By the time Washington State students leave elementary school, they will:
- understand that over 500 independent tribal nations exist within the United States today, and that they interact with the United States, as well as each other, on a government-to-government basis;
- understand tribal sovereignty is “a way that tribes govern themselves in order to keep and support their ways of life;
- understand that tribal sovereignty predates treaty times;
- understand how the treaties that tribal nations entered into with the United States government limited their sovereignty; and
- identify the names and locations of tribes in their area.
By the time Washington State students leave middle school, they will understand:
- that according to the US Constitution, treaties are “the supreme law of the land”; consequently treaty rights supersede most state laws;
- that tribal sovereignty has cultural, political, and economic bases;
- that tribes are subject to federal law and taxes, as well as some state regulations;
- that tribal sovereignty is ever-evolving and therefore levels of sovereignty and status vary from tribe to tribe; and
- that there were and are frequent and continued threats to tribal sovereignty that are mostly addressed through the courts.
By the time Washington State students leave high school, they will:
- recognize landmark court decisions and legislation that affected and continue to affect tribal sovereignty;
- understand that tribal sovereignty protects tribes’ ways of life and the development of their nations;
- understand that tribal, state, and federal agencies often work together toward the same goal;
- explain the governmental structure of at least one tribe in their community; and
- distinguish between federally and non-federally recognized tribes.