Thanksgiving: A Guest Post from Mike Jetty

Hau Mitakuyape (hello my relatives),

My name is Mike Jetty and I am a member of the Spirit Lake Dakota Nation and a Turtle Mountain Chippewa descendant and I work at the Office of Public Instruction as an Indian Education Specialist.

I hope the school year is going well for all of you.  It is already the end of November and a major cultural celebration is once again upon us – Thanksgiving.  I was asked to share my perspective regarding Thanksgiving and to provide some examples of how educators can teach about the history behind Thanksgiving in a more accurate and inclusive manner.  These are my thoughts and are in no way intended to serve as a statement reflecting all of the multiple American Indian perspectives regarding this issue (Essential Understanding #2).

I have heard from several of my American Indian friends that they do not celebrate the holiday because it is based on a lie that serves as a way to perpetuate a feel-good history that does not tell the whole story of the cultural genocide that occurred in our country’s history.  Other American Indian people that I know do celebrate the holiday in the traditional manner reflected in our contemporary American culture and I know some American Indians who celebrate the holiday in their own ways that incorporate unique cultural traditions from their people.  I personally view Thanksgiving as a great time to gather with family and friends to give thanks for all that we have and to have a meal that includes all of the traditional fixings. Maybe watch a little football, eat some tasty left overs and share some bad jokes like this one…Do you know why some Wampanoags don’t like April showers?  Because they bring Mayflowers…. I could not resist throwing in at least one bad joke.

We know that cultures from all around the world have ceremonies to give thanks for a multitude or reasons.  Certainly all of the Indigenous cultures of the Americas had their own ways of offering thanks and so did the European immigrants who landed on the Eastern shores of North America.

So how did we get to this point?

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln, as part of his efforts to help heal the country divided by a bloody and violent civil war, declared the last Thursday of November to be a national holiday of giving thanks.   It took several years for the holiday to take on a mythical quality that was based upon a peaceful feast that occurred between the Pilgrims and Wampanaogs.  Historical accounts from both parties attest that a gathering did occur in 1621 but what happened before, during and after the feast has morphed into a dominant culture mythological narrative perpetuated by our educational systems for over a hundred years (Essential Understanding 6).

As educators it is important that we present a more accurate and inclusive history of our country and this includes deconstructing the myth surrounding the first thanksgiving in 1621. I think events like this provide an excellent opportunity for us to implement Indian Education for All in our classrooms. I have included numerous links to excellent teaching resources and articles that provide good background information about the holiday that I hope provide you with some ideas on how to approach this issue in your own classroom.

Whether or not you celebrate Thanksgiving, I do wish that all of you enjoy the upcoming break and get to spend some quality time with your family and friends or just enjoy some quiet time by yourself.  Please let me know if you have any questions regarding Indian Education for All and I will do my best to assist you.  Good luck with the rest of the school year!

Interesting links: 

• "American Indian Perspectives on Thanksgiving," National Museum of the American Indian 
• "Recognizing Native American Perspectives: Thanksgiving and the National Day of Mourning," National Geographic 9-12 Activity
• "The Wampanoag Side of the First Thanksgiving Story," Indian Country Today
• "Thanksgiving Mourning," Teaching Tolerance 6-8, 9-12 Lesson
• "The Thanksgiving Tale We Tell Is a Harmful Lie. As a Native American, I’ve Found a Better Way to Celebrate the Holiday," by Sean Sherman, Time Magazine
• Colonization and American Indian Perspectives," Montana Office of Public Instruction grades 7-8 lesson
• "What Educators Need To Know About Teaching Thanksgiving," National Public Radio
• "3 ways to expand Native American curriculum beyond Thanksgiving myths," Education Dive
• "The Invention of Thanksgiving," by Philip Deloria, New Yorker

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm driving to Seattle next week to spend Thanksgiving with my brother and sister-in-law. Crossing icy mountain passes (McDonald, Lolo, Fourth of July, and the dreaded Snoquamie) is a memorable part of our family's Thanksgiving tradition. So are my sister-in-law's creamed onions, my cousin's delicious raspberry-cranberry relish, my nephew's artful apple pies, and the raucous game Scattegories we always play after dinner.

How do you and your students celebrate Thanksgiving? What do you remember of Thanksgivings from your childhood? How are Thanksgiving celebrations today similar to, and different from, the Thanksgivings of earlier times?

What has changed and what has remained the same is one of my favorite research questions. Answer this question by having your students interview elders about their Thanksgiving memories. MHS has a guide to using oral history in the classroom. It has great tips and training exercises that will be useful even if you don't choose to have your students conduct full-blown oral histories. I think an informal interview is more appropriate for this project, but all good interviews require scaffolding. Thus, I recommend brainstorming interview questions (and teaching them the difference between open-ended questions and closed "yes-no" questions) before sending them home to gather information.

Alternately, ask your students to look for answers in the historical newspapers on the Chronicling America site. To limit your search to Montana newspapers, select "Montana" from the list of states. Type the word "Thanksgiving" in the search box and see what comes up. After looking through a few articles, have your students to make a copy (or write down) something they found interesting (including the citation!). Share these items as a class and compare what you found to Thanksgiving today. A quick look at the historic newspapers had me thinking about Thanksgiving parades, shopping and what might politely be termed overindulgence. (You may want to assign students different pages from the search, so they all read different articles/advertisements).

Looking for a few good secondary stories about Thanksgivings past? Check out these from Ellen Baumler's Montana Moments blog: "Mining Camp Thanksgiving,"  "A Mild Thanksgiving in Wild Miles City, 1882," and "Thanksgiving Day Murder at Elkhorn."

Finally, check out this wonderful blog post, "Native American Perspectives on Thanksgiving," from our friends at Project Archaeology, which includes links to lesson plans, videos, and more.

Demythologizing Thanksgiving

 This American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month, we are delighted to share this guest post by OPI Indian Education for All specialist Mike Jetty.

