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for me and my school, I finally read the law. It is impres-
in Montana, I became vaguely aware of a sive, for it is deeply rooted in democracy and reflects so
Montana law known as Indian Education for much of what I believe about the roles and responsibilities
All (IEFA). I teach junior high language arts of education in our society. As I’ve learned more about
in a school far from a reservation, and few IEFA, I’ve come to feel proud that my state is taking the
of my students identify themselves as Native lead in what I hope will become a national movement in
American. So, because of the many other American education. Perhaps most important, I now realize
things clamoring for my attention every day, that I have a clear responsibility to my students and to my-
I felt no pressing need to learn more about the law or how self. And that means I have a lot of work to do.
it might apply to my school or to me. If it did have some-
thing to do with me, I reassured myself, someone would
WHY DIDN’T I KNOW?
tell me. And if it had anything to do with the students at
my school, it must already be a part of the social studies A year ago, I knew very little about American Indian
curriculum. history, and what I did know about Montana’s tribes could
About a year ago, I heard Montana’s legislators debat- have been gleaned from a tourism brochure. That’s because
ing school funding for IEFA, and I began to grow curious. I — like most other Americans — am a product of a system
So I did a little research and discovered that the state legis- of education that simply does not include Indians. In my
lature had passed the Indian Education for All Act in 1999. high school class in Ohio history, for example, I learned
Written to support Montana’s new state constitution, enact- matter-of-factly how the Shawnee, Wyandot, and Erie tribes
ed in 1972, the law directs schools to teach all students disappeared when Mad Anthony Wayne killed them off to
about the cultural heritage and contemporary contribu- clear the way for “settlers” to move west. Today, I would
tions of Montana’s American Indians. According to the law, call that ethnic cleansing. But the authors of my textbook
all school personnel are also expected to “gain an under- didn’t even hint that it might represent some injustice. In-
standing of and appreciation for the American Indian peo- stead, this process was celebrated as “Manifest Destiny.”
ple.” However, at least some Ohio Indians must have escaped
“School personnel?” I thought. “That’s me.” With the nag- Wayne’s slaughter and the later removal to “Indian Terri-
ging suspicion that IEFA might, in fact, have implications tory” because I saw Indians once a year when my parents
WENDY ZAGRAY WARREN is co-founder of Full Circle Curricu- took me to an Ohio Indian festival. I must have been aware
lum and Materials, a nonprofit organization supporting imple- that Indians lived somewhere in the state, but I never won-
mentation of Montana’s Indian Education for All. She teaches at
Columbia Falls, Mont., and is on the leadership team of the Mon- dered where or how they lived.
tana Writing Project. I don’t know why it has taken me so long to notice my
from the work of Native American authors as part of any I say down?) to our own dismal history. It lurks silently in
genre study. We could discuss the traditions behind the that dark, wide chasm between American “ideals” and the
stories my students and I often tell before we write. When American way of life. It is in this chasm that blind patriot-
I taught about stereotyping, I could include images of In- ism is spawned. We proclaim our ideals loudly to the
dian mascots among the examples. No one is asking me world — equality, justice for all — these truths that we
to rewrite my entire curriculum. Instead, I need to slowly hold to be self-evident. Yet we turn our heads and look
develop a new habit of mind so that the Essential Under- away from the inequities inherent in our way of life. Once
standings (see the sidebar on page 189) become an auto- in a while, something prompts us to stop for a moment
matic part of my planning. And, with the right materials, and look up, allowing us to take a wider view: the Civil
I’ll be able to find ways to incorporate information about War, the civil rights movement, the recent immigration dem-
Montana’s Indians into my lessons, both to enrich every- onstrations. Then, to our own detriment, we stubbornly re-
one’s understandings of the world and to finally welcome fuse to allow ourselves to face the inequities, injustices,
my Native American students into the classroom. Not only and blatant prejudice in our dealings with American Indi-
is that my responsibility, it is also my pleasure and my honor. ans. If we are successful, the Indian Education for All Act
So this is how I came to understand the need for a law will force us to take the time to stop and look up, and do
like IEFA. Its very purpose is to break this cycle of igno- something about what we see.
rance that grips me — and many other good but naive peo-
ple. The framers of Montana’s constitution had enough fore-
SHOW US IT MATTERS
sight to know that educating the next generation of citizens
is the only way to bring about lasting change. Like many others teachers, I have learned that IEFA is,
My heart fills with hope when I see the potential for this indeed, about us, our schools, and our students. And we
law to bring so much good to the world. Then I start to want to do the right thing. But our already challenging
worry. My biggest fear is that we might live up (or should jobs have recently been overwhelmed with the new re-
Why IEFA?
