Higher Education Summit on Since Time Immemorial Curriculum Set for Oct 27-28

A special Higher Education Summit on Oct. 27 and 28 will bring together representatives from colleges, universities, schools and tribes to discuss the state-enacted Since Time Immemorial curriculum, which seeks to build lasting educational partnerships between school districts and local tribes via elementary, middle, and high school curriculum on tribal sovereignty.

Woodring College of Education at Western Washington University is hosting the Summit, to be held at the Springhill Suites in Bellingham, in conjunction with the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, Office of Native Education (OSPI-ONE), the Washington Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (WACTE), and the Northwest Tribes, Tribal Leader Congress on Education (TLC).

In May 2015 Gov. Jay Inslee signed into state law Substitute Senate Bill 5433 “requiring Washington’s tribal history, culture, and government to be taught in the common schools,” making Washington only the second state in the nation to mandate statewide action. 

This bill affirmed work set in place by the state and federally recognized tribes in the historic 1989 Centennial Accord and then the 1999 Millennial Agreement.  In 2005, the state Legislature passed House Bill 1495 which “encouraged” the teaching of tribal history, culture, and government in the common schools.  OSPI and ONE worked with tribes to develop the Since Time Immemorial curriculum to help meet the need for materials. 

Since the 2015 law now requires the inclusion of those issues, especially as they relate to the nearest federally recognized tribe or tribes, there is a growing need for institutions of higher education to train pre-service teachers and to provide leadership in assisting existing teachers and their school districts to embrace and implement the Since Time Immemorial curriculum as well as to coordinate more effectively with tribes. 

The summit includes keynote addresses from: state Sen. John McCoy (Tulalip), author of HB 1495 and subsequent bills relating to and supporting Since Time Immemorial; and Mandy Smoker-Broaddus (Assiniboine/Sioux), director of Indian Education, Montana Office of Public Instruction, who will speak on Montana’s Indian Education for All, the only other equivalent statewide program in the U.S. 

The Lummi Blackhawk Singers will assist in the opening night’s Coast Salish cultural sharing.  Friday events will include: panelists from Evergreen State College, Washington State University, the University of Washington and WWU along with those from Wellpinit School District and OSPI-ONE, showcasing their existing collaborative Since Time Immemorial Models within Higher Education and K-12 schools as well as their plans for the future. 

The day will also include an overview of government-to-government principles outlined in the Centennial Accord, dialogues with tribal representatives and other stakeholders, and open planning on how the Since Time Immemorial curriculum can be engaged within the state’s institutions of higher education.

Summit Planning Committee members are: Michael Vendiola, program supervisor, Office of Native Education, OSPI; Kristen French, associate professor, WWU Woodring College of Education; Anna Lees, assistant professor, Woodring College; Michelle Vendiola, grant coordinator, Woodring College;  Chris Friday, professor of History, WWU College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and Woodring College Dean Francisco Rios.