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A collection of bills relating to Native American affairs were heard in the South Dakota Senate Education Committee this week.
South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s C.J. Keene has more.
State Sen. Shawn Bordeaux (D-SD/Rosebud Sioux) is from Mission, SD on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation.
He brought four education bills to the committee this week.
One – SB163 – would allow the playing of Indigenous honor songs at graduation ceremonies upon student request.
Sen. Bordeaux says it represents an opportunity for meaningful reconciliation.
“I’m trying to build upon something that I think is an expression and an opportunity for the state to stick out that olive branch and become a friend of our Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota people. We saw the students here during the State of the Tribes Address come in and sing this honor song – the ‘Lakota Flag Song’, its often called. Which was created after veterans came back from the war.”
Another bill, SB187, would require schools to provide lessons on tribal history.
Sen. Bordeaux says it would include long sought-after educational materials.
“One of the things that we discussed was some curriculum that was developed largely from people from my community. It’s called the Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings. It’s a curriculum that was developed for schools, elementary through high school, to basically give people an understanding about our culture. I think some basic knowledge is ground-level, what we should know as South Dakotans here.”
Rob Monson, executive director of the School Administrators of South Dakota, spoke against 187, arguing in favor of the current education review process.
“We currently have what I believe is a good process in South Dakota, although our social studies standards review right now seems to be a little bit in question and not truly where we believe it should be in a true standard review. However, I feel what is being discussed in this piece of legislation absolutely can take place in the standards review and should take place there.”
Sen. Bordeaux, in response, questioned the quality of the system currently in place.
Each proposal was ultimately moved to the 41st legislative day, effectively killing the bills.
Another attempt at replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous People’s Day has been introduced in the Montana state house.
Montana Public Radio’s Ellis Juhlin reports similar bills have failed.
Over fifteen states have holidays for Indigenous peoples and several local governments, including Bozeman and Missoula, have already passed their own city-wide versions of the holiday on the second weekend of October.
State Sen. Shane Morigeau (D-MT/Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes) is the bill’s sponsor and said it’s necessary to include the full breadth of history.
“To talk about the wrongs in our history, to write our next chapter together, to reject selective history and recognize the good, bad, and ugly so we can learn and do better as a society.”
Members of the Montana American Indian Caucus have carried similar versions of this bill in the last five legislative sessions, but they have never successfully made it through both houses.
There were no opponents of the bill in the hearing and over thirty people and organizations spoke in support.
The committee did not take immediate action on the bill.
The greater Kansas City group Not In Our Honor and the coalition Arizona to Rally Against Native Mascots are protesting the Kansas City football team’s name.
The groups are holding a demonstration Sunday outside the stadium in Glendale, AZ, where the Kansas City NFL team will play in the Super Bowl.
Gaylene Crouser, executive director of the Kansas City Indian Center, is a member of Not In Our Honor.
She’s traveling to Arizona for the protest and hopes having a larger audience at the Super Bowl will draw attention to the fight against Indian mascots.
“Having this larger audience, this worldwide stage that folks are going to be tuning in to this particular game, we’re really hoping to shine that light on the fact that a tremendous number of Native people are opposed to this mascoting. We’re consistently opposed to it.”
The groups also want to see an end of the use of the tomahawk chop and chant at sports venues.
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