Here are some Native American-related news stories that made headlines this week:
South Dakota passes controversial social studies standards
South Dakota’s board of education Monday passed new standards for teaching social studies following four public hearings and years of controversy.
“Today is a wonderful day for the students in South Dakota. They are our future,” said Governor Kristi Noem. “Now, they will be taught the best social studies education in the country, one that is a true accounting of our history.”
But 880 pages of comments from current and former educators, parents and members of the public show widespread opposition to the standards, including complaining that the material is far too advanced for grade levels.
While the standards reference Native Americans in general, tribal leaders object to the lack of any specificity about Indigenous social studies.
“We are 24% of the population in South Dakota, and I think the standards should address Dakota, Lakota and Nakota specifically, or else the Oceti Sakowin, which are the Seven Council Fires, which is the collective name for all three,” Sherry Johnson, education director for the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate [tribe],” told VOA.
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In this July 28, 2020, file photo, Native American imagery is painted on the walkway of a Utah high school. New York has banned the use of similar mascots in all public schools.
NY to schools: Drop the Native American mascots or face funding cuts
The New York Board of Regents Tuesday unanimously voted to ban the use of Indigenous names, mascots and imagery in all public schools after the end of the 2024-2025 school year.
The National Congress of American Indians, which tracks mascots across the United States, counts 113 schools in 55 districts across New York that will have to change or risk losing state funding. NCAI says the use of Native American mascots and imagery is racist and demeaning.
“The ‘warrior savage’ myth has plagued this country’s relationships with the Indian people, as it reinforces the racist view that Indians are uncivilized and uneducated.”
Some school districts are pushing back, saying the change will be costly and will erase schools’ histories. Republican Representative Elise Stefanik blasted the decision as the product of a “woke agenda.”
“Upstate New York and the North Country take pride in our history, and forcing them to replace these historical mascots is prioritizing the far-left mob at the expense of our students’ education,” she said.
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Illinois lawmakers have advanced a bill to require schools to incorporate Native American history in teaching curricula.
Illinois lawmaker seeks to incorporate Indigenous history into the classroom
Illinois State Senator Suzy Glowiak Hilton has introduced legislation to make all public schools incorporate Native American history into their curricula.
“Native American history is American history, and it has been overlooked for far too long,” said Glowiak Hilton. “We need to give our students the opportunities to better understand the discrimination and persecution Native Americans faced throughout history.”
House Bill 1633 would require teaching for grades six through 12 to include “the study of the genocide of and discrimination against Native Americans,” including the concept of tribal sovereignty, treaties made between tribes and the federal government, and federal policies of forced Native American relocation.
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Boy Scouts Order of the Arrow Vigil Honor members in regalia performing in a "call-out" ceremony at Kia Kima Scout Reservation in Hardy, Arkansas.
Mixed signals: Will the Boy Scouts stop ‘playing Indian?’
Last month, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) sent out a 20-question survey asking present and former members, among other things, whether the organization should keep or eliminate “Native American traditions” from its pageants, rituals and ceremonies.
As VOA has previously reported, Native Americans have long criticized BSA for misappropriating generic “Indian” culture, donning headdresses and taking on “Indian names.” In this video, BSA Order of the Arrow members dance and drum as part of summer camp activities.
“With so many fine traditions of their own, why do the Boy Scouts have to steal ours?” Native rights advocate Suzan Shown Harjo (Cheyenne and Muscogee) asked in a 2019 statement to VOA. “They can learn, teach and promote survival and life skills without ‘playing Indian.’”
BSA told NBC News it has “no plans to eliminate Native American traditions” from its programs.
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The Muscogee Nation Mound building in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, the seat of the tribal government.
‘Bad Press’ documents tribal reporters’ fight for free speech
In 2018, the Muscogee Nation in Oklahoma revoked press freedoms it guaranteed the tribe’s media outlet Mvskoke Media just three years earlier. The action sparked outrage among the paper’s staff, many of whom walked out.
Former Mvskoke Media reporter Rebecca Landsberry-Baker teamed up with Hollywood filmmaker Joe Peeler to document the struggle to regain lost freedoms. The film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January and highlights the struggle tribal newspaper editors face across Indian Country, where fewer than 1% of the 574 federally recognized tribes have laws protecting press freedoms.
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Lakota playwright opens on Broadway
Sicangu Lakota playwright Larissa FastHorse made her Broadway debut this week with “The Thanksgiving Play.” The last and only other Native American to have a play produced on Broadway was Cherokee citizen Lynn Riggs, whose play “Green Grow the Lilacs,” opened in 1931. [[ HYPERLINK: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/q-and-a/larissa-fasthorse-becomes-the-first-native-american-woman-to-bring-a-show-to-broadway]]
The comedy takes place in a schoolroom, where four teachers struggle to put on a culturally sensitive pageant honoring both Native Americans and the first Thanksgiving at Plymouth.
Watch a clip from the play’s 2018 debut below: