Native American Education

Wyoming Department of Education > For Teachers > Native American Education

Contact Information

Native American Liaison
Rob Black
(307) 777-3747
rob.black1@wyo.gov

INDIAN EDUCATION RESOURCES

  • Open Range Wyoming is a statewide repository of openly-licensed educational resources to support Wyoming school districts and educators as they make the transition to the use of high-quality, openly-licensed educational resources in their schools.
  • The Wind River Education Project (History of Wyoming’s Native Americans) is a series of Wyoming PBS videos and lesson plans about the history and culture of the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho people.
  • Wyohistory.org, a project of the Wyoming State Historical Society, offers a number of articles about Wyoming’s indigenous peoples, plus “digital toolkits” that serve as lesson plans on a number of American Indian topics. A matrix links a variety of “Indian Ed for All” lesson plans to Wyoming’s social studies standards.
  • Two Nations – One Reservation” is a pop-up exhibit with related materials on the history of the Wind River Reservation from Wyoming Humanities.
  • The Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody offers school programs and resources for teaching Plains Indians history and culture from the premier museum of the American West.
  • Everyday Native, a resource for teachers of grades 4-12, was created to help bridge the gap of understanding that is held about Native Americans by non-Indians. The site emphasizes the everyday life of Native Americans as opposed to popular stereotypes created by movies, TV, books, and news media.
  • The Power of the Powwow Narrative:  A Resource for Teaching Literacy and Cultural Resilience,” developed by Dr. Stephany Anderson from Buffalo Bill Center of the West resources, offers powwow materials to teach historical literacy.
  • Scholarships for Native American Students
  • Master’s Scholarships and Resources for Native American Students
  • Financial Resources for Native American Students from CreditMonkey contains over 100 scholarships, grants, and internships specifically for Native American students.
  • The Brinton Museum in Big Horn offers educational resources exploring Plains Indian life and culture through original art and artifacts on display in “To Honor The Plains Nations” exhibition in the American Indian Gallery.
  • The WoLakota Project is a collaboration between the South Dakota Department of Education and Technology and Innovation in Education (TIE) to preserve the voices and experiences of the Oceti Sakowin: The People of the Seven Council Fires – the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota peoples – and to help others learn about their history.
  • The Western Educational Equity Assistance Center at Metropolitan State University in Denver offers a number of resources, including materials for revitalizing native languages and native language immersion.
  • Native Knowledge 360 is an initiative of the National Museum of the American Indian.
  • The National Museum of the American Indian offers free virtual field trips. These live and interactive programs led by a museum educator focus on specific topics in Indigenous histories, cultures, and contemporary lives. For PK-12.
  • Education Northwest partners with Native educators to develop culturally relevant resources to incorporate into the curriculum.

“INDIAN EDUCATION FOR ALL” STANDARDS GO INTO EFFECT IN 2021-22

On Aug. 15, 2018, Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead approved additions to Wyoming’s Social Studies Content and Performance Standards that resulted from passage of House Bill 76 of the 2017 legislative session. The bill, which became law, required the history, traditional culture and contemporary contributions of Wyoming and regional Native American tribes be included in those standards – which outline what students are required to know at each grade level.

Wyoming school districts will be required to fully implement the new standards in the 2021-22 school year.

BACKGROUND

On March 10, 2017, Gov. Mead signed Original House Bill 76/House Enrolled Act 119, which aimed to educate all Wyoming students about American Indian tribes of the region, including the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes.

As a result, the State Board of Education was tasked with reviewing Wyoming’s social studies standards to ensure the cultural heritage, history and contemporary contributions of American Indians are addressed.

Additionally, the law requires the Wyoming Department of Education, in consultation with the tribes, to make available materials and resources on the agency’s web site to assist school districts in meeting social studies benchmarks relating to the study of American Indian tribes. Some materials and resources have been posted below. More will be added upon vetting by appropriate reviewers.

A Social Studies Standards Review Committee was created in October 2017 and worked from November 2017 to January 2018 to meet the standards review requirement of the legislation.  The State Board of Education voted April 20, 2018, to promulgate rules that would implement the revised standards as recommended by the review committee.  Gov.  Mead on May 4, 2018, gave permission to the Board to move forward with the rules promulgation process, and public comment was accepted through June 29, 2018.

The State Board of Education on July 13, 2018, formally approved the committee draft, opening a 75-day window for the Governor, the Legislature and the Attorney General’s Office to review the new standards. Following that review, the Governor accepted the new standards in their entirety as part of approval of new Wyoming Department of Education administrative Chapter 10 rules on Aug. 15, 2018.

Administrative rules, which are formulated under a strict public process outlined by Wyoming statute, carry the same weight as statutes. Chapter 10 rules contain all of the state’s educational content and performance standards, including social studies.

Text of House Bill 76


The 15th annual Native American Education Conference will be held Aug. 6-8, 2024, at Central Wyoming College in Riverton.

Call for Presenters (with April 1, 2024 deadline)

For more information click here.


TRIBAL CONSULTATION REQUIRED UNDER U.S. EVERY STUDENT SUCCEEDS ACT (ESSA)

Sample Affirmation of Tribal Consultation Form – for school districts to meet requirements of ESSA.