AUDIENCE: 9th Grade
INTRODUCTION: (For students) The purpose of this text set and ensuing unit of study is not to provide you with a complete picture of Native American culture, that would be impossible to accomplish within a short unit of study in this class. We do not seek to answer the essential question of this unit explicitly. The purpose rather, is to begin our own learning process that can add to our working knowledge, challenge some of our perspectives, and inspire our own questions we have for further exploration on the topic.
INITIATE:
Here are suggested tools for beginning this unit of study:
1. Personal Reflection: Respond to the following questions in journal, independently.
This unit/text set is designed to address and create questions around the cultural identity of Native Americans today. As we begin we need to consider what each of our own ideas and understandings of Native American culture are, where they have derived from and what we feel we still need to understand. Do you identify as Native American, do you have family, neighbors, community members who do? What have you learned (and where) about Native American history in recent American history and what have you gleamed from media (think TV shows, movies, pop culture)?
Suggested that teacher completes this task as well and shares with class. Allow optional opportunity for students to share pieces of their own reflection with class and facilitate an open class discussion. Recommended that students (rearrange desks if need be) sit in a large circle for this style of sharing and discussion.
2. Modified KWL to begin personal examination of background knowledge of Native American History. Have students complete independently, then share and add with a partner or small group. Finally, create a community KWL that synthesizes the class’ shared K, W & L. Note: the whole group creation should be created to represent the various knowledge of class however should not be made to represent all knowledge and questions of the class. Encourage students to maintain individual KWLs in addition to the created class KWL. Personal KWLs can be used throughout unit, as students encounter texts they may want to add new wonderings and new questions (questions can be organized under L in chart) on their own. Revisiting and revising class KWL throughout unit will allow students to also change and adapt class learnings as unit progresses.
INTRODUCTION: (For students) The purpose of this text set and ensuing unit of study is not to provide you with a complete picture of Native American culture, that would be impossible to accomplish within a short unit of study in this class. We do not seek to answer the essential question of this unit explicitly. The purpose rather, is to begin our own learning process that can add to our working knowledge, challenge some of our perspectives, and inspire our own questions we have for further exploration on the topic.
INITIATE:
Here are suggested tools for beginning this unit of study:
1. Personal Reflection: Respond to the following questions in journal, independently.
This unit/text set is designed to address and create questions around the cultural identity of Native Americans today. As we begin we need to consider what each of our own ideas and understandings of Native American culture are, where they have derived from and what we feel we still need to understand. Do you identify as Native American, do you have family, neighbors, community members who do? What have you learned (and where) about Native American history in recent American history and what have you gleamed from media (think TV shows, movies, pop culture)?
Suggested that teacher completes this task as well and shares with class. Allow optional opportunity for students to share pieces of their own reflection with class and facilitate an open class discussion. Recommended that students (rearrange desks if need be) sit in a large circle for this style of sharing and discussion.
2. Modified KWL to begin personal examination of background knowledge of Native American History. Have students complete independently, then share and add with a partner or small group. Finally, create a community KWL that synthesizes the class’ shared K, W & L. Note: the whole group creation should be created to represent the various knowledge of class however should not be made to represent all knowledge and questions of the class. Encourage students to maintain individual KWLs in addition to the created class KWL. Personal KWLs can be used throughout unit, as students encounter texts they may want to add new wonderings and new questions (questions can be organized under L in chart) on their own. Revisiting and revising class KWL throughout unit will allow students to also change and adapt class learnings as unit progresses.
ANCHOR TEXT:
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by: Sherman Alexie
Format: Chapter book, fiction, print
Complexity: Many difficult conflicts are presented in the text, including: poverty, disabled teenager, bullying, masturbation/puberty, alcoholic parents, violent community norms, being an outsider, racism, death of family members. This conflict density allows opportunity for a variety of interpretations. Part of its complexity is how a reader may address/understand their own interpretations of these big conflicts. Instruction should bring these diverse reader experiences back into a classroom setting for delving into analysis and recognition of elements.
High visual complexity. The novel has many graphics, mostly comic-like. Graphics vary in size, position and placement within the text and are integral to the plot and character development in this text. The main character uses comics to process events and people around him and these cartoons are shared with the reader. The style draws on comic with speaking bubbles and labels as well as realistic sketches with captions. While the narrator’s prose remains minimal with some descriptions, the visuals provide an additional avenue to understand and get to know other characters in the story.
