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This lesson plan is provided by the U.S. National Archives and is intended to help students understand how the U.S. Government enlisted Navajos in World War II. The Navajos were used as "code talkers" in communicating military secrets since their language was mostly unwritten at the time. While the Navajo people and language were important in transmitting war secrets, the "code talkers" were not recognized for their work until 2001.

Documents for the Lesson Plan include:
1) Major General Clayton B. Vogel's Recommendation Letter

Find this Lesson Plan and Documents at:
Background and Lesson Plan

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This lesson plan is provided by the U.S. National Archives. It is intended to demonstrate the tension between the U.S. Government and Native Americans during the land acquisition and relocation of Native Americans during the 19th century. In 1868 the U.S. Government signed a treaty with the Sioux which recognized the Black Hills in the Dakota Territory as belonging to the Sioux. Even so, in 1874 General George A. Custer led a military expedition into the Black Hills and miners were allowed to search for gold in the Sioux territory. Soon, the miners looked to the U.S. military for protection against the Sioux in the Black Hills. In 1876 the Battle of Little Bighorn River took place and the U.S. army was defeated by the Sioux. In 1877 the U.S. Government took the recognized land from Sioux. The ownership of this land is still disputed among the Sioux and the U.S. Government. The documents for this lesson plan include:

Documents for the Lesson Plan include:
1) Sioux Treaty of 1868
2) General Alfred Terry's Telegram
3) Letter from Captain John S. Poland
4) Spotted Tail, a Brulé Sioux Chief of Great Renown
5) Selected Photographs of Custer's 1874 Expedition

Find this Lesson Plan and Documents at:
Background and Lesson Plan

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The following primary and secondary resources are provided by the National Museum of the American Indian, and the History Channel, among others. This section contains information about the myths of the "The First Thanksgiving", idealized images of the event in 1621, time-period maps, and facts about the relations of American Indians and the first English colonists.

1. “Deconstructing the Myths of ‘The First Thanksgiving’”

• "Deconstructing the Myths of 'The First Thanksgiving.'" In A Broken Flute: The Native Experience in Books for Children, edited by Doris Seale and Beverly Slapin, 201-208. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman Altamira, 2006.

• "Deconstructing the Myths of 'The First Thanksgiving'" outlines myths and facts of 'The First Thanksgiving' and also provides footnotes for further reading.

"Deconstructing the Myths of 'The First Thanksgiving'"



2. Harvest Ceremony: Beyond the Thanksgiving Myth

• This secondary resource is a five page PDF from the National Museum of the American Indian. It describes ‘The First Thanksgiving’ from the perspective of the Wampanoag. Note: While this PDF is a good resource, it does contain a few typographical errors.   

• Harvest Ceremony PDF

 

3. American Indian Perspectives on Thanksgiving

• This secondary resource is a ten page PDF that focuses on the topics of environment, community, encounters, and sharing of the American Indians in relation to the English colonists and ‘The First Thanksgiving.’ This PDF also provides discussion questions for the classroom, more resources, and a list if sources cited.

• American Indian Perspectives PDF

 

4. Primary Resource Document: Mourt's Realtions

• Excerpt from Mourt’s Relation or A Relation or Journal of the Beginning and Proceedings of the English Plantation Settled at Plimoth in New England

• This primary resource is one of only two documents that records the events at ‘The First Thanksgiving.’ This journal was written between November 1620 and November 1621. Note: While this resource documents ‘The First Thanksgiving” and other events, teachers and students should be cautious when reading this document. Analysis should be wary of statements like, “Yea, it hath pleased God so to possess the Indians with a fear of us, and love unto us, that…[Massasoit and other Native Americans] have either made suit unto us, or been glad of any occasion to make peace with us…" (See link number pages 82-83). However, as scholars have suggested, Native Americans likely made peace with the Europeans in order to secure protection from other tribes not because they feared the English colonists. See “Harvest Ceremony: Beyond the Thanksgiving Myth” above.

• Old English Version of Mourt's Relation:

Bradford, William and Edward Winslow. Mourt's Relation or Journal of the Plantation at Plymouth. Edited by Henry Martyn Dexter. Boston: John Kimball Wiggin, 1865. See pages 131-142 for 'First Thanksgiving' events.

 

• Modern English Version of Mourt's Relation:

Bradford, William and Edward Winslow. Mourt's Relation: A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. Edited by Dwight B. Heath. Bedford, Mass.: Applewood Books, 1963. See pages 81-87 for 'First Thanksgiving' events.

 

5. Primary Resource Document: Of Plimouth Plantation

• This primary resource is one of only two documents that record the events at 'The First Thanksgiving.' William Bradford was one of the English Puritan Separatists who traveled to "The New World" via the Mayflower. The following excerpt is from his personal journal.

