Native American Education
SPS Native American Education
We work with students, parents and guardians, teachers, principals, and SPS departments on a case-by-case basis to address the broad scope of needs our Native students face.
We want every family to understand how to navigate the district’s resources and support all schools in understanding the unique experience Native students face interacting with our system. Our goal is to ensure all Native students have a high-quality educational experience and reach the goal of graduation.
- March’s Family Culture Night
- Tribal History and Culture Extended Core Instructional Materials
- Native Education Updates
- Making Natives Visible
- Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Week of Action
- Native American Poets and Pop Culture
- Native American Observances
- The Boldt Decision
- Social-Emotional Learning Through Plant Teachings
March’s Family Culture Night
Join us on Thursday, March 13th from 5-7pm at Meany Middle School for Family Culture Night!
We will be serving beef lasagna, veggie lasagna, Caesar salad, roasted chicken sandwiches, and chicken wraps as well as dessert. Please feel free to bring a dish to share.
The craft activity will be lead by our new Culture Night teacher, Karen Flores (Huichol Hopi), constructing and designing gourd rattles with a short presentation on the history and importance of the rattle in many Native tribal traditions.
The IPAC board will also be in attendance, so please join us for a fun night of food and community. Hope to see you there!
Questions? Please contact: Kym Hogan at 252-0858 or email kmhogan@davidegalliani.com
See our Family Culture Nights Page for more information on upcoming dates:
Family Culture Night Dates for 2025
Tribal History and Culture Extended Core Instructional Materials
Tribal History and Culture Extended Core Instructional Materials Adoption Board Action Report Update
The goal of this report is to summarize the process and progress of the expanded Tribal Sovereignty and History curriculum, including the Since Time Immemorial adoption, in Seattle Public Schools.
View the report here: Tribal History and Culture Adoption Report
Native Education Updates
Making Natives Visible
Whitman Middle School Raises Awareness of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People
Thank you to Principal John Houston and art teacher Dever Dunnett for an amazing Multicultural Night that featured Native artists and student art. Students created faceless dolls to bear witness to the thousands of missing and murdered Indigenous people within the borders of the United States.
Learn more about the Faceless Dolls Project
Learn more about the Red Dress Project
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Week of Action
Ask your teachers about Schoology classroom resources provided by Native American Education!
Learn about the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center
Native American Poets and Pop Culture
National Poetry Month is April
- Native American Poetry and Culture (Poetry Foundation)
- A Tribe Called Geek (entertainment, art, media, lit, and culture links, reviews, and news)
- MovieWeb – Native American TV Shows
- Native America – PBS series on contemporary Indian Country
- 12 TV and Streaming Shows about the Native American Experience and That Celebrate Indigenous Culture [the title is unfortunate, but the resource is worthwhile] – Rotten Tomatoes article with links
- Native American Music Awards – Explore contemporary and traditional music from Indian Country
- Indigenous Futures – Storytelling Project that highlights resiliency of Native peoples
Native American Observances
Billy Frank, Jr. Day
- Learn more about Billy Frank, Jr.
- Teacher Resources (Requires login)
February is African-American History Month
Learn about the past, present, and future of Black Indians, also known as Afro-Indigenous, African American Indian, and African and Native American.
What do Tina Turner, Crispus Attucks, Jimi Hendrix, and James Earl Jones have in common? They have Native American Ancestry!
Orange Shirt Day
In 1973, Stwecem’c Xgat’tem First Nations citizen Phyllis (Jack) Webstad’s new orange shirt, given to her by her grandmother, was taken away the day she arrived at Mission School. She was six years old. In 2013, she founded the Orange Shirt Society as part of her healing journey.
Learn more…
- Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition
- Residential Schools in Canada Education Guide
- Orange Shirt Society
- Cultural Survival
The Boldt Decision
Boldt Decision at 50 WA State Historical Society, Tacoma Symposium
March 30 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Town Hall Panel Discussion and Program Boldt at 50 – Reflecting on Treaty
Justice and Tribal Sovereignty February 12, 7:30 p.m.
Hot off the Press “Treaty Justice: The Northwest Tribes, the Boldt Decision, and the Recognition of Fishing Rights” by Charles Wilkinson, pub. January 2024
University of Washington School of Law Article and Links
“A 50 year Legacy of Excellence”
As the 50th anniversary of the Boldt Decision approaches, we review the legacy of pioneering UW Law professor Ralph Johnson and his impact on the most complex case in Native American law history.
Social-Emotional Learning Through Plant Teachings
Native American Education collaborated with Social-Emotional Learning to prepare activities for SELtember. These activities promote social-emotional learning using plant teachings. Listen to Victoria Plumage tell the Licorice Fern story…