BY DOROTHEA SUSAG
Education has the power to change the story of What do they learn to value, what do they learn to reject,
your life. and what do they learn about survival when they don’t
— Debra Magpie Earling,
Bitterroot Salish novelist and essayist ever hear or read about the suffering, loss, and endurance
of their own people? How do they establish positive iden-
F THE experiences in our public schools have the tities for themselves when voices within their culture are
I
power to change the stories of children’s lives, what ignored, twisted, and suppressed, and when voices out-
happens to those who don’t hear the stories of their side their culture decide who these young people are and
own people? And if children do learn stories about who they should become? What happens to the relation-
their lives, what happens when their teachers and ships among children from differing cultures within class-
texts regard those stories as inferior or obsolete, rep- rooms? Do the children from the dominant culture devel-
resenting wrong values of property and government, op an understanding of and respect for the similarities
and representing inadequate means for survival? What that unite all peoples as well as the differences that dis-
happens to children whose public education is rooted in tinguish them? Or do they learn to practice discrimina-
an alien culture? How do the stories of their lives change? tion against cultures different from their own?
Essential questions such as these prompted the crea-
DOROTHEA SUSAG is the author of Roots and Branches: A tion of the seven “Essential Understandings” (see the side-
Resource of Native American Literature — Themes, Lessons,
and Bibliographies (National Council of Teachers of English, bar on page 189). In turn, that document shaped the funda-
1998). She lives in Fairfield, Mont. mental nature of Indian Education for All in Montana. K
quirements of No Child Left Behind and more and more and those of our students. And because this work cannot
standardized testing. And as is so often the case with school be accomplished in a year — or even a decade — the com-
reform, teachers must be the primary players in bringing mitment by all stakeholders will need to be for the long
change to the classroom. term. Two needs in particular must be met if teachers are
But no matter how committed we are to IEFA or how even to begin to implement the law: we must have mean-
easy anybody tries to make it for us, we can’t do this work ingful professional development for all school personnel
alone. If we are to meet these new challenges, we’ll need and classroom-ready teaching materials.
to feel strong and steady support from the governor’s of- Ongoing professional development. Providing funding
fice, from the school principal’s office, and from each tribal does not magically change people’s hearts and minds, but
office. This work will require some unusual kinds of col- if we use additional funding wisely, it can help us change
laborations: school leaders communicating with tribal rep- what we know and what we do. The learning will not be
resentatives, tribal members working together as well as with easy, and the kinds of information and skills we need will
people from other tribal nations, Indian and non-Indian peo- be varied. Moreover, most of this information will be new
ple interacting with the deepest respect. Montana’s Office to many of us, and we certainly won’t feel confident in the
of Public Instruction will have to coordinate these efforts classroom until we feel comfortable with our own level of
so that we are all working together to implement change. knowledge.
We will need to feel the commitment and support of Two separate kinds of professional development will be
our superintendents, principals, and school board members. necessary. The first will help us learn the information that
This support will show up in what they say and do to keep will gradually create new habits of mind, and the second
this issue on the front burner. Perhaps the most telling de- will increase our ability to infuse our practice with rich con-
cision they make will involve spending the money allocated tent about Montana’s Indian peoples. One-shot guest speak-
by the legislature to implement IEFA in all of Montana’s ers or brief attendance at institutions that specialize in In-
schools. Because teachers are responsible for bringing these dian education may provide us with a starting point. But
changes to the classroom, it will be important to include what we learn from such brief and infrequent experiences
us in deciding how this money can best meet our needs will not get the job done. In order to bring about lasting
I
is long overdue, and it must be a priority for Mon- to foster increased understanding and appreciation on the
tana schools. In response to the ruling of the Mon- part of the entire school community. Students also need
tana Supreme Court, the Montana legislature pro- to appreciate how the future of Montana will embrace
vided the funding needed to initiate a full-scale im- the unique contributions of American Indian beliefs, cus-
plementation of the constitutional provision. The toms, and quality of life so that the lessons can be passed
heritage of the American Indian is an essential part on to future generations.
of Montana’s history, but students, parents, and Indian Education for All should be integrated into all
teachers know little or nothing about the American Indian content areas and grade levels in K-12 school systems. It
tribes and how Indian culture has influenced the history should become an active part of learning in all classrooms
of our state. Indians and non-Indians live together in the across the state throughout the school year. Through ef-
same communities, yet many of us lack an understanding fective curriculum integration, the essential learning out-
and appreciation of American Indian culture. The public comes associated with IEFA will be embedded into in-
BRUCE K. MESSINGER is the superintendent of the Helena (Mont.) struction along with the other Montana content standards.