• Old English Version of Of Plimouth Plantation
See paragraphs [125] to [127].

• Modern English Version of Of Plimouth Plantation
See 1) "Treaty with the Indians" and 2) "First Harvest"

 

6. Thanksgiving Information from History.com

• History. com has an article that provides an overview of 'The First Thanksgiving' in 1621, controversies associated with the holiday, information about Thanksgiving as an official holiday, facts vs. myths, and a video about 'The First Thanksgiving.'

• Thanksgiving article - Be sure to scroll to bottom of page to go to pages 2 and 3 of the article.

• Thanksgiving Video

• Thankgining Myths

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The Avalon Project provided by the Yale Law School provides primary resources that document treaties made between the United States and Native Americans from 1778 to 1868. The treaties include the following:

1. Treaty With the Delawares  - 1778
2. Chickasaw Peace Treaty Feeler - 1782
3. Treaty With the Six Nations - 1784
4. Treaty With the Wyandot, etc. - 1785
5. Treaty With The Cherokee - 1785
6. Treaty With the Chocktaw -1786
7. Treaty With the Chickasaw - 1786
8. Treaty With the Shawnee - 1786
9. Treaty With the Wyandot, etc. - 1789
10. Treaty With the Six Nations - 1789
11. Treaty With the Creeks - 1790
12. Treaty With the Cherokee - 1791
13. Treaty With the Cherokee - 1794
14. Treaty With the Six Nations - 1794
15. Treaty With the Oneida, etc. - 1794
16. Treaty of Greenville - 1795
17. Chickasaw Treaty - 1805
18.  Treaty With the Chickasaw - 1816
19. "Secret" Journal on Negotiations of the Chickasaw Treaty of 1818
20. Treaty With the Chickasaw 1818
21.  Refusal of the Chickasaws and Choctaws to Cede Their Lands in Mississippi : 1826
22. Treaty With The Potawatami, 1828.
23. Treaty With the Chickasaw : 1830, Unratified
24. Treaty With the Potawatami, 1832.
25. Treaty with the Apache, July 1, 1852.
26. Treaty with the Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache; July 27, 1853
27. Treaty with the Cheyenne and Arapaho; October 14, 1865
28. Treaty with the Apache, Cheyenne, and Arapaho; October 17, 1865.
29. Treaty With the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache; October 21, 1867.
30. Fort Laramie Treaty : 1868

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The Avalon Project provided by the Yale Law School provides primary resources that document statutes enacted by the United States concerning Native Americans from 1779 to 1887. The statutes include the following:

1. 1789 - An Act Providing for the Expences Which May Attend Negotiations or Treaties with the Indian Tribes, and the Appointment of Commissioners for Managing the Same : August 20
2. 1790 - An Act providing for Holding a Treaty or Treaties to Establish Peace with Certain IndianTribes : July 22
3. 1790 - An Act to Regulate Trade and Intercourse With the Indian Tribes : July 22
4. 1793 - An Act to Regulate Trade and Intercourse with the Indian Tribes : March 1
5. 1793 - An Act Making An Appropriation to Defray the Expense of a Treaty With the Indians Northwest of the Ohio : March 1
6. 1795 - An Act Making Provision for the Purposes of Trade with the Indians : March 3
7. 1796 - An Act for Establishing Trading Houses with the Indian Tribes : April 18
8. 1796 - An Act Making Appropriations for Defraying the Expenses Which May Arise in Carrying into Effect a Treaty Made Between the United States and Certain Indian Tribes, Northwest of the River Ohio : May 6
9. 1796 - An Act to Regulate Trade and Intercourse with the Indian Tribes, and to Preserve Peace on the Frontiers : May 19
10. 1798 - An Act Appropriating a Certain Sum of Money to Defray the Expense of Holding a Treaty or Treaties with the Indians : February 27
11. 1799 - An Act Appropriating a Certain Sum of Money to Defray the Expense of Holding a Treaty or Treaties with the Indians : February 19
12. 1799 - An Act Making Appropriations for Defraying the Expenses Which May Arise in Carrying into Effect Certain Treaties Between the United States and Several Tribes or Nations of Indians : February 25
13. 1799 - An Act to Regulate Trade and Intercourse With the Indian Tribes, and to Preserve Peace on the Frontiers : March 3
14. 1800 - An Act for the Preservation of Peace with the Indian Tribes : January 17
15. 1800 - An Act Supplementary to the Act to Regulate Trade and Intercourse with the Indian Tribes, and to Preserve Peace on the Frontiers : April 22
16. 1800 - An Act to appropriate a certain sum of money to defray the expense of holding a treaty or treaties with the Indians : May 13
17. 1800 - An Act to Make Provision Relative to Rations for Indians, and to Their Visits to the Seat of Government : May 13
18. 1802 - An Act to Regulate Trade and Intercourse with the Indian Tribes, and to Preserve Peace on the Frontiers : March 30
19. 1802 - An Act to Revive and Continue in Force, An Act entitled "An Act for Establishing Trading Houses with the Indian Tribes." : April 30
20. 1803 - An Act for Continuing in Force a Law, Entitled "An Act for Establishing Trading Houses with the Indian Tribes." : February
21. 1804 - An Act to Make Further Appropriations, for the Purpose of Extinguishing the Indian Claim : March 26
22. 1805 - An Act Making Appropriations for Carrying into Effect Certain Indian Treaties, and for Other Purposes of Indian Trade and Intercourse : March 3
23. 1806 - An Act for Establishing Trading Houses with the Indian Tribes : April 21
24. 1806 - An Act Making Appropriations for Carrying into Effect Certain Indian Treaties : April 21
25. 1807 - An Act Making Appropriations for Carrying into Effect a Treaty Between the United States and the Chickasaw Tribe of Indians and to Establish a Land Office in the Mississippi Territory : March 3
26. 1807 - An Act Making Appropriations for Carrying into Effect Certain Treaties with the Cherokee and Piankeshaw Tribes of Indians : March 3
27. 1808 - An Act Making Appropriations for Carrying into Effect Certain Indian Treaties : February 19
28. 1809 - An Act for the Relief of Certain Alibama and Wyandott Indians : February 28
29. 1809 - An Act Supplemental to the Act Intituled "An Act for Establishing Trading Houses with the Indian Tribes." : March 3
30. 1809 - An Act Supplementary to an Act, Entituled "An Act Making Appropriations for Carrying into Effect a Treaty Between the United States and the Chickasaw Tribe of Indians; and to Establish a Land-office in the Mississippi Territory : June 15
31. 1810 - An Act Making Appropriations for Carrying into Effect Certain Indian Treaties : May 1
32. 1811 - An Act for Establishing Trading Houses with the Indian Tribes : March 2
33. 1811 - An Act Making Appropriations for Carrying into Effect a Treaty Between the United States and the Great and Little Osage Nation of Indians, Concluded at Fort Clarke, on the Tenth day of November, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Eight, and for Other Purposes : March 3
34. 1812 - An Act Making Additional Appropriations for the Military Establishment and for the Indian Department for the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Twelve : July 6
35. 1887 - An Act to Provide for the Allotment of Lands in Severalty to Indians on the Various Reservations, and to Extend the Protection of the Laws of the United States and the Territories over the Indians, and for Other Purposes : February 8

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This database provides resources about Native Americans from American newspapers, authors, other non-Native Americans, and Native Americans. The entries are listed in alphabetical order by author's last name.

Native American Resource Database

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The following links include enlarged images of White's watercolors that date from 1585 to 1598. The digital versions of these watercolors include the original captions, historical descriptions of the watercolors, and a comparison of engravings by Theodor De Bry (printed 1590) based on the watercolors by White. This collection online collection is provided by Virtual Jamestown. The watercolor collection includes:

• Indian Village of Pomeiooc
• Indian Woman and Young Girl
• Old Indian Man
• Indian Woman and Baby of Pomeiooc
• Indian Village of Secoton
• Indian Woman of Secoton
• Indian Charnal House
• Indians Dancing Around A Circle of Posts
• Indians Round a Fire
• Indian Man and Woman Eating
• Indian Priest
• Indians Fishing
• Cooking in a Pot
• Cooking Fish
• Indian Elder or Chief
• Indian Woman
• Indian in Body Paint
• Indian Conjuror

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"The National Museum of the American Indian is the sixteenth museum of the Smithsonian Institution. It is the first national museum dedicated to the preservation, study, and exhibition of the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of Native Americans. Established by an act of Congress in 1989 (amendment in 1996), the museum works in collaboration with the Native peoples of the Western Hemisphere to protect and foster their cultures by reaffirming traditions and beliefs, encouraging contemporary artistic expression, and empowering the Indian voice." From NMAI's About page.

This resource provides PDF resources on the following Native American topics:

• Manahatta to Manhattan: Native Americans in Lower Manhattan
• The Haudenosaunee Guide for Educators
• Fritz Scholder: Indian/Not Indian—Study Guide
• Fritz Scholder—A Guide for Young People 7 and Up
• A Life in Beads—Teaching Poster
• Guide for Teachers: Native Peoples of the Chesapeake
• Lone Dog's Winter Count Teaching Poster
• Native People and the Land Teaching Poster
• Native Dolls
• To Honor and Comfort: Study Guide

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