to  American Indian Issues: An Introductory and Curricular Guide for Educators. The contents were made possible by the American Indian Civics Project (AICP), a project initially funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Native American Higher Education Initiative.  The Project operated from the 1997-98 through the 2000-01 academic years.   Since the end of the Project, maintenance and updating has been sporadic.  However, in early 2006, Dr. Olson-Raymer, the principal author of the website, began a several-month-long process of updating information and links - a process that should be completed by June 2006.  (See below, "Web Site Authorship and Maintenance.")

The primary goal of the AICP was to provide educators with the tools to educate secondary students - Indian and non-native alike - about the historical and contemporary political, economic, and social characteristics of sovereign tribal nations throughout the United States.  The technological expertise, design, and ongoing maintainence of this web site was made possible by the Center for Indian Community Development (CICD) at Humboldt State University (HSU) - a four-year institution in the California State University (CSU) system located in Northern California.

Goals: The primary goals of this web site are threefold:

1. To create an on-going educational collaboration between the university community and the secondary education communities - a collaboration that engages both communities in an academic dialogue about materials and lesson plans related to American Indians.

2. To create a series of educational resources which secondary educators and students may use when studying the historical and contemporary relationship between the US government and American Indians.

3. To collaboratively design and create secondary lesson plans related to the above historical and contemporary relationship - lesson plans which can be integrated into existing social science courses and which are compatible with requirements in the California History-Social Studies Standards.

1. Historical Overview.This narrative discusses the relationship between the many Indian nations on the North American continent, first with the British colonial governments and later, with the United States government.  This section is specifically designed to supplement the lesson plans in this web site and, as such, will be helpful to teachers as well as students who wish to learn more about the topic.

2. Chronology.  This chronology provides an annotated listing of the major federal laws and activities, US Supreme Court decision, key treaties, and military battles between American Indians and the evolving American government from 1787 to the present.  Additionally, it includes major Indian efforts to retain their ancestral land, as well as maintain and regain tribal sovereignty.

3.Annotated Resources. This section includes two types of annotated resources:

Videos/Movie Resources
Bibliographical Resources

4. Unit Lesson Plans.  This section contains two comprehensive and standards-based lesson plans collaboratively designed by secondary and post-secondary educators in Humboldt County.

Sovereignty or Dependency?  American Indian Nations and their Relationship with the Federal Government, 1776 - 1900 is designed for 8th graders in conjunction with - but not limited to - California'sEighth GradeHistory-Social Science Standards. This 10-day lesson plan was tested in Spring 1999 in the eighth grade class of Anne Hartline, a teacher at McKinleyville Middle School.  Based upon the strengths and weaknesses  as identified by the participating educators and students, this lesson plan was revised as it currently appears on-line.

"Red Power" -  The Civil Rights Movement and the American Indianis designed for 11th graders in conjunction with - but not limited to - California'sEleventh Grade History-Social Science Standards. The first week of this two-week lesson plan was tested in the eleventh grade class of Jack Bareilles at Arcata High School and taught by his student teacher, Sophie Huntington.  Based upon participating educator and student input, this lesson plan was revised as it currently appears on-line.

5. Mini-Lessons.  This section includes five mini-lessons on special topics that have historical and contemporary significance within Indian Country.  Each lesson is presented in two formats - in a narrative form for student reading either online or in hard copy; and a teacher's guide that provides teachers with a teachable theme, discussion questions, an evaluation tool, and a listing of all the 8th, 11th, and 12th grade standards addressed in the lesson.  By clicking on the topics below, you will access the narrative form for each paper.

Indian Mascots, Symbols, and Names in Sports: A Brief History of the Controversy and the Struggle for Change. This study examines the controversy surrounding the use of Indian mascots in American sports, focusing especially on the origins of the controversy which run deep throughout the American past, present, and future.

Indian Boarding Schools: Tools of Forced Assimilation, 1870-1934.  This study examines the goals, activities, and consequences of the Indian boarding schools that were created in the late nineteenth century and persisted throughout much of the twentieth.

Indians in Northern California: A Case Study of Federal, State, and Vigilante Intervention, 1850-1860.  This study examines the federal, state, and civilian interventions into the lives of Indian Peoples of Northern California between 1850-1860, as well as the genocidal consequences of such actions.

American Indian Tribal Gaming: A Brief History of its Evolution and the Political Debate.  This paper examines the recent popularity of tribal gaming by focusing on the political debate between tribal governments, state governments, and the federal government.  A case study of gaming in California provides an excellent analysis of the political issues surrounding tribal gaming in the 21st Century.

American Indians in the 21st Century:  Survivors within a Genocidal Context.  This paper examines the contemporary status of American Indians in the United States by focusing on the theme that despite 400 years of genocidal policies, Indian People at the turn of the 21st Century had survived and retained many of their cultural, spiritual, economic, and political traditions.

• Anne Hartline, eighth grade teacher at McKinleyville Middle School, who critiqued, revised, and actually used the 8th grade lesson plan - Sovereignty or Dependency?   American Indian Nations and their Relationship with the Federal Government, 1776 - 1900 -in Spring, 1999. Additionally, Ms. Hartline designed many assignment materials and the final assessment for the lesson plan.
• Sophie Huntington, a 1999 graduate of HSU with a B.A. in History, a recipient of the secondary teaching credential in social science from HSU's Department of Education in 2000, and currently a curriculum consultant for the Southeast Asian Studies Program at Cornell University.   Ms. Huntington and Dr. Olson-Raymer  designed the eleventh grade lesson plan - "Red Power" -  The Civil Rights Movement and the American Indian - and Ms. Huntington taught the first week of the lesson at Arcata High School in Spring 2000.
• David Riesenfeld, a 2000 graduate from HSU with a B.A. in history, recipient of secondary teaching credential in social science from HSU's Department of Education in 2001, arecipient of a Master's Degree in Education from HSU in 2003, and currently a high school teacher in Queens, New York.  Mr. Riesenfeld researched and wrote initial drafts of the Special Issue paper on Indian Macots and Stereotypes..

• If you wish to duplicate a small file, you can simply click on print.
• For a complete copy of a larger document - such as the lesson plans -  or any of the appendices to the lesson plans, you will need to visit the PDF Archives.