November Commemorations

I think every day should be Veteran's Day and Mother's Day, and every month should be Native American Heritage Month, or Women's History Month, or Black History Month. That's the excuse I use when I let a special commemoration slip by--which is often. But Tom Rea at WyoHistory.org is more on top of it. (I bet if he's married he never forgets his wedding anniversary! Unlike me.) 

Native American Heritage Month

Tom wrote a good post for Native American Heritage Month (November) highlighting the Indigenous People in Wyoming and the West, created by the Wyoming State Historical Society after its legislature passed its version of IEFA in 2017. Tom explains:  

With the help of scholars, tribal elders and educators on the Wind River Reservation we began adding to our content about American Indians, and educators on the reservation helped us develop classroom toolkits of Wyoming history. 

The articles on tribal history—currently there are 22 of them—can be viewed by clicking on the “Indigenous People in Wyoming and the West” tab at the top of every page. The toolkits can be viewed by clicking on the “Education” tab. There you will find links to lesson plans for students and teachers—digital toolkits of Wyoming History, we call them. 

State lines are, relatively speaking, recent political conventions imposed on an ancient landscape. We don't think of the Western Shoshones and the Nez Perce as Montana tribes because they don't have reservations here, but historically they hunted and harvested and traded in Montana (as well as Idaho). And of course the Crows, Cheyennes, and Lakotas all have deep connection to Wyoming. 

All this to say: Check out some of the resources on Indigenous People in Wyoming and the West to find lesson plans and learn about topics ranging from The Medicine Wheel/Medicine Mountain National Historic Landmark to Father DeSmet's map and the 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty. 

Veteran's Day

And while we are commemorating special days, I wanted to point out a lesson that is not only my all-time Veteran's Day related lesson but one of my favorite lessons of all time: Reader’s Theater: Letters Home from Montanans at War. I've written at length about Letters Home before, so I'll just say, if you teach English, history, or theater to grades 8-12, you should do yourself a favor and make time for this lesson, which asks students to read, interpret, and perform letters written by soldiers who served in conflicts from the Civil War to Operation Iraqi Freedom.

P.S. Don't forget our November 10 PD from 4:00-5:00 p.m.: Hooks! Attend to learn and share strategies for hooking students' interest and to earn one OPI Renewal Unit. 

Teaching Montana History is written by Martha Kohl, Outreach and Interpretation Historian at the Montana Historical Society.