Grant program seeks to strengthen classroom lessons on Minnesota's Native American history

Minnesota teachers now have an opportunity to get a funding boost to craft lessons on the state's Native American history.

The Minneapolis Foundation and Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) have announced grants of up to $2,000 educators can use to bolster their efforts to accurately teach about Native American history and culture.

The grant program's unveiling comes months after the Minnesota Legislature required school districts to offer ethnic studies at the high school level by the start of the 2026-27 school year. All secondary schools must also offer courses on the Holocaust and other genocides, including the forced removal and dispossession of the Dakota, Ojibwe and Ho-Chunk peoples in Minnesota starting that year.

The SMSC is providing $500,000 for the grants as part of its "Understand Native Minnesota" campaign. Applications close Jan. 22. The Minneapolis Foundation, which will administer the grants, is hosting an informational webinar via Zoom on Jan. 11.

Recipients may use the money to pay for curricular materials, training or developing classroom projects that offer comprehensive lessons about the state's Native people.

"If we are going to dramatically improve the position of Native people and tribal nations in the consciousness of our fellow Minnesotans, it naturally leads us to concentrate most of our efforts on the kids who will be tomorrow's citizens, workers, voters and leaders," SMSC Secretary and Treasurer Rebecca Crooks-Stratton said in a statement.

A 2022 report commissioned by the SMSC found that most Minnesota K-12 educators didn't have the confidence or resources they needed to teach students about Native Americans. Two-thirds of teachers surveyed said they didn't feel comfortable teaching the lessons.

The goal of the new grant program is to help educators "share accurate narratives and build understanding of the contributions and experiences of Native peoples in Minnesota," SMSC and Minneapolis Foundation leaders wrote in a joint release.

"You can't understand our state without understanding the important contributions of Indigenous communities, today and throughout our history," said Jo-Anne Stately, senior vice president of impact at the Minneapolis Foundation.

Grant recipients must spend their award by Dec. 31, 2024.