What should schools teach about American Indians? Working with native communities, the Smithsonian\u2019s MaryBeth Yerdon \u201913W (MS) is helping lead that conversation.<\/span><\/h3>\nThere\u2019s a lot of debate in the country, and I think it\u2019s getting especially heated now, about whose history is taught.<\/strong>\u00a0What is the story of America, and how do we teach it? What do we tell young people about it?<\/p>\nIt\u2019s not a secret that most curricula about US history favor a Euro-American perspective.<\/strong>That\u2019s the story that dominates textbooks, and that\u2019s the story that dominates content that is presented on standardized tests.<\/p>\nThings get left out, and topics about American Indians are left out pretty often. And then, of course, the stories that are told are really relegated to just a few.<\/strong>There\u2019s the Trail of Tears, which we like to call Removal; Pocahontas; Thanksgiving; the Battle of Little Big Horn. Extending education beyond those few narratives is one of the biggest challenges we come up against as a museum.<\/p>\nNative Knowledge 360\u00b0, or NK360\u00b0, is a national education initiative developed by NMAI [Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian].<\/strong>\u00a0It was developed over the course of a couple of years and demonstrates how NMAI has really pioneered involvement in, and is committed to, formal education. The museum has said, things are being taught about American Indians that aren\u2019t accurate, there\u2019s a lot that\u2019s being left out of the curriculum, and we need to do something about that. NK360\u00b0 developed out of that mentality.<\/p>\nWorking with native communities and teachers, we started by developing some essential understandings. First among those is the idea of diversity among American Indian tribes and nations.<\/strong>\u00a0There is no single American Indian history, culture, or language. There are more than 2,000 tribal groups in the Americas and 562 federally recognized tribes right here in the United States. That means that native perspectives on history and culture are quite diverse.<\/p>\nAnother essential understanding is that American Indians are citizens of their tribal nations, and they are also citizens of the United States.<\/strong>\u00a0That\u2019s something that a lot of kids don\u2019t grow up knowing. They don\u2019t grow up thinking about tribes as sovereign nations within the US, which is also a nation.<\/p>\nNK360\u00b0 uses an inquiry-based model. Inquiry-based instruction focuses on asking kids compelling questions and having them come to evidence-based arguments in response to those questions.<\/strong>\u00a0It\u2019s pushing teachers away from rote memorization. For example, rather than asking kids to remember when the American Revolution was, the question would be, was the American Revolution revolutionary? And the kids would develop an evidence-based response to that question.<\/p>\nWe\u2019re continually developing new materials for teachers and have moved onto the stage of the project that involves training teachers.<\/strong>\u00a0We\u2019re doing presentations about our materials, running workshops at our museums in D.C. and New York, offering a paid residency program for teachers, and holding a free institute in the summer. Teachers come to D.C. for a week of intensive instruction on teaching about American Indians and using the inquiry design model.<\/p>\nWe\u2019re really trying to build a network of teachers and native experts who partner with us and help us in what we do, and whom we can help with their needs in the classroom.<\/strong>\u00a0We\u2019re the Smithsonian, so fortunately, we have a lot of experts in-house. We also have the name recognition to partner with scholars as well as native communities and leaders. The Smithsonian just has a massive reach. We have the means to do what we\u2019re doing, and it\u2019s great to be part of a team that is dedicated to such an important endeavor.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1558633740321{border-top-width: 1px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;border-top-color: #999999 !important;border-top-style: solid !important;}”]<\/p>\nThis story originally appeared in the fall 2018 issue of Rochester Review<\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There\u2019s a lot of debate in the country, and I think it\u2019s getting especially heated now, about whose history is taught. What is the story of America, and how do we teach it? What do we tell young people about it?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":6282,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[272,62,82,352,132,792],"class_list":["post-6252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-profiles","tag-alumni","tag-diversity-and-inclusion","tag-history","tag-master-class","tag-rochester-review","tag-washington-d-c"],"yoast_head":"\n
Teaching and Learning about American Indians - Alumni News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/2019\/05\/23\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Teaching and Learning about American Indians - Alumni News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There\u2019s a lot of debate in the country, and I think it\u2019s getting especially heated now, about whose history is taught. What is the story of America, and how do we teach it? What do we tell young people about it?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/2019\/05\/23\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Alumni News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-05-23T17:50:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-02-11T19:55:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/FI.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"315\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anthony Giordano\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anthony Giordano\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/adv\\\/alumni-news-media\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/23\\\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/adv\\\/alumni-news-media\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/23\\\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Anthony Giordano\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/adv\\\/alumni-news-media\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8c23d49fbd559f34a9f93ff0fefe5a83\"},\"headline\":\"Teaching and Learning about American Indians\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-05-23T17:50:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-11T19:55:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/adv\\\/alumni-news-media\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/23\\\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":893,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/adv\\\/alumni-news-media\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/23\\\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/adv\\\/alumni-news-media\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/FI.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Alumni\",\"Diversity and Inclusion\",\"History\",\"Master Class\",\"Rochester Review\",\"Washington D.C.