North Dakota is looking at adopting a program to incorporate Indian education into the everyday school curriculum.
It’s patterned after a program in Montana called “Indian Education for All.” In that program, Indian studies are made a part of the entire curriculum – and not just a “Native Studies class.”
Denise Juneau is Montana’s school superintendent – and spoke at a conference in Bismarck. She says the point is to give students accurate and true information on Indians.
"Our approach is not to blame, shame our guilt," said Juneau. "We just want to present facts. We want to make sure teachers have an understanding so they can do a better job of presenting accurate history and a more accurate picture of the lives of contemporary Indians."
Juneau says the Montana state constitution spells this out -- and provides for a funding source.
North Dakota school superintendent Kirsten Baesler says she’s working on efforts to make this a part of North Dakota schools.
"It's something that we have an opportunity to embrace and grow in North Dakota as well," said Baesler. "To have a state that learns together faces a future with better opportunities and better leadership."
Baesler says she's just in the preliminary stages of putting her two year budget together, so some of the details still need to be hashed out. But she says it won't take a Constitutional change to make it happen.
About ten percent of North Dakota’s K-12 students are Native American – and just over two percent of the teachers are Indian.
