Cranberries, oysters, lobster, deer, and cabbage were just a few of the foods found on the table at the First Thanksgiving. After reading a two-page passage about the historic meal, class members respond to 10 reading...

ReadWriteThink: Native Americans Today

Detailed and extensive account of the plight of Native Americans during the westward growth of America. Includes maps, audio recordings, authentic letters, speeches,a great timeline, and much more.

Provides answers to commonly asked questions about Native Americans, e.g., how they are defined, the proper terms to use, and what a reservation is, as well as questions about their relationship with the federal and state governments,...

Andrew Boxer traces the origins of a historical issue still as controversial and relevant today as in past centuries. At the start of the twentieth century there were approximately 250,000 Native Americans in the USA - just 0.3 per cent...

Native people won citizenship in 1924, but the struggle for voting rights stretched on much longer. Native Americans couldn't be U.S. citizens when the country ratified its Constitution in 1788, and wouldn't win the right to be for 136...

Find out about the Native Americans who used their tribal languages as code during World War I and World War II. Includes information on Charles Chibitty, a Comanche code talker who was inducted into the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes.

By the 1890's, the status of Indian people seemed to validate Frederick Jackson Turner's claim that "the frontier has gone, and with its going has closed the first period of American history." Natives ceased to threaten the Republic...

Provides an overview of Native American regalia, clothing, footwear, and headwear, including some contemporary styles. Images link to online stores and other web pages.

Find the report by John Collier, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, to the Secretary of the Interior, describing how he was trying to right many of the wrongs in the federal government's dealings with Native Americans as a result of the...

A learning module that begins with the historical text "Excerpts from Thomas Jefferson's Writings on American Indians" accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a...

Describes the different types of headdresses worn by Native American groups across North, Central and South America. (Note: some links to larger images no longer work.)

Scroll down to the portrait of Black Hawk to read a brief biography of this famous Native American chief. From the Smithsonian Institution.

After the Louisiana Purchase, the status of the Native Americans changed from partners to a declining group whose presence conflicted with United States plans. Follow the events which changed and reshaped the lives of these Native peoples.

The U.S. government's policies towards Native Americans in the second half of the nineteenth century were influenced by the desire to expand westward into territories occupied by these Native American tribes. By the 1850s nearly all...

This resource provides an essay discussing the migration of American colonists into the Ohio River Valley and the impact on the Native Americans living in the area.

This instructional activity relates to understanding primary sources to evaluate John Smith's description of the Powhatan Indians.

In the summer of 1561, Spanish explorers abducted Opechancanough, a Powhatan Indian youth from the Chesapeake Bay tidewater region and brought him to the royal court of Spain. The kidnapping set off a chain of events that would alter the...

When the Revolutionary War ended, there was an ongoing conflict between the Native Americans and American settler in the Northwest Territory. Students will study two documents from each side of the issue and answer questions and/or hold...

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...

This site describes different types of bracelets and rings worn by Native Americans, mainly in the New England area, during the 17th century. It also describes how they were made and the source of the metal used.

Comprehensive site about Edward Curtis who took over 40,000 images and recorded rare ethnographic information from over eighty American Indian tribal groups, ranging from the Eskimo or Inuit people of the far north to the Hopi people of...

A brief look at the inability of Native Americans to halt the settlement of their lands by American colonists after the French and Indian War. There is a short description of Chief Pontiac and his alliance of several tribes which fought...

In many tribes, young males went on a Vision Quest to obtain a "spiritual name" or to find a "Spiritual Guide". At the end of the quest a gift was take to the tribe's Holy Man or Medicine Man. View examples of shields from various Native...