ODE 8th Grade Tribal History/Shared History Lesson Plans

This link provides access to the ODE 8th Grade Tribal History/Shared History Lesson Plans.

Material Type: Lesson

Health: Cultural Appropriation

This lesson asks students to examine the concept of cultural appropriation and the impact that contemporary acts of cultural appropriation may have on Native Americans in Oregon and across the country. Students will participate in two activities. First, they will engage in a whole-class discussion about cultural appropriation, led by the teacher using the accompanying PowerPoint presentation. The presentation shows several contemporary examples of how Native culture has been generalized and appropriated by media and advertising. Second, students will engage in structured academic controversy—an instructional strategy that requires them to argue one side of an issue, then change sides and argue the opposing view. The background section of this lesson offers a brief of overview of how Native American cultures have been appropriated by the media, advertising, entertainers, artists, writers, and others. The following definition of cultural appropriation may be useful for both teachers and students: Cultural appropriation is the adoption of the elements of another culture (often a minority group) by members of the dominant culture. It is an unequal exchange in that the appropriators often uses these stolen elements for monetary gain or prestige, without regard for the value, respect, or importance paid to these images and traditions in the original culture.

Material Type: Lesson, Lesson Plan

Authors: Aujalee Moore, April Campbell

Health: Games of Mental Skill

Tribal nations and Indigenous communities throughout North America have always enjoyed games and athletic activities that provide entertainment, teach skills of physical and mental endurance, promote tribal values such as teamwork and fairness, and allow individuals and teams to challenge themselves in competition. These games and activities range from the simple hand (or“stick”) game that dates back thousands of years to the modern-day Indian Relay Races that oftendraw large crowds. Even in the pre-contact era there were some similarities in the games playedby tribes in a given region or even in completely different parts of the country, but there were also many variations in the rules, materials, and methods of play. In this lesson, students will learn how to play one version of the hand game and will hear about some of the variations in the playing materials and rules used by different tribes in Oregon. Students will learn to take cues from opponents to identify the hand that holds the chosen item.

Material Type: Lesson, Lesson Plan

Authors: Aujalee Moore, April Campbell

Health: Native Nutrition

In this lesson students will learn basic concepts about nutrition while also exploring traditional Indigenous food practices. Students will first learn about energy balance: how the human body derives energy and nutrients from food and expends it through daily activities such as exercise. Next, they will review current recommendations for eating and exercise that promote good health. Finally, they will identify plants and animals that are native to Oregon and provided a well-rounded and nutritious diet for Indigenous people since time immemorial.

Material Type: Lesson, Lesson Plan

Authors: Aujalee Moore, April Campbell

English Language Arts: Lewis & Clark: A Native American View

The Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804–1806 was of great consequence for the developing United States, the future state of Oregon, and the Native American people who had been living in the American West for thousands of years. The passage of time, mythmaking, and selective interpretation have obscured or distorted both minor and major realities about the purposes of the expedition, the people involved, and its impact. As is said, every story has (at least) two sides, and until recently the Native American point of view has rarely been heard.  In this lesson, students will learn about primary and secondary sources, as well as point of viewand bias and the impact they can have on the intention behind the recording and retelling ofhistory.

Material Type: Lesson, Lesson Plan

Authors: Aujalee Moore, April Campbell

English Language Arts: News in Indian Country

This lesson explores the concept of survivance in contemporary Native American culture, particularly as it relates to the nine federally recognized tribes of Oregon. The term survivance is unfamiliar to many people, but in recent decades it has become an important way of talking about how Indigenous people express and carry forward their cultural identities and traditions in contemporary life. Acts of survivance are those that demonstrate the ongoing and dynamic presence of Indigenous people in contemporary times. These acts of sovereignty and self-determination can take many forms, including tribal efforts to revitalize a language or open a new business; a Native student winning a scholarship or achieving public recognition; or a cross-tribal group advocating for land, treaty, or fishing rights. News media outlets, in a variety of forms, are one of the ways the nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon attempt to both inform and communicate with tribal members and the general public about current events and tribal participation in local, state, and national events. Each of the nine tribal nations in Oregon produces its own unique news outlet that is available to all tribal members. Many of these are also available to the general public. The purpose of this lesson is to provide students with the opportunity to identify examples of survivance in action—through the reading analysis of tribal news outlets.

