1 research outputs found
Native History Is United States History: How United States History Censorship Leads to Passive Acceptance of Racial Discrimination and Furthers the Decline of Tribal Sovereignty
No full textNative stories are embedded in the United States Constitution, property law, and the nation’s legal and political framework, but education frequently omits these truths. Such erasure perpetuates misunderstanding, invisibility, and hostility toward Native communities, obscuring the reality that the United States was built through the dispossession, coercion, and suffering of Indigenous Peoples. Whitewashing history has allowed the nation to claim moral virtue and industriousness while denying the foundational role of Indigenous Peoples. The Article emphasizes that Native rights, whether land, water, or other treaty-protected entitlements, as well as inherent rights such as tribal sovereignty, are not charitable or discretionary; they exist as legal and political realities. Native Peoples are not martyrs; they are asserting and enforcing agreements made in good faith and exercising powers that have never been relinquished. Misunderstanding or erasing these rights fosters public confusion and hostility, often giving rise to objections or criticisms based on misconceptions about Native peoples’ treaty-based or inherent authorities. This Article proposes that schools throughout the United States teach the full, accurate history of the nation, integrating Native peoples and their sovereignty as central, not peripheral, to the “American” story. By embedding Native histories into mainstream curricula, schools can acknowledge Indigenous contributions, clarify treaty obligations, and foster cultural understanding, self-determination, and tribal sovereignty. Drawing on legal history, treaty law, and critical theories, including TribalCrit, the Article develops strategies for inclusive curricula that present Native stories as essential to United States history. Recognizing these truths is a moral, civic, and legal imperative, necessary to educate students and uphold the rights and sovereignty of Tribal Nations, while promoting a more just and informed understanding of the United States
