Nez Perce Tribe Official Statement
The Nez Perce Tribe was disappointed with the recent decision of the Idaho State Department of Education (SDE) to provide authorization for supplemental curriculum from outside sources to be eligible for adoption and use by school districts. The excerpts of this curriculum reviewed by the Nez Perce Tribe Education Department reveal a questionable portrayal and analysis of relationships, actions, and motivations between the United States and the indigenous peoples already on the continent thousands of years before European settlers arrived.
Currently, tribal studies in Idaho primarily occur during one semester of fourth grade social studies classes. However, the state’s social studies content standards have grown over time to be more informative and accurate in the learning goals in elementary and high school related to tribal way of life, treaties, sovereignty, contributions, characteristics, and federal policy eras. The Tribe believes these supplemental materials announced by the SDE for availability in public classrooms are a step backward from the progress that has been made in developing a fuller and more complete curriculum in Idaho related to tribes. The Nez Perce Tribe prefers to continue to refine and expand on these advancements by diving deeper into these issues, but such efforts are in danger of being undercut with the use of these materials and calls upon the Idaho SDE to reconsider the authorization of these materials.
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