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Coming as the latest in a series of history requirements to
recently pass in Springfield, the bill establishes that all
public elementary and high school social studies courses that
cover American history or government must include instruction on
“events of the Native American experience and Native American
history within the Midwest and this state.”
Given the state’s history and makeup, Democratic state Rep.
Maurice West, the bill’s chief sponsor, told the Chicago Tribune
that’s just as it should be.
“The Native American history is in our DNA,” he added. “It’s our
obligation to truly know our history as a state.”
In 2021, lawmakers advanced a bill stipulating that Asian
American history be taught, making Illinois the first state in
the country to have such a law on the books. Around that same
time, measures requiring that Black history be taught were
passed, which followed laws requiring lessons about the
contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
“Gov. Pritzker believes that history should be taught in a way
that conveys the story of our country and state as it actually
happened,” a spokesperson for the governor’s office said in an
email. “Including Native American history in the classroom …
ensures students are given the tools to understand and empathize
with one another.”
The Chicago American Indian Community Collaborative is slated to
consult on the development of the curriculum, and the bill also
mandates that the State Education Equity Committee include a
member from an organization that works for the betterment of
Native Americans, as well as a statewide advocacy group that
works on behalf of individuals with disabilities.
With Illinois being one of just 14 states that does not have a
federally recognized American Indian reservation, the bill
establishes that students in elementary school begin learning
about Native American history including Native American
contributions to art and politics.
In the case of older students, darker parts of that history,
including the “genocide of and discrimination against Native
Americans,” are also required to be part of the instruction.
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