An Unspoken History
THE TRAIL
OF TEARS
Why 87% of U.S. Schools Don't Teach This.
A journey into the silence we must break.
The 87 Percent
Problem
For most Americans, the history of Native peoples stops around 1900. If it's mentioned at all, it's often confined to a single, sanitized chapter about the "First Thanksgiving" or conflicts in the 1800s.
This is not an accident. It's an erasure.
A recent report from the National Congress of American Indians found that 87% of state curricula do not mention Native American history after the year 1900. Furthermore, 27 states do not require Native American history to be taught at all.
The result is what the report calls "the invisibility of Native peoples". We are taught a version of history with its most difficult chapters systematically torn out.
87%
of Curricula
Fail to mention Native American history after 1900.
The Chapters They Omitted
This missing 87% contains the most systematic and brutal truths of the nation's founding. When history is "cleaned up" for textbooks, these are the facts that are left behind:
25,000
Cherokee Souls
Exterminated
300+
Lakota Massacred
At Wounded Knee
100,000
Children Stolen
By Boarding Schools
150,000
Native Californians
Genocided
"Why didn't we know this? How is it that I've reached the eighth grade and haven't heard any of this?"
— Student Reaction
Story Bearer
Each piece is a tangible tribute to the strength and resilience of Native Nations.
An Act of
Remembrance
If the system will not teach this history, we must teach it ourselves. How do we choose to remember a legacy that has been intentionally erased?
To honor the voices that were silenced and the warriors who fell, we created the "Trail of Tears Commemorative Collection."
Each piece in this collection is not jewelry, but a story-bearer—a tangible tribute to the strength, resilience, and unyielding spirit of the Native Nations. They are designed with reverence, ensuring each detail carries meaning and respect.
This is not an effort to rewrite history, but to ensure it is finally, and fully, read.
Why We Support NARF
Understanding the impact of your contribution.