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Curriculum Samples (9-12)
Background:
Oral history is extremely important in keeping tribal history and the memories of elders “alive”. However, the creation of archives of documents, records, letters, photographs, and other historical information is becoming more important in Indian Country. These things will never supplant our oral histories and stories, but keeping written or visual historical information plays an important part in keeping track of individuals’ and tribal land tenure histories. They also help us make connections between these histories and larger regional or national historical events. In this lesson, students will collect primary source materials from their families or local communities. In analyzing these primary sources, students examine the interplay between national, state, local, and personal history. Over a period of several weeks, students produce a digital collection modeled on the Library of Congress’ American Memory.
Preparation:
- Review the lesson plan “All History is Local: Students as Archivists” at The Library of Congress American Memory site, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/lessons/98/local/intro.html. From the lesson procedures, determine the scope of the project and the length of time necessary for students to build their own class archive of historical materials related to their family, their community, and their reservation. If possible, the sources the students use and explore should be related to native land tenure.
- Review the Probate Records teacher’s guide at http://www.pbs.org/kbyu/ancestors/teachersguide/episode11.html. Although this guide will help introduce the idea of probates as sources of good historical record for family historians, educators should make adjustments in the plan to emphasize the particularly important roles wills and the probate process have in Indian Country due to the Dawes Act and allotment fractionation.
- For information on gathering oral histories, see the interview guide at the website of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage at http://www.folklife.si.edu/explore/Resources/InterviewGuide/Introduction/InterviewGuide_Introduction.html.
- If students will be investigating the probate records of their families, arrange to have a probate clerk, specialist, or probate judge visit the classroom if possible. Ask the class room guest to come prepared to speak out what he or she does and how students may go about research their family history through probates. Ask them to also explain why it is a good idea to write wills in Indian Country, and the cultural conflicts that have prevented people from writing wills in the past.
Student Activity:
From the “All History is Local” lesson plan, follow the procedure steps that introduce students to their assignment, digital archives, their student projects, and collecting and analyzing the archive.
- In the introduction to the assignment, and while explaining what a primary source is, introduce students to several sources of information that have particular resonance within native communities: oral histories, treaties, wills and probate records. These are all primary sources that the student should collect and use in building their archive for their student project.
- Invite a probate clerk, specialist, community legal service lawyer, or judge into the classroom to speak about probate and how the students can investigate probates.
- If possible, have the students create a digital archive of the sources they have found (include only those sources which do not have any personal information about land holdings). Have them ask their parents, grandparents, or other relatives to review it.
Resources:
- Library of Congress, American Memory, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/
- PBS, http://www.pbs.org.
- Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, http://www.folklife.si.edu.
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.