On March 5, 1770, five men were shot dead by British soldiers on King Street in Boston. This event became known as the Boston Massacre, and helped kindle the fire of the American revolution. The first man to fall in this event was Crispus Attucks, a sailor and escaped slave of mixed African and American Indian ancestry. Patriot activists held up Attucks as a martyr for the cause of liberty, and generations of Americans followed suit; almost a century later, abolitionists made Attucks into a symbol of Black civic identity. But who was he, really? This lesson tries to establish the facts about his life from the scant remaining evidence.

The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.

Learn about the legendary life of Joseph Medicine Crow and his contributions to the world of literature.

An Excel booklist created by Multnomah County Library to support the Ethnic Studies Integrated 2021 Social Science Standards. The file is organized with tabs for Japanese American Internment, Holocaust, Indigenous Peoples, Genocides, Prejudice, Refugees, Misinformation, and Cultural Diversity.

Medicinal & Edible Plants of Montana Used by Indigenous Peoples and Early Settlers
This new Special Topics course is open to all university students in the spring 2017 semester. As a Special Topics course the numbering reflects upper division credit, but no pre-requisites are required, allowing students in a variety of disciplines to enroll. The course begins by providing a content vocabulary that consists of plant, habitat, ecoregion, and cultural terminology. Teaching with the assumption that non-biology students enroll, terms are presented and learned in a hands-on context that requires no previous understanding of biology. For example, basic plant structure is presented through simple flower dissection and “Structure Jeopardy”, a fun and interactive approach that allows students to earn points while testing literacy. Students work together in small groups (3) to collect voucher specimens of medicinal and edible plants in which the group is most interested. For native students, it is anticipated that selections may be based on traditional uses. During this process, students develop specimen collection and processing skills that allow them to acquire marketable techniques used in herbaria throughout the world. These same groups collect specific medicinal and edible plant material (e.g., roots) for their plants, drying and preparing the material in the manner most often used. For example, roots used as flour substitutes are presented whole as well as in a ground state. Groups, working closely with the professor, learn methods on how to research collection records, find habitat information, and develop geolocation skills, all of which ensure success in locating material. Students in each group also learn to perform peer-reviewed scientific literature searches that provide the most current research and knowledge on culturally important medicinal and edible plants. As individuals, students are required to gather information through discussion with family or community members on plant uses, thereby forming relationships between the broader community and course knowledge. Students are also encouraged, through literature or community involvement, to explore native or colloquial names for specific plants and to determine if these terms relate to cultural uses. Working with the professor, students learn presentation skills as each group or individual present the information they have learned using Power Point. Interactive laboratories exercises provide information and practices on good methodology and mock sessions with the instructor afford powerful feedback prior to classroom presentation. As available, local and indigenous guest lecturers provide interactive and personal experiences that aid to ensure student retention of course material.

The original Native American story component lesson was developed as part of an Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and Washington State Leadership and Assistance for Science Education Reform (LASER) project funded through an EPA Region 10 grant. The stories were told by Roger Fernandes of the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe. Mr. Fernandes has been given permission by the tribes to tell these stories.As these lessons and stories were shared prior to the adoption of the Washington State Science Learning Standards in 2013, there was a need to align these stories with the current science standards. This resource provides a current alignment and possible lesson suggestions on how these stories can be incorporated into the classroom. This alignment work has been funded by the NGSS & Climate Science Proviso of the Washington State Legislature as a part of North Central Educational Service District's award.

Paul Cuffe was a sea captain, entrepreneur, and philanthropist who lived through the birth and early life of the United States. As a young man, he helped smuggle goods past the British blockade during the Revolutionary War; by the early 1800s, he was perhaps the wealthiest Black man in the young republic, renowned and respected for his business sense and moral character and the first free man of color to visit The White House. An ardent abolitionist, Cuffe used his wealth to build one of the first integrated schools in America and to power his ambitious — and controversial — plans to build a new Black republic in West Africa.

The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.

In this lesson, students explore issues of culture and identity and learn about Navajo culture by examining the perspectives of those portrayed in the film, Return of Navajo Boy.