Hau Mitakuyapi – Hello My Relatives,

Happy American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month!  As we celebrate and honor the ongoing contributions of American Indians it is important for educators to bring in authentic and accurate perspectives regarding what is known as the “first Thanksgiving”.  Teaching Indigenous perspectives on Thanksgiving is crucial for developing a more comprehensive and accurate understanding of American history. By including Indigenous viewpoints, we can foster a more nuanced appreciation of the holiday's origins and its place in American culture. It's important to recognize that the modern Thanksgiving holiday, established as a national observance in 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln, was indeed intended to unite a country divided by the Civil War. But over the years the holiday morphed into an almost mythological event and in classrooms across the country well intentioned teachers would often perpetuate inaccurate and stereotypical information such as having students dress up as Indians and pilgrims as part of a classroom activity.  

As educators it is important that we present a more accurate and inclusive history of our country, and this includes deconstructing the myth surrounding the “first” Thanksgiving in 1621. By teaching a more inclusive history, we can honor the resilience of Indigenous peoples, promote cultural understanding, and encourage critical thinking about the narratives we inherit. This approach doesn't aim to eliminate Thanksgiving celebrations, but rather to infuse them with greater historical awareness and cultural sensitivity. 

“Correctly taught, the issues of the era of the first Thanksgiving could help Americans grow more thoughtful and more tolerant, rather than more ethnocentric.” (Quote from James Loewen).

Here are some links to great resources that can aid in this infusion:

1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving

American Indian Perspectives on Thanksgiving from the National Museum of the American Indian.

“Thanksgiving from an Indigenous Perspective” Smithsonian Magazine

Wopida Tanka! The IEFA Unit extends a big thanks to Montana educators as you continue to implement IEFA in a culturally responsive manner.

Thanksgiving

What traditional foods will you feature on your Thanksgiving table? And how traditional are they, really? 

• I found this quote from the 1867 Virginia City Montana Post about Thanksgiving foods for comparison: "To-day the gallinacious fowls, and cranberry sauce; pone, pumpkin pie and dough-nuts, fruits, nuts, and cider will be eaten."--The Montana post. [volume], November 30, 1867
• An ad in the 1880 Fort Benton River Press promises that "'The Eataphone' will help us out on Thanksgiving day with oysters in every style." (Bonus points for anyone who can tell me what an Eataphone is!)

One of my favorite guiding questions is "What's changed and what's remained the same?"

How does your celebration compare to the Thanksgivings described in these two Thanksgiving poems published in 1880 in the Fort Benton River Press?

In Town and Out

To-morrow, all over this glorious nation

The old and the young, and of every station

Vide the President's proclamation

Will hold their Thanksgiving celebration.

The church bells will ring on the clear, cold air,

And call on God's people to meet Him there; 

In country and city, in hamlet and town; 

From highland and lowland, from mountains and down; 

With thankful hearts, in praise and prayer, 

For his protection and thoughtful care.

And the gay bells will jingle,

The sleighs glide along,

And the young voices mingle

In jest and in song; 

As over the pure and the glistening snow,

Light-hearted and gay, in their cutters they go--

But the printer will miss it all.

 

Cold!

Oh, no.

Guess not.

Sleigh rides.

Thanksgiving.

Roast turkeys.

Tom and Jerry.

Peach and honey.

The light fantastic.

Some of it in ours.

--Fort Benton River Press, November 24, 1880

This Thanksgiving week, I also want to draw your attention to this 2019 guest post from Indian Education Specialist Mike Jetty, which shares both his perspective on the holiday and many useful links. It's still relevant, and (even more surprising) all the links still work! 

I also want to point teachers to Story Corps' Great Thanksgiving Listen, which "encourages young people—and people of all ages—to create an oral history of our times by recording an interview with an elder, mentor, friend, or someone they admire."

Whether you celebrate, commemorate, or mourn; eat oyster stew, turducken, or tofurkey; take time off or--like our Fort Benton printer--work the holiday, I wish all the best for you and yours, this week and every day. 

 

 

More Resources for Teaching about Thanksgiving

 Merrick Parnell, who teaches high school social studies in Whitehall, wrote to say that he really appreciated my Thanksgiving post, and planned to use some of the highlighted resources. I'm pretty sure it was the link to OPI Indian Education Specialist Mike Jetty's 2019 guest post on Indian Perspectives on Thanksgiving that Merrick particularly appreciated because he went on to say that he lectured on the first Thanksgiving with a focus on the Wampanoag people and that he students learned a lot. He also graciously shared some of the teaching resources he used for this lesson, particularly podcasts and other audio. I'm sharing his list (along with his notes), below. I'm excited to listen to some of these podcasts myself! Maybe during my Thanksgiving morning walk. 

Mr. Parnell's Thanksgiving Resources--Podcasts and Audio 

• Stuff You Missed in History, The First Thanksgiving.

I like to use this podcast for my students at the high school level. While listening, I have the students take notes or draw a visual representation of what’s being discussed in the show.

• Native American Calling, Culture Connection: Turkeys

This is a great podcast on the tradition of the turkey from the Native perspective. 

• https://www.nv1.org/podcasts/national-native-news/National Native News

I use this 5-minute news clip for current events all throughout the year.  Its great to bring awareness to news and issues that it covers. 

Thanks for sharing, Merrick! 

 

Resources for teaching October and November Holidays

 On May 9, 2025, Governor Gianforte signed Senate Bill 224 into law, making Indigenous Peoples Day an official state holiday, alongside Columbus Day, on the second Monday in October. 

During the same session, the legislature also passed HB 591, which requires schools to engage in “commemorative exercises” on days designated by the legislature or governor as legal holidays.

In my first post on SB 224, I promised I'd continue to share resources around recognizing holidays.  

Indigenous Peoples Day and Columbus Day

OPI's Indian Education Department has created this lesson for Grades 4-8 on Critical Thinking About the Arrival of Columbus. Their high school lesson, The Colonization Era – An Interview with Dr. James Loewen and Textbook Analysis, asks students to examine myths and challenges them to think about historical events (including Columbus Day and Thanksgiving) from multiple perspectives (Essential Understanding 6). 

Everyday Native has resources for grades 4-12 to dispel stereotypes and teach about contemporary American Indian life.

Edsitement has an elementary lesson called "What Was Columbus Thinking?" that has asks students to identify the stated aims of Columbus's voyages, characterize changes in Columbus's purposes, describe the indigenous people Europeans encountered and the results of their contact, compare the goals of early European exploration with the results, and evaluate the impact of Columbus on the indigenous people of the Americas and his legacy.

