Title: Past to Present
Duration: 40 minutes
Objectives: Students will be able to discuss how the Quinnipiac and other indigenous nations continue to live and develop on this land.
Vocabulary: Sovereignty, stolen, assimilation, allotment
Materials: Flipbook, Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard, We Are Still Here!: Native American Truths Everyone Should Know by Traci Sorell, paper chain strips, stapler, writing utensil.
Anticipatory Set: The teacher will ask the students to share what they know about Native American peoples today. The teacher will write a short list of student answers on the board while actively questioning answers that may hint towards primitive times. The class will then follow along as the teacher reads We Are Still Here!: Native American Truths Everyone Should Know by Traci Sorell. After the story reading, the teacher will ask the students to think about what they observed in the story illustrations as well as what the text stated. Then, as a whole class, revisit the list on the board, and ask the students to think about which answers are true to Native Americans today. Cross out any historically incorrect stereotypes, and together replace them with story examples that share current understandings of Native American peoples. Inform students that there is a lot about Native American History that has gone untold which is why people may think of stereotypes without understanding Native American identity as it continues to thrive today.
Direct Instruction: The students will join in a large circle and think about a time when they were treated unfairly, left out, or forgotten and how it made them feel. The students will write one example on a strip of paper relating to how they have personally felt in one color. If students choose to write an example about how Native Americans might have felt, the teacher will use a different color strip of paper. This distinction is very important for students to understand. While students may have an understanding of being mistreated, their feelings should not be mistaken for genocide. The teacher can explain that this is a very extreme form of mistreatment and that we can sympathize with those experiences. The teacher may use this time to review the meaning of the word sympathize. The teacher will then form two separate connecting paper strip linked chains by their two distinct colors to represent feelings that all people share.
Please reference the following map link for additional information about the tribal nations in Connecticut. The following link shows five tribes that are recognized by the state of Connecticut, and the Quinnipiac Tribe. Students can hover over the orange tag on the map to view each tribe and click links for additional information about them. This is a great opportunity for students to learn about and recognize the tribal nations as the true and original people from this land. A tablet and internet access will be required for access:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=19me-YsmqpUOEGUnSHNo0MQ6nt2-CcQk&usp=sharing
Looking Ahead- Inform the students that in the next lesson we will be sharing customs and traditions. The teacher will read Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard to encourage students to begin thinking about their own customs and traditions. This will also provide an additional example about how Native American Tribes, like the Quinnipiac, are here as modern peoples, too.
Images and Citations:
Maillard, K. N., & Martinez-Neal, J. (2019). Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story. Roaring Brook Press.
Sorell, T., & Lessac Frané. (2022). We are still here!: Native American Truths Everyone Should Know. Charlesbridge.