and a broader visual of the building blocks of America. For a long time, Indigenous people have been marginalized and excluded from American history. This exclusion creates harmful stereotypes and reinforces systematic inequality. Solutions to this problem start with incorporating indigenous perspectives and histories into educational material and curricula. Most of the educational text written after 1890 excludes Native American history giving out a “white-washed” version of American history. This creates a varied version of history that excludes vital information on how settlers came to learn about the land they thought they discovered. In relation to indigenous peoples getting killed by settlers coming to find gold and become wealthy. Cherokees in Georgia were also forced out of their land and killed due to the discovery of Gold in the Cherokee Mountains. A piece of writing I found that supports this finding comes from one of the ASU research databases “We have been told by a gentleman who passed this place as an express to the agent, from the principal chief, that a Cherokee has, at last, been killed by the intruders, and three more taken bound into Georgia” -Voices from the Trail of Tears. The settlers and intruders came to Georgia looking for more land and wealth. Upon finding land and wealth they were killing tribe and nation chiefs and killing families to settle close to the Cherokee mountains to find gold. Many mothers were killed in front of their children and taken bound. There are a lot of microaggressions against Indigenous peoples and the impacts they had on the shaping of America Here is a quote from the article “Why Do Native Peoples Disappear from Textbooks” “In fact, many students are surprised to learn that Native peoples still exist.". If it wasn’t for indigenous people; settlers and colonizers wouldn’t have known how to survive in the land. Most of the history taught about America begins with the accidental discovery of America by Columbus when he was looking for India, which is where Native Americans got the name “Indians”. In 1890, Native people disappeared from textbooks or started to have less credit for the development of America. A solution could be that schools and districts can work to establish partnerships with indigenous communities and organizations to ensure that the materials and approaches used in the classroom are accurate, respectful, and

culturally appropriate. Addressing the erasure of indigenous history in American education requires a concerted effort from educators, administrators, policymakers, and communities. By working together and prioritizing the inclusion of indigenous perspectives and histories, we can create a more equitable and inclusive education system that reflects the diversity and richness of American history and culture. Even though some indigenous history is being taught in schools it is not all true and some of the history is very vague and non-detailed depictions or accounts of the past. The narrative and textbook versions of settler colonialism sound easy and friendly, which is a complete contrast to the truth. It’s important that students don’t learn a “whitewashed” history but an accurate and factual indigenous history. The best solution to the presented issue would be to incorporate more indigenous history in already existing curricula. This is the best solution because the lesson on American history already exists but, not the part where people were already inhabiting the territory before settlers came along and started to colonize the area. There could be a certain amount of time set aside to properly teach and give genuine insight into the traditions and culture of the people that already existed here before settlers came over. When teaching lessons on the Indigenous background there should be real accounts from text and treaties made between settlers and Native Americans. The stories of American settlers building something out of nothing without talking about the stealing of land and genocide of indigenous nations and peoples. Using military force to push the Indigenous peoples away from their land. This created a long history of violent dispossessions and forceful taking of indigenous land in the United States because settlers thought the way indigenous people chose to tend to their land was not considered productive. The ceasing of the land became legal through treaties saying indigenous tribes were agreeing to give up their land and migrate to new places and as time went on reservations and parcels were set aside by the United States government. The bias of Native Americans not playing a part in the creation and development of the United States is starting to become more and more pushed into history. The idea that Columbus and other settlers were the creation point of the United States undermined the labor, diligence, and patience of indigenous peoples when settlers came pushing them out of their land, killing them, and violating treaties. I can understand but do not agree with the point of indigenous history being so long ago, this makes the history more likely to be forgotten. The amount of time that has passed and the lessening of teaching on the topic create an even larger problem with the history of indigenous people being addressed. Statistically “ There are approximately 1,122, 043 American Indian and Alaska Native family households. Of those, 54.7 percent are married couples with children.” (American Indians and Alaska Natives - by the Numbers, n.d.). This should create more of a drive to teach and inform on the history of indigenous people and practices to help people learn and understand their heritage. There needs to be a larger need to inform the future generations of the America that once existed. Giving a proper account to the people who were here and the people who also helped to mold the version of America we live in today. It is unfair to the development of America and the progress of America not to address the people who helped to mold and create before settlers and colonizers came along, Indigenous people played one of the largest parts and hold the baton for one of the largest turning points of America.

American Indians and Alaska Natives - By the Numbers. (n.d.). The Administration for Children and Families. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ana/fact-sheet/american-indians-and-alaska-natives- numbers Erasing Indigenous history, then and now. (n.d.). Origins. https://origins.osu.edu/article/erasing- indigenous-history-then-and-now?language_content_entity=en#:~:text=No%20matter%20what %20has%20been,the%20American%20settler%20colony%20has HUSL Library: A Brief History of Civil Rights in the United States: The Allotment and Assimilation Era (1887 - 1934). (n.d.). https://library.law.howard.edu/civilrightshistory/indigenous/allotment#:~:text=The %20Allotment%20and%20Assimilation%20Era%20built%20upon%20the%20goals %20of,Americans%20into%20Anglo%2DAmerican%20culture. Jeffery, J. W. (2021, August 20). Why do native people disappear from textbooks after the 1890s? (Opinion). Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-why- do-native-people-disappear-from-textbooks-after-the-1890s/2021/08 Login. (n.d.-a). https://www-nature-com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/articles/s41558-021-01093-8.pdf Mandewo, A. (2021c). The Importance of Teaching Indigenous History in Education — The Indigenous Foundation. The Indigenous Foundation. https://www.theindigenousfoundation.org/articles/the-importance-of-teaching- indigenous-history-in-education Thurston, I. (2021). Microaggressions against Indigenous peoples and its impacts — The Indigenous Foundation. The Indigenous Foundation. https://www.theindigenousfoundation.org/articles/microaggressions-against- indigenous-peoples-and-its-impacts Self Reflection I've done better in my writing in my opinion because I've included more citations in my work and, I have corrected some grammatical mistakes and repetitive wording in my text. I also feel

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like I flowed the revision a lot better than my original draft. I know there is more work that needs to be done on future writing I tried very hard to improve my writing process over the course of the project. I feel like I have strong claims and calls to action. For the solutions, I feel like I have very well thought out solutions to the issue that weren’t presented, and I cited many sources in text and resources I pulled information from. I also believe that I pulled valid and good resources from Google Scholar, search engines, and the ASU database. I also changed some of my advocacy Ads for better calls to action for more clarity on my purpose and for clearly stating my target audience.