Contemporary American Indian History

Classroom Activities

First Activity: Visual Representation of American Indians: Analysis of Non-Print Text Using the OPTIC Method

This activity is designed to introduce students to photographic representations of American Indians by photographers from different time periods.  This is an introductory activity to Custer Died for Your Sins.  It will help students see the differences in representation over time, with Edward S. Curtis’s “vanishing Indian” of the 1880’s juxtaposed with Horace Poolaw’s dynamic photos of his Kiowa community.  It also gives them the opportunity to discuss stereotypes in photographic representation, and allows them to draw connections between the photographs and Vine Deloria’s ideas about American Indian stereotypes in Custer Died for Your Sins.  Finally, giving students practice with formal analysis of photographs allows them to develop their visual literacy through practicing a process for “reading” and interpreting a non-print text, an essential skill for the AP Language and Composition exam.

Process

Begin by showing clips from the film “Reel Injun” to generate discussion of representation of American Indians in television and film.  Project Horace Poolaw’s photograph “Jerry Poolaw, on leave from duty in the Navy” (1944) onto the Smartboard.  Give students a graphic organizer to take notes on the elements of OPTIC as the process is modeled using the Poolaw photograph:  Observation: Who is the speaker and what is the topic?  Summarize the action. Parts of the picture: Describe the color, lighting and movement in the photograph.  How is it framed?  Title: How does the title inform your understanding of the context of the photograph?  Interrelationships: How do the elements relate to each other in the picture?  How could this be connected to the speaker’s purpose or message?  Conclusion: What argument is the photographer making?

Next, give each group of 3-4 students a portrait by Edward S. Curtis and a different Poolaw photograph (each group will have different photographs), two small whiteboards and 3-4 markers.  Have them go through the OPTIC protocol as a group for each photograph, noting their observations for each of the letters on their whiteboards (recording the Curtis photograph on one board and the Poolaw photograph on the other).  When they are finished, have each group hold up their whiteboards and report out on their analysis of each photo.  Record each group’s analysis on a large sheet of chart paper so it can be referenced during later discussion.  When the charts are finished, discuss them as a whole group and help students draw connections between the different groups’ analysis of each photographer.  This should lead them to notice the static nature of Curtis’ photographs and how it contrasts with the dynamic nature of Poolaw’s, as well as the way this is accomplished through elements such as the framing of the photographs and interaction between the subjects and their environment.  After discussion, play the short video “Smiling Indians” by the 1491’s, which is dedicated to Edward S. Curtis, and confronts the idea of stereotyping American Indians, based off images like Curtis’s “vanishing Indian”.  Finish with final observations about how the video connects to Poolaw’s photographs (both in content and style).  In the next lesson, as students read Vine Deloria’s essay “Indians Today: the Real and the Unreal”, they will make note of how these ideas about images and stereotypes are reflected in Deloria’s ideas.

Second Activity: Tulsa History Research Project: Multimedia Presentation

This activity is designed to deepen students’ understanding of local history in a specific area of interest to them.  It allows them to synthesize their expanding knowledge of American Indian history, gained from reading Tulsa: from Creek Town to Oil Capital.  The project also gives them practice developing and narrowing a research question and documenting sources, and the presentation portion allows them to develop media literacy and multimedia presentation skills, while demonstrating their understanding of the subject matter.

The Process

Assign students to heterogeneous groups of three to four. Each group will research a subject of their choice related to a specific aspect of Tulsa’s Indian history.  Their final product will be a multimedia presentation (created in Photostory, Glogster, PowerPoint or some other multimedia format of their choice) disseminating their findings. Their purpose can be informative or persuasive.  To begin, help students brainstorm topics and develop research questions, using the following examples:  How did the aftermath of allotment affect the structure, visibility and identity of Creek Indian communities in specific ways?  What were the major contributions of a particular figure in early Tulsa history (such as Opothle Yahola)?  What was the significance of the sport of Indian Ball in the early Creek community?

Once they have developed questions, groups spend four class periods in the library accessing the library databases, as well as the archives of the Tulsa Historical Society, the American Indian Resource Center and the Indian Pioneer Papers Collection, researching and documenting information about their topics (there will be a mini lesson in the library on MLA documentation).  Each group should record at least ten facts related to their findings, from at least six sources.  They will turn in a Works Cited page, documented in MLA format, with annotations explaining each source and its relevance.

