Native America Calling: Fighting to preserve hard-won gains in K-12 lessons about Native Americans

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Native America Calling: Fighting to preserve hard-won gains in K-12 lessons about Native Americans

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

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Fighting to preserve hard-won gains in K-12 lessons about Native Americans

Advocates working to accurately portray Native Americans in the K-12 education system in Texas scored a victory when the State Board of Education renewed a curriculum that was years in the making.

The approval came at a time when the Donald Trump administration and state officials pushed hard to scrub any hint of diversity from public school classrooms. Among other things, opponents of the Texas Native Studies course worried instruction about the Catholic Church’s role in Indian Boarding Schools might demoralize Christian students. [PDF: Ethnic Studies: American Indian/Native Studies]

Tune in to look at what saved the Texas lessons and get a status update on some other states wrestling with efforts to accurately depict Native Americans throughout history.

A statue in San Angelo, Texas. Photo: Jonathan Cutrer

Guests on Native America Calling

Cheyenne Rendon (Apache and Navajo), senior policy officer for the Society of Native Nations, a member of American Indian Movement of Central Texas

Stephen Silva-Brave (Sicangu Lakota), parent, licensed social worker, and Ph.D student in Texas

Sashay Schettler (Hidatsa and Nueta from the MHA Nation), assistant director in the office of Indian and Multicultural Education for the North Dakota Office of Public Instruction and a member of the National Johnson-O’Malley Association board of directors representing Region 5

Dr. Sherry Johnson (Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate), education director for the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate in South Dakota