Ranco interviewed for PPH about implementing Wabanaki studies class
Darren Ranco, associate professor of anthropology and the coordinator of Native American research at the University of Maine, was quoted by the Portland Press Herald in an article about the slow implementation of a 2001 law requiring schools to teach the history, government and culture of the state’s Indigenous people. The law was passed without money or enforcement. “A lot of us that have been involved have been frustrated by the pace of implementation. Many of us had great hope for this law in the broad educational context in the state of Maine, but it has been frustrating to see it stall until the last couple of years when Portland Public Schools’ work started,” said Ranco, who is also a citizen of the Penobscot Nation and has worked on the Portland curriculum. The Sun Journal shared the PPH report.