Connecticut’s students will soon learn more about Native American cultures as part of their regular social studies curriculum. State and tribal leaders announced on Wednesday that they are joining forces to establish a model Native American Studies curriculum.
The curriculum comes as a result of legislation passed in the 2021 session which mandated that all Connecticut public schools include Native American Studies in their social studies programs. The mandate will go into effect on July 1st of next year.
The curriculum will focus on local tribes within the state, including Northeastern Woodland Tribes, according to the governor’s office.
“This partnership with Connecticut’s tribal nations is critical to ensuring the Native American studies curriculum development process is driven by Connecticut’s native and indigenous voices,” said Connecticut State Department of Education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker said. “It is our goal to develop nation-leading educational resources and curriculum tools with subject matter experts in their fields and community members, while providing those resources at no cost to districts.”
“Connecticut students deserve to have inclusive and accurate history lessons,” Governor Lamont said in a statement. “This curriculum is an important part of acknowledging our past and historical connections with our tribal nations. We are going beyond acknowledgment by building meaningful relationships with our tribal leaders and this curriculum effort is a prime example of that.”
The Department of Education plans to release the model curriculum in June, just before it is set to go into effect.
