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Curriculum Samples (6-8)

Background:

Tribal constitutions and codes are the heart of self-government.  Each of the approximately 550 Indian tribes in the United States has a unique form of government. Some tribes have chosen to develop their form of self-government in accordance with their political and cultural history. Some tribes have adopted a governmental similar to that of the United States.  Still others, such as the Pueblos of New Mexico, have chosen to retain their traditional forms of government.   In order to understand how the different tribes are able to maintain sovereignty, an understanding of their specific constitutions and laws is required.
In this lesson, students will compare and contrast the tribal governments of three tribes.  If the students are members of a particular tribe, they should include their own in this comparison.  After comparing and contrasting the tribal governance of these tribes, the students will then create and present to the class a basic tribal constitution of their own.

Preparation: 

• Review the document: “The Evolution of Tribal Governments and Constitutions: A look at ten modern Tribal Governments and their Constitutions or Codes” produced by Humboldt State University’s Center for Indian Community Development.  This document is found online at http://www.humboldt.edu/~cicd/.  As sifting through multiple tribal constitutions may be too difficult for students, consider printing out and making multiple copies of Appendix A, Tribal Constitution Information Sheets.  These sheets summarize the governance of several tribes, which may be of help to students when comparing and contrasting tribal governments.
• If the students’ tribe is not addressed by “The Evolution of Tribal Governments and Constitutions”, find the tribe’s constitution using the websites listed in the resources section below.  If the tribe’s constitution is lengthy and written in too complicated a manner for students, prepare a sheet that summarizes the tribal governance that is similar to the sheets that are in the appendix of The Evolution of Tribal Governments and Constitutions.
• To help students with organizing their comparative analysis, see the Compare/Contrast Matrix graphic organizer example at http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/students/learning/lr1grorg.htm .  Note that for this exercise, there will be more than three columns.

Student Activity:

• Begin the lesson by explaining to the students that because tribes are sovereign entities, they have tribal governments.  Furthermore, each tribe has a unique form of tribal government which is either modeled on the United States government, based on traditional forms of government, or some combination of these.  Explain that many tribes adopted or modified their governments and tribal constitutions due to the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 which, the student should recall, ended the allotment era of American Indian land tenure history. 
• On the board, write the basic parts of a tribal constitution (as specified by “The Evolution of Tribal Governments and Constitutions”) :
• Name or title
• Preamble
• Territory
• Membership criteria
• Governing body organization and duties
• Election scheduling and voting criteria
• Vacancies and removals
• Powers of the General Council or Tribal Council/Executive Committee
• Bill of Rights, civil rights of members pursuant to the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (82 Stat. 73)
• Amendments, referendum, recall, or initiatives
• Have students select two tribes from The Evolution of Tribal Governments and Constitutions appendix.  Hand out the tribal constitution of the students’ tribe or a sheet summarizing the constitutional provisions.  Ask them to compare and contrast the tribes’ constitutions.  Suggest that they create a compare/contrast matrix to help them with their analysis.
• After they students complete their comparative analysis, assign the students the task of creating their own tribal constitution in small groups.  These tribal constitutions should include all of the components listed above except for amendments, referendum, and initiatives (but they should explicitly decide whether the constitution can be amended or not in their constitution.) 
• The students will present their constitutions to the class.  This can be in the form of an oral presentation, a poster presentation or other creative way of presentation.

Evaluation:

• Evaluate the student’s tribal government comparative analysis.  Does it cover the basic aspects of tribal government? 
• Evaluate the constitution presentations to determine if they meet criteria for tribal sovereignty and self-governance.

Resources:

• “The Evolution of Tribal Governments and Constitutions: A look at ten modern Tribal Governments and their Constitutions or Codes”, Center for Indian Community Development, Humboldt State University, http://humboldt.edu/~cicd/
• Native American Tribal Constitutions, University of Oklahoma, http://thorpe.ou.edu/const.html
• Tribal Documents, National Indian Law Library, Native American Rights Fund, http://www.narf.org/nill/tribaldocs.html
• Links to Tribal Constitutions, Codes, and Laws, Wisconsin’s Judicare’s Indian Law Office, http://www.judicare.org/triballaw.html
• Native American Rights Fund, National Indian Law Library, Resources About Native American Tribal Enrollment, http://www.narf.org/nill/enrollment.htm
• Tribal Constitutions and Bylaws, National Tribal Justice Resource Center, http://www.tribalresourcecenter.org/tribalcourts/codes/constdirectory.asp
• North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, http://www.ncrel.org/. 

 

 

As directed by the Indian land tenure community which created ILTF, the foundation initiated development of curriculum designed for Head Start, K-12, and college students.  The purpose of the curriculum is to intellectually reconnect students to the land and raise their awareness of the land’s importance to their past, present, and future.  The curriculum is freely available on this site in PDF and HTML format.

Education Strategy: Educate every Indian landowner about Indian land tenure issues so that knowledge becomes power when decisions to create positive futures are made.