Native American Curriculum introduced Across Illinois by Suzanne Hanney
“As educators, we have spent our whole lives waiting for such legislation,” Dorene Wiese, PhD. said of a state law enacted this past August that will mandate a Native American curriculum in Illinois social studies classes from middle school through high school. “It’s amazing that it happened at this time,” Dr. Wiese said as moderator of a September 27 panel at the Harold Washington Library about the curriculum, which will begin with the 202425 school year. “There’s so much that brought us to this point. We stand on the shoulders of our elders. They suffered so much to get us to this time.”
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Dr. Wiese is founding president of the American Indian Association of Illinois (which co-sponsored the panel), an enrolled member of the Minnesota White Earth Ojibwe, and CEO/professor emeritus of NAES, Inc. (formerly NAES College). She has a master’s degree from the University of Chicago and a doctorate in education from Northern Illinois University. Her life’s work has been advocating for urban American Indian education and Urban Native health. She was the first American Indian appointed to the Cook County Health and Hospital Systems board and the highest ranking American Indian Illinois Community College administrator in a 20-year career there.
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Co-panelist Clovia Malatare said she hoped the curriculum would describe Native American resilience, “the true history of Native Americans, how we are still here and survived in spite of the barriers to stay true to our identity as Native Americans.” Malatare is an Oglala Lakota elder, an adult educator, a public school parent and grandparent and faculty emeritus at NAES College. She was the first Native person to receive a master’s degree in public health from the University of IllinoisChicago, and served for over 22 years as a manager, in the audit section, Office of the Inspector General, State of Illinois. Malatare said her second concern is, “what are the things we want our children to learn and non-Natives to learn.” Introduced into the Illinois General Assembly by State Rep. Maurice A. West II, an African American Democrat from Rockton, the legislation will require instruction in Native American history in every course pertaining to American history or government. Topics will include the genocide and discrimination against Native Americans, as well as tribal sovereignty, treaties made between tribal nations and the United States, and circumstances around forced Native American relocation. The
instruction may be included with material on the Holocaust and genocides. The State Board of Education will develop the curriculum in consultation with a Native American community chosen by the individual school districts. “This is the culmination of an effort that took many months and was the hope and dream of countless Illinois American Indian residents over many years,” Andrew Johnson, executive director of the Native American Chamber of Commerce of Illinois, said in a news release. “We feel this history will now include perspectives from our vantage point through resources that have been properly vetted by leading Native American scholars.” West told WREX in Rockford that the bill started with a student movement at Hononegah High School to change its Indian mascot. He filed a mascot bill, but federally-recognized tribal members throughout Illinois told him to go bigger. Hononegah High School was named for Ho-no-ne-gah, the HoChunk/Potawatomi wife of Stephen Mack Jr., founder of the town of Rockton. (1) "Today, we take another step forward in repairing generations of harm and building a brighter future for our state's Native American and Indigenous Peoples," Gov JB Pritzker said at the August 4 signing ceremony. "At its core, this legislation is about respect. Respect for those who came before us and those who will come after—and that is why we want to teach our children this history, to avoid the mistakes of the past and to instill that respect from an early age." According to the legislation, curriculum will encompass not only Native American contributions and self-determination but, “Native American history within the Midwest and the state since time immemorial.” That’s good news for Fawn Pochel, the third member of the Harold Washington panel. Pochel is First Nations Coordinator of Gender & Sexuality; Indigenous/Native American Community Relations at the Angelina Pedroso Center for Diversity and Intercultural Affairs at Northeastern Illinois University. She is the first Native Grow Your Own Teacher candidate at NEIU and the first Native master’s degree candidate. She is a cofounder of Chi-Nations and founder of the First Nations Garden in Albany Park.
