Kevin Abourezk
ICT
Growing up in Helena, Montana, in the 1990s and early 2000s, Crystal Amundson saw no evidence of a state educational program known as Indian Education for All, a constitutionally mandated guarantee that the cultural heritage and contributions of the Indigenous peoples of the region be recognized and taught across the state.
Later, when she and her husband, Tyler, began raising a daughter in Helena and later in Billings, Montana, they also saw little evidence of the state program other than stickers on books that indicated that they had been paid for by the program.
“It was non-existent,” Crystal Amundson told ICT. “It was constitutionally mandated, but there was no programming.”
“It was very unclear to us as parents where any formal Indian Education for All was happening for white students,” she said. “There were supports in place for Indigenous students to help navigate school, but we didn’t see that formally happening in Billings and neither in Helena either.”
When the Amundsons heard that the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana was seeking non-Native parents to file a class-action lawsuit against the state for failing to implement the Indian Education for All programming consistently throughout the state, they decided to sign up.
Last month, Montana state officials agreed to settle the resulting lawsuit, DuPuis-Pablo v. Montana Office of Public Instruction, potentially clearing the way for the Montana Office of Public Instruction to begin fully implementing the state’s Legislative and constitutional commitments that public schools will teach students about the culture and contributions of Indigenous people of the region.
A judge will consider whether to approve the settlement during a December hearing. Should that happen, the parties to the lawsuit – including the plaintiffs – will be bound by the settlement’s terms and they, not the court, will be responsible for ensuring that schools meet their obligations as set forth in the agreement.
Along with 18 students and their guardians, several tribes, including the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Reservation, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation, Fort Belknap Indian Community, Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana, and Northern Cheyenne Tribe, filed the lawsuit in 2021. ACLU of Montana, ACLU, Native American Rights Fund, K&L Gates LLP, and Venable LLP represented the plaintiffs.
“For too long, tribes were expected to trust that things would improve without having a seat at the table,” said Roxanne Gourneau, a member of the Fort Peck Tribal Executive Board, in a statement. “This settlement recognizes that tribal nations are essential partners in educating Montana’s students.”
At the heart of the case was a promise embedded in Montana’s constitution since 1972 that requires that the “state recognizes the distinct and unique cultural heritage of the American Indians and is committed in its educational goals to the preservation of their cultural integrity.” Montana remains the only state in the nation with an explicit constitutional guarantee of Indian education.
In 1999 the Legislature strengthened the guarantee and extended the commitment to include all students. The state educational initiative known as Indian Education for All requires that “every Montanan, whether Indian or non-Indian, learn about the distinct and unique heritage of American Indians in a culturally responsive manner.”
While nationally recognized as a model of Indigenous education, implementation has varied widely across school districts and lacked meaningful enforcement.
Under the agreement, Indian Education for All would be incorporated into state accreditation and monitoring systems, making implementation a core expectation for Montana’s K-12 schools. It also formalizes tribal consultation processes, ensuring tribes have an ongoing role in shaping how Indigenous education is developed and delivered statewide.
Susie Hedalen, state superintendent in the Montana Office of Public Instruction, said her office had already launched a new website and professional development portal where it has begun sharing Indian Education for All resources for educators and families.
“I am pleased that an agreement has been reached in this five-year lawsuit and that we can move forward with ensuring every Montana student receives authentic instruction on our state’s tribal nations,” she said in a statement to ICT. “Many of the terms of the settlement were already being undertaken at my direction including expanding the role of the Montana Advisory Council on Indian Education in statewide policy development, verification of local expenditures using Indian Education for All (IEFA) funds, greater tribal consultation, and incorporation of IEFA throughout Montana’s content standards and classroom instruction.”
Lawyers for the plaintiffs welcomed the settlement.
“This agreement helps prevent classrooms where Native history is missing, misunderstood, or treated as optional,” said Mark Carter, senior staff attorney at Native American Rights Fund, in a statement. “It makes clear that Indian Education for All is not a suggestion – it’s the law that was created by the people of Montana.”
A law, said Crystal Amundson, that is important because it can be a unifying and inspiring part of a school’s curriculum, especially at a time when students are facing serious public safety issues like lockdown drills and pandemics.
“As a mental health provider, I recognize the damage that fear and living in a constant threatened state can cause, and so the other piece that Indian Education for All really matters for our kids is (that it creates) an opportunity in the public school system for understanding and connection,” Crystal Amundson said. “There’s such a rich history of resilience from our Native nations here in Montana, and I don’t want my kids to just experience fear and data and standardized tests in their curriculum. I want them to experience a sense of pride in resilience in our state’s history and in their public education.”
Her husband Tyler Amundson, a nonprofit executive, told ICT that having his 16- and 13-year-old daughters learn about Native history and culture improves their lives and understanding of the world.
“Their history impacts us and so I feel like it’s really important for us to know that history,” he said. “We’ve already seen improvements in Indian Education for All in our school district here in Billings and even including better curriculum across the age groups.”
Alex Rate, legal director for ACLU Montana, told ICT that the case was initially filed after the ACLU discovered widespread failure by the state to account for state appropriations for Native education to school districts.
“When I say widespread, we’re talking about over half of all the money that had been appropriated in 2019 and 2020 was completely unaccounted for. So that was about $3.5 million between the two years,” Rate said.
The money that could be accounted for was often spent for inappropriate expenses such as buying books that had nothing to do with Indigenous identity or culture and paying people’s salaries, he said.
“The lawsuit was intended to create a mechanism for accountability and enforcement, and we’re pleased that the landmark settlement agreement we entered into with the state does just that,” he said.
He said ACLU Montana also learned from tribal leaders that neither state nor school district officials consulted with them about how to incorporate their tribal histories and cultures into public school curriculum.
“We also knew that some tribes have very robust education departments that are really sort of laser-focused on ensuring that Indigenous culture remains vibrant in classrooms across the state,” Rate said. “We expect that as a result of the settlement agreement there will be more tribal consultation to ensure that the tribes and their unique cultural contributions and attributes, that those are reflected in public schools.”
Initially, state officials responded to the lawsuit by saying they didn’t have legal authority to decide how state appropriations for Native education should be spent by school districts, he said.
“We said that the agencies tasked with general supervision and authority over public education, that these are the very agencies that should create accountability measures, and the court agreed with us, denying the state’s motion to dismiss and allowing the case to proceed,” Rate said.
