ARCATA, Calif. -- Along with the 50 states within the U.S., there are hundreds of sovereign nations, tribes and other American Indian entities. If you don't remember what you learned about them in high school, you probably have not forgotten much.
To tackle this subject long overlooked and poorly understood in civics classes--the rights and responsibilities inherent in American Indian sovereignty--Humboldt State University will host about 200 high school students Friday, May 21, for American Indian Civics Day.
The event is part of the four-year, $842,000 American Indian Civics Project directed by Humboldt's Center for Indian Community Development (CICD) and funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation's "Capturing the Dream" Initiative. On June 21, the Kellogg-funded program will begin a week-long workshop at Humboldt State to show civics and history teachers how to incorporate into their courses topics such as American Indian citizenship, sovereignty, tribal governance and economics, and tribal relationships to the federal government.
Friday's students--both Indian and non-Indian--are from eight schools along California's North Coast: McKinleyville High School, Arcata High, Hoopa High, St. Bernard High in Eureka, Captain John Continuation School in Hoopa, Triple Junction High in Mattole and Del Norte High in Crescent City.
According to CICD Assistant Director Zo Devine, "That's the point: to teach Natives and non-Natives alike, so Natives know how to be tribal citizens and American citizens, and so non-natives understand the rights of tribal citizens."
The students will hear a keynote speech from longtime environmentalist and Indian rights activist Winona LaDuke, a member of the Anishinabe of Minnesota, a graduate of Harvard and the Green Party's 1996 vice-presidential candidate (with Ralph Nader). The students will then attend sessions on the history of American Indian relations with the federal and California governments, and how the "nations-within-a-nation" framework exists today. After lunch, they will take on the roles of negotiators in a mock dispute over fishing rights.
According to Devine, the misconceptions and "gaps in the knowledge" regarding Indian governments are vast, beginning with those who think Indian tribes and cultures have vanished.
"Typically, people would think we're all American and leave it at that," she said. "But Native Americans have been here for thousands of years, and with established governments."
In the contiguous 48 states, the U.S. government recognizes about 325 tribal entities--including nations, tribes, bands and rancherias; a third of them are in California. In Alaska are another 223 recognized native village groups. Native Americans hold dual citizenship, as U.S. citizens and as tribal members.
The 1990 census reported that there were nearly 1.9 million American Indians and 80,000 Alaska natives, combined the figures represent a 37.9 increase over 1980 census count.
According to Devine, because most Americans are not educated about tribal sovereignty and other issues of American Indian civics, they do not understand why American Indians enjoy privileges that other U.S. citizens do not.
"There's a long-term, pre-United States history with codification, legislation, and treaties that recognize these nations as sovereign, unique and having full authority," Devine said.
In California now, the state has called for including American Indian civics in high school curricula. Through lectures, workshops, and developing course materials, the American Indian Civics Project teaches educators and students about the co-existence of tribal nations within the U.S., and about how their varied structures have governmental relationships with the U.S.
"The opportunities to illustrate Indian civics are plentiful, and (at Friday's role-playing) we're going to focus on fish," said Devine.
The overall initiative at Humboldt -- to incorporate understanding of tribal governance into history and political science courses -- was initiated by some Native American students there. They articulated their concerns in a resolution sent to the California State University Chancellor's Office, and received support for the concept.
CICD, established in 1966 at Humboldt State, develops projects to strengthen relationships between the university and Indian groups by increasing awareness of cultural, educational, social, and economic needs of the region.
For details about the American Indian Civics Project or CICD, call (707) 826-3711.
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