Too often, K-12 social studies classes in the U.S. teach a mostly glossed-over story of U.S. settlement. Textbooks tell the stories of adventurous European explorers founding colonies in the “New World,” and stories of the first Thanksgiving frequently portray happy colonists and Native Americans feasting together. Accounts of the colonies’ battle for independence frame it as a righteous victory. Native American removal might be mentioned as a sad footnote, but the triumph of the pioneer spirit takes center stage.
Associate Professor of English Lisa Michell King, a scholar of Native American and Indigenous rhetorics, shares her expertise on the history of U.S. policies toward Native Americans and the realities of what many historians and activists call settler colonialism. Read more at The Conversation.
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Contact:
Cindi King (865-974-0937, cking126@utk.edu)