Students will learn about Native American culture through native accounts, powwows, ceremonies, learning about their sovereign lands and the indigenous perspective on the US and Canada.
A Native American Studies English class has been created for next year’s sophomores, pending registration.
English teacher Katie Manwell proposed the class earlier this year for sophomores, with the course just being recently accepted and entering the curriculum for the 2026-27 school year. This would join the other alternate non-advanced English classes that students can take with Gender Studies, Black Studies and Latinx Studies.
“I had one of my ISU students, our president, say ‘We have Latinx `have Black studies and we have Gender studies, but we don’t have a class that talks about people who look like me’,” said Manwell. “I said ‘if you want to do that, you can absolutely do that and make it happen.’” Manwell initially missed the class proposal window but they sent the proposal anyway and it was accepted.
All of the material for the class will only consist of works made by Indigenous authors including novels such as “The Marrow Thieves” by Cherie Dimaline and “There There” by Tommy Orange.
Students will learn about Native American culture through native accounts, powwows, ceremonies, learning about their sovereign lands and the indigenous perspective on the US and Canada.
“I think it’s important to know the history of the land and the peoples who were here before us,” said Manwell. “So we can honor the land in the best way we can and so that we can be more understanding and kind to it. I think that you’re seeing people who are here before us, and also just know more about the world in general.”
The class was created with help from the Native American Parent Advisory Committee to help potentially bring native elders into the class as guest speakers. The class is currently open for all sophomores as well as rising juniors and seniors from Indigenous Student Union.