direct reviewers to the second semester’s highest-stakes material, and record what they say before any of it reaches students.
The review process is set out in Module 1.1 of the 9A-BIE guide. The same reviewers should read both semesters: Native secondary English educators and, where the school is tribally controlled, the tribal education department. This lesson tells you where in 9B-BIE to point them, because the second semester carries material the first does not.
Four places reviewers must read closely.
The Wounded Knee chapters in Eastman (Unit 4). Eastman was the physician at Pine Ridge in December 1890 and treated survivors after the Seventh Cavalry killed some three hundred Lakota people, many of them women and children. His account is restrained and devastating. The course frames it as analysis of a writer’s choices before a hostile readership, with a content note and the option to step out. Reviewers should say whether that framing is right for this community, and whether the massacre should be taught at all in this school without additional community involvement. For a Lakota community especially, this is not an abstract question.
The education slot (Unit 4). Education in this community, then and now invites elders or the tribal education department to speak about schooling here, which in many communities means boarding schools. Its protocol requires support arranged before the session and forbids assigning family history as coursework. Reviewers should say whether the slot should be taught, who should lead it, and what support is needed.
The language slot (Unit 2). A word in this language, and what English does not carry belongs entirely to the language program. Reviewers from the language program should decide whether the slot is used and how, including whether anything may be written down.
The treaty unit (Unit 3). It reads the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie and United States v. Sioux Nation (1980). Its slot, the agreement that governs this land, may touch active litigation. Reviewers, and possibly the tribe’s legal department, should confirm the framing and say what may be discussed.
And one more: the Cogewea unit’s framing of Mourning Dove’s relationship with her editor. The course treats her as a writer making choices under constraint and separates her voice from Lucullus McWhorter’s insertions. Colville reviewers in particular should confirm that the account of her and her editor is accurate and fair.
Record and act on what reviewers say, as in 9A-BIE. Some answers will be “do not teach this here.” That answer is complete. The course is designed to function with a slot left open, and the Wounded Knee chapters can be replaced with other chapters of Eastman that carry the same standards. Module 5 covers how.
Where to point reviewers in 9B-BIE
| Where | What | The question to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Unit 4, Eastman | The Wounded Knee chapters | Is the framing right here? Should it be taught without further community involvement? |
| Unit 4, slot | Education in this community, then and now | Should it be taught, who leads it, what support is needed? |
| Unit 2, slot | A word in this language | Language program: is it used, how, and what may be written? |
| Unit 3 | Fort Laramie and the Black Hills case; the local treaty slot | Is the framing accurate? What may be discussed? |
| Unit 1 | Mourning Dove and McWhorter | Is the account of the author and editor accurate and fair? |
If reviewers say the Wounded Knee chapters should not be taught at this school, Unit 4 cannot be delivered.
How confident are you that you can point reviewers to the four places in 9B-BIE that most need their judgment?