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.

Students 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.

What was America like in the year 1492? Discover and share basic information regarding the various Native American tribes during this time period. Several tribes are clustered by region and described by their economies and lifestyles....

An informative activity focuses on the law preventing Native Americans from voting until 1947. Scholars read documents from the Office of Indian Affairs, complete an online worksheet, and participate in group discussion. Academics learn...

Vote ... it's your right! An enlightening lesson examines the history of voting rights for Native Americans. Leaners analyze primary documents and place them in chronological order. Academics also create a list of other events that took...

A true glimpse of the past, Angelic La Moose smiles back from more than 100 years ago. Young learners examine the picture of a young girl on a Montana Native American reservation from 1913 to comb it for historical details. A form, which...

Native American women powered the American Indian Movement and other social changes, but they are often forgotten by history books. Examining a series of resources, including a documentary film, photographs, secondary sources, and social...

The boarding school era is "a history that all of us need to know about," says Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. Here's a lesson that examines that history. High schoolers examine video interviews of Native Americans who detail...

North American Indian civilizations had already been in place for over 10,000 years before the arrival of European settlers. Introduce your young historians to Indian tribes that lived in the Chesapeake region in the...

Discover the rich Native American culture that existed at the time of early European exploration into the Chesapeake region through analysis of several primary and secondary sources.

Once Americans won the Revolutionary War, their quest to gain land did not end. An interesting activity focuses on Americans' expansion into the frontier following the war and how it conflicted with Native Americans living in the area....

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...

Native Americans lost so much—and gained so little in return. Scholars explore Native Americans' resistance to the United States government. The lesson uses primary sources to explore the different forms of protest and gives a voice to...

The ancient Native American cultures are such a fascinating topic to teach. Provide learners with a basic understanding of the people and cultures that shaped the prehistoric Americas. Paleo-Indians, Missisipians, Clovis, Olmec, Maya,...

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...

The Iron Horse encroached upon the land while conflicts escalated between Native Americans and the settlers. Sophomores study the print, American Progress then discuss how American progress affected Native Americans. They will study the...

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...

To conclude an eight-lesson study of the events that occurred in the early colonial period in Deerfield, Massachussetss, class members evaluate the point of view and bias found in late 19th and early 20th century retellings.

Focusing on the differences between traditional Hopi government and the Hopi Tribal Council, this resource is a good addition to your unit on Native American culture. Learners conduct Internet research, analyze primary source photos, and...

Young learners discover how the Sioux and Assiniboine tribes preserved native culture through the making of traditional dresses, identifying the resources used to make the dresses and discussing behind the meaning behind some...

Sovereign nations or wards? High schoolers investigate the history of the Indian Reorganization Act and other legislation that impacted Native Americans. They also research different tribes' constitutions, compare them to the U.S....

Imagine being forced to give up your culture and then being graded on how well you complied with orders to do so. Documents show young historians the price indigenous peoples paid as a result of the Dawes Act, which was essentially a...

Historical events can be viewed from multiple perspectives. This simple truth is brought home in a instructional activity that examines primary source documents related to the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the Doctrine of Discovery and...

Middle schoolers choose two photographs and explain how they illustrate traditional Native American culture. They discuss how traditional Native American culture has been affected by two specific actions of the United States...