Sharing Their Stories: Native American Literature and Culture in 19th Century America

It's time for scholars to put their knowledge of primary sources to the test. A helpful assessment uses photos to test pupils' knowledge of how to analyze primary sources and determine their time periods. High school social studies...

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

Introduce your class to the writing of the indigenous Americans and, even more well known, their story telling. An engaging presentation describes what kinds of texts would be included in the oral stories performed and some common themes...

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...

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.

A video featuring members of Oregon’s Astoria Native American fishing community launches a study of the oral tradition of poetry, and how traditions are passed down within different cultures. Activities, assessments, extensions and...

An informative video sets the context for a lesson that asks young historians to consider how cultural values influence perspective. Groups compare the attitudes reflected in a journal entry of a member of the Plymouth Colony to those of...

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....

The America that greeted the first Europeans was, thus, far from an empty wilderness. It is now thought that as many people lived in the Western Hemisphere as in Western Europe at that time -- about 40 million. Estimates of the number of...

Article on pre-Columbian Native American history and culture, including discussion on the impact of the Europeans.