Potential Use:
As an anchor text students can interpret how Junior’s experiences bring to light aspects of Native American culture today.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by: Sherman Alexie
Format: Chapter book, fiction, print
Complexity: Many difficult conflicts are presented in the text, including: poverty, disabled teenager, bullying, masturbation/puberty, alcoholic parents, violent community norms, being an outsider, racism, death of family members. This conflict density allows opportunity for a variety of interpretations. Part of its complexity is how a reader may address/understand their own interpretations of these big conflicts. Instruction should bring these diverse reader experiences back into a classroom setting for delving into analysis and recognition of elements.
High visual complexity. The novel has many graphics, mostly comic-like. Graphics vary in size, position and placement within the text and are integral to the plot and character development in this text. The main character uses comics to process events and people around him and these cartoons are shared with the reader. The style draws on comic with speaking bubbles and labels as well as realistic sketches with captions. While the narrator’s prose remains minimal with some descriptions, the visuals provide an additional avenue to understand and get to know other characters in the story.
Potential Use:
As an anchor text students can interpret how Junior’s experiences bring to light aspects of Native American culture today.
- Personal reflections/text reactions: Journaling personal feelings and reactions to the text and to the characters give students opportunity to make meaningful connections to the topic and their own lives. Difficult concepts and conflicts can be addressed in this manner. Suggested to have regular personal journal prompts throughout book to encourage personal connections, challenging and changing perspectives.
- Considering Junior’s experience to analyze cause and effect of historical events on Native American culture (as encountered/interpreted through the anchor text).
- What questions arise about what life on the rez is like?
- Based off of Junior’s experiences, what does life on a rez “look like”? How does this compare to your/our background knowledge of Native American culture today?
- What problems facing Native Americans does Junior bring to our attention?
SUPPORTING TEXTS:
*Note on organization: Some texts are presented in pairings or small groupings to accommodate the needs/pacing of the unit and are organized under focus question headings for ease of unit navigation. Each separate text is highlighted.
*Note on organization: Some texts are presented in pairings or small groupings to accommodate the needs/pacing of the unit and are organized under focus question headings for ease of unit navigation. Each separate text is highlighted.
“Who Is Native American and Who Decides that?”
“Who Is Native American and Who Decides that?” Podcast by Michel Martin interviewing Anton Treuer
https://www.npr.org/2012/11/01/164101913/who-is-native-american-and-who-decides-that
Format: Podcast, audio (streams from NPR website) and script available
Complexity: This podcast is in an interview style that incorporates informational exchange as well as personal anecdotes of the author Anton Treuer. Some themes, including blood quantum and native heritage is high complexity.
Potential Use: Follow up with initial journal reflection
Snippets to discuss/consider with students
https://www.npr.org/2012/11/01/164101913/who-is-native-american-and-who-decides-that
Format: Podcast, audio (streams from NPR website) and script available
Complexity: This podcast is in an interview style that incorporates informational exchange as well as personal anecdotes of the author Anton Treuer. Some themes, including blood quantum and native heritage is high complexity.
Potential Use: Follow up with initial journal reflection
Snippets to discuss/consider with students
- “You will find Native American people who really look visibly white, who look very black, or who look like they are the direct descendent of Sitting Bull. But I think at the same time that there is a shared experience in treatment by the general population and the government and so forth and all of this can serve to bind people together.”
- “And the other three kids just spent the whole time going off on Indians, you know, Indians are all drunks, they are leeches on the government, this and that. And I said that's not true. And then the kid would say yeah, that's what my dad said, you know, and you just think that because you're a dumb Indian.”
- “I also came to the realization that anyone of any race going to school in this country has usually gotten, you know, a sugarcoated version of Christopher Columbus and the first Thanksgiving and few other opportunities to learn more and more deeply about the first people of the land. And that through no fault of their own, even people who are really good hearted might be so afraid of sounding ignorant or offending somebody that it ends up being safer not to ask questions or not to teach about, you know, Native Americans. And so we need to make, you know, more entry points, more accessible information, you know, and I guess a book or a radio show, these are just different ways to leverage your connection and communication with a broader group of people.”
“Remember when we played cowboys and Indians?”
“Remember when we played cowboys and Indians?” by: E. Ayers
Document Copy of Blog Post
http://cynthiawoolf.com/?p=3560
Format: Blog post, personal narrative
Complexity: Middle; themes referencing segregation
Teacher note/consideration: This blog post is written by E. Ayers and posted on Cynthia Woolf’s blog. Cynthia Woolf is an author of numerous romance novels within historical settings. Consider your personal stance on romance literature in correlation to student interest. How would you discuss this genre with students? Consider your school and communities stance and how it compares to your own. Discuss with colleges and consider how you want to address this topic prior to unit introduction. Use your own (and/or schools) discretion on how to present this post, weather apart from or within the online blog format. Consider the Romance genre literature anchor text connection: pg. 37-39, including Romance novel cover graphic; revelation that Junior’s older sister had private ambitions to become a writer and most enjoyed writing romances. Additional references and graphics appear throughout the novel.
