“Decolonize” suggests taking things out; “indigenize” asks us to think about what to include. Curriculum planning begins with how you organize and decorate your classroom and continues to curriculum planning. For all ages, the classroom needs to be a safe and inclusive environment. Familiar toys, games, books, and activities can perpetuate negative stereotypes about Native Americans that are especially damaging to the self-esteem of Indigenous students. For older students, working with primary sources will develop critical thinking skills and help them to decode problematic secondary texts. We include a selection of primary sources and some examples of how they can be used productively.

• 10 Tips to Decolonize Your Classroom

• Library of Congress, Classroom Materials on Native Americans

• Adrianne Keene, "Baby Teepees are like, totally, in."

• Role Models Poster Project

• American Indian Stereotypes in the World of Children: A Reader and Bibliography, Second Edition

• Sources and Methods in Indigenous Studies, ed. Chris Anderson and Jean O’Brien (Routledge 2017)
   

Primary sources websites

• Indian Converts Digital Collection

• John Eliot's Writings Online

• Yale Indian Papers Project

• Colonial Connecticut Records

• Historical Maps of Connecticut

• Osher Map Library

• National Indian Law Library

• Digital Amherst "A Glimpse of Early Amherst" Exhibit

• John Milton Earle, Report to the Governor and Council, Concerning the Indians of the Commonwealth, under the Act of April 6, 1859 (1861)

• Oral History Project of Native Hawaiians

Curriculum planning:

• See our Lesson Plan Database

• National Museum of The American Indian Lessons and Resources

• Many Additional Resources

• National Indian Education Association Tools and Support Page