Digitally preserved interviews will be used as education tools for grades K-12 to emphasize Indigenous history and culture within the classroom in accordance with Senate Bill 2304, passed earlier this year.
Tribal flags on display in the North Dakota Capital building located in Bismarck.
The Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish Community College, formerly known as Fort Berthold Community College, and the University of North Dakota are collaborating to digitally preserve Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara language culture.
According to the Bismarck Tribune, the schools will use a $500,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to fund the initiative. This also includes a separate effort to boost the study of American Indian History in the Dakotas.
Members of NHS plan to digitally record an interview with Three Affiliated Tribes elders to preserve what officials say is “critically endangered” language resources and other at-risk traditional knowledge, according to US News. UND says they will aid in the digital collection process.
These tapes will be used as educational resources for the state’s new K-12 Native American history curriculum, reported the Bismarck Tribune.
Schools are to include an emphasis on the state’s federally recognized Native tribes: the Three Affiliated Tribes, Standing Rock Sioux, Spirit Lake Nation, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Nation.
Back in April 2021, the North Dakota Legislature passed Senate Bill 2304 that requires all schools in the state to teach Native American history, culture and treaty rights. The bill requires all elementary and secondary public and nonpublic schools in the state to include curriculum on the Native American history.
“We are pleased and gratified that my colleagues in the North Dakota state legislature saw fit to pass SB2304, a bill that has long been needed in our state,” said N.D. state Rep. Ruth Buffalo to Native News Online. “Native people of North Dakota are a crucial part of the cultural and educational landscape in our state, and this bill will ensure movement towards mutual understanding and cooperation for future generations.”
“Historically, the American education system was designed to erase Indigenous peoples’ language, culture, and history,” said Beheler. “This bill combats the erasure of Indigenous people and gives us an opportunity to take a deeper look at how we’re meeting the education needs of the children in our state.”
The bill was split into two divisions: Division A, the elementary version, and Division B, the high school version. The entire bill passed 72-21 and will receive its effective date from 2022 to 2024, according to Native News Online.
“Historically, the American education system was designed to erase Indigenous peoples’ language, culture and history,” said Beheler. “This bill combats the erasure of Indigenous people and gives us an opportunity to take a deeper look at how we’re meeting the education needs of the children in our state.”
For students looking to enroll in an Indigenous language, culture and/or history course at North Dakota State University, a minor program in Tribal and Indigenous Studies is offered.
According to the program website, “Tribal and Indigenous Peoples Studies builds strong communities through mutual understandings of our shared and complex history, shaped by settler colonialism and white supremacy, that continue to influence our relationships today.”
“The minor is open to all NDSU students who wish to enhance their understanding of the history, culture and contemporary issues of North American Indigenous populations and Indigenous populations on other continents.”