Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) elder DeWayne Martin designed the artwork for a T-shirt for students in the Tacoma Public Schools Indian Education Program. (The PAC parents ordered the shirts in time to have them ready for the first Native American Heritage Day.) The black, white, red and yellow “eagle” art is on the front and a list of 126 tribes Tacoma students represent is printed on the back.
For the first time—and for this year only, federal legislation set aside the Friday after Thanksgiving as Native American Heritage Day to honor the contributions American Indians have made to the United States. The bill encourages public elementary and secondary schools to promote student/school/community awareness of and to celebrate Native American histories and culture. This is in line with state House Bill 1495 (http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=28A.320.170) which specifically calls for Native American histories and culture to be imbedded in curricula.
An excerpt from the 28A.320.170 legislation says:
“Each school district board of directors is encouraged to incorporate curricula about the history, culture and government of the nearest federally recognized Indian tribe or tribes, so that students learn about the unique heritage and experience of their closest neighbors. School districts near Washington's borders are encouraged to include federally recognized Indian tribes whose traditional lands and territories included parts of Washington, but who now reside in Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia. School districts and tribes are encouraged to work together to develop such curricula.”
David Syth, Indian Education coordinator, said, “A cornerstone of the Tacoma Indian Education program is to encourage cultural pride and identity. We also want to enhance our parental support and involvement in the Indian Education Program. By honoring that cultural pride and identity, we will be able to help parents feel more welcome and become more involved with our program and students.”
The tribes represented by Tacoma students include:
Aleut, Apache, Arapaho, Arikara, Assiniboine, Athabascan, Bannock, Blackfeet, Blackfoot, Chehalis, Chemanus, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Chickasaw, Chinook, Chippewa, Choctaw, Coeur D'Alene, Colorado River, Colville, Cowichan, Cowlitz, Cree, Creek, Crow, Curyung, Doyon Ltd., Eskimo, Flathead, Gila River, Grand Ronde, Haida, Haliwa, Ho-Chunk, Holt, Inuit, Inupiaq, Iroquois, Jamestown S'Kallam, Karuk, Kenaitze, Kings Island, Kiowa, Klamath, Kootenai, Luguna, Lummi, Makah, Miadu, Mohawk, Muckleshoot, Muscogee Creek, Navajo, Nez Perce, Nimuc, Nisqually, Nooksack, Ojibwa, Okanogan, Paiute, Pechangua, Peoria, Port Gamble S'Klallam, Puyallup, Quileute, Quinault, Rampart, Robinson Ranchero, Santo Domingo Rancheria, Seminole, Sherwood Valley Rancheria, Shinnecock, Shoshone Bannock, Siletz, Sioux, Skokomish, Smith River Rancheria, Snohomish, Spokane, Squamish, Squaxin, Steilacoom, Swinomish, Taos Pueblo, Tesuque Pueblo, Tlingit, Tsimshian, Tulalip, Umatilla, Upper Skagit, Winnebago, Yakama, Yaqui, Yupik, Yurok and Zuni.