In this story collected and shared as part of the OurStoryBridge online short-form oral history project from the Tremonton City Library in Tremonton, Utah, Parry recalls learning Shoshone history and culture from stories that his grandmother, Mae Timbimboo, told him. Parry recounts his excitement in elementary school when he heard that Shoshone…

Teaching about diversity and respect for others is a challenging task for today's educators--especially at the middle school level. This article describes successful attempts to do so at the sixth-grade level. These real-life experiences enhanced classroom learning and reached out to the community. The author hopes that other educators will…

Presents a poem based on a captivity account by French born Pierre Radisson, who was captured in 1652 by the Mohawk Indians near his home in New France and inducted into the tribe. Includes a list of study questions. (Author/AEM)

Presents a plan for a lesson designed to introduce a unit on Indian history. Focuses on ethnocentrism and assimilation and how these concepts apply to the situations of Indians as revealed in several quotations. Provides a list of some quotations and suggested activities. (AEM)

Presents methods for motivating, developing, and applying a lesson on genocide as it relates to the American Indian. Argues that according to the United Nations Genocide Convention, the U.S. government's actions toward the Indians constitute genocide. Includes a list of quotations pertinent to the subject which can be used as a student handout.…

On the afternoon of September 3, 1812, 24 pioneers living in a settlement on the southern Indiana Territory frontier were murdered and mutilated by Indians. A tragic but familiar scene in the history of the westward expansion, the Pigeon Roost Massacre can be an effective teaching tool in Indiana studies. The massacre deals with the issues and…

Explores the nature of how drama unfolds in the author's classroom around the historical events of the Cherokee Trail of Tears. Describes how they explored the viewpoints of people involved in the historical events; recreated the setting and action through props, costumes, and scenery; understood the role of the teacher as actor; and problem…

This document, from the lesson plan series, "Teaching with Historic Places," examines the Native Americans who lived on the plains along the Knife River in what is now North Dakota. Following an introductory section, the document sets out student objectives, teaching activities, readings, and illustrations. The teaching activity…

Discusses the enrichment of understanding about American Indians due to the development of new materials and approaches to the history of Indians in American society. Cites specific examples of books that characterize different stages in the development of literature on North American Indians. (AEM)

This lesson is based on the National Register of Historic Places registration file "Horseshoe Bend Battlefield," documents from archives at Horseshoe Bend National Military Park, and other resources. The lesson can be used in units on American Indian culture, early 19th-century westward expansion, the War of 1812, European American and…

Observes that instruction about Pilgrim and American Indian life often is filled with misconceptions. Explains that the foods and dress of the era differed those usually portrayed in association with the "first" Thanksgiving, a continuation of an ancient harvest celebration. Offers a Thanksgiving quiz for teaching students the realities…

Explains how to create a paper replica of the Bighorn Medicine Wheel, an ancient timepiece thought to have been constructed by the Lakota Indians around 1700 A.D. The Bighorn Wheel uses four key seasonal stars as well as the solstice sunrise and sunset to mark the passage of time through the summer. (WRM)

Presents a lesson plan designed to make students empathize with early twentieth-century native Americans as they draft a provisional statement of goals for the nation's first secular inter-tribal native organization, the Society of American Indians, founded in 1911. (Author/AEM)

Presents an overview of the history of petroglyphs, or rock engravings, traditional methods of creating them, and sites for viewing them in the United States. Provides lists of books and videos about American Indian petroglyphs and a list of several art activities that can be linked to their study. (DSK)

The diversity of customs and habitats under which the aboriginal peoples of North America lived in the past--and in which they live today--is one of the many possible topics for consideration in the social studies classroom. Along with an examination of the tribes, social studies educators can teach about the experiences of the explorers and the…