Jan. 17—CASS LAKE — The
Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe
and White Earth Nation will collaborate to improve Indigenous education in Minnesota through a $7.7 million investment from the
Bush Foundation.
According to a release, the two entities will seek to implement
Indigenous Education for All legislation
which mandates that schools use tribally endorsed curriculum. This five-year project aims to strengthen tribal-state systems to support change at multiple levels, ultimately addressing long-standing education disparities and promoting Indigenous self-determination.
This work builds on the momentum created by the TRUTH project, a Native-organized and led community-driven research movement that offers recommendations on how the University of Minnesota can foster better relationships with Indigenous populations. This will also support ongoing research at Leech Lake and White Earth including oral history projects and working with youth leadership councils.
“This investment supports tribal leaders’ ability to use their full power to educate our people and to tell our own histories,” Leech Lake Band Education Director Laurie Harper said in a release. “We believe the IEFA legislation is an opportunity for tribal perspectives and knowledge to be integrated into Minnesota classrooms in a way that exercises tribal sovereignty and self-determination, building a new model of curricula that is community-centered, tribally led and replicable by other tribes throughout the state.”
“We believe this work can be transformational at multiple levels,” Bush Foundation Grantmaking Officer Mattie Harper DeCarlo added. “This work will help validate Native students’ identities by making them feel seen in schools.
“It will help students overall by increasing their knowledge of tribal nations and Native Americans, and it will address major barriers educators face when seeking to teach Native content, all while strengthening the knowledge-sharing infrastructure within Leech Lake and White Earth.”
The
National Indian Education Association
believes Minnesota can be a leader within a nationwide movement and serve as a model of successful IEFA implementation. Similar legislation is being tested across the country including Montana, Washington and North Dakota.
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