The need for developing an awareness of the contribution of Native Americans to our global society has been felt by Native Americans and elementary educators for same time. Recently, many publications have tried to fill this need and indeed have made noteworthy contributions. However, it has been observed that few teachers are aware of, much less utilize, these specialized publications. Few teachers have time to research and collect historical, cultural, and sociological data necessary to present unbiased, unprejudiced, and unstereotyped Native American concepts to their students. The need for a compilation of materials was apparent. Therefore, a group of concerned educators, who felt the need to enrich the existing Native American materials available to their colleagues, spent two years researching and developing materials that would adequately meet this need.
Sympathetic earlier attempts by non-Indians have been fruitful but glaring in the absence of presenting information from a non-Indian perspective. To modify this criticism, this grant, "The People, A Native American Legacy", has engaged many Nevada Native Americans to design and authenticate the "Indianness" of all material. This book strongly emphasizes the humanities in exposing both teachers and students to content that will facilitate the development of attitudes and values conducive to the understanding of the Native American culture. Here is found a compilation of various materials from many sources accompanied by original works.
This book is broadly organized by first reviewing pertinent and current information concerning the perceived weaknesses in the present day elementary curriculum. Following this is the final section that goes quickly from the general Native American population to a strong concentration on the Southwestern and then Nevadan Indians. In this latter section, the Nevada Stare Department of Education publications were utilized as an organizational framework. After stating lofty goals, most publications leave elementary educators not knowing what to do with their students to attain such goals. In this work, hands-on activities with stated objectives are emphasized, where appropriate, to facilitate the understanding of the concept being covered. Ample material is provided, some of which is a reworking of other efforts while much of it is original.
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The People: Native American Legacy
