National Endowment for the Humanities
Not 'Indians,' Many Tribes: Native American Diversity
Students explore what they thought they knew about "Indians." They examine the Hopi, Abeneki and Kwatiutl tribes in a game-like activity using archival documents.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Native American Cultures Across the U.S.
Learners examine how American Indians are represented in today's society. They read stories, analyze maps, and complete a chart and create an illustration about a specific tribe.
Curated OER
Stereotyping of Native Americans
Here is a instructional activity that covers the stereotyping of Native Americans in American culture is here for you. Learners see that there are many instances of stereotyping that are an accepted part of our society. After a lengthy...
Curated OER
Choosing Sides: The Native Americans' Role in the American Revolution
High schoolers analyze the different roles assumed by various Native American tribes during the American Revolution. They examine the issues involved for Native Americans in choosing the British or the American side of the conflict, such...
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.
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
Native Americans
Fourth graders investigate the role of environment in the life of three Native American tribes. In this Native Americans lesson, 4th graders define environment, regions, and natural resources. Students recognize how environment...
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...
Stanford University
Edward Curtis Photographs
A picture is worth a thousand words. The photos of Edward Curtis capture the life and culture of Native American Tribes during the early part of the twentieth century. A presentation first gives background information on Edward Curtis...
Curated OER
Native American Word Search
Students search this puzzle for the names of 20 of the most populous Native American groups in the United States today. They find in this word search puzzle the names of 20 of the 30 most populous Indian groups, according to the 1990...
Curated OER
Researching North American Tribes: The Cree
Students research the Cree tribe of North America. In this Native American lesson, students will research on-line, then compare and contrast the differences between the Cree tribe and other Native American tribes. Students will break...
Curated OER
Lewis and Clark and Native Americans, Part II
Learners 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.
Curated OER
Celebrate Native American Heritage
Students examine Native American heritage. They explore a museum of Native American culture and explore their food, dress, and customs. They also explore the Native Americans role in the first Thanksgiving.
Curated OER
What It Means to Be an American Indian
Students analyze primary source documents and evaluate historical evidence to find consequences of the policies that were adopted from the 1830s to today regarding Native American Indians.
Indian Land Tenure Foundation
Native Foods and Livelihoods
Introduce young scholars to the ways in which land and people have a relationship. They examine the types of food local tribes have traditionally consumed and ways in which the people and the land both benefited from the act of...
Curated OER
Captain John Smith's Shallop
Young explorers, all aboard the shallop to discover how early European explorers would navigate the American coastline to find resources, map terrain, and trade with Native American tribes.
Stanford University
Native Californians and the Portola Expedition
What was California like before the Spanish came? Class members discover the answer to the question using images of Native Americans and diaries of the early Spanish explorers. Scaffolded activities allow instructors to adapt the...
Curated OER
Native American Culture
Students investigate the lives of the American Indians who made their homes in the Midwest. In this Native American history lesson, students research the tribes of the Midwest and create PowerPoint presentations based on their research...
Curated OER
Native Americans 1700s-1800s
Eighth graders investigate and explain major Native American groups, events, individuals and conflicts from the 1700s through the 1800s in the early American colonies and the United States.
Curated OER
The Power of Maps & Native American Cultures
Sixth graders discover where and how five Native American cultures lived in North America in what is currently the United States. They examine their way of life and the regions they inhabited. Additionally, 6th graders will understand...
Curated OER
When Turtle Grew Feathers
Students explore the Choctaw Native American tribe. In this cross curriculum literacy and U.S. history lesson, students locate where the Choctaw Indians lived on a United States map. Students listen to When Turtle Grew Feathers and...
Curated OER
Native American Misconceptions
Students use their drawings to explore sterotypes of Native Americans and others.
Curated OER
Plains Indians Pictographs
Students explore methods of written communication. In this Plains Indian lesson, students create pictographs representing everyday modern life after observing the pictographs used by the Plains Indians. Pictograph stories are written on...
Curated OER
People for the Land: Native Americans in Iowa
Students identify Iowa's American Indian cultures and complete a research project for the topic. For this Iowa's American Indian lesson, students research read the background information about tribes in Iowa and complete a research...