Educators Will Learn How to Better Teach History of Indigenous Peoples

President’s Apology for Abusive Indian Boarding Schools
Included Call for Comprehensive History Instruction

LANSING – The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) is continuing its efforts to share information with educators about how to teach comprehensive history, with upcoming webinars about Indigenous peoples.

The next webinar, scheduled for Dec. 11, will detail a new community-led initiative to create a classification system for library materials in Tribal libraries, with the goal of reclaiming and centering Indigenous knowledge.

Comprehensive history instruction involves teaching children about the full breadth of U.S. and world history, including race, racism, sexism, and other subjects that can be difficult and challenging.

“As educators, we have an obligation to teach our children the fullness of our history, including searing topics such as racism and xenophobia,” said State Superintendent Dr. Michael F. Rice. “President Biden’s recent apology for the country’s role in forcing Indigenous children into boarding schools was an acknowledgement of this tragic chapter of our collective history and of the importance of teaching history comprehensively.”

Biden on Oct. 24 apologized for the forced removal of Indigenous children, which led to many children being abused and more than 950 deaths over a period of more than 150 years.

Today is the first day of Native American Heritage Month and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has issued a proclamation marking the month.

Michigan educators may register in advance for the Dec. 11 webinar called “Maawn Doobiigeng,” or “Gather Together,” to learn about the library materials classification system that was designed by Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan Tribal community members. Presenters are Ms. Anne Heidemann, Tribal librarian for Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Libraries, and Ms. Melissa Isaac, Gizhwaasod (Protector of the Young) for MDE’s Indigenous Education Initiative.

“Miigwetch to President Biden for his recent apology acknowledging the profound, generational harm caused by the federal Indian boarding school system,” Isaac said, using the Ojibwe word that means thank you. “His words honor the resilience of Indigenous communities and mark an important step toward healing and restoring justice. Federal Indian boarding school policies aimed to erase Indigenous peoples and our ways of being and knowing. Yet, despite this dark chapter in American history, Indigenous Knowledge Systems have endured.”

“Through language, storytelling, and cultural practices, Indigenous peoples continue to revitalize and reclaim the knowledge that was nearly lost,” she said. “Incorporating Indigenous history into the public school curriculum is essential, not only to honor this resilience but to foster a more complete and inclusive understanding of our shared history. When students engage with Indigenous perspectives, they gain a deeper respect for cultural diversity, a sense of interconnectedness, and a richer, more expansive base of knowledge.”

Another webinar, called “Honoring Connection: Essential Understandings for Michigan,” is scheduled for April 30, 2025. Developed by the Confederation of Michigan Tribal Education Departments and MDE’s Education’s Indigenous Education Initiative, the webinar will serve as foundational knowledge about Indigenous communities and Tribal nations that share geography with the state of Michigan. Educators can register in advance to explore key insights and perspectives that Indigenous communities and Tribal nations encourage Michigan’s citizenry to understand and appreciate.

For more information, visit the MDE Teaching Comprehensive History website.

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