SACRAMENTO, Calif. ? Last September Gov. Gray Davis vetoed an initiative, passed by the California Legislature, aimed at changing the way American Indian history is taught in the classroom.
Now, a revised bill is scheduled to go to the California Assembly Appropriations Committee.
The new initiative, Senate Bill 41, attempts to redress California Indian history, to address such issues as sovereignty, culture and tribal diversity. If signed into law, the bill would have effects reaching far beyond just history classes.
Government classes, for example, would have to include sections on tribal governments to emphasize their unique history and status. There would be an included sense that California Indians are contemporary and have a continuing history.
Proponents of the new measure say many California school children grow up without a full understanding of California Indians. They believe this has great implications later when these children grown up and enter business, government and law and do not fully understand the unique status of California Indians.
Leroy Miranda, director of the Cupa Cultural Center and a Pala tribal member, is cautiously optimistic about the new legislation. He thinks many of the legal and political problems California Indians have stems from the way schoolchildren are taught about California Indian history. He said he thinks this legislation is a step in the right direction.
One of the things Miranda said he likes about the bill is the fact there is specific language regarding the emphasis on California Indians. He said most of the California history curriculum is slanted toward history of Eastern and Great Plains tribes.
‘These children think all Indians wore headdresses and lived in tipis,’ Miranda said.
However, he notes some concerns. He said he worries that many of the massacres and atrocities committed against California Indians may be ‘sugar-coated.’ He added there seems to be a continuing trend to teach that California Indians were happy and willing to work at the missions and be marched off to reservations.
Davis vetoed last year’s bill because of concerns stemming from the fact the new curriculum would circumvent normal channels of approval, including the state education curriculum commission.
Sources close to Sen. Dede Alpert, D-Coronado, who sponsored the first bill, says Senate Bill 41 is designed to address the governor’s concerns though most of the new bill is a near carbon copy of last year’s.
Sen. Jim Brulte, R-Rancho Cucamonga, is co-author of the new bill with Alpert. Brulte was unavailable for comment.
If passed, the state would still pay $100,000 to fund the project. And, like last year’s bill, a committee of educators, tribal members and others would create the new academic curriculum. The new bill diverges in that it requires the program then to go through traditional state education channels for final approval and implementation.
Alpert said she feels strongly enough that she wanted to redo the original bill because she felt she could adequately make changes without losing the ultimate goal of the original.
Earlier this year the bill passed the California State Senate unanimously.
If it gets a go ahead from the Assembly Appropriations Committee, it will go to the Assembly floor for a vote in the next few weeks. The main concern remains, will Davis sign it into law this time?
Sources in the governor’s office say Davis does not comment on pending legislation that has not reached his desk.