Veterans Day

I listed several resources for recognizing Veterans Day in my first post about Freedom Week, including one of my favorite MTHS lesson plans, Reader's Theater: Letters Home from Montanans at War. 

Our friends in the OPI Indian Education Program pulled together this list of resources for teaching about American Indians in the Military.  

The Library of Congress has interesting primary source sets, which include oral histories, and ideas for using them in the classroom.

• Veterans' Stories: The Veterans History Project | Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress | Library of Congress
• Veterans' Stories: Struggles for Participation | Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress | Library of Congress

And, if you are interested in having your students collect oral histories from veterans, they have information on how to participate in their ongoing Veterans History Project. If you do decide to do an oral history project, the User Guide for our Oral History in the Classroom Mini Footlocker has some really good exercises and useful advice on how to prepare your students. 

Thanksgiving

Last year Mike Jetty wrote a guest post for Teaching Montana History on Demythologizing Thanksgiving. It's still relevant. Here are some other OPI resources and/or links that Mike shared with me: 

• "American Indian Perspectives on Thanksgiving," National Museum of the American Indian 
• Colonization and American Indian Perspectives
• 1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving (Grades 6-8) 

One of my favorite historical questions is "What's changed and what's remained the same?" It makes a great research question around the holidays. Here's a post I wrote with suggestions on how to engage your students in examining Thanksgiving traditions. 

StoryCorps annually puts on the Great Thanksgiving Listen. Consider having your students participate or listen to some of the stories that have been recorded over the years. 

 

The Great Thanksgiving Listen

One of my new favorite blogs, Doing Social Studies, turned me on to the fact that StoryCorps is hosting "The Great Thanksgiving Listen."

Open to everyone, The Great Thanksgiving Listen is a national assignment to engage people of all ages in the act of listening. The pilot project is specially designed for students ages 13 and over and as part of a social studies, history, civics, government, journalism, or political science class, or as an extracurricular activity. All that is needed to participate is a smartphone and the StoryCorps mobile app.

StoryCorps has been around for awhile--perhaps you've heard clips of interviews on public radio. Their mission is "is to provide people of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share and preserve the stories of our lives.We do this to remind one another of our shared humanity, to strengthen and build the connections between people, to teach the value of listening, and to weave into the fabric of our culture the understanding that everyone’s story matters."

What’s cool about the Great Thanksgiving Listen?

• It encourages intergenerational communication.
• Conducting interviews will allow students to understand differences in historical and contemporary perspectives—and to examine one of my favorite essential questions: “What’s changed and what’s remained the same.”
• Participants will be able to upload their recordings to the StoryCorps archive at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
• “In one holiday weekend we will capture an entire generation of American lives and experiences.”

If you haven't heard of StoryCorps, do yourself a favor and check out your website. If you teach students ages 13 and above, and are interested in having them participate in the "Great Thanksgiving Listen," check out #theGreatListen 2015 website to download the Free Teacher Toolkit.

Note: StoryCorps recommends introducing the project at least two weeks prior to Thanksgiving—so now’s the time.

P.S. A number of oral historians I know are ambivalent about StoryCorps or at least want to make clear that StoryCorps interviews are NOT oral history. If you are interested in conducting an oral history project with their students, a good place to start is with the Oral History in the Classroom primer. We’re working on creating an oral history footlocker—which will include digital recorders and lesson plans. Stay tuned.

Guest Post from Indian Education Specialist Mike Jetty

Anpetu Wasteyedo (it’s a good day).

Happy Native American Heritage Month!  I extend to you greetings from the OPI Indian Education Division.  I am writing to share some ideas and resources for teaching about American Indians and am also promoting some of our latest Indian Education for All materials.

If you are curious about when and why November was designated as Native American Heritage Month check out the following links.  National American Indian Heritage Month had its origins in 1986 when Congress passed Pub. L. 99-471 which authorized and requested the President to proclaim the week of November 23-30, 1986 as “American Indian Week.”  But a resource from the Library of Congress shows that efforts started back as early as 1915.

• http://nativeamericanheritagemonth.gov/about/
• http://www.loc.gov/law/help/commemorative-observations/american-indian.php

Are you looking for some curriculum resources but don’t know where to start?  I would start by going to our Indian Education website and checking out the various resources for different grade levels and content areas.  

Here’s a teachable moment: all across the U.S. we teach about Thanksgiving so why not use materials that give a more inclusive look at this event.  We have a lesson based upon the book, 1621 A New Look at Thanksgiving, the lesson includes links to these excellent resources.

This on‐line article from James Loewen highlights some of the common misconceptions associated with Thanksgiving. It is highly recommended this be read before you teach the lesson.

National Museum of the American Indian also has resources for teaching about Thanksgiving. Their website has teaching materials that offer rich Native perspectives on the history and contemporary life of many different Native tribes. 

Visit this link for ideas and activities for teaching about Thanksgiving. The article has background information and links to other resources that look at Thanksgiving from American Indian perspectives. 

Finally, here are a few newer IEFA lessons that you should check out.

• Using Primary Source Documents to Understand Tribal Sovereignty
• Building Bridges, Building Friendships: Place-Based Approaches to Develop a Successful Cross-Cultural Exchange
• Evaluating American Indian Materials and Resources for the Classroom
• Resilience: Stories of Twenty Indian Women
• Crossing Boundaries Through Art: Seals of Montana Tribal Nations

Please feel free to drop me a note if you have any questions. Thanks!

Thanksgiving

 Ellen Baumler shared many short, interesting stories on her blog "Montana Moments," many of which were also collected into a book of the same title. Among my favorite is this Thanksgiving tale.

Henry Plummer's Bannack Thanksgiving

According to Ellen, in 1863 Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the national observance of Thanksgiving the last Thursday of November. Most people were too busy to celebrate, but Sheriff Henry Plummer imported a turkey and invited Sidney Edgerton, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Idaho Territory (which included Montana), Wilbur Sanders, and his wife Harriet. Just weeks later Sanders and other vigilantes oversaw Plummer's hanging. Read more.

Other Stories of Thanksgivings Past

Ellen wrote about other, Thanksgivings on her blog as well. Here is a link to all of her Thanksgiving posts, which include some great pictures.

 

Thanksgiving

The Montana Office of Public Instruction Indian Education division has gathered resources to teach about Thanksgiving in a way that includes and honors native perspectives. Other Thanksgiving resources and lessons—many of the primary source based—can be found at the National History Education Clearinghouse's website, Teachinghistory.org. 

