ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on how Native parents perceive two Arizona statutes requiring the state's public schools to provide instruction in Native American and Arizona Native American histories. It also explores how these mandates should be implemented in order to privilege Indigenous perspectives and local histories. The chapter begins with a vignette to demonstrate an alternative vision of history, one that honors Native perspectives. It suggests that the dominant perceptions of history and history instruction marginalize Native people's experiences and the importance of tribal sovereignty. The chapter illustrates how Native parents in urban school districts are engaging Zones of Sovereignty that disrupt the "safe" articulations of Native history advanced by state legislation. It also then explores Native parents' perspectives on their own and their children's experiences with Native American history instruction. The chapter also focuses on determining why the Arizona laws mandating the teaching of Native peoples needed to be created.
