3. Oral Traditions: Lighting the Trail though Boarding School Stories

(This is the Lesson Plan 3 for Rose Honey’s curriculum, “Indian Boarding Schools Along the Trail.”) 

  1. Learning Objectives
    • The explicit goal of the Native American boarding school movement was to remove students’ Indigenous language use and to eradicate Tribal cultural identity.
    • The histories that were taught in Native American boarding schools were often different from what students had learned from their Tribal Elders and families at home.
    • Though stories of culture loss and trauma are still relevant in Tribal communities today, stories of resilience and healing are also emphasized in many contemporary Tribal communities and educational settings.
  1. Entry Questions
    • Are there children from Native American Tribes who still attend boarding schools?
    • How do you think Tribal children were educated back in the days before U.S. government schools existed? What do you think they learned?
    • Does the boarding school era have an impact on Tribal communities today? If so, what are some current impacts that exist for people in Tribal communities?
  1. Common Core Standards for 6th/7th grades
    • Grade 6 – 8 English Language Arts Standards: History/Social Studies
      • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.
      • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.5: Describe how a text presents information (e.g., sequentially, comparatively, causally).
      • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.6: Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author’s point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts).
      • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.7: Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.
  1. C3 Framework Guiding Principles

Change, Continuity, and Context

    • D2.His.1.6-8. Analyze connections among events and developments in broader historical contexts.
    • D2.His.2.6-8. Classify series of historical events and developments as examples of change and/or continuity.
    • D2.His.3.6-8. Use questions generated about individuals and groups to analyze why they, and the developments they shaped, are seen as historically significant.
  1. Activity:

This activity includes reading and/or listening to informational and personal stories that are told through writing, podcasts and online videos that will help to illuminate what boarding school life was like and what the impacts have been on Tribes through the generations. There are also stories that highlight how some people found ways to bring what was learned back into their Tribal communities and information about how Tribal culture is being integrated into the education of Tribal youth again in educational settings today. The boarding school map and related links document included in the resources for this unit can be used to explore stories related to boarding schools in specific geographical areas, and to hear more stories across the country from a wide range of Tribal peoples.

  • Step 1: Explore at least three of the media sources listed below by READING a story, LISTENING to a story, and WATCHING a story. Sources can also be found on the Native American Mission and Boarding School Map and related Boarding School List document.
  • Step 2: Find the locations on the Boarding School Map where these stories took place. Research the Tribal homelands for the schoolchildren in the stories and locate it on the map.
  • Step 3: Complete the Thinking, Listening, Talking worksheet for Lesson 3: Oral Traditions.

 

Media Sources:

Written Stories:

Audio Stories:

Video Stories:

Thinking, Listening, Talking

For Lesson 3: Lighting the Trail through Boarding School Stories

Part 1: Individual Thinking

● On what school and Tribe are each of the stories focused?

● Whose perspective are the stories from?

● What kinds of things did the children learn in the school that they attended? Can you tell if the learning was different from what they learned at home?

● How did the school children have to change (physically and behaviorally) when they arrived at and attended the school?

● Were there any stories of resistance to these changes? What did resistance look like?

Part 2: Group Listening & Discussing

●  What does it mean to take away someone’s cultural identity?

●  Did the people talk about their experiences in a positive or negative light?

● What does resilience mean in relation to thinking about Native American boarding schools? What are some stories of resilience that you learned in these stories?

 

  1. Learning Evaluation
    • Formative: Is there a particular part of one of the stories that you are surprised to learn about?
    • Formative: What do assimilate, colonization, and resilience mean to you?
    • Summative: What is important to you in relation to your own cultural identity, and what would it mean if it were taken away from you?
    • Summative: Given what you have heard and seen through these stories, what are some actions (if any) that you think the government or communities could take in relation to the Native American boarding school movement?
    • Summative: How is education in some Tribal communities incorporating culture into teaching methods and classroom content, and why is this important?
  1. Resources for Lesson 3

A. Boarding School Lesson 3 Activities Download

B. Map of Boarding Schools Along the Trail

C. Boarding Schools Along the Trail Companion Document