The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians is proud to release the Tribe’s first set of Tribally
developed K-12 curriculum for use in Oregon schools during this school year. The curriculum includes lessons for students in grades K-1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10 and 11, and covers an array of topics related to Tribal history, culture, science and governance.
Together, the lessons are designed to expose students to the many different Tribes and bands that make up the Confederated Tribes of Siletz, peoples who occupied all of Western Oregon and parts of Northern California and Southwest Washington before being forcibly removed to the Siletz Reservation beginning in the mid-1850s.
“We are so excited to be able share a more complete version of our region’s history,” said
Alissa Lane-Keene, Programs II manager for the Siletz Tribe. “We hope that these lessons will
help the coming generations of Oregonians appreciate the resilience and persistence of the
Siletz Tribe and our ongoing connection with our Tribal homelands and traditions.”
Although the lessons were designed for classroom use, Tribal staff hopes the curriculum
can be a resource for Tribal members and the general public of all ages.
To create the lessons, Tribal staff brought together information from many different sources
in order to give learners the opportunity to engage with historic documents, published
scholarship and Tribal oral histories, some of which can be difficult to access.
The lessons are designed to connect students to Tribal perspectives on urgent issues
Oregonians confront today as stewards of our environment, offering culturally responsive
lessons on math and science alongside history and social studies.
The Siletz Tribal Curriculum is part of a larger effort to reshape the way that Oregon public
schools teach about Native peoples, codified into law with the passage of Senate Bill 13 (SB
13), Tribal History/Shared History, in 2017. SB 13 mandates the instruction of lessons about
the nine Oregon Tribes in fourth, eighth and 10th grades. The Siletz Tribal Curriculum, developed with grant funds from the Oregon Department of Education, offers schools a chance to supplement that mandatory curriculum with Tribally specific lessons unique to Siletz Tribal history.
Lesson plans and materials are already available for download on the Siletz Tribal website
at www.ctsi.nsn.us . Tribal staff plans to release a final set of lessons for grades three, seven,
nine and 12 in time for the 2023-2024 school year. Contact the Siletz Tribal Culture Department at culture@ctsi.nsn.us with inquiries and questions.
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