Educators teaching Native American Content in Minnesota

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC), in partnership with the Minneapolis Foundation, is offering a mini-grant program to assist educators in teaching Native subject matter accurately in Minnesota K-12 schools. This initiative is part of the SMSC’s "Understand Native Minnesota" campaign, which aims to improve the narrative about Native peoples, their history, culture, and tribal governments. The Minneapolis Foundation’s involvement aligns with its mission to support educational and community initiatives that foster a more inclusive and accurate understanding of diverse cultures and histories. The target beneficiaries of this program are K-12 educators across Minnesota's public, private, charter, and tribal schools. The impact goals are to promote the acquisition and use of Native-specific resources, develop new standards-aligned curriculum resources, support professional development in Native content, and foster experiential learning opportunities. Ultimately, the program seeks to implement best practices for Native students and improve the accuracy and comprehensiveness of Native content taught in schools. The program prioritizes proposals that align with five key categories: resources and materials for the classroom that address current or upcoming Minnesota state academic standards, professional development focused on Native content or best practices for working with Native students, classroom projects or experiential learning opportunities expanding Native content, curriculum and resource development meeting state academic standards, and other activities consistent with accurately teaching Native content. This structured approach ensures that funding directly supports efforts to enhance Native education. With approximately $150,000 available for mini-grants for the 2024-2025 school year, individual educators can receive awards of up to $2,000. Expected outcomes include a greater availability of accurate Native-specific resources in classrooms and libraries, the creation of new and improved curriculum, and an increase in educators equipped with the knowledge and skills to effectively teach Native subject matter. The measurable results will be observed through the types of projects funded and the number of educators and schools participating, ultimately contributing to a more informed understanding of Native peoples among K-12 students in Minnesota.