Document Copy of Blog Post
http://cynthiawoolf.com/?p=3560
Format: Blog post, personal narrative
Complexity: Middle; themes referencing segregation
Teacher note/consideration: This blog post is written by E. Ayers and posted on Cynthia Woolf’s blog. Cynthia Woolf is an author of numerous romance novels within historical settings. Consider your personal stance on romance literature in correlation to student interest. How would you discuss this genre with students? Consider your school and communities stance and how it compares to your own. Discuss with colleges and consider how you want to address this topic prior to unit introduction. Use your own (and/or schools) discretion on how to present this post, weather apart from or within the online blog format. Consider the Romance genre literature anchor text connection: pg. 37-39, including Romance novel cover graphic; revelation that Junior’s older sister had private ambitions to become a writer and most enjoyed writing romances. Additional references and graphics appear throughout the novel.
“Cowboys and Indians” by Blood, Sweat & Tears
Format: Song, streamed from youtube; audio only Complexity: Low Potential Use: Consider this known American pastime. Discuss its implications for children learning about Native American history and culture. How might it reveal historical roots in race relations? Anchor text connection: Book cover art; Why do you think this was chosen to represent the book? |
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What does it mean to be civilized?
“Native History: Dawes Act Signed Into Law to ‘Civilize’ Indians” by Alysa Landry
https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/history/events/native-history-dawes-act-signed-into-law-to-civilize-indians/
Format: Article, online from Indian Country Media Network
Complexity: Middle; historical information presented and connected to larger effects on
Indian country and culture
https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/history/events/native-history-dawes-act-signed-into-law-to-civilize-indians/
Format: Article, online from Indian Country Media Network
Complexity: Middle; historical information presented and connected to larger effects on
Indian country and culture
Format: Image of original government document
Citation: https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc_large_image.php?flash=false&doc=50
Indian Land for Sale poster, Library of Congress, Broadside Portfolio 240, Number 24, Rare Book Collection
Citation: https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc_large_image.php?flash=false&doc=50
Indian Land for Sale poster, Library of Congress, Broadside Portfolio 240, Number 24, Rare Book Collection
The Wisdom of the Native Americans
Compiled and edited by: Kent Nerburn
Use Ch. 12 The Ways of Civilization (includes 7 excerpts from Native writings)
“Much has been said of the want of what you term “civilization” among the Indians. Many proposals have been made to us to adopt your laws, your religion, your manner, and your customs. We do not see the propriety of such a reformation. We should be better pleased if we could actually see the good effects of these doctrines in your own practices rather than hearing you talk about them, or reading your newspapers on such subjects. You say, for example, ‘Why do not the Indians till the ground and live as we do?’ May we not ask with equal propriety, ‘Why do not the white people hunt and live as we do?’ -Old Tassel, Cherokee (Nerburn, pg. 67)
Format: print; small selected excerpt of larger print text. Organized into short excerpts of various Native American voices, over different decades. Time period and biographical notes provided on pg. 201-213
Complexity: Middle; Offers differing perspective of topics.
Potential Use: Consider and discuss the Dawes Act and what it demonstrates about certain American perspectives on Indians. Where do you think these opinions developed from? How might have this affected American understandings of Native Americans? Why are the perspectives of the Indians not incorporated into American consideration or understanding at the time? Consider differing forms of government and civilization.
Compiled and edited by: Kent Nerburn
Use Ch. 12 The Ways of Civilization (includes 7 excerpts from Native writings)
“Much has been said of the want of what you term “civilization” among the Indians. Many proposals have been made to us to adopt your laws, your religion, your manner, and your customs. We do not see the propriety of such a reformation. We should be better pleased if we could actually see the good effects of these doctrines in your own practices rather than hearing you talk about them, or reading your newspapers on such subjects. You say, for example, ‘Why do not the Indians till the ground and live as we do?’ May we not ask with equal propriety, ‘Why do not the white people hunt and live as we do?’ -Old Tassel, Cherokee (Nerburn, pg. 67)
Format: print; small selected excerpt of larger print text. Organized into short excerpts of various Native American voices, over different decades. Time period and biographical notes provided on pg. 201-213
Complexity: Middle; Offers differing perspective of topics.
Potential Use: Consider and discuss the Dawes Act and what it demonstrates about certain American perspectives on Indians. Where do you think these opinions developed from? How might have this affected American understandings of Native Americans? Why are the perspectives of the Indians not incorporated into American consideration or understanding at the time? Consider differing forms of government and civilization.
