ORONO – Teachers should be prepared for controversial discussions next year when a new law will require them to introduce their students to Maine Native American history and culture, Indian educators said Friday.

Topics like gambling casinos, school sports mascots, Thanksgiving and the discovery of America, could be fodder for heated debate, according to tribal representatives who gathered at the University of Maine this week to help teachers prepare for the law that goes into effect in September 2004.

The event, attended by 24 teachers from around the state, was organized by the Maine Native American History and Culture Commission, a 15-member group of educators and tribal representatives whose job is to help kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers develop a Wabanaki studies curriculum.

Sponsored by Rep. Donna Loring, the Penobscot Nation’s representative to the Legislature, the law was enacted two years ago and requires schools to teach about Maine Native American culture and experiences, tribal governments and political systems, past and present territories, and economic systems.

The legislation is bound to stir up controversy as nonnative students “learn the truth about Maine history,” said speaker Darren Ranco, a Penobscot who graduated from Orono High School and is a professor of Native American studies and environmental studies at Dartmouth College.

“I think most kids in Maine think there aren’t any Indians in Maine and that they died off,” Ranco said during a break.

Because many white students have been “misinformed” and aren’t aware of “historical realities,” they may not understand why some issues cut Indians to the quick, he said.

Students may not be aware that they likely have learned the “Disney version” of Pocahontas, and that Christopher Columbus “didn’t discover anything,” he said.

They may not know that the Maine Indian Claims Settlement wasn’t “merely political maneuvering, but a recognition of the harm” the state caused Native Americans, he said.

The new law will make students question why they haven’t been taught this material, he said.

But Bill Lundgren, a teacher at Poland High School, took exception to the notion that students always get a biased view of history.

“The idea that public schools are these evil places hasn’t been my experience,” Lundgren told the group.

For years students have been encouraged to “question power relationships and look at issues around white privilege,” he said.

The new law will present challenges for teachers, said speaker Bernard Perley, a Maliseet from New Brunswick who spent part of his childhood in Limestone.

Because they are considered sacred, activities such as drumming and dancing shouldn’t be brought into the curriculum without making sure it’s appropriate, said Perley, an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee.

“It’s an additional burden for teachers,” he said. “They have to do their homework to make sure the information [they present to their students] is accurate and fair.”

Teachers also should remember that opinions students bring into the classroom may be molded in part by what they hear at home.

Sitting around the dinner table discussing gambling casinos, “a parent could say, ‘Indians get special breaks,”‘ he pointed out. “Teachers need to create an open discussion … and understand there will be resistance to the ideas presented.”

Geoff Wingard, a social studies teacher at Bangor High School, often has dealt with hot topics in the classroom, but he said presenting Wabanaki studies will be different.

“Discussions over the national park controversy … don’t personalize issues. This has a real face,” Wingard said during a break. “For many kids this will be the first time they’ve ever been able to personalize a controversial issue.”

Orland School teacher Robin Bray said that although she considers herself a confident teacher, the caveats offered by speakers have made her nervous she might inadvertently offend Wabanakis or trivialize their traditions.

“What am I doing writing a lesson plan when I don’t know the importance of a story?” she said to the group.

The new law “is more monumental than I realized,” she said.

Mistakes likely will be made, but teachers shouldn’t worry about “good faith” efforts, said Assistant Professor Maureen Smith, director of the university of Maine’s Native American Studies Program and a member of the commission.

To help teachers determine what curriculum is appropriate she suggested they confer with each other and with members of the commission. And they should log on the Internet to www.oyate.org for a list of books to avoid for a number of reasons, including their stereotypical portrayals of American Indians.

The law does not specify how much time should be devoted in the curriculum to Wabanaki studies, or in what grade or grades it should be taught.