PORTLAND (AP) – Maine’s American Indians say their role in history has been given short shrift in classrooms.

Starting next year, Maine school districts will be required to teach the history and culture of American Indians. Schools have until Jan. 12 to come up with a plan.

American Indians who lobbied for the law argued that too many history classes in Maine ignored the 5,000 years of human settlement that preceded the arrival of Europeans in the 17th century.

The Wabanaki Commission, a 15-member state commission charged with implementing the law, says teachers should humanize Maine natives and get beyond the stereotypes of feather head bands.

State officials call the new subject “Wabanaki studies.” Wabanaki is the word common to all Maine tribes that describes the region of Maine and the Canadian maritime provinces.

The commission issued a report last month that said Wabanaki studies should be a fundamental component of the curriculum and that ongoing teacher training is needed to make the effort successful.

Commission member Wayne Newell, a Passamaquoddy and director of bilingual education for Maine Indian Education, said students should know that there are several tribes still existing in Maine and have members who speak their native language.

Educators say teaching about American Indian history and culture helps students achieve some of the goals of Maine Learning Results, such as learning to compare cultures and contrast the past with the present.

Also, they’ve got a receptive audience. They say children are intrinsically fascinated by American Indian culture and are curious about the natural world they inhabit.

In Yarmouth, a group of second- and third-graders built elaborate adobe homes, wigwams and log houses, several of which are on display in local businesses.

“There’s not a lot of diversity here,” said Carli Page-Redmann, who teaches second grade at Yarmouth Elementary School. “It just helps them see another piece of the world.”

Jane Jameson, a teacher at Riverton Community School in Portland, this year taught her second- and third-graders to make shaman false-face masks and kachina dolls, which symbolize the ancestral spirits of the Hopi tribe.

Jameson said her lessons on American Indians are the first part of a yearlong investigation into the history of various cultures, many of which are represented by the children in her classroom.

“It’s not that they are different,” she said. “But that they all make unique contributions to society, and we are learning from each other.”

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