Learning from Jamestown

American Indians See Opportunity in Jamestown Anniversary

In the spotlight, American Indians seek to educate the broader publicThe dialogue between native and non-native peoples is "not just looking back at where we were and what happened to us, but using that as a point to look at and get public attention to what needs to happen more at this point," she said.

Tayac also wants educators to take a hard look at the curriculum in U.S. schools and incorporate not only the American Indian point of view, but also the results of more recent historical scholarship, including archaeological excavations of native sites.

She said she hopes that future American schoolchildren will consider figures like Powhatan chief Wahunsunacock, or his brother and successor Opechancanough, "as just as much of a founder [of the United States] as John Smith," and that they will view the natives of the Chesapeake region as "intelligent, thinking, tremendously intellectual people who were on this landscape, who had civilizations that had a population worthy of respect."