Pat LaClair's grandparents struggled to preserve their way of life on the Skokomish Reservation as settlers plowed under plants used in tribal basketry, restricted the shellfish harvest and desecrated important cultural sites.

Aware of the elders' stories, LaClair stood speechless earlier this month as nearly 300 children — most of them white and middle class — performed for him and other guests at Lincoln Elementary in Olympia.

He was deeply touched that these non-native children were making fish weirs, button blankets and longhouses, singing songs with native themes and sharing what they knew of native culture.

Yvonne Henderson, a Chehalis Tribe member also visiting the school, summed it up: "After generations of my people knowing about you, your history, your culture, your language and even having to take your names, it's now a historic day when I see that you're beginning to learn about my people," she said. "I raise my hands to your teachers and your parents."

The alternative school, like Pathfinder K-8 in West Seattle, is trying to give its students an accurate, genuine understanding of Native American culture. Teachers use "learning expeditions" — in-depth investigations of themes through projects, field work and community service.

This year the Olympia school also borrowed from a literacy curriculum developed years ago by The Evergreen State College and the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to help struggling Native American students.

The curriculum is divided into themes, such as canoes or drums. For example, a math class might focus on a drum's dimensions while students might make drums in an art class. Lincoln's teachers asked the Skokomish Tribe to teach them how to do it right.

"Many commercial books talk about Indians as if they're all dead, as if it's all in the past," said Evergreen State instructor Magda Costantino, the curriculum's co-developer. "It's important for the non-Indian children to learn about their neighbors."

Lincoln teacher Stephen Cifka is a believer: He took his classroom of second- and third-graders to Potlatch State Park earlier this school year for a clam feast with a Tulalip Tribes member, followed by a visit to the tribe's museum.

Students generally don't get much exposure to Native Americans in a contemporary context.

"I want kids to break out of the stereotypes that they learn from television," said Lincoln teacher Michi Thacker.

Some legislators in Olympia agree. Bills in the House (HB1495) and Senate (SB5655) would require that any Washington state history or government course used to meet high-school graduation requirements must include information on Washington tribal history and culture, and encourage dialogue between tribal councils and school boards.

The bills also would require the state school-directors association to report to the Legislature on the potential of culturally relevant curricula to close the achievement gap between white and Native American students.

Hood Canal Elementary and Junior High on the Skokomish Reservation has been using the Evergreen-developed curriculum for about four years, said Lametta LaClair, an education specialist there and Pat LeClair's wife.

The performance of Hood Canal's low-income fourth-graders has improved sharply in the past three years: Of the 18 continuously enrolled low-income students who took the Washington Assessment of Student Learning last year, 83 percent met the standard in reading, 78 percent in writing and 44 percent in math.

The Native American curriculum developed by Evergreen and OSPI will be part of an initial four-state study examining the effectiveness of native-language instruction and culturally relevant programs in raising the test scores of Native American kids, said education professor William Demmert of Western Washington University.

Lincoln Elementary teacher Marcela Abadi says the curriculum also can appeal to non-native students by making school more relevant to their experiences outside school. Eating salmon. Seeing totem poles. Walking past cedar trees.

"It's so much embedded into everything around us," Abadi said. "They can feel it, touch it, know it."

Sanjay Bhatt: 206-464-3103 or sbhatt@seattletimes.com