IEFA Link Roundup

 I spent the summer reading interesting stories and learning about interesting resources relating to American Indians and thinking "I bet teachers could use this!" So I threw them all into a file, where I recently found them again. I'm sharing them below, along with links that have come to my attention more recently. 

• Educator extraordinaire and Apsáalooke (Crow) tribal member Shane Doyle created a lesson plan for grades 8-12 to go with the Native American Hall of Fame, which  honors "Native American Achievements in Contemporary Society, 1860s-Present Day." Looking through the website, I was interested to see inductees I already knew about (for example, Jim Thorpe, Elouise Cobell, Wilma Mankiller, and N. Scott Momaday) and many I had didn't. 

• Check out this 30 minute documentary: Camas: Sacred Food of the Nez Perce (Nimiipuu).

• Teacher Leader in Montana History Savannah Buckner pointed me to this great video of an Apsáalooke creation story, narrated in Apsáalooke and subtitled in English and Spanish. Teacher Leaders have great resources and are willing to share. Find out more here.

• The Montana Memory Project worked with teachers to create online exhibits of primary sources, which they are posting on their website.  Among them is The Decline of the Bison Population and the Role of the Plains Chippewa in the 19th Century. Written by Craig Clairmont, it looks at the near extermination of the bison in the West, and the role played by the Métis people."

• Do you know about the Native Filmmaker Initiative Film Club? The club offers three films "curated to engage Montana youth" on the topic of self-discovery through sports. "Three modern-day films highlight the strength of Native and Indigenous mover-and-shakers working to push the boundaries of their sport for positive growth and robust change, through skateboarding (JOE BUFFALO), mountain biking (THE TRAILS BEFORE US) and fishing (CONNECTION)." Running October through December, the film club provides discussion guides and the opportunity to participate in a live Q and A. Find more information about the Film Club and how to register your classroom for one or more films here. 

• Montana OPI is offering an IEFA Background Knowledge Building Webinar Series on Indian Boarding Schools. The series will provide an in-depth exploration of the Boarding School era, and its history and implications. Each session is 90 minutes long and educators can earn two renewal units for each webinar they attend - a total of twelve renewal units should the educators participate in all six sessions. The sessions will take place on Wednesdays from 4:00-5:30, September through November. A Participant Resource folder will be created and accessible to participants once the series begins. The series sessions will each be recorded and made available on YouTube after the series begins. Learn more and register for one or more sessions here.

P.S. Join us October 10 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. for Tech and Social Studies and come away with new ideas of ways to integrate tech into your social studies classroom. Register here to receive the Zoom link. Attendees can earn one OPI Renewal Unit.