Public Schools. Age-appropriate lessons incorporating the heritage of
change, professional development must be ongoing and mation into materials that will be useful in the classroom.
accessible to everyone in a professional community. Ob- Meeting the challenge of IEFA is not without risk, and
viously, developing this process will take time. And teach- many teachers express concern about “doing something
ers are as diverse as any other group of learners, so these wrong.” Some feel they might unknowingly pass along the
learning experiences can’t be standardized if they are to same misinformation that was taught to them. Others worry
be effective. Professional development must offer teachers that, as outsiders largely ignorant of our Native American
various points of entry and enable them to progress at dif- neighbors, we may teach something in a way that trivial-
ferent speeds. There should also be a variety of ways to learn, izes the culture or might be seen as disrespectful. We will
from reading groups to seminars, that allow for our profes- need to be patient with ourselves and with one another,
sional growth over time. As classroom teachers well know, because there is no doubt we will make mistakes. But the
one type of learning will never fit all. largest mistake of all would be to allow our fears to para-
Reliable, classroom-ready materials. Once teachers feel lyze us into inaction.
confident enough to begin actually teaching about Mon-
tana’s Indians, we will need reliable, classroom-ready ma-
HOPES, FEARS, AND DREAMS
terials. Nothing would cause greater panic than for IEFA
to be viewed as a curricular add-on — something else for Like most teachers, each summer I become filled once
teachers to fit into their already overloaded schedules. In- again with hope for the coming school year. I feel that hope
stead, we need materials that can be used flexibly, to match now, as Montana attempts to blaze this new trail. This is
different teaching styles and situations, and that can be easily an exciting time to be an educator in this state. Indian Edu-
integrated into different subject areas. cation for All could have a huge impact on our students’
The information used to develop these materials must educations and our state’s future. The vision of the demo-
originate with the tribes themselves, and most tribes have cratic ideal of a community that truly includes everyone
already begun gathering the information needed to write sparks renewed hope within me. Maybe as we blaze this
their own histories. Then educational experts with plenty new trail, rather than living up to our history, we will create
of classroom experience will need to “translate” this infor- a new future — one that lives up to America’s ideals. K
American Indians will add relevance and value to instruc- Another high priority is to supply classrooms and library
tion in the different content areas. media centers with high-quality instructional materials and
High-quality professional development for Montana ed- resources related to IEFA. This educational venture pro-
ucators must be one of the top priorities if we are to im- vides a great opportunity to use different technologies to
plement IEFA effectively. Teachers are eager to learn about present information and experiences to students. Such
American Indian history and culture so that they can in- technologies could include streaming audio and video
corporate the curricular expectations into their units of presentations from American Indian tribal experts. The
study. To oversee the implementation of the law in the techniques of distance learning will help deliver lessons
Helena Public Schools district, we have formed an advi- across the state. I serve on the board of directors for the
sory committee that includes educators, representatives Montana Schools E-Learning Consortium, and we are ac-
from the Helena Indian Alliance, and members of the tively pursuing the possibility of offering professional de-
Helena community. The advisory committee will take the velopment to Montana educators via the Internet. The
lead in identifying culturally appropriate materials and in- training will be customized to target specific areas of need.
structional units that will be incorporated into the class- To stretch scarce resources, the consortium will develop
rooms. Members of the advisory committee will actively enrichment units for teachers to use in their classrooms.
solicit the input of individuals who have expertise and Indian Education for All will benefit public school stu-
resource materials to help with the implementation strate- dents and staff members, and the diffusion of information
gies. The Helena Public Schools district was recently award- and increased understanding of American Indian culture
ed a state grant from the Montana Office of Public Instruc- will have a positive and lasting impact on communities
tion to develop an integrated approach across multiple con- large and small across the state. IEFA is an incredible op-
tent areas for high school students. Once this approach portunity to add meaningful historical context to the cur-
has been implemented, Helena educators will share their riculum and build stronger relationships and a deeper un-
experience with other Montana educators. derstanding among all Montana citizens. K