MDE Indigenous Education Initiative Tribal Consultation Guidebook - Manual / Resource - Page 12
With Whom Do We Consult?
Local and Non-Local Tribes
Minimally, consultative relationships should be formed with tribes
within or near district boundaries. (See Appendix C). Tribal peoples
oen live in areas and aend schools in lands that may be quite
distant from the tribal government centers to which they affiliate. As
such, LEAs are strongly encouraged to gather additional information
about the Indigenous learners in their schools and reach out to any
tribe their students affiliate with, especially any federally recognized
tribes that share geography with the state of Michigan. If a significant
number of students from other tribes not located in Michigan aend
an LEA, the LEA might also consider aempting to engage those
other tribes in consultation. Please see Appendix D for a sample
invitation leer that could be used to invite tribes into a consultative
relationship.
When initiating contact with local and non-local tribes, it would be in
the best interests of the LEA to share with the tribe the exact count of
tribal affiliates aending their schools. This information will allow the
tribe to determine their level of engagement.
Ultimately it will be up to each tribe to decide if they will engage and to what degree that engagement will be.
Tribes with government centers geographically isolated from an LEA or with small numbers of students in an
LEA may choose to engage differently than those with a higher number of their affiliated children enrolled in
the LEA.
LEAs should maintain open communication with all affected tribes throughout their program planning,
budgeting, and implementation process to ensure that even those less engaged are informed of what is
happening in the district.
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