Native American Studies Model Curriculum
Themes
Listening First: How Native Communities Shaped the NASMC
The themes of the Native American Studies Model Curriculum (NASMC) were created in response to in-depth listening sessions across California. Led by Humboldt County Office of Education (HCOE) and San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE), these sessions gathered input from Native community members, including parents, educators, youth, and Tribal leaders, with additional feedback gathered through surveys.
Participants shared their priorities, stories, and hopes for what students should learn about Native cultures, histories, and perspectives. Some participants later contributed directly as writers or cultural content advisors. Collectively, HCOE and SDCOE offered virtual and in person community listening sessions and presentations to Tribal councils. Between June 2022 and March 2025, HCOE led 125 community virtual and in person meetings reaching 2,766 participants and SDCOE, with support from California Indian Education for All, California Indian Culture and Sovereignty Center, and California Indian Museum and Cultural Center, led 215 community engagement events and listening circles reaching 12,140 participants. From this community-guided process, HCOE and SDCOE applied the insights towards lesson development using the 7 Essential Understandings and what became the themes that are identified in each lesson/unit.
This collaborative foundation ensures the curriculum is rooted in Indigenous voices, reflects lived experiences, and supports meaningful, accurate, and culturally sustaining education in California classrooms. Theme details include:
History
Experiences of Genocide
Resilience After Genocide
Sovereignty
Pre-Colonial Lifeways and Culture
Important Leaders
Cultural Strengths
Traditional Lifeways
Cultural Values
Artistic Achievements
Historical Advocacy
Cultural Resurgence
Law/Government
Relationship with US Government
Events and Policies
Impact of Colonization
Current Structures of Tribes
Relationship to Place
Indigenous Mapping
Cultural Stories of Places
Worldview: Connection to Plants and Animals
Stewardship Practices
Indigenous Foods
Cross Curricular Integration
Storytelling
Native Literature
Tribal Ecological Knowledge
Math and Engineering
Skills for Success in Society
Youth Cultural Vision
Native parents and educators requested integration of the following:
Native Language: As students listen to native words, speak them and learn their meaning, they increase their understanding of Native worldviews.
Empower to Take Action: As students learn about problematic systems, histories and climate change, they feel inspired to design community projects or prototypes. They design potential solutions that meet science standards, create communities of care and shared responsibility. They explore how collaborative action promotes community healing and change.
Cultural Arts: Native artists of California teach worldviews with visual art, film, weaving and regalia making. NASMC lessons display specific examples of these art forms to explore a variety of Native perspectives, life experiences and knowledge bases.
Critical Thinking: Students will acknowledge multiple perspectives, analyze and research these perspectives, and discuss them in a civil manner.
Kinship and Healthy Relationship Skills (SEL): The structure of lessons promotes an appropriate pacing of the information, so students have enough time to process, question and integrate the content. New material is often discussed in small groups, with the opportunity to learn from peers. At times art projects are used to help students integrate the information in a non-verbal way, which builds skills for self-regulation and creativity. Students will increase their capacity to discuss difficult, complex or emotional topics, in a public forum, in a respectful and authentic manner.
Educators requested inclusion of the following approaches in the NASMC:
Trauma Informed Teaching: Lessons teach about generational and historical trauma, protective factors, resilience, tools for self-care and systems of healing. Native educators give professional guidance for teaching difficult content.
Model Co-Learning with Students: Teachers are not expected to be experts in Native cultures or histories. They are asked to proceed with cultural humility and curiosity, learning alongside their students. They lead the inquiry and provide culturally vetted sources of information for their students.
Examining Implicit and Explicit Bias: Educators increase their own critical thinking skills as they explore types of bias inherent within language and imagery.
Understanding Cultural Appropriation: Educators learn about cultural boundaries and the nuances of ethics, within the context of Native California cultures. Opportunities exist in the curriculum for hands-on/outdoor activities that don’t require the replication or appropriation of private Native cultural practices. Guidance regarding private or public cultural practices is provided by Native scholars and educators.
The first NASMC Listening Session at Round Valley Elementary School, March 2023
Focus group of educators, Cal Poly Humboldt, July 2024