“Kill the Indian in him, save the man.”
“American Indian Boarding Schools Haunt Many” by: Charla Bear
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16516865
Format: Video recording and web-based article
Complexity: High thematic complexity; realities of purpose, scope and cruelty within Indian Boarding Schools are addressed.
Some students may be encountering these historical realities for the first time in comparison to sugar-coated renditions of Native and colonial relations (as seen in traditional Thanksgiving story). Allow/offer specific reflections and/or class discussions on their experience. How is their view or understanding of our nation’s founding and expansion in American altered (or not)?
Potential Use: Recommended that this text is listened to and supplemented with article. Audio includes voice of the interviewed Indian activist Floyd Red Crow Westerman among others, includes other audio sound effects including music. Article showcases several photographs of students from Indian Boarding Schools and also includes an additional written section entitled History of Indian Schools Traced Through Reports. This section briefly describes three different government reports and includes quoted excerpts to highlight the findings of each. These chronicle the changing stance of the government toward Indian education. Consider including these changes in reflection/discussion.
Anchor text connection: Chapter (5) “Hope Against Hope” pg. 57 conversation with teacher, Mr. P who says, “That’s how we were taught to teach you. We were supposed to kill the Indian to save the child”.
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16516865
Format: Video recording and web-based article
Complexity: High thematic complexity; realities of purpose, scope and cruelty within Indian Boarding Schools are addressed.
Some students may be encountering these historical realities for the first time in comparison to sugar-coated renditions of Native and colonial relations (as seen in traditional Thanksgiving story). Allow/offer specific reflections and/or class discussions on their experience. How is their view or understanding of our nation’s founding and expansion in American altered (or not)?
Potential Use: Recommended that this text is listened to and supplemented with article. Audio includes voice of the interviewed Indian activist Floyd Red Crow Westerman among others, includes other audio sound effects including music. Article showcases several photographs of students from Indian Boarding Schools and also includes an additional written section entitled History of Indian Schools Traced Through Reports. This section briefly describes three different government reports and includes quoted excerpts to highlight the findings of each. These chronicle the changing stance of the government toward Indian education. Consider including these changes in reflection/discussion.
Anchor text connection: Chapter (5) “Hope Against Hope” pg. 57 conversation with teacher, Mr. P who says, “That’s how we were taught to teach you. We were supposed to kill the Indian to save the child”.
“Contrary belief” (Nerburn, pg. x)
The Wisdom of the Native Americans
Compiled and edited by: Kent Nerburn Use: Introduction ix-xix; Ch. 10 The Passing of the Ways (specifically last excerpt by Waheenee, Hidatsa (North Dakota) pg. 54; Ch. 11 The Ways of the White Man pg. 57-66; Ch. 16 The Ways of the People, first section The Teaching of Children pg.97-98 “It is commonly supposed that there was no systematic means of education for Indian children. Nothing could be further from the truth. All the customs involving the training of children were scrupulously adhered to and transmitted from one generation to another…” (Nerburn, pg. 97) Format: print; small selected excerpt of larger print text. Organized into short excerpts of various Native American voices, over different decades. Time period and biographical notes provided on pg. 201-213 Complexity: Middle; Offers differing perspective of topics. Potential Use: Compare and contrast Native American perspectives on white men and visa versa in what has been encountered thus far. Consider, are these voices and perspectives represented in our anchor text? Why or why not? |
Experiencing History Today
Simon Ortiz Reading "A New Story" from Woven Stone (1992) Background: “Ortiz, who is an Acoma Pueblo Indian, was born and raised near Albuquerque, New Mexico, and grew up speaking the Acoma tongue. A leading figure in the Native American literary renaissance that emerged in the 1960s, Simon J. Ortiz has published many books of poetry, short fiction, and non-fiction. In general, his writing is concerned with modern man’s alienation from others, from himself, and from his environment—urging humanity to reconnect the wisdom of ancestral spirits and with Mother Earth.” (retrieved from: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/simon-j-ortiz) Use: Opening remarks 0:00-2:55 min. ; “A New Story” 8:39 - 12:00 min. Format: Video recording of author speaking and reading own poetry. Poem in plain text can be located here: https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/html/1807/4350/poem3091.html Potential Use: Discuss two presented perspectives of poem. How do you think Simon felt about what this woman was saying and asking? What do you think this woman believed about modern Indians? Introduce and discuss cultural appropriation. Discuss use/role of poetry, relate to Simon’s opening remarks on the matter from video. |
Simon Ortiz from Laura Hope-Gill on Vimeo. |