On Aug. 15, 2018, Governor Matt Mead approved additions to the Wyoming Social Studies Content and Performance Standards that resulted from passage of House Bill 76. 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 were required to fully implement the new standards by the 2021-22 school year.
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.
