North Dakota releases first updated tribal textbook, with more on the way

FARGO, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor/KVRR) — The North Dakota Department of Public Instruction has released the first of a series of updated textbooks on the five Native nations that share land with North Dakota.

The book — titled “Journey to Understanding” — provides a brief introduction to the tribes’ history and culture. It’s the first time a new edition of the work has been released in more than two decades.

The textbook will soon be distributed to schools across the state, though a digital version is already available to download for free on the University of North Dakota’s Scholarly Commons website.

“Journey to Understanding” was first published in 2002 as cultural training material for social workers at the North Dakota Department of Human Services. The agency hired the Bismarck-based Native American Training Institute to write it to help its employees better understand the state’s Native communities.

Now, the Department of Public Instruction is promoting it as an educational resource for K-12 classrooms.

The agency will also soon release updated versions of four tribe-specific textbooks on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and Spirit Lake Nation. Like “Journey to Understanding,” new editions of the books haven’t been published in more than 20 years.

The five books have long been considered leading sources for information on the tribes, and are referenced in K-12, college and professional settings, according to the Department of Public Instruction.

A first-ever textbook on the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate is also in the works.

The series is a collaborative effort between the state, the tribes, Native culture organizations and higher education institutions. The tribes and tribal colleges had full editorial oversight of the books’ content.

In addition to publishing all six books online, thousands of copies will be printed and distributed to schools across North Dakota.

The cover of “Journey to Understanding,” a recently updated textbook on the history and culture of the five Native tribes that share land with North Dakota. The cover art is by Paula TopSky, a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Chippewa Cree. (Photo courtesy of the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction)

“Journey to Understanding” is an ideal resource for anyone looking for a primer on the tribes, said Cheryl Ann Kary, executive director of Sacred Pipe Resource Center and the textbook’s author.

It covers topics including tribes’ status as sovereign nations, treaties and federal policies like the General Allotment Act, which reduced Native land ownership by distributing collectively owned tribal land to individual Native citizens.

The book also details some of the spiritual beliefs, values and traditions common to many tribes.

Kary, a citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, said many North Dakotans could benefit from resources like “Journey to Understanding”. Many state leaders try to tackle complicated issues involving the tribes despite lacking basic knowledge about their communities, she noted. Kary compared this to trying to read poetry without first learning the alphabet.

“There’s so much just fundamental, foundational knowledge you have to know first before you can even talk about these complex issues,” she said.

While most of the content in the first and second edition of “Journey to Understanding” is the same, the latter version includes some new content as well. For example, it includes more information on the federal Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, a federal law that protects tribes’ right to keep Native children in their communities, Kary said.

It also includes information on the North Dakota Native American Essential Understandings project, a collection of resources developed by tribal elders and educators to help K-12 North Dakotans learn about Native traditions.

The Department of Public Instruction expects to release the other five books in the series over the next several months.

It’s partnering with United Tribes Technical College and Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Publishing to print the textbooks. Each K-12 school across the state will receive free copies of the books, with middle and high schools getting at least 25 sets of the series. Eventually, members of the public will be able to purchase their own copies.

Sashay Schettler, the Department of Public Instruction’s assistant director of Indian and multicultural education, said making the books available both online and in print will make it easier than ever for young North Dakotans to learn about the tribes.

“Honestly, it makes my heart happy,” Schettler, a citizen of the MHA Nation, said.

She noted the books can be a resource that helps schools comply with a state law adopted in 2021 requiring K-12 schools in North Dakota to teach Native American history.

The textbooks are the culmination of several decades of work by hundreds of people, according to a reflection on the revision process by state employees included at the end of “Journey to Understanding”.

The first editions of the books on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, the MHA Nation, Spirit Lake Nation and Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa were spearheaded by Cheryl Kulas, former director of Native education at the Department of Public Instruction and an Oglala tribal citizen.

The agency hopes to facilitate revisions of the books every few years going forward, staff indicate in the reflection.