Students spend the next four days back in the classroom, working on their multimedia presentations.  Take students through the process of creating a Photostory presentation, using a single frame as an example (there is also a Photostory tutorial on YouTube; groups may also choose a different program for their final product). They should include at least ten visuals with accompanying text explaining the content, context and significance of the pictures they choose (in ten Photostory or PowerPoint slides, for example).  The presentation should also include voice over narration, or a soundtrack with relevant music, depending on the technology used.  When everyone finishes, groups spend 5-6 minutes each presenting to the class, enhancing the whole group’s understanding of historical figures and issues in early Tulsa history.

Third Activity: “Where I’m From” Poem

This activity allows students to think and write about place and identity, by creating a fifteen to twenty-line poem based on their own memories, experiences, and interests.  This introductory activity for Winter in the Blood will help them connect to the content, as the book centers around the identity crisis of the main character, as evidenced by his lack of a sense of place, or connection to his past and homeland.  Brainstorming things that have made them who they are – their own experiences and memories – will give students a foundation for discussing the links between culture, personal history, and identity.  Writing about these experiences in poetic form will allow them to share their own histories, cultures and unique identities, building a sense of community in the classroom.

The Process

Begin by showing students the Jay Z and Beyonce’s video “Where I’m From” on YouTube.  After watching, discuss how “place” and identity are informed by more than just a specific location; identity is influenced by personal history, music, memories, food and many other components.  Ask students to explain how that is shown in the Jay Z video.  Next, project a copy of George Ella Lyon’s poem “Where I’m From” on the Smartboard.  Give each student a copy of the poem to follow so they can perform a “mash up” reading, where each student reads a line or two aloud.  After reading, discuss the elements that have informed George Ella Lyon’s identity and sense of “place” (foods, memories, family, plants, scars, ordinary objects, etc.).  

Give each student two index cards and have them number one to four on one card and four to eight on another, leaving a few lines in-between.  Take them through the following brainstorming activity where they list associations with the past that inform their identity.  Their associations may be negative or positive.  Read the following list of questions, spending two to three minutes on each (if students are stuck on one, they can leave it blank and return to it later before drafting their poem):

1. Think about music that has been important in your life. List three or four songs that you just love or that have influenced you in some way.
2. What are some things people have always said to you? Maybe it’s a nickname or a saying that you always hear from family or friends like “you have to earn respect”; list two or three of these.
3. What games or activities did you play growing up (soccer, kickball, hopscotch)? These can include video games you played by yourself, or church activities or childhood games played with friends.  List three or four.
4. Think about food that you love or that you’ve always eaten at a particular time. It could be anything from food cooked for a family celebration to your favorite fast food.  List three or four important food traditions in your history.
5. What books or stories do you remember that affected you in some way? It could be fiction or nonfiction, short or long - a children’s book that you read over and over, for example, or an essay in a magazine, or a novel or short story or poem you read in school last year.  List two or three.
6. List two or three scars from your life. These could be literal (a scar from an accident) or figurative (an emotional scar as a result of divorce, for example).
7. Think of a place that is “home” to you. It could be a room in a house, a basketball court, or any other place where you are most comfortable and can be yourself.  Visualize that place and make a small sketch of it.
8. Think about milestone events in your life. These could be positive (winning an important game, or graduating from middle school) or negative (a divorce, or the death of a close relative).  Sketch a small life map that charts these chronologically.

After the brainstorming activity, project one or two more sample “Where I’m From” poems, so students have a good sense of the structure, and have models to follow.  Give them a template they can follow to complete a draft of their poem (a Google search will locate samples and templates).  Using the template, have students’ identity places where they can incorporate the results of their brainstorming into the structure of their poems, referencing the models they have read.  Give the class about 30 minutes to complete first drafts of their poems.  As they finish, they can take turns reading their drafts aloud to a partner and getting feedback using the PQP strategy: Praise (“I liked the way…”); Question (“Why did you…?”); Polish (“I can suggest…”).  The next class period, students will continue giving peer feedback, revising their poems, and typing a final draft.  When all students are finished, their final drafts can be combined into a class book, so they can take turns reading their poems in Author’s Chair, and have their own book of models to share with other classes.