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peoples, that shaping hinged on the ability to educate, express, and engage in self-
governance and build institutions to support these endeavors (Nikolakis & Nelson,
2019). For some Indigenous people, that opportunity to educate others about the
history of their nationhood did not happen (von der Porten et al., 2019), in some
instances due to legal requirements in the United States that define Indigenous
nationhood. For Indigenous articulations of nationhood to develop of their own
accord in an educational setting, a counter-narrative is required (Andersen, 2015)
that can be supported by the use of primary sources from Indigenous perspectives
(Sanchez, 2007).
Collaboration, technology, and global movement toward social change
surrounding Indigenous rights are fueling this transformative representation of
Indigenous peoples in the United States (Duarte, 2014; Alfred & Corntassel, 2005).
Through this process of renewal and re-emergence (Martineau, 2014, p. 1), there is a
new focus on regeneration, expression, and reinvigoration of governance, nationhood,
culture, politics, and spiritual practices (Aldred, 2005; Corntassel, 2012). This is
evidence of the self-determination and commitment that Indigenous peoples have
toward fulfilling their self-determining authority. Incorporation of these strategies
into the classroom will then support students’ knowledge and Indigenous students’
well-being.

Power [Sabzalian’s framework (2019)]
How can teachers ensure a safe space
and place for Indigenous voices? Because of also provides practices for
previously established power dynamics and
norms that exist in today’s classrooms in the how to empower and support
United States (Mason et al., 2019), to be good
teachers (Palmer, 1990) of Indigenous students, Indigenous voices and presence
teachers must intentionally inform their own in today’s classrooms.
teaching practice (Brookfield, 2017).
One important component to helping
Indigenous identity development is to believe
students who say they are Indigenous. In fact, Indigenous identity validation has been
found to correlate strongly to mental health (Williams et al., 2018). Because identity
is “constructed, negotiated, and constituted through discourse and representation”
(Quigley, 2019, p. 696), acceptance of representation in the classroom often
delineates identity-development outcomes and well-being. Conversely, students
who feel their identity is challenged or invalid may feel stress or be traumatized
for their identity position (Phinney & Chavira, 1992; Rata et al., 2014). The direct
effect of Indigenous students seeing themselves as Indigenous is the perception of
themselves in social standings and in society (Quigley, 2019).
All teachers have a responsibility to create a welcoming environment for
discussions about diversity in their classrooms (Hollins & Govan, 2015). With
mostly Eurocentric narratives (Abela & Dague, 2020) presented in textbooks in
the United States, “state standards and teacher resources have a real impact on the
ways people understand and interact with Indigenous People” (National Council for
the Social Studies, 2018, p. 167), which can be detrimental to Indigenous students
(Sabzalian, 2019). Indigenous students “have the right not to be subjected to forced
assimilation” (Rata et al., 2014, p. 292), which the colonial processes that limit
access to Indigenous ideologies and representation facilitate.

Changing Perspectives on Teaching and Learning 17