Updated: March 5, 2002

Bibliography of North American Indians - K-12 Teachers - This annotated bibliography was created for K-12 teachers by the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. The authors, both Native Americans, have reviewed a large collection of K-12 books dealing with North American Indians, noting biases and inaccuracies, as well at those texts which provide accurate representations of Indian culture. A useful tool for planning lessons and resource lists for studies of Native Americans at any grade level.

American Indians and the Natural World - Grades 4-12 - This site from Pittsburgh's Carnegie Library offers perspectives on the natural universe from four different Native American Tribes. Each section describes how tribal customs, culture, and worship were tied to the characteristics of the environments in which the tribe lived. The site is well researched and beautifully presented.

American Indians of the Pacific Northwest - Grades 6-12 - The University of Washington has created this site to document cultural and historic materials dealing with northwest Native peoples. Segmented by tribal groups, the collection includes images and text, as well as search capabilities.

Camping with the Sioux - Grades 6-12 - This simple, elegant site from the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History offers the diary of Alice Cunningham Fletcher, a 41-year-old American woman who spent an Autumn living and learning from the Sioux. The site includes her diary, with comments from her contemporaries, as well as numerous photos of the people and territory she was exploring. The site has interesting possibilities for the study of Native Americans, the roles of women in the 19th century, and the use of primary sources in history and research. There is also an extensive bibliography. If you have time to do the adapting, there are lots of possibilities in this one.

Histories of the First Nations - Grade 4 and up - Concise, easily navigated summaries about dozens of Native American tribes and their leaders.

Indian Peoples of the Northern Great Plains - Grades 4-12 - Created at Montana State University, this site offers archival photos, descriptions, and related information organized around the tribes of the northern great plains. These photos show tribal customs and activities, and may sometimes be a more accurate portrayal of native American cultures than that commonly available.

Lakota Information Page - Extensive information on the Lakota people and their history.

National Museum of the American Indian - Grade 6 and up - The Smithsonian's pages provide a large collection of Native American resources, along with descriptive information about Smithsonian collections.

Native American Links - Grades 6 and up - This is one of the more comprehensive collections of Internet resources dealing with Native American history and cultures. It provides links to specific tribes and peoples, as well as more general sources.

Native American Craft Unit - This is a collection of activities which guides elementary or middle school students through the creation of toys and crafts that were used by both Native American and Colonial American children in the 18th century colonies. The unit can be used as part of the colonial tour above, or with the study of Native Americans. Students can also do some of the activities at home with the supervision of a parent.

Native American Navigator - Grades 6-12 - This site from Columbia University offers a search utility for K-12 Native American subjects and issues. The site was designed to help students research Native American history and find appropriate resources.

Native Americans - A problem-solving approach - Grades 6-8 - This unit uses a problem-solving approach to examine an old Native American issue - the creation of reservations - and a new one: the growth of gaming on those reservation. Created as part of a collaborative program with Philadelphia's Franklin Institute, the unit lets students explore the relevant information and develop their own hypothesis about each issue.

Native Web - Grades 4-6 includes a " Resource Center" which contains a searchable database with hundreds of links concerning Native, Aboriginal, and Indigenous people on all seven continents. Clicking on "Education" and "K-12" leads to a collection of Native American schools where students could send e-mail to ask questions. The section entitled "Historical Material" on the main menu will be of importance to teachers and students.

Paving Through Petroglyphs - Grade 6 and up - What happens to ancient cave drawings and petroglyphs when engineers want to build a highway through a monument established to preserve those artifacts? ABC News takes a look at the problem, then asks what you think should happen.

Photographs of Edward S. Curtis - Grades 4-12 - This Library of Congress exhibit contains dozens of photographs made of Native Americans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The collection concentrates in the Pacific northwest, and was an attempt to record the cultural life of the tribes there. Though some of the images were "staged" by modern standards, these images offer a "real world" glimpse of cultures many students can only read about.

Pre-Contact Native American Housing - Grades 4-8 - Though this site spends much time discussing the inaccuracies of Euro-centric portrayals of Native Americans and their housing, its detailed descriptions of the form and function of several different housing types are well worth a visit. The visual material includes drawings, archival photos, and artwork by Native Americans showing the way they lived in a variety of climates. Privately published.

The Totem Forests - Grades 6-12 - This site is a great use of art to teach history. It chronicles the career and work of artists working with Native Americans in the Pacific northwest around 1900-1910, showing the images and telling some of the stories of the native people who lived in the area. The artwork includes paintings, engravings, and photos of an aspect of Native American culture that is often overlooked. Great site for research reports, class discussions, and the like.

Turtle Tracks - Grades 4-8 - This newsletter with a Native American slant includes articles, stories, and information about Native American culture, customs, holidays, and heroes. The texts include pictures and maps. Subject matter varies, and publication appears to be sporadic. Still, it's a nice collection of different materials.

Voices from the Trading Post - Grades 6-12 - This site from the University of Northern Arizona offers archival photos and transcripts of interviews with Native Americans whose ancestors were involved in trading. The trading post, though, is mostly a convenient meeting point for native and western cultures. There are some striking images and powerful text here. The site would be a great starting point for a look at "authentic" native experiences.

The Wampanoag Tribe - Grades 4-8 - The Boston Children's Museum developed this site to help children learn about a Native American tribe that is native to Cape Cod, and which remains active today. The site includes both historical information and a look at how tribe members live and maintain their heritage today.

American Themes

Copyright © 2001 by the Network for Instructional TV, Inc.
All rights reserved.

}