The Importance of Teaching Indigenous History in Education
In Canada and America, history or social studies is a mandatory course throughout most of the formative years and high school. History is taught to have students learn about how the past has shaped the present, on local, national and global scales. Learning about historical events helps students develop a much better understanding of why events today are happening. It was over 100 years ago when over half of the American states made the teaching of American history in elementary school required by law. In standard classes, student’s are guaranteed to learn about confederation and the world wars. Some schools even teach about ancient Greece and Egypt.
However, there is a specific part of history and type of history that is not taught nearly enough in schools: Indigenous history. The omission and lack of Indigenous history taught in schools is inexcusable on many levels. Indigenous history is an integral part of the history of Turtle Island and has been long before this land was colonized. There is something to be said if students learn about world history before learning the history of the people who’s land they live on.
The whitewashing and inaccuracy of Indigenous history:
Even though more Indigenous history is being taught today in schools than it was a mere ten years ago, it is not enough and it is not always accurate history. In 2019, a Canadian children’s textbook sent the internet in a frenzy when it stated the following when talking about the arrival of European settlers: ‘When the European settlers arrived, they needed land to live on and the First Nations peoples agreed to move to different areas to make room for new settlements.’ In reality, when European settlers colonized modern day Canada and America, they terrorized and killed countless Indigenous peoples. They pushed Indigenous peoples into poor and infertile parts of the land making living off of the land hard and treated Indigenous people with little to no respect. The narrative of the textbook made colonization sound friendly and easy, completely contrasting the truth. It is imperative that when students learn Indigenous history it is accurate history and not ‘whitewashed’ history.
An example of whitewashed history is a story from the first encounter between the Nuu-chah-nulth peoples and Captain James Cook over two hundred years ago in present day Vancouver Island. Upon arrival, Captain Cook misunderstood the Nuu-chah-nulth peoples’ language and presumed their name to be ‘Nootka’. Up until the 1970’s people would incorrectly refer to the Nuu-chah-nulth people as Nootka due to Captain Cook’s recording of the wrong name. There are always two sides to a story and it is seen throughout history. Without knowing the history of an issue and the two sides presented, people aren’t able to truly understand how the issue came to be- hence the need for teaching Indigenous history in schools. It is rare that students in schools will learn about specific tribes and Indigenous nations. Indigenous peoples’ history is often generalized and spoken as though Indigenous people no longer exist. This should not be the case. The poor attention to accurate details seen when in teaching Indigenous history could be attributed to some non-Indigenous people’s lack of empathy and willingness to address biases and unlearn as well as relearn what they thought was true.
In November 2020, a British Columbia middle school student was given an assignment asking students to ‘Write at least 5+ positive stories/facts from the residential schools’. For most of the students, this was the first time they were learning about residential schools and Indigenous people. Though the rest of the assignment was not published to try and understand the context, it could be assumed that students didn’t learn about the atrocities of residential schools. That residential schools were created to assimilate Indigenous children into the Euro-Canadian/Euro-American culture because Indigenous people and their culture were seen as less than. Families were torn apart, Indigenous cultures and languages were lost and thousands of children died- these examples are just the surface of the horrible aftermath caused by residential schools. In response to the assignment, the school district made sure to make clear that the insensitive assignment question ‘is not a reflection of its teaching workforce’. The minister of education echoed this saying ‘Any teachings that detract or dismiss the realities of residential schools have no place in our education system. It is critically important for students to learn that this past legacy of abuse has created and continues to present a devastating legacy of the multi-generational impacts of residential schools.’ Despite this statement, quality Indigenous history is not being taught in schools.
How Indigenous history should be taught in schools:
A Canadian study done on 100 non-Indigenous teachers between 2012 and 2014 showed that a majority of them wanted to teach about Indigenous history and culture, but felt too uniformed and uncomfortable to talk about it. One can hope that in 2021, after the racial reckoning incited by the death of George Floyd, teachers will no longer be content with being complacent and not teaching diverse histories. The resources on how to teach Indigenous history are out there.
A University of Victoria study offers different ways to teach Indigenous history in schools:
Acknowledge the source of teachings (or even bring in subject matter experts)
Foster respect and create culturally safe spaces
Focus on holistic education
Incorporate learning by doing
Include storytelling and sharing or talking circles
Formative years are where kids form opinions that they keep with them as they grow up. Learning different histories helps make kids culturally competent and acceptant early. Cultural competence is the ability of a person to effectively interact, work and develop meaningful relationships with people of various cultural backgrounds. Introducing the stories and histories of Indigenous peoples early helps sow the seeds of curiosity. More and more students will want to further their knowledge on learning about the people who lived on the land before them. Whether they do so by taking Indigenous studies in post secondary or reading books after school about Indigenous people or by them.
Well known physicist Lawrence Krauss once said, “The purpose of education is not to validate ignorance but to overcome it.” One of the biggest tools to fight against racism is education. By learning more diverse histories in schools, students can become more informed and work toward Indigenous reconciliation, and be advocates for anti-racism, all in their own right and capacity. Indigenous history is a part of American and Canadian history. It deserves to be taught in schools.
References:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/residential-school-homework-assignment-1.5816491
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/nootka-nuu-chah-nulth
https://www.uvic.ca/education/assets/docs/indigenous_values_education.pdf
https://www.snopes.com/news/2017/11/01/did-a-childrens-textbook-say-canadas-first-nations-moved/
