Coeur d’Alene Tribe 4th Grade Social Studies Curriculum
This curriculum has been specifically written by the Coeur d’Alene Tribe Department of Education and partners. The Coeur d’Alene Tribe Social Studies Curriculum is created for use by schools and educational partners within and around the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s aboriginal territory as part of an initiative of the Coeur d’Alene Department of Education State Tribal Education Partnership (STEP) grant. The Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s primary goal is to strengthen the cultural identity and civic engagement of learners through development of curricula that recognizes tribal sovereignty and nurtures self-determination in education. Built upon the Tribe’s five core values –t’u’lschint (membership), snmiypngwiln (scholarship), hnshat’qn (guardianship), ̀ats’qhnt’wesh (stewardship), chsnpa’silgwesn (spirituality, this curriculum guides teachers and learners through the history and rich knowledge of the Coeur d’Alene people. This ground-breaking curriculum, aligned to the Idaho State Content Standards, walks learners through the Coeur d’Alene people’s relationships with land and all its relatives, past and present. Each unit is anchored in core tribal values of relationships, reciprocity, responsibility, and respect, reflected in the five core values and integrated through the unit themes, learning objectives, lesson activities, and learner outcomes.
An essential element of this curriculum is to sustain and revitalize understanding of the Coeur d’Alene peoples dynamic cultural and linguistic practices among tribal citizens and their settler neighbors. The three units are outlined as building blocks that guide learners from foundational understandings of the Coeur d’Alene worldview to contemporary understanding of Coeur d’Alene practices of sovereignty in relationship to land, identity, language, governance, and social and economic well-being. The three units 1. Coeur d’Alene Tribe Core Values, 2. Coeur d’Alene Tribe Aboriginal Homeland 3. Understanding the World Through Coeur d’Alene Names, are crafted with intention to help teachers and learners disrupt inaccurate colonial narratives of the conquerors (European Americans) and the conquered (American Indians). As community members and scholars alike indicate, simplistic colonial narratives of Northwest history are at odds with the complex lived experiences of Indigenous peoples. These falsehoods have for too long spread damaging stereotypes that depict Indigenous peoples as static, barbaric, and living in the past. Through use of primary source documents, community voices, knowledge of the natural environment, and the snchitsu’umtshn (Coeur d’Alene language), this curriculum is intended to actively claim and maintain space in schools to revitalize Coeur d’Alene values as central to the well-being of tribal citizens and the region in general. It functions as an invitation for Coeur d’Alene youth, the next generation of Tribal leaders, to co-construct learning with their relatives, the land, past and current leaders, schools, and teachers. Each unit includes curricular materials and references to tribal histories and community resources to help teachers accurately depict the unit’s goals and to bring the content to life.
Designed through a collaborative effort involving tribal leaders, university researchers, cultural preservation experts, and teachers, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe Social Studies curriculum makes a statement about the importance of tribal sovereignty and Indigenous self-determination to promote well-being and deep understanding of Indigenous histories and cultural practices as foundational to US/Idaho history today and for generations to come.
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Click the Links Below to Access Each Unit
If you have comments about any aspect of the curriculum (e.g. resources, implementation etc.) please send your thoughts to: