(This is the curriculum expressions that are the backbone for Rose Honey’s curriculum, “Indian Boarding Schools Along the Trail.”)
Eleventh Standard
Demonstrate environmental stewardship and a sense of service achieved through acknowledgment of the interconnectedness of humanity in historical, cultural, scientific, and spiritual contexts.
Big Ideas
- The Lewis and Clark expedition helped to lay the groundwork for the colonization of Tribes along the Trail, which promoted the loss of language and culture for countless Tribal peoples.
- Years of assimilation policy have contributed to the loss of cultural heritage and cultural identity in Native American communities, resulting in generational trauma that is still present in Tribal communities today.
- Tribes are resilient and are on a journey toward healing from generations of trauma that resulted from children being forced, over a period of almost 200 years, to attend boarding schools.
Enduring Understandings
- The land and the people encountered by Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery were greatly impacted by that exploratory journey, which lay the groundwork for a colonization effort that featured a planned and forced assimilation, loss of culture, and therefore, a generational trauma that is still in existence today in Tribal communities.
- It is vital to understand the context in which atrocities were committed during the Native American boarding school effort if we wish to understand the impacts and in order to recognize when history may be repeating itself in contemporary
- Listening to and discussing stories that are relevant to the Native American boarding school era are an important aspect of building understanding and coming together as a community and a nation to heal the traumas of the past and to ensure that similar policies and actions do not continue to happen.
Native Knowledge 360⚪ Essential Understandings
- Essential Understanding 2 – Time, Continuity, and Change:
Indigenous people of the Americas shaped life in the Western Hemisphere for millennia. After contact, American Indians and the events involving them greatly influenced the histories of the European colonies and the modern nations of North, Central, and South America. Today, this influence continues to play significant roles in many aspects of political, legal, cultural, environmental, and economic issues. To understand the history and cultures of the Americas requires understanding American Indian history from Indian perspectives.
- Essential Understanding 4 – Individual Development and Identity:
American Indian individual development and identity is tied to culture and the forces that have influenced and changed culture over time. Unique social structures, such as clan systems, rites of passage, and protocols for nurturing and developing individual roles in tribal society, characterize each American Indian culture. American Indian cultures have always been dynamic and adaptive in response to interactions with others.
- Essential Understanding 5 – Individuals, Groups, and Institutions:
American Indians have always operated and interacted within self-defined social structures that include institutions, societies, and organizations, each with specific functions. These social structures have shaped the lives and histories of American Indians through the present day.
Unit Level Essential Questions:
- What has been the size and scale of the Native American boarding school effort over time, and what are the impacts that endure?
- What were the political, geographical, economic, environmental, and social dynamics during the 19th and 20th centuries regarding Native American relations with the United States government? How has this context fed the policies relating to the Native American boarding school efforts?
- How is historical and generational trauma impacting Tribal communities today? What is taking place to support Tribal communities in their journey to heal, and what are the stories of resilience that demonstrate that Tribal culture and identity are important and still remain?