Historical Fiction

I’m headed out of town for Thanksgiving, so I’m going to let Teachinghistory.org do the heavy lifting for me today on the listserv. Here’s a post from their page, which talks about how to find historical fiction to complement your history curriculum.

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone—and if you are traveling, travel safely.

p.s. Here’s a link to a short post I wrote last year at about this time with interesting links to resources for teaching about Thanksgiving.

Teachers' Choice: Favorite Elementary Lessons

Every spring, I survey readers, both to get feedback on how to make Teaching Montana History better and to gather everyone’s favorite lessons so I can share them with the group. I love learning what has actually worked in the classroom—and being able to share teacher-approved lessons. So, without further ado, here are some of the answers elementary teachers gave to the question “Describe (in brief) the best Montana history or IEFA lesson or project or resource you taught this year--the one you will make time for next year no matter what.” Stay tuned for future posts featuring the answers from middle and high school teachers. [I've added some links, and a few comments in brackets--couldn't resist putting my oar in.] 

Justine Hurley, who teaches grades 3-5 in White Sulphur Springs, wrote: "This year I used the Montana Indian Stories Lit Kit.  The students really enjoyed the interactive puppetry that can go along with the stories.  We studied this footlocker after Christmas and it was very useful in getting the kids engaged after a long winter break!  Next year I intend to use the To Learn A New Way footlocker.  I will be creating in-depth social studies lessons and field trip based on this footlocker!" [Discover more about both of these footlockers by exploring the User Guides, posted on our Footlocker page.] 

Susan Seastrand, who teaches K-8 in a one-room school, used the Charlie Russell pictures that were part of our Montana's Charlie Russell packet. [We sent one to every public school library--but if you want one for your classroom, send us an email and we'll send you one while supplies last. You can also access all of the packet material (including the images, biographical PowerPoints, three hands-on art lessons, and five ELA/social studies lessons) on our website.]

Christine Ayers, a 3-5 teacher from Polson, wrote: "Honestly, there are so many! The ones that came to mind first, are the resources on Columbus Day and Thanksgiving. We have used those lessons as a base for so many discussions throughout the year. Just those two lessons have sparked in-depth, critical thoughts and debates for the entire year. Fourth graders getting a different perspective and developing empathy is something I will make time for every year, thanks to these lessons!" [Mike Jetty offered some great links on Thanksgiving in his guest post last year on Native American Heritage Month.]

April Wills, who teaches second grade in Bainville, wrote: "The best lesson I teach is Preserving Eastern Montana History with iMovie. Students research, develop questions and record information. When the whole project is done we create iMovies to preserve that knowledge and share with other students. Each year is different, this year we researched homesteads within 50 miles of our town. Students partnered up with high school students to complete their tasks, this also varies each year with the classes we join with depending on scheduling." 

Shannon Baukol, who teaches 3-6 in Pray, wrote: "The best history  lesson I have taught this year is a map layering activity with Montana reservations and tribal affiliations, tied in with a Literary Study on tribes outside of Montana." [She may have used some of the maps available through OPI's Indian Education Division, particularly this one of territories in 1855 and this one showing reservations today. If you are interested in providing a visual on Indian land loss, you may also want to check out this amazing 17-second animation that shows Indian land loss using the chronological collection of land cession maps by Sam B. Hillard, of Louisiana State University, which was published in 1972 in the Annals of the Association of American Geographers. Maps looking at land loss due to allotment are also extremely informative. You can download a map set focused on the Flathead Reservation here.]

Whitefish Technology teacher Michael Carmichael also understands the power of maps. Each year he works with his third graders to create animations of shrinking tribal land. Last year, I was so intrigued I asked him to share details. He wrote: "Students were given different animation project choices including one about  Montana Reservations. The students’ task was to show how traditional tribal areas changed and shrank with the introduction of reservations. Students needed to select three tribes to animate the boundary changes. This lesson activated prior classroom knowledge and utilized free online animation program that was age appropriate and allowed students multiple ways to create their animated infographic. Students accessed traditional tribal territory maps and modern Reservation maps to use as their background before using the drawing and painting tools to create the visual of the shrinking reservations. Animate is free and easy to use on all platforms via the web. Some of the map resources students utilized are:

• http://www.montanatribes.org/learning_activities/maps.html

• http://www.native-languages.org/montana.htm

• http://www.opi.mt.gov/pdf/IndianEd/Resources/MTIndiansHistoryLocation.pd

They also used the  student safe search resource “Bing in the Classroom.”(Free for Schools)."

Bill Moe, Libby 3-5 teacher, loved Mapping Montana A-Z. He declared it "great fun." [Another teacher said her 4th-grade students got frustrated with the exercise and recommended shortening it by placing students in groups and dividing up the alphabet (so one group mapped A-F, another G-L, etc.). She's now teaching 8th grade and says those students love the lesson plan as is.]  

Another teacher also recommended map resources: "I liked the presentation Ruth Ferris gave us using old and new state maps with tribal names. It was interesting to see how Montana has changed over time using maps." [I asked Ruth, and she thought the maps she presented came from MontanaTribes.org.]

A 3-8 art teacher had his students make parfleche bags. 

A 3-5 teacher has embraced combining history and language arts. For example, she read Hattie Big Sky as a read aloud. [I just read this book this summer--what a great tie-in to so many topics in Montana history, including the effects World War I.]

One 3-5 teacher wrote: "I have used women in Montana History information with my students in reading and language arts." [We've gathered our resources on Montana women's history here. Lesson plans particularly appropriate for elementary are Women and Sports: Tracking Change Over Time, Montana Women at Work: Clothesline Timeline, and Biographical Poems Celebrating Amazing Montana Women.] 

Angela Archuleta, a librarian in Lewistown, wrote: "I did a primary resource session from Glacier National Park. I would like to conduct some of the  RAFT exercises in Google Classroom." [I don't know if she used it, but we have a footlocker focused on Glacier that offers a number of primary sources. You can review the user guide here and learn about how to order here. More information on RAFT here and here.]

One K-5 librarian wrote: "I began the 4th graders on Yellowstone Kelly and the newspapers from long ago. I'd like to go deeper into Boot Hill Cemetery and Yellowstone Kelly. One "teachable moment" occurred when one of my students asked who Charlie Russell was. It allowed me to open up the kit we all received about him and talk to the students about his impact on Montana and Western Art." 

