Welcome...

to American Indian Issues: An Introductory and Curricular Guide for Educators. Between 1997-2001, this website was supported by the American Indian Civics Project (AICP), a project funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Native American Higher Education Initiative.  During those years, the (CICD) at (HSU) in Northern California provided the expertise, design, and ongoing maintainence of this website.

Between 2001-2009, maintenance and updating the website was sporadic.  However, in early 2010, the Wild Rivers Teaching American History (WRTAH) grant operated by the assumed support of the website.  Under this new sponsorship, technological and design responsibilites belong to , while content, updates, and maintenance belong to the website's original author, Dr. Gayle Olson-Raymer.

The primary goals of this web site are:

• To provide educators with the tools to educate K-12 students - Indian and non-native alike - about the historical and contemporary political, economic, and social characteristics of sovereign tribal nations throughout the United States.
• To create an on-going educational collaboration between the university community and the K-12 education communities - a collaboration that engages both communities in an academic dialogue about materials and lesson plans related to American Indians.
• To create a series of educational resources which secondary educators and students may use when studying the historical and contemporary relationship between the US government and American Indians.
• To create secondary lesson plans related to the above historical and contemporary relationship - lesson plans that teachers can readily integrate into existing social science courses and which are compatible with state and national social science standards.

The web site content is divided into the following three sections:

1. Historical Overview.  This historical narrative discusses the relationship between the federal government and North American Indian nations through three periods: Colonial America, 19th Century, and 20th Century.  This section is specifically designed to supplement the lesson plans in this web site and, as such, will be helpful to teachers as well as students who wish to learn more about the topic.

• Please Note: As of late 2011, the first two sections under the "Narrative Historical Overview" have been completedly revised and updated. The 20th Century section is currently under revision

2. Lesson Plans. This section presents a series of short 2-6 day lesson plans on special topics that have historical and contemporary significance within Indian Country.  While each lesson is designed for specifically-stated days of classroom time, each may be made into shorter or longer lessons according to teacher and student interest.

Each of the lesson plans follow the same format:

• Introductory comments for the teacher which explains the number of days for each lesson, the grade levels targeted in each lesson, objectives for each lesson, and any academic language included in each lesson.
• Lesson Content for each day of instruction with begins with an Introduction and Hook for each day of the lesson, includes detailed discussion questions
• Conclusions that summarize what students should understand about the entire lesson.
• Bibliography of selected reading and research relevant to the lesson.
• California Social Science Standards addressed in each lesson.

Five lesson plans are available:

• Cahokia: Unlocking the Mysteries
• Federal Indian Policy: Historical Roots and 19th Century Policies
• Mascots, Symbols, and Names
• Red Power: The Civil Rights Movement and American Indian Activism
• The Makah: A Case Study of Resilience and Resistence.

3. About this Site provides information about those responsible for writing and maintaining this web site, as well as about the Wild River Teaching American History Grant.