Curated OER
National Park Service: American Southwest
After reading a brief introduction on the history of the Southwest, click on the list of sites. You will find hyperlinks to important and historic sites that are located in Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado.
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian: Textiles of the North American Southwest
This site explores the weaving traditions of the Native American and Hispanic peoples of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. A gallery of artifacts, timeline, map glossary, and textual descriptions are included. This is a...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Native American Cultures Across the United States
Students explore different aspects of the cultures of the First Americans in this lesson plan. Stereotypes are often associated with Native Americans through movies and in the context of the Thanksgiving holiday. Specific information and...
Other
Utah History to Go: American Indians
Online course material on southwest cultures specific to the state of Utah. Lesson contains questions and concepts for students and links to corresponding information. Students can link to articles, exhibits, historical photographs and...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Harcourt: School Publishers: Postcards From the Southwest
The Southwest region of the United States is filled with beautiful landscapes and marvelous cities. Use this site to see and learn about some of the wonders of the Southwest. You'll look at postcards from an imaginary trip. Then you can...
Northwestern University
American Memory: Edward S. Curtis's North American Indian: Photographic Images
Find Native American tribes grouped by geographic location as well as relevant information and pictures.
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of the American Indian: Infinity of Nations: Culture Quest
Learn about ten different nations of Native Americans in both North and South America by playing this Culture Quest game from the Smithsonian Institution. In addition to the game, there are many other options to choose to learn about...
American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History: Totems to Turquoise: Native American Jewelry
Through this resource, the user can learn about the hand-crafted jewelry of Native North Americans of the Northwest and Southwest and how it embodies both the personal and collective identity of the maker and the wearer.
Other
Beloit College: Ancient Cultures of the Southwest
Find information and photos of historic Southwest pottery and other artifacts at this resource. You can search by tribe or by styles of pottery. Plenty of full-color examples.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: American Indian Culture of the Southwest
We can thank the Indian tribes from the Southwest for introducing us to corn. Corn was seen as a spiritual gift in Pueblo societies. Study more of the cultural characteristics of these tribes such as their irrigation system which allowed...
Stanford University
Beyond the Bubble: Opposition to the Philippine American War
[Free Registration/Login Required] Assesses students' ability to use evidence to support a historical argument. Students are presented with two documents that provide different perspectives on the war in the Philippines. Students are...
PBS
Pbs: The Conquistadors
A huge website that provides a virtual field trip exploring the Spanish adventurers who quested for gold and land in the New World. The site has information on Pizarro, Orellana, Cabeza de Vaca, Cortes as well as extensive information...
Arizona State University
Southwest Culture Through Art: Unit and Lessons
This unit on Southwest American culture planned for sixth graders features six lesson plans on the following subjects: small group collage, exploring concepts, artifacts, pottery, petroglyph rock art pins, and architecture. (Click on...
Other
Archaeology Southwest Magazine: The Mimbres [Pdf]
Download the entire Fall 2003 issue of the Archaeology Southwest Magazine to read several articles relating to the Mimbres culture and pottery. The Mimbres were a subgroup of the larger Mogollon culture inhabiting the Southwest until...
Lone Star Junction
Lone Star Junction: Guide to Life and Literature of the Southwest
The complete text of the 1952 version of this book by J. Frank Dobie. Chapters are thematic collections of annotated lists of books on different aspects of Southwestern culture and history, e.g., Texas Rangers, mountain men, and the Pony...
Henry J. Sage
Sage American History: California and the Gold Rush
Article by Henry Sage explaining the history of California, how it became a state, and how President Polks desire to acquire California contributed to the Mexican-American War.
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Education: Textiles
A comprehensive site on textiles of the North American Southwest. Includes a gallery, map, catalog, glossary and timeline.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Native American Culture of the Southwest
This article discusses the Ancestral Pueblo people who lived in the southwestern region of the modern United States; they constructed elaborate buildings and began the American farming tradition.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: North American Monsoon
NASA tracked rainfall and soil moisture for a three-month period in 1993 to confirm that these rain patterns were indeed a monsoon. Watch this animation to see the relationship between soil moisture and rainfall in the Southwest U.S. By...
Other
American Girl: Josephina: A Hispanic Girl
Meet Josepina, a character in the American Girl series, and learn about Spanish culture and the settlement of America's Southwestern frontier through this collection of stories, games, and activities. Also, includes teacher's guide and...
Scholastic
Scholastic: Why People Move
Lesson plan about migration, specifically the Pueblo Native Americans of the American Southwest. Includes opening activity, content and closing activity.
PBS
Pbs New Perspectives on the West: Pope
This site contains information about the religious leader from San Juan Pueblo, in present-day New Mexico. Pope organized and led the most successful Indian uprising in the history of the American West. He created the conditions for a...
Other
University of New Mexico: "Writing the Southwest
Brief background on Anaya and his writing, followed by a quote, and a quick audio clip of him reading about the Southwest.
Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Carnegie Museum: North South East West: American Indians and the Natural World
Web companion site to the Alcoa Foundation Hall of American Indians exhibit at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. It focuses on American Indians' relationships with the natural world and explores four different visions: the Tlingit...
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