Indigenous Peoples’ History–Cohosted by experts from the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, this webinar will delve into the ways American history instruction often fails to acknowledge—and contributes to—the erasure of Indigenous stories and perspectives. Join us and you’ll learn about critical historical events, as well as cultural and societal contributions of Indigenous peoples past and present. You will also examine common misconceptions and stereotypes and gain resources for teaching a more complete history.
Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian
Throughout their long histories, American Indian peoples have thrived on, respected, and protected the environments that make up their homelands. Being good stewards of the environment remains important to American Indians today.
The Maya of Mesoamerica are renowned for their precise calendars and their knowledge of astronomy. Through systematic observations conducted over thousands of years, Maya skywatchers developed complex and accurate calendars that continue to mark agricultural and ceremonial cycles today. Join us in an exploration of the Maya Calendar system and its intricate cycles. Hear the voices of contemporary Maya people as they weave their past and present together, and share with us their living traditions of Maya time.
This online lesson provides perspectives from Native American community members, documents, maps, images, and activities to help students and teachers understand an important and difficult chapter in the history both of Native Nations and the United States. Scroll to begin an exploration of the vast scope and effects of American Indian removal.
The Americans exhibition features nearly 350 objects and images, from a Tomahawk missile to baking powder cans, all showing that Indian names and images are everywhere in American life. Through this display and an examination of the staying power of three stories—the life of Pocahontas, the Trail of Tears, and the Battle of Little Bighorn—the exhibition shows that Americans have always been fascinated, conflicted, and profoundly shaped by their relationship to American Indians.
This toolkit provides basic grounding in the practice of dialogue, and includes three 60-minute models (focused on grades 4–12) that educators can use in the Americans exhibition to facilitate dialogue with students. Through the intentional use of dialogue, educators can tap into the Americans material to facilitate new conversations with and among students about the power of images and words, the challenges of memory, and the relationship between personal and national values.
The Forgotten Slavery of Our Ancestors offers an introduction to the history of Indigenous enslavement on land that is now the United States. As the featured historians point out, the enslavement of Indigenous peoples stretched from Alaska into South America. It predated and helped shape the system of African enslavement in New England, and it lasted until throughout the 19th century in the West. “This,” explains historian Andrés Reséndez, “is our shared history.” Directed and edited by Howdice Brown III, The Forgotten Slavery of Our Ancestors was produced by Marie Acemah and Alice Qannik Glenn. The runtime for this film is just over 12 minutes.
This multi-grade unit takes an in-depth look at the history of U.S. expansion and Indian policy, and present the voices and perspectives of Native Americans on the Lewis and Clark expedition.
Why is the Washington Redskins’ name controversial? Middle and high school students explore and reflect on different perspectives to understand and determine their own points of view.