Curated OER
Traditions and Languages of Three Native Cultures: Tlingit, Lakota, and Cherokee
Students explore the connections between tradition and language. They examine the environment, history and culture of the Tlingit, Lakota and Cherokee tribes and identify the importance of maintaining languages for oral traditions.
K20 LEARN
Native American Education - Past, Present, and Future: Assimilation
To understand the history of Native American education, high schoolers examine the record of young scholars who attended the Carlisle Indian School from 1879-1918. They also examine sources that contain information about indigenous...
Global Oneness Project
Today’s Native America
The 2016-2017 protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) motivated Camille Seaman to create "We Are Still Here," a photo essay featuring portraits of contemporary Native Americans who protested the pipeline. This eight-page packet,...
Curated OER
Cane River Civil Rights: A Native American Perspective
Students interpret historical evidence presented in primary resources. In this civil rights lesson, students examine the civil rights struggle from a Native American perspective. Students analyze documents and write journal entries that...
Curated OER
Native Americans of Texas
Fourth graders research Native American tribes and their way of life. They locate picture of artifacts such as arrowheads and describe tools used and the purpose of each. In groups, 4th graders create a model Native American village and...
Curated OER
Native American History
Students examine how Chief Joseph attempted to challenge stereotypes about Native Americans. In this Native American history lesson, students read "An Indian's Views of Indian Affairs," and then paraphrase the selection. Students also...
Curated OER
Focus of Native American Religious Practices
Here are five quick lessons you can use to introduce your class to religions from around the world. They view and perform a Native American dance, watch a video on Judaism, compare the difference between Catholics and Protestants, watch...
Curated OER
A Listening Doll: Create Traditional Native American Storyteller Dolls
In this wonderful cross-curricular lesson, your youngsters will learn about Pueblo Indian storyteller dolls by creating their own! They discuss the tradition of story telling, especially in reference to Native Americans. Consider ending...
Curated OER
Native Pottery Replicas
Young scholars study ancient Native American traditions and practices. They select one type of Native American pottery to duplicate in a hand-made replica. Afterward, they create a map of the United States and label where indigenous...
Stanford University
Carlisle Indian Industrial School
How do policies aimed to help actually hurt? Native American boarding schools—an attempt at assimilating children of indigenous tribes into white culture—had a shattering effect on those who attended. With primary sources, including...
Anti-Defamation League
Indian/Native American Boarding Schools: Their History, Harm and Impact
Encultureate, assimilate, or eliminate? The 2021 discovery of a mass grave of over 200 children on the site of a former Canadian Indian Boarding school led to the creation of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative. High schoolers...
Global Oneness Project
Cultural Heritage: Recording a Native Language Dictionary
How do you rebuild a language that has been banned for years? A short video introduces high schoolers to Marie Wilcox, A Wukchumni Native American from Central California who, for over 20 years, worked on comprising a dictionary of the...
NET Foundation for Television
1850-1874 Native Americans and Settlers
Did Western settlers receiving free land from the Homestead Act realize it wasn't really free at all? Scholars investigate the impact Western expansion had on Native American culture in the mid-1800s. They use documents, timelines, and...
Edgate
Native Americans of the Lewis and Clark Trail
As part of a study of the Corps of Discovery expedition, class groups research the different Native American tribes Lewis and Clark encountered on their journey and share their findings with the class.
Constitutional Rights Foundation
History of Immigration Through the 1850s
Everyone living in the United States today is a descendant from an immigrant—even Native Americans. Learn about the tumultuous history of American immigration with a reading passage that discusses the ancient migration over the Bering...
Curated OER
Native Harvest
Students read Native Plants and Early Peoples and explore the plants in Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park and find how the Native Americans used them. In this Native American plant and people lesson, students research two types...
Curated OER
Lesson 1: English-Indian Encounters
What did the English settlers think of the Native Americans inhabiting the Chesapeake region of the United States? Learners analyze a series of documents and images to determine the English perception of the local inhabitants. A great...
Curated OER
Lewis and Clark and Native Americans, Part II
Students research the Native Americans living in the regions explored by Lewis and Clark. They identify the modern-day names of sites claimed by the Lakota Indians, and create a poster of the original Native American names.
Smithsonian Institution
Borders within the United States: Indian Boarding Schools and Assimilation
Native American Nations ... sovereign entities or removable tribes? A thought-provoking lesson explores the relationship between Native American tribes and the United States, including forced assimilation and removal from their ancestral...
University of California
Impact of the California Missions on Native Americans
While the Spanish claimed to bring civilization to California indigenous peoples, in reality, they also brought violence and forced assimilation to European values. Primary sources, such as the reports of Catholic priests and Europeans...
National Museum of the American Indian
To Honor & Comfort Native Quilting Traditions
"Native American history leaps boldly off the colorful quilts and patchwork designs." Learners discuss Native American identity and symbolism by reading about a variety of Native quilters and their unique art process, and participate in...
Teacher.org
The History of Thanksgiving
The first Thanksgiving is the focus of a lesson that boosts reading comprehension and interview skills. Half the class reads about Pilgrims while the other half reads about the Native American, Squanto. After answering questions, pupils...
Curated OER
Taming the Frontier
High schoolers examine paintings by Thomas Cole and Jasper Francis Cropsey as windows into American frontier life. They consider the pioneer's relationship with nature and the role of Native Americans in the pioneer's lives and settlements.
Curated OER
Pre-Columbian Cultures in the Americas
Native American studies is fun, educational, and highly motivating. Fifth graders will gain a deeper understanding of the six major pre-Columbian culture areas on the North American continent. They will choose one group and conduct...