A K-5 library teacher recommended using the historical newspapers now available online. [Here are some tips.]

A 3-5 teacher recommended playing Indian games. [Here's a Traditional Games Unit from OPI.]

A few of you listed field trips as the best thing you did: 

• "We took a school field trip to the Lewis and Clark Interactive Museum in Great Falls that was wonderful." (Grades K-2)
• "We took the class on a field trip to the BigHorn Battlefield. Before leaving we used many resources from the MT Historical Society emails I received over the course of the year. Most recently we used the piece about History and location of MT tribes for our research projects." (Grades 3-5)

Do you have a favorite lesson you'd like to share? If so, email me with details and I'll share it with the group. 

Celebrating Indian Education for All

Did you see the article in the fall issue of Teaching Tolerance that touts Montana's commitment to Indian Education for All? 

After reading it and feeling proud of our state, I realized it had been a while since I had posted specifically about IEFA. To paraphrase, the price of progress is eternal vigilance. 

In no particular order, here are some interesting IEFA-related materials/opportunities I've seen lately.

Humanities Montana has some great IEFA-related Speaker in the Schools programs. At no cost to your school, you could bring to your classroom Richard Ellis (author and retired history professor) to talk about "The Changing Image of American Indians in Film," Director MusEco Media and Education Project and elementary teacher Scott Prinzing  to talk about "American Indian Music: Even More Than Drums and Flutes," or historian and folklorist Nicholas Vrooman to talk about "The Métis in Montana History," among others.

Reservation Ambassadors, a student club at Arlee High School that meets with or Skypes with students in other areas in an effort to break down stereotypes, has a Facebook page on which hey posted a link to this thought-provoking poem, "Sure You Can Ask Me a Personal Question," by Diane Burns. It is one of the texts they've used to "to launch discussion and encourage frank conversations about stereotypes and reservation life." (You can ask them to meet with your class by emailing club co-advisor Anna Baldwin at abaldwin@arleeschools.org.)   

Indian Country Today recently ran this article in anticipation of Thanksgiving: "Beyond the So-Called First Thanksgiving: Five Children's Books That Set the Record Straight."  

"Goodbye Pocahontas: Photos Reveal Today’s True Native Americans" is an article that features the photography of Matika Wilbur, a high school teacher who, "Weary of stereotypical representations of Native Americans, ... is determined to photograph every federally-recognized Native American tribe in the country."

That article reminded me of the work of Crow photographer Adam Sings in Timber, whose images of every day Crow life was featured in the New York Times. Typically, as the Times reporter notes, "America has only two frames through which to view its native culture: ceremony and pageantry or poverty and addiction." But--as Sings in Timber's photos show, "there is so much more...."

I'm reminded by all the sources above how important it is not to relegate American Indians to the past but to emphasize that Indian people and Indian tribes remain an important part of our present.

I'm quite proud of our IEFA lesson plans, but because we are a historical society, most of them deal with ... well, history, and mostly with pre-World War II history. (Two exceptions are Ordinary People Do Extraordinary Things! Connecting Biography to Larger Social Themes Lesson Plan and "Mining Sacred Ground: Environment, Culture, and Economic Development on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation.") So I'm asking you: What are your favorite lesson plans that focus on post-World War II (or better yet contemporary) Indian life and tribal issues? 

Interested in reading more about IEFA? Check out these past blog posts.

How has MHS impacted you and your classroom?

We are looking for stories about how the Montana Historical Society impacts communities across Montana, so I've created a brief survey. If you teach one of our lesson plans, use Montana: Stories of the Land or the footlockers, have implemented an idea you received one of our Professional Development offerings, or have appreciated the community we've tried to build with the Teaching Montana listserv, I hope you'll take a moment to tell us about it through this online survey. Your stories will help bring the statistics we collect to life and will be invaluable when we approach private foundations for funding or are asked to provide information to the Montana legislature.

Thank you!

P.S. Thanksgiving snuck up on me this year because COVID is keeping me at home and our celebration small (like just me and my spouse small.) But, here are past Thanksgiving posts,  with resources and ideas that extend beyond the holiday. (Quick tip: If you are ever looking for ideas linked to a specific holiday or around a specific topic, try the search bar on the right. It works like a charm.)  I'll close by saying that I am very thankful for all of Montana's hard-working educators who are doing their best to engage students even in these difficult times. Thanks for all you do. 

Favorite Resources/Lessons Part 4

Here’s the final installment of teachers' answers to the question: “Describe (in brief) the best Montana history or IEFA lesson/project resource your taught this year--the one you will make time for next year no matter what.”

I Can't Have Bannock But the Beaver Has a Dam by Bernelda Wheeler ISBN: 0-895411-48-3. —Ruth Ferris, Washington School Billings, MT

A unit on Indian Boarding Schools. Using the DVD - Into the West  in conjunction with the textbook and primary sources.  Students were very interested.
                          
Two teachers found significance in powwows. One wrote: “In my school I have 2 high school students that take part in powwows as Traditional and Grass Dancers.  My most successful lessons--as expected--center around their teaching me about their culture.” The other wrote: “I taught a powwow lesson that included the dances and regalia. We learned protocol and courtesies. We ended encouraging students to attend the local powwow.”

I cannot say that there is a best project--we enhance our literature readings with learning more about local and US history. I tell all of my classes that we cannot understand literature until we fully understand the history behind it. We use the following novels in my six English classes to learn more about history: The Big Burn (fires of 1910; the development of the Forest Service); The Jungle (immigration; life in 1910); O Pioneers! (homesteading); Indian Creek Chronicles (Selway Bitterroot wilderness and study of place; finding place in our own lives); This House of Sky (study of place; researching local records and newspaper archives); Winter Wheat (region, school history); Letters from Yellowstone (regional place and history—narratives); Speaking Ill of the Dead (researching and interviewing); Vantha's Whisper & The Greatest Generation (Veterans and War); The Coffin Quilt (boundaries, feuds, history and importance of quilts through time); Grapes of Wrath and To Kill a Mockingbird (Depression-era both at a local and national level). I am happy to share ideas or resources I have used--many of these are already posted on our school's website. —Darlene Beck, Townsend High School

I made a match of the reservations and a map on the smart board and slowly added population and other cool facts for the kids to work with.  I also liked the Thanksgiving resources. [Note: I’m not sure which Thanksgiving resources this teacher is referring to—perhaps http://www.opi.mt.gov/PDF/IndianEd/HotTopics/ModelLesson_1621.pdf]

Favorite Resources/Lesson Plans for Middle School

Last spring, I asked your colleagues: ““Describe (in brief) the best Montana history or IEFA lesson, project, or resource your taught this year--the one you will make time for next year no matter what.”
Here are the answers from middle school teachers.

