Primary Source Activity EXAMPLE

(DUE ONE WEEK BEFORE YOUR OBSERVATION, email to )

Author: / Grade Level: / 5th Grade
School: / Lesson Duration: / 80 minutes
SOL (4th) or Major Concept (5th): / 5th Grade MC II. 16-25. Middle West Region

1. Activity Title: Causes and Conflicts between Native American Tribes of the Middle West, the U.S. Government, and White Settlers.

2.Brief Overview of the Lesson (Description)

Native American tribes of the Middle West and the U.S. government and white settlers (1850-1890). Students will read transcripts of speeches made by Native American leaders, eyewitness accounts of conflicts, and U.S. government documents. Images and captions of the pictures will also be available for student use. In future lessons comparisons will be made between the treatment of Native Americans and African Americans of the same time period. These comparisons will reflect recent class activities and discussions about the civil rights movement and literature that has been read with the class.

3. Historical Background

The Lakota (Sioux) Indians moved from Illinois to Minnesota and finally to the Dakotas following the buffalo. Their migration was also a result of the growing number of immigrants moving into the Middle West states, crowding the Sioux out. The U.S. government was granting land to the new settlers. This same land was needed by the Sioux to continue their lifestyle of hunting and gathering. Conflicts between the Sioux and other tribes against the settlers became common. Military and other government officials tried to prevent the conflicts by issuing a series of treaties and by providing reservations for the Native American communities. Settlers wanted to turn Indian hunting areas into farms. The buffalo herds were purposefully thinned almost to extinction by the military and others. The Native Americans were forced into smaller and smaller areas. The white man tried to civilize the natives. The Sioux saw their culture in danger and fought to keep it alive. The Sioux were finally relocated to the Black Hills of South Dakota.

When gold was discovered in the Black Hills a new reason for conflict came about. The Sioux were happy with the reservation in South Dakota but the government realized the value of the property and wanted it back. This resulted in the Battle of Little Bighorn also known as “Custer’s Last Stand.” Despite the fact that the Indians were victorious, the fighting continued for years, ending with the Massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890. Although many promises were made by the U.S. government to provide for the Native Americans, the Indians felt that most of the promises were broken.

Some of the sources students will access will be government documents and others are accounts as given by Native Americans. It will be important for the students to understandsourcing information, including:

  • who wrote the account or document
  • the author’s purpose
  • when it was written
  • the accuracy of the account

4. Essential Question/Objective

  1. Essential Question: What other historical events are you reminded of as you learn about the conflicts between Native Americans and white settlers or the U.S. Government? (This should be a question that encourages historical inquiry.)
  2. Objective: Students will begin to see similarities as well as differences between African American and Native American struggles. (This can be tied in with skills, thinking, and the learning target.)

5.Primary Sources and Materials

  1. Primary Sources:

Source #1: These are transcripts of speeches made at the end of the Civil War by three Sioux leaders to a Special Joint Committee on the Condition of the Indian Tribes,1865.

"Our Hearts Fell to the Ground: Plains Indian Views of How the West Was Lost."Ed. Colin

Gordon CallowayBedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1996. 97-101. Web. 12 Jul. 2012.

Source #2: This is an account of the Battle of Little Bighorn as told to a reporter from the New York Herald, by George Herendon, a scout for the Seventh Cavalry.

"The Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1876."EyeWitnesstoHistory.com. N.p., 07/12/12. Web.

12 Jul 2012.

Source #3: Images with captions depicting Native Americans at war, migrating, and on the Mississippi River.

"Lincoln/Net: Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project."A.Lincoln Images.

Northern Illinois University Libraries, n.d. Web. 12 Jul 2012. American Relations

Source # 4: The Battle of Little Bighorn An Eyewitness Account by the Lakota Chief Red Horse recorded at the Cheyenne River Reservation, 1881.

"The Battle of Little Bighorn An Eyewitness Account by the Lakota Chief Red Horse

recorded in pictographs and text at the Cheyenne River Reservation, 1881." New Perspectives on THE WEST (PBS). THE WEST FILM PROJECT and WETA, 2001. Web. 12 Jul 2012.

Source #5: Transcript of Treaty of Fort Laramie of 1868.

"Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868)."100 Milestone Documents. National Archives, n.d. Web.

12 Jul 2012.

  1. Materials:

*copies of primary source documents in folders (Sources #1-2 and #4-5)

*highlighters

*copies of images (Source #3)

*Written Document Analysis worksheet

6.Primary Source Analysis

  • Source #1: "Our Hearts Fell to the Ground: Plains Indian Views of How the West Was Lost."

