Indigenous Peoples’ Day (Monday, Oct. 14), uplifts the rich history and contributions of Native Americans, while acknowledging the resilience of the people the holiday celebrates, having overcome tragic narratives of mass displacement, marginalization, racism and erasure. While the holiday is a celebration of Indigenous people and culture, District, educational leaders are emphasizing that teaching Native American history is important beyond just one day, and is critical to understanding historic and current happenings in the United States.
While educational groups and existing tribes share stories of the Native Americans that once lived in Washington, D.C., the District of Columbia State Board of Education and Office of the State Superintendent (OSSE) are working to expand the classroom education of Indigenous history.
“We rolled out new Social Studies Standards for all public schools in D.C. [that] offer greater depth and insights to the lives of Indigenous Peoples of the DMV, painting a comprehensive picture, whereas prior standards tended to focus on myth through the lens of colonists’ interactions with Indigenous People, whitewashing much of the rich history of these people,” said OSSE Press Secretary Fred Lewis in an emailed statement. “These standards represent a very intentional approach to studying the lives of Indigenous People here and across the Americas, as well as the lives of African Americans, women, LGBTQ+ and others who have historically been marginalized.”
The new social studies standards came into fruition after members of the State Board of Education recognized a need for change in 2019. According to The Washington Post, sources reported the original standards to be “problematic” and “archaic.” Before the reworking, the last time education standards were remodeled was in 2006, which led OSSE to begin drafting new guidelines the following year.
After being finalized in spring 2023, District schools have officially implemented revised standards for students in kindergarten through 12th Grade (K-12). The curriculum is a culmination of years of research, collaboration, and expert review to ensure students receive a well-rounded education that is fully representative of American history.
Creating Standards of ‘Windows and Mirrors’ for D.C. Learners
The new criteria calls for better depiction of communities of color and their experiences, including a deeper understanding of the oppression of enslaved Africans and Indigenous groups. Students will examine racism and white supremacy in a direct lens, with the updated standards introducing concepts like “colonization” to fourth-graders, which was previously absent from the guidelines.
Elizabeth Ross, assistant superintendent of Teaching and Learning at OSSE, told The Informer that a pivotal approach in the drafting stage was ensuring that the standards were “windows and mirrors” and would offer students increased representation and inclusion from an educational perspective.
“These standards help ensure that our D.C. students have access…that will help them become who they want to be. By seeing themselves in their standards, we want our students to feel proud of their past and the work people like them have done,” said Ross.
Alongside debunking fallacies and “white-washed” retellings of historically marginalized communities, the guidelines aim to enhance students’ recognition and understanding of modern Indigenous history that continues to shape society locally and globally.
“It’s our goal that Indigenous history is something that is fully infused throughout the curriculum,” Ross explained.
She said that OSSE is still working to develop and support educators so “that all D.C. learners have access to a wide variety of Indigenous histories and Indigenous culture…as well as the contributions that Indigenous societies continue to make to our country and in our world today.”
‘The Capital of a Civilized Nation Paved With the Remains of its Shadowy Past‘
In the nation’s capital, Indigenous history can be traced to over 4,000 years ago, with tribes such as Piscataway, the Nentego (Nanichoke), and the Nacotchtank, or Anacostans, thriving along the Anacostia and Potomac River watersheds, Chesapeake Bay area, and the states of Maryland and Virginia.
According to The National Park Service, the D.C. region “was rich in natural resources and supported the local Native people.”
Historic findings from the late 1800s have shown generational connections between Native Americans that once resided and the current culture of the District now. Archaeologists like Samuel V. Proudfit (1846-1934), William H. Holmes (1846-1933), and Elmer R. Reynolds (1863-1911), who identified and collected the remains of Native Americans in D.C., documented the premature business culture of early Indigenous people, evidenced by artifacts of former tribes partaking in local “trading.”
When Captain John Smith arrived in the summer of 1608, he discovered the Piscataway tribe, which occupied the location where Bolling Air Force Base now sits, was in proximity of the confluence of a second river that joined with the Potomac (now “The Anacostia”). Because of this, he labeled the tribe “Nacotchtanck,” which is meant to mean “a town of traders,” according to a research report by Dr. Armand Lione, an amateur historian and director for the DC Native History Project.
Lione’s research also revealed a key article on the Native American villages in Washington, with excerpts from Proudfit and Holmes delving into their findings in the 1800s. In the document, Holmes wrote:
“So numerous indeed are [the remains] in certain localities that they are brought in with every load of gravel from creek beds, and the laborer who sits by the wayside breaking bowlders for our streets…. and it is literally true that this city, the capital of a civilized nation, is paved with the art remains of a race who occupied its site in the shadowy past.”
As Indigenous contributions are relevant to the foundation of D.C., and lead to the District’s economic prosperity, the new standards also highlight the Native American customs, culture, trade and labor from which the nation’s capital was built.
“There are strong partnerships between educational agencies and practitioners and Indigenous communities. These partnerships will help our educational institutions, our practitioners ensure not that they are perpetuating a history of others telling the stories of Indigenous communities, but rather that they are positioning Indigenous communities to be able to elevate, celebrate and share their own stories,” Ross explained. “There aren’t a lot of curricular materials currently that center Indigenous voices in authentic ways, and supporting these kinds of partnerships is really important for ensuring that students have access to authentic histories.”
With a goal to expand Indigenous history through curricular materials, OSSE and the State Board of Education will continue to collaborate and promote the education and recognition of Indigenous societies that have cultivated modern history in the District and throughout the world.
“We want to empower students to think deeply about the complexity of the past and the present,” Ross said. “We know that when students see themselves in our standards and in the curricular materials that their teachers are using to teach the standards– when they see nuanced and complex portrayals of different people– they will be better equipped to participate in our modern day multicultural society.”