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Many years ago, the people of Montana conceived of a wonderful gift to give ourselves and future generations of Montanans.

At the 1972 constitutional convention, we added language to the state Constitution that requires our offices of public education to acknowledge “the distinct and unique cultural heritage of the American Indians,” and which mandates “the preservation of their cultural integrity” in our educational goals.

As Missoulian reporter Rob Chaney's series last week, “Native Stories, Our Stories,” reminded us, Montana is the only state in the nation to include such a mandate in its Constitution, and it continues to blaze an unprecedented trail in both preserving its tribal history and in making tribal culture an integral part of public education.

Unfortunately, and much to our dismay, this gift lay unfinished and nearly forgotten, like a Christmas present left unopened in the back of a closet, for years. Then, nearly 10 years ago, the state Legislature passed the Indian Education for All Act. And then, about five years ago, a court battle concluded that Montana's education system was not living up to its promise to teach Native American history and culture. Finally, about two years ago, the Montana Tribal History Project was finally given state funding to continue the challenging work of bringing the lessons from our tribes to our public schools.

It is paramount we do this now. As Chaney pointed out in his Dec. 21 story kicking off the seven-day series, “the library is burning.” The oral history of Montana's Native Americans burns away with the passing of each elder. Indeed, the challenges that come with forging a better understanding of Montana tribal history - to tribal members and non-members alike - are not easily surmounted. But they are well worth the effort. And in this effort, Montana can be proud that it is leading the pack.

It has been a long and difficult struggle, but thanks to the tireless efforts of our state's tribal and education leaders, and those who have done the groundbreaking work of gathering this information and melding it into lesson plans, we are ready to give the incoming class of K-12 students a gift that promises to keep on giving.

We will be watching eagerly, this next school year, as they open it.

 

Native Stories, Our Stories

To read the Missoulian series “Native Stories, Our Stories” online, go to www.missoulian.com/native.

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