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individually in the scope of this article. It is important to recognize the rich
diversity of culture that exists within and across Indigenous communities.
(pp. 83–84)
Furthermore, although it is possible that this work is inclusive to other populations
of Indigenous Peoples, this article will focus on the First Peoples in the United
States. Within that area of strong interest, for the purposes of this article, we are not
addressing “who is Indian and who is not” (Goodwill & McCormick, 2012, p. 24),
Dr. Amber Godwin, as that is outside the scope of this work. Finally, our work will draw from subject-
a member of Upsilon matter experts in Indigeneity, those living inside and outside of the United States.
Chapter of Texas State
Organization, is an
assistant professor Frameworks
at Sam Houston Sabzalian (2019) identified six areas to frame Indigenous studies in the classroom:
State University. place, presence, perspectives, political nationhood, power, and partnerships. This
She has experience framework also provides practices for how to empower and support Indigenous
teaching in PK–12, voices and presence in today’s classrooms. By including such practices, teachers can
undergraduate, and
graduate settings. help support identity development in their Indigenous students, providing a pathway
In her research, she for cultivating relationships and a sense of connectedness to the world (Markstrom,
aims to develop 2011; Whitbeck et al., 2014).
critical thinking
experiences and Place
explore interventions Students do not know where Indigenous people were because they do not hear
that enhance social
studies education. Indigenous history in school. In fact, 87% of state standards across the United States
address Indigenous people’s early history (Shear et al., 2015) without including
agodwin@shsu.edu a timeline for current conditions or contributions—despite social movements to
reframe attribution in an empowering way (Anderson, & Christen, 2019). Still, for
many students, studying settlement is the only time they hear about Indigenous life,
and even then, the narrative is skewed, for example on the topic of land acquisition
(Farrell et al., 2021; Fixico, 2021).
Many textbooks describe tribes surrendering land through treaties. However,
when Indigenous leaders signed treaties, they usually did so with the understanding
that the genocide of their tribe would stop and that the tribe would retain land as well
as hunting and fishing rights—among other details specific to the tribe involved.
The terms of those agreements were not only ignored by the United States, but in
some cases the treaties were not signed by Indigenous leaders. This is an important
consideration when one recognizes that textbooks largely concentrate on Indigenous
history in the context of European settlement (Sanchez, 2007). Because the breadth
of Indigenous history spans much farther than settler history, treaties alone do not
provide a context for Indigenous history, and “a more in-depth use of primary
sources by Native authors will go far in the understanding of culturally relevant and
historically accurate information” (Sanchez, 2007, p. 317). Indigenous peoples were
everywhere, even on the seas (Woodward, 2015): For Indigenous people, place was
anywhere and everywhere.

Presence
It is impossible to know the number of Indigenous students whom teachers
encounter in today’s classrooms because of the historical assimilative practices tearing
identity from Indigenous peoples (Ross, 2021) and faulty identification practices,
particularly for students with complex identities (Ault & John, 2017). Accordingly,
many people have attempted to define what it is to be Indigenous (Weaver, 2001).

14 The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin: International Journal for Professional Educators