SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) — A new bill headed to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk would require that Native American history be taught in Illinois schools.

“The Native American history is in our DNA,” said the bill’s chief sponsor, Rep. Maurice West (D-Rockford). “It’s our obligation to truly know our history as a state.”

The new law will be the latest in a string of school history curriculum laws that require social studies and history classes to teach Asian American history, Black history, and the contributions of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.

“Gov. Pritzker believes that history should be taught in a way that conveys the story of our country and state as it actually happened,” a spokesperson for the governor’s office said, according to The Center Square. “Including Native American history in the classroom … ensures students are given the tools to understand and empathize with one another.”

The curriculum will be developed in consultation with the Chicago American Indian Community Collaborative.

Younger students will learn about Native American contributions to art and politics, and older students will learn about the “genocide and discrimination against Native Americans.”

Illinois is one of 14 states that does not have an American Indian reservation.