“It’s Unwritten History”: The Long Fight for Native American and Indigenous Studies for Texas Public Schools
by
Angela Valenzuela, Ph.D.
November 10, 2025
This excellent, half-hour conversation on the unwritten history of the long struggle for the inclusion of Native American and Indigenous Studies for Texas schools is both clarifying and deeply engaging. It shines light on voices that have too often been excluded from our state’s curriculum — and on the persistence of those who have worked tirelessly to change that.
I encourage readers to pair this Fronteras segment with an earlier blog post I shared, “Texas State Board of Education renews American Indian/Native Studies course," by Riddhi Bora in Shift/Press, July 4, 2025,” by Riddhi Bora, published in Shift/Press on July 4, 2025. Together, these pieces trace a remarkable trajectory of advocacy, collaboration, and resilience that has brought us to this historic moment.
My heartfelt thanks to Norma Martinez, Marian Navarro, and Texas Public Radio for hosting this important conversation. Their coverage reminds us that Native Studies is not simply about adding another elective to the curriculum—it’s about restoring visibility and dignity to Indigenous histories and worldviews that have been systematically erased or distorted for generations.
As the program notes, the new American Indian/Native Studies course was formally approved by the Texas State Board of Education in June, giving districts across the state the option to offer it as an elective. Students who enroll will now have the opportunity to learn about the histories and living cultures of American Indian peoples and to understand contemporary issues from Native perspectives.
This victory follows years of organizing, from early pilot programs like the one launched in Grand Prairie ISD in 2021 to sustained advocacy by educators, tribal leaders, and allies such as Hawana Townsley—a descendant of Comanche leader Quanah Parker—who helped design the original curriculum. As Townsley so beautifully put it, “We want to ignite that spark of interest so that maybe these students… will take a lifelong journey to learn more about us now and historically.”
Equally inspiring are the words of Marisa Pérez-Díaz, a steadfast advocate on the State Board of Education: “If we provide resonant curriculums where our students can see themselves in the language and experiences, there's a connection there—a deeper commitment to their education, and we'll see more successes.”
And as Orlando Lara, co-founder of the Ethnic Studies Network of Texas, reminds us, this victory is part of a much longer lineage: “The call for ethnic studies in Texas has a long, long history… there’s this long kind of unwritten history that we’re sort of starting to write now.”
Indeed, that history is being written—by educators, parents, students, and community leaders who refuse to let erasure define our collective memory.
As the Department of Education recently clarified in its letter to the National Indian Education Association, the teaching of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian history does not constitute “DEI” or “CRT.” It is, rather, an act of historical honesty and educational equity—something our democracy requires if it is to survive and thrive.
And similarly, the inclusion of Mexican American Studies and African American Studies in public schools does not constitute DEI or CRT—it is about rightful representation, rigorous scholarship, and honoring historically marginalized peoples whose intellectual traditions and lived realities have been excluded from mainstream curricula.
Clearly, there is more work ahead. But our progress is real, and it is worth celebrating.
You can listen to the full Fronteras episode here.
Fronteras: ‘It’s unwritten history’— The years-long fight to offer American Indian/Native Studies in Texas public schools
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| A photo from the North Texas Ethnic Studies Regional gathering in Ft. Worth, Texas 2019. Jonathan Perez |
Students who enroll in the course will learn about the history and living cultures of American Indians and understand issues and events from Native perspectives, according to the Texas Education Agency.
Approval came following a years-long process and amid a new state law that bans diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in public schools.
The basis of the Native American Studies course was piloted in 2021 in the Grand Prairie Independent School District.
Hawana Townsley — a descendant of 19th century Comanche leader, Quanah Parker —helped craft the curriculum from the beginning.
“We want to ignite that spark of interest so that maybe these students that are in the class will find an interest, and this will become a lifelong journey that they are taking to learn more about us now and historically,” she said.
Marisa Pérez-Díaz, a member of the Texas State Board of Education, has been a champion for ethnic studies.
“(If) we provide resonant curriculums where our students can see themselves in the language and in the experiences, there's a connection there,” she said. “There's a deeper commitment to their education, and we'll see more successes.”
Orlando Lara, co-founder of the Ethnic Studies Network of Texas, agreed.
“The call for ethnic studies in Texas has a long, long history,” he said. “There's this long kind of unwritten history that we're sort of starting to write now.”
Read a recent letter from the Department of Education below on why American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian history is not classified as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) or Critical Race Theory (CRT).
Letter From Department of Education to NIEA by Texas Public Radio
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Norma Martinez
Norma Martinez can be reached at norma@tpr.org and on Twitter at @NormDog1
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Marian Navarro
marian@tpr.org
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