A new law requires California schools to teach about the historical mistreatment of Native Americans

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — For Johnny Hernandez Jr., vice chairman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians in Southern California, it was difficult as a child growing up near San Bernardino to accept two different accounts of indigenous peoples' history hear in the state.

One report came from his elders and was based on their life experiences, another came from his teachers at school and glossed over decades of mistreatment of Native Americans.

“You have your family, but then you have the people you should respect — teachers and administration,” he said. “As a child—I speak for myself—it’s confusing…to know who’s telling the truth.”

Now, a bill signed Friday by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom will require public schools that teach elementary, middle and high school students about Spanish colonization and the California Gold Rush to also include lessons about the mistreatment and contributions of Native Americans during it must include time periods. The state Department of Education is required by law to consult with tribes if it updates its history and social studies curriculum after Jan. 1, 2025.

“This is a critical step in correcting some of the wrongs in education,” Hernandez said before signing the bill.

Newsom signed the measure Friday on California Native American Day, a holiday first established in the 1990s to honor the culture and history of the state's indigenous peoples. California is home to 109 federally recognized indigenous tribes, the second largest in the nation after Alaska.

“I am proud of the progress California has made in addressing the dark chapters of our past, and we are committed to continuing this important work to advance justice, inclusion and accountability for Indigenous people,” Newsom said in a statement. “As we celebrate California’s many tribal communities today, we recommit to working with tribal partners to better meet their unique needs and strengthen California for all.”

Newsom, who issued a federal apology in 2019 for historic violence against and mistreatment of Native Americans, also signed 10 additional measures Friday to further support the needs of tribes.

Democratic Assembly member James C. Ramos, the first Native American lawmaker in California to write the draft curriculum, said it would build on a law the state passed in 2022 encouraging school districts to work with tribes to learn their history to be integrated into the curricula.

“For far too long, California’s native peoples and their history have been ignored or misrepresented,” he said in a statement last month. “Lessons about the Mission and Gold Rush periods do not take into account the loss of life, enslavement, starvation, disease and violence inflicted on California's native peoples during this period. These historical omissions from the curriculum are misleading.”

___

By SOPHIE AUSTIN Associated Press/Report for America. Sophie Austin is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on X: @sophieadanna