"I taught a get-to-know you lesson in September using Winter Counts that went well. As a school, three other teachers and I collaborated to bring a group of students to SKC for some lessons created by future educators enrolled in classes there. I hope to do both again next year." Anonymous

“I had the best time with my kids this year handing out a Montana map and having them explore it.  They asked lots of questions and it turned into a quiz to see how many towns I could locate when they asked me the name of them.  There were 3 towns I couldn't do - Olive, and two others down there in SE MT.  This turned into a great game of stump the teacher and I also found out how many kids had connections across the state with historical family information.” Anonymous

“Alzada to Zortman [Mapping Montana: A-Z] was a really useful tool. It was a good way to start the school year and get familiar with our great state!” Tedi Bishop, Dutton/Brady, 6-8

The best Montana history project I taught was the Project Archaeology Shelter unit. It covered so many aspects of history/MT history and was a lot of fun.” Pam Carey, Three Forks

"My favorite MT history lesson is my ‘Famous Montana Person Portrayals.’ The students research and dress up as a famous person in MT history, and present this as if they are actually that person.” Anonymous

“My favorite IEFA lesson/unit was about ‘the true story of the first Thanksgiving.’  I did this unit with the middle school English teacher, and we used the book 1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving.  This was an excellent lesson and the kids were engaged and enjoyed it." Anonymous

“The best Montana history lesson I taught this year was based around Montana’s mining history. Students also were able to visit Butte and make radio commercials for the World Museum of Mining.” Anonymous, 6th grade

“A high school English teacher and I cooperated on teaching a unit about code talkers as a literacy/history lesson for 7th graders. One highlight of the unit was when we invited in a WWII vet who told us about his experiences in the Pacific and was familiar with the Navaho code talkers.” Norma Glock, Columbus Middle School librarian.

After reading chapter 7 of Montana: Stories of the Land, I asked students to create a picture with these instructions: “Choose one tribe for this project. Create a picture expressing how your tribe handled the continuous invasion of the Euro-American. Use traditional style of Indian art. (Art examples in this chapter.)" Anonymous

“I did a GPS/Google Earth tipi ring project recently, in which the students located and marked the tipi rings from various farms in the area and put them onto Google Earth. They had a BLAST!” Brian Petchl, Scobey, 7th grade (Stay tuned for separate post on this that includes Brian’s tips for making this successful.)

P.S. Not specific to teaching Montana history but highly relevant for middle school teachers: I recently read two posts by middle school teacher Shannon Carey about strategies for teaching history that I really liked. The first is about the importance of teaching academic vocabulary. The second is about tools for getting students to practice talking about history using academic language. She teaches English language learners—but I thought her ideas were relevant to all middle school students. What do you think?

IEFA Resources for Your Classroom

A few years ago, we created a story-based tour of our permanent exhibit Neither Empty nor Unknown: Montana at the Time of Lewis and Clark, using Crow and Blackfeet stories. At that time, we also pulled together a lesson plan with pre- and post-tour lessons and discussion questions. And we provided PowerPoints, so that classes too far away to visit us in Helena could still take the tour virtually. The material was fantastic but the organization was confusing. So we've fixed that. 

• Here is a link to the Virtual Tour (along with the post tour lessons.)
• Here is the material to use if you are taking the tour at the museum. 
• And here is the information you'll need to schedule this or any other tour at the Montana Historical Society.

Since I'm featuring Neither Empty Nor Unknown, this seems like a good time to share some other interesting IEFA news and resources that have come across my desk.

Did you know? Montanatribes.org has updated activities and resources, and is now mobile friendly.

Every year, the University of Montana’s School of Journalism publishes Native News, an annual look into issues facing Montana’s tribes. The 2018 edition looks into the topic of self-governance and how the people are working to resolve issues surrounding self-governance. One article visits Rocky Boy High School’s Helping Hands Program, while another article visits the Dakota language program at Fort Peck Community College. 

I really liked this 6-minute video, "A Conversation With Native Americans on Race," which the New York Times editorial department broadcast on Op Docs, its "channel for short opinion documentaries, produced by independent filmmakers."

Native Land is a site trying to map indigenous territories in the U.S. and Canada. It is, as its creator explains, "a work in progress." (He's also eager for feedback.) There are some things I think won't ring true for Montana tribes (for example, the Salish and Kootenai don't have distinct territories on the map.) But it is a useful tool for sparking discussion and worth checking out. Type in the name of your town and see what comes up.

Here are some other intriguing articles I thought some of you might find useful, for your own edification or to use with your high school classes:

• "The discovery of a map made by a Native American is reshaping thinking about the Lewis  Clark expedition," History News Network, April 25, 2018.
• "When, How Did the First Americans Arrive? It’s Complicated, National Geographic, June 9, 2018 (Essential Understanding #3, anyone?)

And finally, as you look forward to Thanksgiving, check out this article from Indian Country Today article, November 23, 2017: "What Really Happened at the First Thanksgiving? The Wampanoag Side of the Tale." 

P.S. Halloween is coming which makes this a good time to remind students of the #cultureNOTcostume movement. See for example this Teen Vogue video. Many other resources exist on the internet. 


P.P.S. Want more ideas for teaching about American Indians? Tune into the National Museum of the American Indian's free webcast, "Transforming Teaching and Learning about American Indians," on

Thursday, November 1, from noon-3:30 p.m. Mountain (2:00 p.m.–5:30 p.m. EDT). Learn more and find a link to view here. 

Favorite Elementary Lessons

I've been sharing teachers' answers to the following prompt: “Describe (in brief) the best Montana history or IEFA lesson or project or resource your taught this year--the one you will make time for next year no matter what.” (Here are high school and middle school teachers' responses.) Below are the answers we received from elementary school teachers. [I've added a few comments and links in brackets--couldn't resist putting my oar in.] 

