4th Annual Indigenous Education Symposium

This presentation demonstrates how teachers and school leaders can make curriculum their own by centering local land, language, identity, and community knowledge.

At NACA Elementary, localization is a professional stance. It positions educators as curriculum authors who design standards-aligned learning experiences rooted in the Nations represented in our student body. Through the Rooted and Rising mini-project framework, we align NACA’s Core Values and Native Literature to standards-based report cards and our upcoming 2026–2027 scope and sequence planning requirements.

This session addresses the symposium’s essential questions by examining why Indigenous Genius by Design strengthens instructional practice, student identity, and community-defined success; how Indigenous values guide the way we live, learn, and relate; why centering Indigenous joy is necessary for truth-telling and healing; and how storytelling creates meaning by connecting land, lineage, and leadership.