Teaching and Learning Indigenous History in the Face of Resistance

Part of Massachusetts Civic Learning Week

Online, March 8, 10:00 – 11:30am ET

The Commonwealth’s new Genocide Education Act, signed into law on December 2, 2021, will require middle and high schools to teach about the history of genocide. Some schools might teach about the Holocaust, Armenian genocide, Rwanda genocide, genocide against Indigenous peoples, and/or other genocides. Other districts might teach about Raphael Lemkin and the role of the U.N. in drafting the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and why this history matters today as our democratic society struggles to remain pluralistic. In some districts, teachers, students, and administrators may face backlash from parents and/or school committees.

Join a dialogue between Upstander Project Learning Director Dr. Mishy Lesser and students and teachers from Wakefield Public Schools, where they have pivoted toward teaching about the history and contemporary contributions of Indigenous peoples. Participants will also have a chance to watch Upstander Project’s newly released short documentary, Bounty, about the scalp-bounty acts in the genocide history of colonial Boston.

Register for this event and more by signing up on the Massachusetts Civic Learning Week portal.