Lies My Teacher Told Me

Author works to eradicate myths about Native cultureJames Loewen believes he's the only man who has intensively read 12 high school textbooks on history.

He calls it a “near death experience.”

That's because the books, he said, exclude scholarly research and borrow misinformation from older textbooks written during the nadir of racism--1890 to 1940--in the United States. Ultimately, students are taught myths, such as Indians sold Manhattan Island for $24.