Melissa Anderson

Native American Lesson Plan

I.      Standard Addressed:

2. Time, Continuity, & Change

-Significance of American Indian oral tradition in the perpetuation of culture and history.

II.    Expected Learning Outcome:

The student will recognize different ceremonies that the Lakota Indians perform. The student will analyze the impact of the white people on the Indians throughout history. The student will judge the importance of culture and tradition in one’s society and how it would affect him/her if it was taken away.

III.    Evaluation:

The students will be graded on attendance. The student will write a 2-3 page paper. One page is to be reflecting the speaker. 1-2 pages will be written about the following question: How would you feel if you were a Native American at the point in time when you were forced to leave your home and attend an English school? What is something in your culture or a tradition that you would not want taken away from you? Would you continue to practice it even if you were restricted to?

IV.    Curriculum:

This could fit into a Native American Studies class.

V.      Instruction:

We will have a guest speaker. The speaker is a Lakota Indian from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He is a tribal elder and will be discussing aspects of his culture. He will focus on how his tribe adapted to the white people taking over their lives. He will discuss the importance of oral tradition and how his tribe was forbidden to perform certain ceremonies but continued to do it in order to maintain their tradition and culture. For the last 10-15 minutes of class, the students will be free to ask questions. At the end of class I will assign the paper discussed in the ‘evaluation’ section.

VI.    Discussion Questions:

What are some ceremonies that the Lakota practice?

What happened to the Indians when the white people        invaded?

How would you feel if you were in the Native Americans’ place?

If you were them- would you continue to perform your ceremonies and traditions?