Indigenous Peoples' Day

Indigenous Peoples’ Day Books, Films, and Lesson Plans  (M, O, T)
A large collection of educator resources for learning about and teaching Indigenous Peoples' Day from the Zinn Education Project. Inside, you can find information about Rethinking Columbus Day, Native American Activism from the 1960s to Present, and other historical and contemporary Indigenous issues.

Columbus Day? Indigenous Peoples’ Day?  (T)
This article from Harvard's Graduate School of Education tackles some of the issues surrounding Columbus Day and strategies for teaching it to your students. The article is accompanied by discussion topics, activity ideas, and other resources.

Un-Columbus Day  (T)
A checklist of dos and don'ts for teaching Indigenous Peoples' Day and/or Columbus Day from Teaching Channel.

IllumiNative: Indigenous Peoples' Day Toolkit and Resources  (Y, M, O, T)
IllumiNative is a non-profit collective of "Native storytellers, artists, youth, organizers, tribal and grassroots leaders as well as non-Native partners." In addition to being a great place to learn about contemporary Indigenous people, art, and culture, its website hosts tons of great educator resources, including an Indigenous Peoples' Day toolkit and PK-8 lesson plans and activity ideas.

The Native History of Indigenous Peoples' Day  (M, O)
This article from Yes! Magazine discusses the history behind the movement for recognizing Indigenous Peoples' Day as a holiday and why many cities and states now celebrate it in lieu of Columbus Day.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day Family Action Toolkit  (Y, T)
The Indigenous Peoples’ Day Family Action Toolkit is a printable workbook developed by the Student Ignition Society that has strategies, lesson plans, worksheets, and activities for teaching young children about Indigenous Peoples and contemporary issues.

8 ways to observe Indigenous Peoples’ Day with children  (T)
The United States, and many individual states, observe Columbus Day on the 2nd Monday in October, but a growing number of cities and states are refusing to honor a man who committed genocide. Instead, they are marking the date as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. There are many ways children of all ages can observe Indigenous Peoples’ Day. In this post, Rebekah shares 8 options that can be used with preschool, elementary, and middle school-age kids.

Lesson Plans and Learning Resources About Indigenous Peoples

Powwows.com: Native American Lesson Plans and Learning Activities  (Y, M, O, T)
Powwows.com has an extensive guide for reframing your studies on Native Americans through a contemporary lens, as well as incorporating Native studies into your everyday curriculum. You can find guides for teaching students of all ages, lesson plans, activity ideas, games, music, recipes, and other resources. You can also use the website to find local events and videos of powwows.

Lessons of Our Land (Y, M, O, T)
The nonprofit Indian Land Tenure Foundation provides this "innovative curriculum that enables Pre-K through grade 12 teachers to easily incorporate Native American stories, lessons and games into regular classroom instruction." Over 200 searchable lessons for both Native and non-Native students.

First Nations Development Institute Educator Resources  (Y, M, O, T)
First Nations Development Institute is a nonprofit that fosters development in Native American Tribal communities and provides public education and outreach. In its online Knowledge Center, you can find all sorts of educational resources, including videos, webinars, recipes, and more.

National Indian Education Association Lesson Plans and Educator Resources  (Y, M, O, T)
NIEA hosts a large collection of PK-12 lesson plans, classroom activity ideas, and other educator resources on its website.

National Museum of the American Indian  (Y, M, O, T)
The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian is home to a large collection of artifacts, objects, photos, and other media from Native cultures all over the Western hemisphere. In addition to browsing the collection online, you can find other educational events, programs, and resources on its website.

Native American Heritage - Cultural Resources   (T)
Teaching with Historic Places lesson plans that help students celebrate American Indian heritage.

Kids' Books About Indigenous Peoples

Below, we have listed a few highly rated books for kids about Indigenous peoples. When evaluating books about Indigenous peoples to share with your kids, consider these easy-to-use tips from Dr. Debbie Reese for evaluating stories to be sure they accurately depict Native peoples.

Lands of Our Ancestors
This three-volume set of historical fiction books written by a Native American author covers the "California Mission Era, the Mexican Rancho Era, the Gold Rush and early California statehood." The books are geared toward grades 4-6. Teacher guides for each volume are available and are listed below on the right.

Booklists from other websites:

Thanksgiving and Native American Heritage Month

NativeAmericanHeritageMonth.gov  (Y, M, O, T)
NativeAmericanHeritageMonth.gov is "a collaborative project of the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and U.S. National Archives and Records Administration." Its online collection features thousands of primary source documents, artifacts, photos, and more for studying and learning about both historical and contemporary Native American cultures. It also hosts a large collection of educator resources, lesson plans, and activities.

How to Support Indigenous People on Thanksgiving  (T)
A list of ways to focus on indigenous people while celebrating Thanksgiving; not geared toward children but includes some ideas that could be implemented with children.

Maps and Places

Invasion of America: Interactive Map  (M, O)
"Between 1776 and 1887, the United States seized over 1.5 billion acres from America's Indigenous people by treaty and executive order. The Invasion of America shows how by mapping every treaty and executive order during that period. It also contains present-day federal Indian reservations." The Invasion of America is a project of eHistory.org.

Whose Land: Native Maps and Land Agreements  (Y, M, O, T)
Whose Land is a project based on the interactive maps of Canada from native-land.ca. The site includes accompanying K-12 lesson plans that teach students about the significance of land to Indigenous peoples and help them write land agreements.

Native Land Map  (Y, M, O, T)
Use this interactive map to explore the First Nations and indigenous cultures from around the world. The site includes a teacher's guide and additional links and resources for learning more about each nation.

American Indians Today

Native Americans Today: Booklist and Lesson Plans  (Y, M, O, T)
"Many people think that Native Americans are a vanished people—that they do not exist in the present day. In this lesson plan, teachers use photo essays and other texts to introduce students to Native children and their families, thereby countering the idea that Native people no longer exist." Lessons, activities, and discussion topics for K-12.

Indian Country Today  (M, O)
Indian Country Today is one of the largest news organizations dedicated to covering American Indian news and culture. It's an excellent resource for finding stories of both everyday and famous Native Americans and learning about current events, issues, culture, and history.

Cultural Survival  (M, O, T)
Cultural Survival is an advocacy group that is focused on Indigenous rights, news, and issues from around the world. In addition to its news and radio program, it's a great resource for finding events, ways to get involved in Indigenous activism, volunteer opportunities, and other activity ideas to celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day.

The Cultural Conservancy  (Y, M, O, T)
The Cultural Conservancy is a native-led nonprofit organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Its website hosts loads of information to learn about contemporary Indigenous issues, art, culture, videos, workshops, and events.

Tribal Directory and Tribal Organizations  (T)
An extensive database of US tribes, national tribal organizations, regional intertribal organizations, and other associations from the National Congress of American Indians. Use the list to find organizations in your area for news, events, and other resources.

Photographs

Project 562  (M, O)
"Created by Matika Wilbur, Project 562 is a multi-year national photography project dedicated to photographing over 562 federally recognized tribes in The United States resulting in an unprecedented repository of imagery and oral histories that accurately portrays contemporary Native Americans."

Audio and Video