MonDak Heritage Center Museum Educator Jessica Newman gave a shout out to using "Visual Thinking Strategies in the analysis of art and historical documents." [I love VTS too! We integrated the technique into our Montana's Charlie Russell lessons, the Coming to Montana footlocker, and our BRAND NEW footlocker, "The Original Governor’s Mansion: Home to the Stewart Family in Turbulent Times, 1913–1921"--coming soon.  Intrigued? read more here.] 

 
An anonymous 3-5 grade teacher wrote: “The students choose a tribe in Montana to research. They produced a report, a replica of the flag, and made models to represent food, shelter, economy, and religion traditionally part of that tribe.”

Another anonymous teacher is excited about ArcGIS mapping: “The best resource that I learned about was the ArcGIS and I have set up an account already.  I look forward to using as we study Montana history.  Students will be able to create an interactive timeline and put information about the Montana famous person or explorer that they do research on for their reports.” 

3-5 grade teacher Sarah White of Shelby wrote, “IEFA Lesson - Comparison of maps of 1850's vs 2000's of land territory, the students made maps of both time frames to get a good visual of how the land territories changed (reservations vs non)  The students also did a spotlight research project on a Blackfeet Tribe concept (flag, small pox, Indian days, tipi, cradleboard, language, etc.)  on a big posterboard - they turned out wonderfully!”

Along the same lines, Whitefish Technology teacher Michael Carmichael worked with his third graders to create animations of the shrinking tribal land. I was intrigued so I asked him to share details. He wrote: "Students were given different animation project choices including one about  Montana Reservations. The students’ task was to show how traditional tribal areas changed and shrank with the introduction of reservations. Students needed to select three tribes to animate the boundary changes. This lesson activated prior classroom knowledge, utilized free online animation program that was age appropriate and allowed students multiple ways to create their animated infographic. Students accessed traditional tribal territory maps and modern Reservation maps to use as their background before using the drawing and painting tools to create the visual of the shrinking reservations. Animate is free and easy to use on all platforms via the web. Some of the map resources students utilized are:

• http://www.montanatribes.org/learning_activities/maps.html
• http://www.native-languages.org/montana.htm
• http://www.opi.mt.gov/pdf/IndianEd/Resources/MTIndiansHistoryLocation.pdf

They also used the  student safe search resource “Bing in the Classroom.”(Free for Schools)

Maps were big: Another teacher said her most successful lesson was “Making Land form maps our of salt dough.”

Susan Seastrand, from the Ayers Colony School, Grass Range, MT, K-8, school liked our new Montana’s Charlie Russell packets. “I love the pictures and the lesson. My students really enjoyed learning about Russell and the time period.” Ditto Billings elementary librarian Ruth Ferris of Billings and K-2 Bozeman teacher Jamie Winjum Chapman. Another teacher recommended our footlockers. "I will order the trunks again next year. I especially like the homesteading one." [We have a brand new footlocker of which we are very proud: “The Original Governor’s Mansion: Home to the Stewart Family in Turbulent Times.” Check it out and then be the first to order it.]

An anonymous librarian wrote, "The book that my students loved the best in 4th grade was It Happened in Montana.”

Another teacher takes her kids on a field trip to a buffalo jump after studying the topic. [Place based learning is the best--and we've got several buffalo jumps to choose from, including First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park, near Great Falls (Related IEFA lesson plans are available), Madison Buffalo Jump State Park, near Three Forks (Related IEFA lesson plans are available), and Wahkpa Chu'gn Buffalo Jump, near Havre.]

K-2 Bainville teacher April Wills does book studies using “Shep and B is for Big Sky.” And, she wrote, “I also really enjoy doing a large Montana history project that ends with a technology piece attached. Usually an iMovie however, we collaborate with high school students for research and putting together the final project.”

Another teacher does a very in depth, 2-month persuasive writing unit on Native Boarding Schools with her 3-5 grade class.

Laura Dukart from Wibaux recommends “Mapping Montana: A to Z,” as did another anonymous teacher.

A librarian recommended "Jim Thorpe for IEFA." [I assume she used the OPI Indian Education Division's Model Teaching Unit.]

  

Ashlie Fleming, 3-5 teacher at Edgerton Elementary in Kalispell, wrote: “IEFA Heritage Day: I planned a school wide event with 2 of my teaching partners. Each grade level received a reservation in Montana and we planned lessons for each of the 7 reservations. The students then rotated through all 7 classes."

Another teacher uses holidays: "I teach an IEFA Columbus Day and Thanksgiving Day IEFA lesson to our 4th -6th graders that deals with historical inaccuracies and common misconceptions." [Not sure what she uses, but here are some ideas for Columbus Day and some resources to teach about Thanksgiving from Project Archaeology.]

Fourth-fifth grade teacher at Broadwater School in Helena Jodi Delaney's favorite lessons this year related to American history rather than Montana history (because she teaches Montana history every other year), but her recommendation was still worth sharing: “I asked my students what was their favorite lesson(s) and the overwhelming answer was the historical simulations we did (Early Explorers, Revolutionary War, Trail of Tears, Civil War, etc.)  I really like using the Explorers simulation to get at many of the ideas from that time period without getting into 'hero-fication' of the famous explorers.  I have purchased pre-made simulations from Scholastic, and make my own too.  I highly suggest buying the Scholastic ones as they are very easy to use and have everything to you.  I add more information of my own, but the bare bones version works just fine too.” [What do you think? Should we make these for some Montana history topics?]   

Another teacher enjoyed teaching about Henry Plummer and the Vigilantes/gold rushes. She wrote: "We had a great visit from Ellen Baumler-the kids loved her ghostly visit." [You may be able to get Ellen to come to your classroom too--through Humanities Montana's Speakers in the Schools.]

It's not too late--if you have a great lesson you'd like to tell teachers about, send it along. 

Favorite Elementary Montana History, IEFA or Heritage Education Lessons

Every spring, I survey readers, both to get feedback on how to make Teaching Montana History better, and to gather everyone’s favorite lessons so I can share them with the group. I love learning what has actually worked in the classroom—and being able to share teacher-approved lessons—so, without further ado, here are answers from elementary teachers to the question “Describe (in brief) the best Montana history or IEFA lesson or project or resource your taught this year--the one you will make time for next year no matter what.” Stay tuned for future posts featuring the answers from middle and high school teachers.

