American Indian History

To celebrate American Indian Heritage and generate public appreciation for diverse cultures, Teaching with Historic Places has posted on the web the following lesson plans that consider important aspects of American Indian history. These lessons, based on sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places, are free and ready for immediate classroom use by students in history and social studies classes.

• The Battle of Honey Springs: The Civil War Comes to the Indian Territory
Learn how the Civil War created fierce conflicts among American Indian nations who had been moved across the Mississippi River.

• The Battle of Horseshoe Bend: Collision of Cultures
Consider the complex political and cultural differences that existed between European Americans and American Indians during the early 19th century and learn how these conflicting views ultimately affected the Creeks.

• The Battle of Oriskany: "Blood Shed a Stream Running Down"
Learn how New York's Mohawk Valley became the setting for a fierce Revolutionary War battle that pitted residents of the area, including the nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, against each other.

• Gran Quivira: A Blending of Cultures in a Pueblo Indian Village
Examine the changing lifeways of the inhabitants of this village from the 7th century to the arrival of the Spanish in the early 17th century.

• Knife River: Early Village Life on the Plains
Discover the complex culture and trading economy of the Hidatsa and Mandan tribes in North Dakota during the 18th century, as seen by anthropologists and artists.

• The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Documenting the Uncharted Northwest
Learn how the 1804-1806 expedition effectively opened the Northwest to the influence of the United States, established relations with numerous American Indian nations, and gathered useful scientific documentation about the West.

• San Antonio Missions: Spanish Influence in Texas
Explore a group of 18th-century missions in modern San Antonio to learn about Spanish influence on native peoples and the patterns of Texas culture.

• Tonto National Monument: Saving a National Treasure
Learn about one of the nation’s most important conservation laws--the Antiquities Act of 1906--and how its passage preserved important cultural sites such as Tonto National Monument, which preserves remnants of the Salado culture prior to European contact.

• The Trail of Tears and the Forced Relocation of the Cherokee Nation
Understand the factors that contributed both to the forced removal of the Cherokees off their homelands and to painful divisions within the tribe.

For more information about American Indian history, visit the National Register of Historic Places feature. 

To learn more about TwHP's other lessons, visit the Lesson Plan Descriptions page.