These are transcripts of speeches made at the end of the Civil War by three Sioux leaders to a Special Joint Committee on the Condition of the Indian Tribes,1865. Strike the Ree, one of the Sioux leaders, spoke of broken promises and brutally cruel treatment by federal agents. Another leader, Medicine Cow, tells of agreements that were made but never materialized. He told of people in his tribe who froze or starved to death. Medicine Cow blamed many of the problems on the federal agents and accused them of withholding what was due to the Indians. Finally, Chief Passing Hail told of agents taking what was intended for the tribe and keeping it for themselves.Close Reading: What claims does the author make? What evidence is there to support the claims? How is this document supposed to make me feel? What information does the author omit?

  • Source #2: "The Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1876."

This is an account of the Battle of Little Bighorn as told to a reporter from the New York Herald, by George Herendon, a scout for the Seventh Cavalry. George Herendon was a civilian under contract with the army with Major Reno’s command. There is little mention of Custer in the account but much is said about the bravery of Captain Benteen. The fighting is described with some detail but the final outcome of the battle is not stated.

Contextualizing:What else was going on at the time this was written?

Corroborating: What do other pieces of evidence say? Where else could I look to find out about this?

Close Reading: What claims does the author make?

  • Source #3: "Lincoln/Net: Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project."

Images with captions depicting Native Americans at war, migrating and on the Mississippi River. Three different images are used. Two of the images are by Henry Lewis and were done in 1858. One image, Frontier Warfare, reflects the struggle for control of the West between the Indians and the white settlers. Native Americans on the Mississippi shows a much more serene depiction of the Indians, but the caption indicates their hostility toward the settlers. The third image, Indians Migrating, tells of the constant moves west to avoid the crowding of the white settlers.

Close Reading: What do you see in the pictures and captions? How do these images make you feel?

Sourcing: What is the author’s point of view?

Contextualizing: What was it like to be alive at this time? What things were different back then? What things were the same?

Corroborating: What do you know about this topic based on the images and text?

Continue with analysis of Sources #4 and #5

7.Procedures

a.Introduction/Hook: The three images will be displayed and passed around. The text for each image will be read aloud. Students will discuss the following questions:

What do you see in the pictures and captions? How do these images make you feel? (close reading)

What is the author’s point of view? (sourcing)

What was it like to be alive at this time? What things were different back then? What things were the same? (contextualizing)

What do you know about this topic based on the images and text? (corroborating)

b. Learning Experiences/Sequence:

  1. Teacher will provide some background knowledge of the Lakota (Sioux) and their conflicts with the U.S.Government.
  2. Students will be organized in heterogeneous groups of 3 or 4 that balance between academic levels, as well as special education and ELL students.
  3. Each group will have a folder with multiple copies of a document.
  4. One group will have the speeches of the 3 Sioux leaders.
  5. Another group will have the army scout’s eyewitness account of the Battle of Little Bighorn.
  6. The third group will have copies of the account of the Battle of Little Bighorn as told by the Lakota Chief Red Horse.
  7. The fourth group will have partial copies of the Treaty of Fort Laramie from both 1851 and 1868.
  8. Each folder will also have a list of questions to be answered and to help guide their reading (see questions in primary source analysis section).
  9. Once the groups have answered the questions, each group will present a summary of what it discussed and a conclusion.

c. Differentiation Considerations: see b.2. above

d. Assessment: Students will assume the identity of a Sioux (warrior, woman, or child), a white settler, a government official, or a soldier. They will write a persuasive letter to any other involved character suggesting compromises that would have resolved the issues of the conflicts. This is a formative assessment that will be graded with the following rubric.

Assessment Rubric

4 /
  • At least 4 references to events or problems are included
  • At least 3 logical suggestions for compromise are included
  • Letter form is correct including indented body, greeting and closing punctuation.

3 /
  • At least 3 references to events or problems are included.
  • At least 2 logical suggestions for compromise are included
  • Letter form is correct with greeting and closing punctuation

2 /
  • At least 2 references to events or problems are included
  • At least 1 logical suggestion for compromise is included
  • Letter form is correct with greeting or closing punctuation

1 /
  • One reference to events or problems in included

8.Interdisciplinary Connection (Cross Curricular Considerations)

Connection with Language Arts/English 5.5:

Student will read and demonstrate comprehension of narratives and non-fiction text.

a)Explain the author’s purpose

b)Draw conclusions and make inferences about the text

c)Construct a Venn diagram to compare and contrast lives of African Americans of the Southeast to the lives of Native Americans in the Mid West from 1850-1890.

Connection with Art:

  • Standard 5.6: The student will develop ideas for works of art by brainstorming,

conducting research, and making preliminary sketches.

  • Standard 5.7: The student will collaborate with others to produce a work of art that characterizes a historical time period.
  • Standard 5.8: The student will defend a position regarding a historical or contemporary issue through the production of a work of art

a)Draw your own interpretation of Native American life during the period from 1850-1890 based on the information found in the documents, images and personal narratives.

9. Approximate date you will teach this lesson.