Native American ideas about government and society influenced the development of United States government at the time of the American Revolution. The following activities consider how Native peoples have been represented in films, local historical publications, and school names and mascots and how those representations have shaped people's attitudes.
More than 8 million American Indian and Alaska Native people live in the United States today, and those numbers are projected to rise to 10 million by 2060 (Indian Country Demographics, National Congress of American Indians, June 2020).
Most students, however, learn little about Native people, their lives, cultures, and achievements in schools. The indigenous education organization IllumiNative reported that most (87%) state level history standards do not address Native history past 1900.
Much of what students learn about Native history comes from the media, including movies and television, local history publications, and imagery associated with local and national sports teams.
Hollywood movies and network television shows have long portrayed First American indigenous people in grossly stereotypical terms. Men are depicted as warriors and medicine men. Women are portrayed as either objects of desire or inconsequential members of a tribe. Native peoples are often shown as living in the wilderness or on reservations even though 60% of today's American Indian and Alaska Native population live in cities (5 Common Indigenous Stereotypes in Film and Television, ThoughtCo., January 2021).
Around the country, there are increasing efforts by local tourism and community groups to tell the stories of those left out or marginalized in history through tours, exhibits, and celebrations of important individuals and significant events in Native American, Black, women, and LGBTQ history. For example, "Navajo Tours USA" present Native history in New Mexico, while "Nez Perce Tourism" explores Native sites in the Pacific Northwest.
Other cities have designed tours that showcase the hidden histories and untold stories of traditionally marginalized groups of inidividuals. There is an "Unfiltered Truth Collection" in Louisville, Kentucky, a "Truth and Reconciliation" Tour in Montgomery, Alabama, a Black Heritage Trail in Boston, and the Missouri Historical Society operates "Renegade STL" that presents Black, women's and LGBTQ history tours in St. Louis ("Historical Tours Reach Deeper to Include People Long Left Out," Sunday Travel, Boston Sunday Globe, November 7, 2021, pp. 11,13).
Activity 1:Analyze how Native Americans are Portrayed in Movies
Then, write a script for a movie or television show that portrays Native Americans accurately and showcases how Native American government shaped the U.S. government.
Consider:
What is the name and setting of the movie or show?
Who are the main characters and what are their lives like?
What is the primary issue or conflict in your story?
Activity 3: Research & Redesign the First American History of the Place Where You Live Today
Our college, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, is built on the lands and waters of the Kwinitekw Valley, home to the Nonotuck peoples and all their relations. Who were the First Americans who lived where you now live?
Analyze how local websites (e.g., school website, town/city council website) and history materials (e.g., guidebooks and tourist promotion materials; school system curriculum) present First Americans who were the original owners of the land on which you live today.
What imagery, if any, do they use to portray First Americans? Are the images positive or negative? What is emphasized in the images? What is left out?
What language is used to describe First Americans? Is the language positive or negative? What information is presented? What information is left out?
Then, complete one of the following tasks:
Designor redesign a historical webpage for your school/town to present an accurate representation of the First Americans who made your community their homelands.
Design an Augmented Reality Exhibit (see "Walk of Notables" and Kinfolk AR App) or Interactive Map Tour featuring the hidden histories and untold stories of Native Americans in your community.
Action: Propose an action plan or public policy to support more inclusive mascot, team names, and imagery for schools in your district or community. Also, consider the following...would you support any of the following:
Allow communities to decide to keep or eliminate school mascots by voting.
Support state-wide legislation to eliminate Native American mascots in all public schools.
Let teachers and students make decisions about mascots voluntarily.
Have school administrators and school committees make decisions about mascot policies.
Require Native American studies as part of the history/social studies curriculum in elementary, middle and high schools.
Analyze the evidence for arguments that the principles of the system of government of the United States were influenced by the governments of Native Peoples (Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for History and Social Studies) [8.T1.5]