GreatFalls

Law enforcement officers and soldiers driving trucks, military Humvees and buses advanced. Police were in riot gear. Tires staged as road blocks were set on fire. Tents and structures set up by civilians were dismantled. There were arrests.

The scene was not half a world away last week, it was about 600 miles east of Great Falls on the Standing Rock Reservation, which straddles North and South Dakota.

Members of the Sioux Tribe and supporters are protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline, a crude oil pipeline that will cross water sources and sites the tribe says have cultural significance.

There are plenty of issues surrounding the scene and back stories of how things reached this point, but the fact that this point was reached is worth its own discussion.

The scene in Great Falls was a stark contrast. Students watched Lilly Gil dance in a blue jingle dress on the stage of the Civic Center with her siblings, tribal members and fellow American Indians.

It was part of a cultural exchange drum circle during the All State Musical Festival in Great Falls.

After decades of a stalled start, Indian Education for All, added to the Montana Constitution in 1972, is happening today in earnest. After a lawsuit and special legislative session in 2005, funding was finally allocated for schools to make additions to the curriculum and provide educator training.

Today school districts across the state are working to improve the representation and integration of American Indian culture into the school system.

Great Falls High School senior Amy La Brake said she thinks the school district has made integration a priority, but there’s still room for improvement.

“During sophomore year we’re required to take Montana Government, and about a quarter of it is about Native American studies and things specific to the tribes in Montana,” La Brake said. “Reading is a good way to teach culture, but it would be cool to have it shown in other subjects. We could learn about herbal remedies in science, or have an indigenous sciences class.”

La Brake will be attending Montana State University next year as an Indigenous Scholar of Promise. She is currently the tribal chairwoman for InterTRIBAL Strong, a group of American Indian students committed to being leaders and mentors to create a support system for Native American students.

Through their developed IEFA Trainer of Trainers program, Great Falls High School instructional coaches JoLena Hinchman and Katie Hurin are educating and inspiring district teachers and administration to implement more American Indian perspectives in their schools.

Teachers can take a trainer class (five Saturdays) to build a background in American Indian culture and studies.

Prior to the Trainer of Trainers program, American Indian-centric lesson plans were written for teachers to present to their classes.

“A large population of our teachers are not Native,” Hurin said. “They struggle to teach something they don’t know themselves. When they know the subject better, they teach it better.”

Hinchman and Hurin have been working to develop better programs to help teachers naturally integrate Native culture into their classroom.

Students in classrooms from the pre-K through senior year of high school are having more informed and engaged conversations about American Indian culture today than they were just five years ago, Hinchman and Hurin say.

“It has been a real strength to travel around the state to schools and see fifth-graders have deep, meaningful talks about the mascot issue — especially now that the (Cleveland) Indians are in the World Series,” Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau said. “It’s bringing young people’s attention to stereotypes. There are more conversations around treaties and tribes and rights. Students and teachers are having accurate, authentic conversations.”

And perhaps, in the future, accurate, authentic conversations will be successful in helping to resolve conflicts between government officials, private businesses and Native American tribes.

—Tribune editorial board