California’s
untold history
through Native voices

Indigenous Histories, Sovereignty, and the Present

The People of the West documentary series provides curriculum that centers California Native perspectives across time—from creation histories and first contact to contemporary movements for sovereignty, cultural revitalization, and environmental stewardship. Through film analysis, primary sources, oral histories, and critical discussion, students examine how Indigenous peoples have shaped California’s past and continue to shape its present and future.

Across ten lessons, students investigate colonization, resistance, survival, and resurgence while engaging core Ethnic Studies concepts such as historicizing power, sovereignty, media literacy, and intergenerational responsibility. The curriculum emphasizes Indigenous knowledge as living, dynamic, and forward-looking, challenging narratives that confine Native peoples to the past.