Mapping Montana, A-Z. Jennifer Hall, who teaches fourth grade at Eureka Elementary wrote: “I love the Mapping Montana:  A-Z lesson.  My students really get into the project and compete to find the most miles as they travel from city to city.  It's a great way for them to learn map-reading and about our great state as well.” (Although you can teach this unit using the online resources, and maps ordered from Travel Montana, you might also be interested in ordering the Montana Place Names mini-footlocker, which includes 10 copies of Montana Place Names book.

Archaeology/Montana tribal history. Jan Clouse, who teaches fifth grade at Target Range School, wrote: “Students decorated clay pots with information about a MT tribe. We used the 5 themes of geography to decorate the pots. Then I broke the pots into large pieces and buried them. The students excavated another groups' pot and deciphered what they could learn about that culture from the potshards.” (For other archaeology lesson plans, see the footlocker Stones and Bones or the Montana Ancient Teachings curriculum. I really like the Montana Tribal History Timelines Julie Cajune created as a starting point for studying tribal histories.)

Digitized Historic Newspapers. Sarah Schmill, who teaches 5-8 social studies at Potomac School, wrote: “At Thanksgiving time, a lesson idea came across using old newspapers to look at then and now.  I used it with 5-8th students; they enjoyed the initial lesson idea, then really got into looking at the old papers/ads.”

Marla Unruh, librarian at Broadwater Elementary School in Helena, also had her students research in historic newspapers: “I used the online edition of the Helena newspaper for Dec. 20, 1889, to compare with a current edition.  Students were impressed with the advertisements of yesteryear and enjoyed comparing them with today.  We looked up price equivalents, names of clothing items then, etc. We talked about the need for woolen underwear in homes with no central heating.” (For more on Chronicling America, a joint project of the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities, see earlier posts here and here.)

Missoula Bicycle Corps. Kathy Gaul, who teaches fourth Grade at Frenchtown, wrote: “I taught a small unit on the bicycle corps out of Fort Missoula. This was taught in connection with using the Cavalry footlocker (Cavalry and Infantry: The U.S. Military on the Montana Frontier). I used a couple of books, one was called Iron Riders. I also used a DVD on the bicycle corps that I got at Fort Missoula. Next year, I am also going to include a guest speaker from Fort Missoula.”

Buffalo and County maps. Bonnie Boggs, fifth grade teacher at Garfield Elementary in Miles City, wrote: “IEFA.  Study of the buffalo and making buffalo robes for story writing: (paper sacks)  Also, making a giant Montana map of the counties: cutting them all out and being able to put it all back together again like a puzzle.  Filled an entire bulletin board.  Kids learned locations very quickly.” (A great source of information on hide drawings is "The Art of Storytelling: Plains Indian Perspectives". A copy was donated to every Montana public school library, or you can find the curriculum online.)

Comic Life Presentations on Montana Reservations. Linda Lynch, librarian at Central-Lincoln Elementary in Helena, wrote: “Reservations of Montana was taught as a collaborative project with the fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Susan Robinson.  Students had to find the original areas used by the tribes, their current reservation area, their type of government, the reservation population, what industry was available on each reservation, what type of college was available, and what type of natural resources were unique to each reservation.   They created a ComicLife presentation to share with others.  Each ComicLife had to include primary source pictures.”

Birchbark House. Traci Manseau, at Deerfield School, wrote: “I taught the Birchbark House this year and found it wonderful and full of lots of writing.” (See OPI's Model Teaching Unit for grades 5-8.)

Montana Reservations/Montana Indian Reading Series. Shana Kimball, who teaches third grade at Kessler Elementary School in Helena, wrote: “We use the Montana maps that I received at a workshop a couple of years ago. We identify all of the reservations in Montana as well as cover lots of other great map skills. There are many good read alouds and legends that we share in 3rd grade tied to the tribes in Montana.”

Cindy Glavin, Media Specialist at Big Timber Grade School, also likes the Indian Reading Series. She wrote:” I use the Northwest Reading Series a lot with my [fourth grade] students as well as a number of the books that OPI have sent our library. I use these story to teach about oral story telling with my students.  We discuss the importance of oral story telling in Native American culture. I then have student create their own ‘how something came to be’ stories and share them with their classmates around a fire pit.” (OPI donated copies of Northwest Indian Reading Series books to Montana public elementary school libraries. We also lend out classroom sets as part of the Montana Indian Stories Lit Kit footlocker, via our traveling footlocker program.)

Other educators contributed anonymously:

Sharing oral tradition and historic photographs: “Since most of my students are Northern Cheyenne, I teach a lot of history and culture, much of it from oral tradition. With the younger students, I often have related coloring pages for them to work on while I speak, or I type a story in simple words and have them read it out loud--often having the boys read one paragraph then the girls read the next one, so they can all practice reading aloud.  I also give out copies of old photographs taken on the reservation, and we discuss where and when they were taken, then they can take them home and share them with their parents--many of the photos depict their grandparents and great-grandparents.”

Historical photos and historical fiction:  “A lesson in Montana history about the gold mining in Montana.  Linking the gold rush in Alaska with the Eric Hegg photos and the book by Will Hobbs Jason's Gold and how Montana's gold discovery led to the statehood of Montana, mining, and the European and Asian influences we have here in Montana.” (Last year another teacher also told me about her project having students read the fictional Jason’s Gold, about the Klondike Gold Rush. After her students finished the novel, they used the database of Hegg photos from the University of Washington library to search for an illustration. They then wrote a photo caption and found a quote in the book that the photo illustrated. I loved this idea and worked with a teacher to adapt it for her high school students as they read Fools Crow. I bet it could work well with many other books--both historical fiction and autobiography/memoir.)

Footlockers: “Montana Historical Society footlockers to use in the library.”

Still looking for ideas for teaching Montana history at to elementary students? You might find this post, Teaching Montana History in Fourth Grade, useful.

Didn’t have time to do the survey but have a great lesson to share—one you love, regardless of who created it? Email it to me at mkohl@.mt.gov and I’ll let folks know.

Stay tuned for Favorite Middle and High School lessons in the next weeks.