UNIT 1: ELEMENTARY – WASHINGTON STATE HISTORY Level 2

UNIT 1: ELEMENTARY – WASHINGTON STATE HISTORY

EXPLORING THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST PRIOR TO STATEHOOD:

TRIBAL HOMELANDS

Level 2

Instructional Support Materials

On Sovereignty Article

On Sovereignty Discussion Questions

On Sovereignty Vocabulary Activity Sheet

On Sovereignty Vocabulary Key

Map: NW Tribal Regions before 1855

Map: NW Indian Reservations 1890

Map: WA Tribal Reservations

Map: Ceded Areas of Indian Land

Map: Political map of Washington State

Map: 13 Colonies

Map: Early Indian Tribes—Eastern US

Map: Washington State Outline Map with Political Boundaries

Map: Washington State Outline Map without Political Boundaries

Video: Washington Ceded Lands Quicktime

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Learning Goals

In addition to the goals of Level 1, it is important that each student:

 understands the responsibility that local tribes have with the earth and the

Creator; and

 understands that Northwest tribes view the salmon as sacred and paramount to

cultural survival

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Time: 2 class periods

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Teacher Preparation

 Read the article On Sovereignty.

 Pre-arrange students in pairs or groups of three.

 Access to GOIA website: http://www.goia.wa.gov Locate the tribe(s) in your

geographic area. Use the tribal directory to find out the geographic size of

the reservation (if applicable) and the population of the tribe(s). The tribal

directory provides you with most tribes’ websites to obtain this information,

as well as a brief history of the tribe. You might reproduce this information in

a handout for your students or as a poster in your classroom.

 Photocopy for each student or student group:

o On Sovereignty Vocabulary Activity Sheet

o Washington state outline map with political boundaries

o Washington state outline grid map without political boundaries

 Teacher will create a dissolving transition powerpoint or transparencies of the

13 colonies with political boundaries and Early Indian Tribes – Eastern map.

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Learning Activities

Day 1 (about 30 minutes):

1. After students have become familiar with the political boundaries of the 13

US Colonies, project either the powerpoint and/or the 13 Colonies Map.

2. Ask students: “How many nations are on the Northeastern coast of North

America?”

3. After students have guessed, answer: “59.” (13 US Colonies plus the 37 Indian

nations that pre-date non-Indian colonization.)

4. Advance the powerpoint or add the map of tribal regions in the Northeast.

5. Say: “Before anyone else step foot on this continent, there were more than

500 independent nations residing in what we call North America. In the

Northeast alone, there were more than 37 nations who had occupied those

lands since the beginning of time, according to tribal belief. Point out that

most civilizations rely on the religious belief that their god not only created

the land on which they live, but also created them and placed them on the

land. Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and other faiths of major cultures

believe the same way. Indian nations are no different in their beliefs

6. Explain that students are going to learn about the Indian nations that were

established long before the British formed the US Colonies. It also makes

sense, then, that they learn about the Indian nations within their own

communities who, like the tribes of the Northeast, have been here since the

beginning of time.

7. Distribute the On Sovereignty Vocabulary sheets and explain that in order to

study these nations alongside the US Colonies, they will need to know a few

terms.

8. Divide students into pairs or groups of three.

9. Provide time for them to discuss their own definitions of the vocabulary

terms.

10. As a class, share various definitions, then reveal the definition provided in the

vocabulary key. Have students write them down.

11. Time remaining can be spent on the bonus activity (drawing a picture

representing one of the terms and writing one or two sentences describing

how it represents the term).

Day 2 (about 45 minutes):

1. Recall the definitions learned and the map activities of the previous lesson.

2. Announce that you will talk about tribal sovereignty and identify

independent, sovereign Indian nations in both the Northeast and in

Washington State.

3. Review the Tribal Territories and Colonial American” maps if needed. Remind

students to view each of the tribal regions as independent countries, just like

France, Spain, or England.

4. Note: The following activities can be completed by using a computer lab instead

of photocopies of the maps. Have students load Washington tribal territories,

Northeastern tribal territories maps onto their desktops. Either insert the

images onto a Word Document or other drawing program (like Adobe

Illustrator). Proceed with the activities according to the functions of the

drawing program.

5. Dividing into groups: If you are short on time, divide your class in half; one

half studies Washington tribal territories, the other studies Northeastern

tribal territories.

6. Distribute the following maps to either individual students or groups from

Day 1.

a. Northwest Tribal Regions before 1855

b. Outline maps of Washington State (with labels, locations, and

boundaries)

7. Have students study the tribal regions maps. Note: These maps are of

language groups, and are also representative of the tribal groups in the region.

8. Ask them, “Why are the tribal boundaries most likely divided like they are?”

Answers will focus on the naturally occurring boundaries in the region: rivers,

mountains, bluffs, etc.

9. Have students locate their city or town on the Washington map.

10. Have them approximate and plot this location on the tribal regions map.

11. Note: It is important to have them copy their city’s/ies’ locations onto the tribal

region map. This way, students can see plainly which groups were first to live in

the given area(s).

12. Ask students to share which tribe(s) are closest to their area(s).

13. Then ask, “Where are they now?”

14. Project the Northwest Indian Reservations 1890 map or the WA Tribal

Reservations map. Have students locate the tribe(s) and in the tribal regions

map or the Washington State map, copy the approximate size and location of

the current reservation(s).

15. Ask, “Why do you think this happened? Where did they all go?” Answers

might range from illness, wars, or students might know that Indian tribes

relinquished much of their land to non-Indian settlement. State that many

tribes had to either combine with others, move altogether, and/or give up

much of their tribal land so that Indians and non-Indians could live beside

each other in peace. These formal agreements are called treaties. Treaties

affected tribes’ abilities to make their own rules and live how they wanted.

This ability is tribal sovereignty.

16. Ask, “How did this loss affect their ability to govern themselves? Their tribal

sovereignty?

17. Note: Some tribal areas might have disappeared altogether. Because of tribes’

political history with the US Government, some tribes have lost their territories

altogether. This would be a time to encourage your students to investigate

what happened to the tribe(s).

18. You can either read the information you gathered from GOIA and/or the local

tribe’s websites or provide for each group a handout to read aloud.

19. Repeat the process for the Northeastern tribal territories with the

corresponding maps.

20. Review: have students say the tribe(s) near them.

Homework or Extra Credit

Visit a local tribal hatchery: Washington State Tribal Directory

(http://www.goia.wa.gov/Tribal-Directory/TribalDirectory.pdf)

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