Every official event at Syracuse University begins with an acknowledgment that the campus stands on indigenous lands that belonged to the Onondaga Nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. However, most students do not know much about the Onondaga Nation or Haudenosaunee Confederacy, let alone their histories. Students at SU should take at least one Native American and Indigenous studies class. SU should strive to push students beyond vague mentions of native populations at speeches or sporting events toward complex understandings of America’s often oppressive history with native populations.

“I personally believe any student would benefit from studying some aspect of Native American Studies. It would broaden their understanding of US history and provide them with new perspectives on the diversity of US culture overall,” said Scott Manning Stevens, director of SU’s Native American and Indigenous Studies. “Many intersections would become apparent across a range of disciplines if SU students were to become better acquainted with indigenous histories in the US.”

Syracuse University, as an educational institution operating on stolen land, has an academic obligation to educate its students about colonization and contemporary Native Americans and indigenous groups. By not acknowledging American history as deeply rooted in colonialism, educational institutions contribute to an erasure of indigenous populations that has gone on for years and continues today.

“The United States is built upon the invasion and dispossession of Native peoples. Not to teach about the original inhabitants seems absurd and deceptive, and yet that is how most of the US operates,” said Stevens, who is a citizen of the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation. “Ignoring the unpleasant truths of history means not acknowledging the existence of indigenous communities today and disregarding the social conditions created by the on-going colonization of our lands and marginalization of our present day communities.”

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SU recognizes that we stand on stolen, indigenous land. But the university can do more to reconcile this history. The least SU can do is to promote the school’s education of state-based genocide and forced removal that still affects indigenous populations today. These classes exist at SU, but could benefit from a wider audience the university can help create by more fundamentally incorporating these types of courses into students’ course flows.

“I don’t think most SU students have an adequate understanding of US history, let alone that of Native Americans,” Stevens said. “The average age nationally at which one stops learning about Native America in public school is fourth grade — around age nine. How could anyone call that adequate?”

It’s important that schools positioned like SU recognize that displacement and discrimination of native populations wasn’t just something of the past. They must do more to impress upon skeptical people the reality of native discrimination and the lasting effects of American action against the indigenous. Only 34% of Americans believe that native people face discrimination today.

Many people are aware of the inaccurate historical lessons about Native Americans being perpetuated in many schools and want more accurate teaching about historical and contemporary natives. National polling indicated that 72% of American respondents believe it is necessary to make significant changes to school curricula on Native American history and culture.

Syracuse should be part of making those changes.

Most students’ knowledge of Native American history begins with Pocahontas and ends with Thanksgiving. The education system in the United States fails its students by not acknowledging how the country exploited its indigenous peoples for hundreds of years. It is important for students to know that indigeneity exists outside of colonial times, and despite the attempts of erasure, Native Americans still occupy the modern world.

We cannot understand the complex histories that affect indigenous populations today if students do not know that they exist. Syracuse is in a position that makes communicating that message especially valuable, and they should work to make sure more students find themselves in classes that explore these topics.

Madeline Johnson is a junior international relations and magazine journalism major. Her column appears biweekly. She can be reached at mjohns38@syr.edu. She can be reached on Twitter at @johnson_madeli.

Published on October 24, 2019 at 12:17 am