Felix Clary
ICT + Tulsa World
TULSA, Okla. – Last year’s National Book Award winner, Ned Blackhawk, is rewriting Native American History for high school and college history courses.
“Most public schools do not adequately teach Native history, and I wrote this book as an alternative,” Blackhawk told ICT and Tulsa World.
Blackhawk recognized the misinformation and harmful stereotyping of Native history in public school textbooks. In his book, “The Rediscovery of America: Native People and the Unmaking of U.S. History,” he takes a professional approach to studying history akin to the way historians look broadly at other subjects, with “existing scholarship assessments” and “through researching archival materials.”
His book tells the history of America from the perspective of Indigenous people, whereas most history courses in America are told from a European focus, starting with colonization.
ICT Video Interview with Ned Blackhawk
The trend of ignoring Native history is on the decline, as Indigenous advocates become more outspoken about the persecution and resilience of Native nations in America.
Seventeen states have passed legislation that bans or places limits on critical race theory in public high schools. Two states are considering legislation to do the same. Twenty-four have overturned and stalled such legislation, and only eight have had no legislation passed or any efforts made to ban it.
In Oklahoma, critical race theory is not outright banned, but HB 1775 bans teaching that one race or gender is inherently superior to another race or gender. While the bill does not ban teaching Native history in the classroom, some skeptics worry that it will bar classroom discussions about persecution of minorities.
“We need to know the history, and this bill does not suppress teaching actual history. It does not suppress any of those conversations that need to be had,” said Oklahoma Rep. Kevin West (D).
“When you pass a bill like that and it has the potential for those kinds of penalties, at least for me, my hope is that we never have to use them,” West said.
Blackhawk stated Wednesday that to his knowledge, his work has “not suffered from state scrutiny.”
He said a lot of high school leaders have contacted him, curious about his work. He also said it is not the typical length for a high school book. It is much longer, and would probably be used by teachers in some lesson plans, with some sections being read. He said it is more of a resource for teachers to use.
“It is being used at a collegiate level at a small number of schools,” he said.
Blackhawk, Western Shoshone, lives in New Haven, Connecticut, and has co-edited four volumes on Indigenous history. He is also a professor of history and American studies at Yale University and was on the University of Wisconsin, Madison, faculty from 1999 to 2009.
He is visiting Tulsa on April 1 to talk about his book at the University of Tulsa’s Oklahoma Center for the Humanities headquarters, 101 E. Archer St. The reception and book signing start at 5 p.m., followed by his lecture at 6 p.m.
The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required as seating is limited. To register, visit: eventbrite.com. For more information, visit: humanities.utulsa.edu.
This story is co-published by the Tulsa World and ICT, a news partnership that covers Indigenous communities in the Oklahoma area.
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