Material Type: Lesson, Lesson Plan

Authors: Aujalee Moore, April Campbell

Math: Fishing for Treaty Rights

Many federal policies have had a negative impact on tribal nations in Oregon. This is particularly true in the area of fishing rights. The treaties signed with many different tribes ensured access to traditional Native fishing grounds, but the U.S. government later attempted to limit or eliminate this access. The tribes have fought back in the courts, and there have been several high-profile cases over the past several decades. In this lesson, students will examine these treaty rights violations through the application of linear equations.

Material Type: Lesson, Lesson Plan

Authors: Aujalee Moore, April Campbell

Math: Traditional Housing Styles of Native Americans in Oregon

This lesson introduces students to the traditional housing styles of Native American tribes in Oregon, while also giving them the opportunity to practice using the Pythagorean Theorem to solve a real-world problem. Students will learn about the diverse materials and building styles tribes used and how their choices were shaped by the natural environments in which they lived and the traditional lifeways they followed. Studying traditional Native American housing styles will help students begin to grasp the diversity of tribal cultures in Oregon. Too often, Indigenous people in Oregon and across the country are represented as a single, homogeneous group. This does not do justice to the rich diversity of tribal cultures, nor does it honor their individual identities, histories, traditions, and cultural contributions.

Material Type: Lesson, Lesson Plan

Authors: Renée House, April Campbell, Oregon Open Learning

Science: Human Impacts on the Environment: The Salmon Population in Oregon

Native American people have lived in the area now known as Oregon since time immemorial. During the era of colonialism (beginning in the 1600s)-and even into the 21st century-non-Native people often portrayed the North American continent as a vast wilderness that was virtually unpopulated when they arrived. This could not be farther from the truth. In Oregon alone there were dozens of tribes, each with its own ancestral territory and rich cultural history. There was not a single region of Oregon that did not have an Indigenous tribe or band living within it. Nothing was discovered or “untapped”, but instead well managed as Indigenous stewards of the land. Over time, the environment has been impacted by changes such as an increase in human population, and over consumption of natural resources (freshwater, minerals and energy). This lesson focuses on the impact of dams on the salmon population of Oregon. The activity in this lesson will give students an essential understanding of why salmon are essential to the traditional lifeways of Native Americans in Oregon. It will also highlight the important contributions tribes are making to salmon restoration efforts in Oregon.

Material Type: Lesson, Lesson Plan

Authors: Renée House, April Campbell, Oregon Open Learning

Social Sciences: Tribal Sovereignty—An Inherent Right

In this lesson, students will learn about the unique government-to-government relationship between federally recognized tribes and the U.S. government. Students will use a rubric to develop a poster after reading and viewing resources to explain what it means to be a nation within a nation.

Material Type: Lesson, Lesson Plan

Authors: Renée House, April Campbell, Oregon Open Learning

Social Sciences: Cultural Assimilation and Indian Boarding Schools

The U.S. government’s effort to culturally assimilate Native Americans can be traced to at least 1819, with the passage of the Civilization Fund Act. Up to that time the U.S. government’s approach to Native Americans had been one of outright extermination, at worst, or forced removal to reservations, at best. While it would take several more decades to play out, the Civilization Fund Act began an era in which many Euro-American politicians, religious leaders, and cultural reformers would push for the assimilation of Native Americans into mainstream Western culture. Some of these cultural reformers were well-intentioned, believing that assimilation would be the best thing for the survival and health of Native people. For others, cultural assimilation was a convenient excuse to deny tribal sovereignty and to steal tribal land and resources. In either case, these assimilation efforts would have a devastating impact on many Native people, families, communities, and entire tribal cultures. That impact can be traced to one policy: the forced removal of Native American children from their families and their enrollment in Indian boarding schools.

Material Type: Lesson, Lesson Plan

Authors: Renée House, April Campbell, Oregon Open Learning

Social Sciences: The Importance of Treaties

From 1774 to 1871, the U.S. government negotiated hundreds of treaties with individual NativeAmerican tribes. These negotiations were conducted on a government-to-government basis,with the understanding that tribes were sovereign nations with an inherent right to self-governance and self-determination. This lesson will provide students with an understanding of the history and impact of treaty-making between Native American tribes in Oregon and the U.S. government. Thereare six activities.  

Material Type: Lesson, Lesson Plan

Authors: Aujalee Moore, April Campbell