\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Profiles\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/adv\\\/alumni-news-media\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/23\\\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/adv\\\/alumni-news-media\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/23\\\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/adv\\\/alumni-news-media\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/23\\\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\\\/\",\"name\":\"Teaching and Learning about American Indians - Alumni News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/adv\\\/alumni-news-media\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/adv\\\/alumni-news-media\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/23\\\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/adv\\\/alumni-news-media\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/23\\\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/adv\\\/alumni-news-media\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/FI.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-05-23T17:50:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-11T19:55:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/adv\\\/alumni-news-media\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8c23d49fbd559f34a9f93ff0fefe5a83\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/adv\\\/alumni-news-media\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/23\\\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/adv\\\/alumni-news-media\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/23\\\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/adv\\\/alumni-news-media\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/23\\\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/adv\\\/alumni-news-media\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/FI.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/adv\\\/alumni-news-media\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/FI.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":315,\"caption\":\"There\u2019s a lot of debate in the country, and I think it\u2019s getting especially heated now, about whose history is taught. What is the story of America, and how do we teach it? What do we tell young people about it?\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/adv\\\/alumni-news-media\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/23\\\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/adv\\\/alumni-news-media\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Teaching and Learning about American Indians\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/adv\\\/alumni-news-media\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/adv\\\/alumni-news-media\\\/\",\"name\":\"Alumni News\",\"description\":\"Ä¢¹½´«Ã½\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/adv\\\/alumni-news-media\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/adv\\\/alumni-news-media\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8c23d49fbd559f34a9f93ff0fefe5a83\",\"name\":\"Anthony Giordano\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e0aafe2e041461cd8d4fad606785b3df06c96916c309a0e667dd80d7121ed78?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e0aafe2e041461cd8d4fad606785b3df06c96916c309a0e667dd80d7121ed78?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e0aafe2e041461cd8d4fad606785b3df06c96916c309a0e667dd80d7121ed78?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Anthony Giordano\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Teaching and Learning about American Indians - Alumni News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/2019\/05\/23\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Teaching and Learning about American Indians - Alumni News","og_description":"There\u2019s a lot of debate in the country, and I think it\u2019s getting especially heated now, about whose history is taught. What is the story of America, and how do we teach it? What do we tell young people about it?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/2019\/05\/23\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\/","og_site_name":"Alumni News","article_published_time":"2019-05-23T17:50:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-02-11T19:55:35+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":315,"url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/FI.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Anthony Giordano","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Anthony Giordano","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/2019\/05\/23\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/2019\/05\/23\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\/"},"author":{"name":"Anthony Giordano","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/#\/schema\/person\/8c23d49fbd559f34a9f93ff0fefe5a83"},"headline":"Teaching and Learning about American Indians","datePublished":"2019-05-23T17:50:31+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-11T19:55:35+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/2019\/05\/23\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\/"},"wordCount":893,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/2019\/05\/23\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/FI.jpg","keywords":["Alumni","Diversity and Inclusion","History","Master Class","Rochester Review","Washington D.C."],"articleSection":["Profiles"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/2019\/05\/23\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/2019\/05\/23\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\/","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/2019\/05\/23\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\/","name":"Teaching and Learning about American Indians - Alumni News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/2019\/05\/23\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/2019\/05\/23\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/FI.jpg","datePublished":"2019-05-23T17:50:31+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-11T19:55:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/#\/schema\/person\/8c23d49fbd559f34a9f93ff0fefe5a83"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/2019\/05\/23\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/2019\/05\/23\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/2019\/05\/23\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/FI.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/FI.jpg","width":600,"height":315,"caption":"There\u2019s a lot of debate in the country, and I think it\u2019s getting especially heated now, about whose history is taught. What is the story of America, and how do we teach it? What do we tell young people about it?"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/2019\/05\/23\/teaching-and-learning-about-american-indians\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Teaching and Learning about American Indians"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/","name":"Alumni News","description":"Ä¢¹½´«Ã½","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/#\/schema\/person\/8c23d49fbd559f34a9f93ff0fefe5a83","name":"Anthony Giordano","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e0aafe2e041461cd8d4fad606785b3df06c96916c309a0e667dd80d7121ed78?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e0aafe2e041461cd8d4fad606785b3df06c96916c309a0e667dd80d7121ed78?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e0aafe2e041461cd8d4fad606785b3df06c96916c309a0e667dd80d7121ed78?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Anthony Giordano"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6252"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6292,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6252\/revisions\/6292"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/masterclass1-791x1024.jpg\"){kind=spacer}