11 Still Here
As previously mentioned, the vast majority of curriculum currently in place discussing Indigenous peoples exclusively covers content before the twentieth century. Perhaps the most apparent example of this is the AP US History curriculum. AP US History is an Advanced Placement high-school level course, the curriculum of which is determined by the College Board, an institution which oversees standardized high school tests like the SATs as well as the majority of large university’s admissions. AP courses are designed to educate high school students on content equivalent to that which they would learn in a collegiate-level course of the same subject, and a certain score on exams administered by the College Board allow students to bypass these courses in college entirely and enter their university with credits. According to the College Board, “AP courses and exams are designed by committees made up of college faculty and experienced AP teachers who ensure that the course and exam reflect college-level expectations… Development committees: Determine the general content and ability level of each exam; Determine requirements for course syllabi; Write and review course and exam descriptions; Write and review exam questions,” (College Board, n.d.).
Even the curriculum of AP US History, one which is standardized across the US and claims to cover the equivalent of two semesters of a collegiate level US History course, fails to mention Indigenous content after discussion of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. It would appear that—at least according to the team of college faculty and veteran AP teachers—the goal of assimilation embedded in the Indian Removal Act worked, and Indigenous peoples were no longer a relevant part of US History. This is the message students of this course are left with. Unfortunately, this course is not alone in excluding Indigenous peoples from history post-18th century. Multiple studies have come to this conclusion, finding that…
“Only 13.34% of the 2,230 coded standards related to Indigenous history, culture, or issues occur- ring post-1900.”
-Shear et. al 2015, pg. 81
“State standards halt their coverage of Indigenous cultures and histories after the implementation of forced relocation policies in the 1830s and prescribed to a traditional version of history that identifies American Indians as victims and marginalizes them by failing to identify key individuals or examples of societal contributions.”
-Shear et. al 2015, pg. 70
“The standards largely depicted Indigenous Peoples as existing in the distant past and are thereby marginalized from the American present.”
-Shear et. al 2015, pg. 83
“The narrative presented in U.S. history standards, when analyzed with a critical eye, directed students to see Indigenous Peoples as a long since forgotten episode in the country’s development.”
-Shear et. al 2015, pg. 89
“Eighty-seven percent of state history standards do not mention Native American history after 1900; Twenty-seven (27) states make no mention of a single Native American in their K-12 curriculum.”
-National Congress of American Indians
The absence of Indigenous content post-1900, I argue, is because it is easier for textbook and curriculum writers to focus on Indigenous histories pre-1900s because this allows the public to see contemporary society as far removed from the atrocities of our nation’s past and trust that our government Is now better, that we are making progress. If the public had to come to terms with the fact that these policies are still happening and horrors like that of the Indian Boarding School system were being committed just half a century ago, they would need to confront the fact that these issues are still very much present, and that these histories have effects lasting still today.
”Once upon a time not that long ago, the government was actively engaging in these atrocities and was actively engaged in these atrocities specifically for the purpose of, you know, cultural erasure. And so it’s I think pretty unsurprising that that very same government society would have a hard time turning that ship of state all the way around to not just stopping the atrocity, but acknowledging you know, not just the existence of it, but the importance of it.”
-Senator Jeff Irwin