1-1 The Seven Tribes of Montana

Overview

Subject IEFA, Social Studies
Grade Level 4-6
Duration 50 minutes
   

Goals

  • Students will be able to identify and label Montana’s seven tribal reservations on a map.
  • Students will find inspiration in the seals of Montana tribal nations and recognize that the cultures, values, places, historic events, and people represented on these seals are still important to Montana tribes today.
  • Students will be able to describe how symbols can represent individual and/or collective identities.

Content Standards

IEFA Essential Understandings Description
EU 1 (Tribal Diversity) There is great diversity among the twelve sovereign tribes of Montana in their languages, cultures, histories, and governments. Each tribe has a distinct and unique cultural heritage that contributes to modern Montana.
EU 3 (Beliefs, Spirituality, Oral History) The ideologies of Native traditional beliefs and spirituality persist into modern day life as tribal cultures, traditions, and languages are still practiced by many American Indian people and are incorporated into how tribes govern and manage their affairs. Additionally, each tribe has its own oral histories, which are as valid as written histories. These histories pre-date the “discovery” of North America.
Social Studies Description
SS.G.4.1 examine maps and other representations to explain the movement of people.
SS.G.4.2 identify and label the tribes in Montana and their indigenous territories, and current locations.
SS.G.5.2 create, organize, and present geographic information to show settlement patterns in the United States, including impacts on tribal lands.
SS.H.4.2 identify events and policies that have impacted and been influenced by tribes in Montana.
English Language Arts Description
CCRA.R.1 read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
CCRA.R.7 integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
SL.1 prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
SL.2 integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
SL.4 present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
SL.5 make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations.
L.4 determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate.
L.6 acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge.
Visual Arts Description
Anchor Standard #4 Analyze, interpret, and select artistic work for presentation.
Anchor Standard #7 Perceive and analyze artistic work.
Anchor Standard #8 Construct meaningful interpretations of artistic work.

Prep

Teachers should complete the following preparation for the lesson:

Lesson Guide

Intro (15 mins)

Ask students:

What do you know about tribes in Montana?

Invite students to share their current knowledge.

Show Introducing the First Nations of Montana video to students.

Ask students:

In what ways did the video change your thinking about tribes in Montana?

Invite students to share how their thinking has changed.

Reservations (10 mins)

Pass out Reservations Map.
reservation map

Ask students to look at the map and discuss with their elbow partner:

What do you think the map represents?
What does each color represent?
Is this one map or two? What does each map tell you?

Explain to students that this map represents the current Native lands (reservations) in Montana as well as the Native lands in the 1800s.

Think-Pair-Share (5 mins)

Write on board

What do you think happened to cause the areas to shrink?  
What do you know about tribes in Montana?

Bring out student ideas and facilitate a discussion.

In this discussion, and using information from students, try to raise the idea that reservations were created from treaties between Tribal Nations and the US Government. Tribal Elders did what they needed to in order to protect the tribes’ identities, cultures, and way of life. Before the treaties, tribes occupied the entire map of Montana, but through the treaties, tribal leaders reserved (or held back) smaller portions of their land and gave their other land to the US Government in exchange for their being allowed to continue to exist. Reservations were not given freely to tribes; reservations are what tribes kept for themselves, and are an indication of tribal sovereignty.

The following information from resources at the Montana Historical Society website could help with the discussion:

"Reservations are lands that have been reserved by the tribes for their own use
through treaties, statutes, and executive orders and were not “given” to them.
The principle that land should be acquired from the Indians only through their
consent with treaties involved three assumptions:

I. Both parties to treaties were sovereign powers.

II. Indian tribes had some form of transferable title to the land.

III. Acquisition of Indian lands was solely a government matter not to be left
to individual colonists.

Indian Nations located in Montana Territory prior to the passage of the Montana
Constitution in 1889 held large land bases as negotiated through their treaties
with the United States. The treaties assigned tribes to certain areas and obligated
them to respect the land of their neighbors. However, in the 1860s, as miners and
others rushed into the prime gold fields that often lay along or within the
designated tribal lands, tribal life was disrupted. The new inhabitants demanded
federal protection. These demands resulted in the garrisoning of Montana and
the eventual relocation of the tribes to smaller and smaller reserves.

The federal government and many Montana citizens did not understand the lifestyles
of Montana’s Indian tribes. Consequently, communication with the tribes was often
through non-Indian perspectives, expectations, and points of view. However, the
federal government did understand that these tribal groups were sovereign nations
and that the United States needed to enter into treaty negotiations with the tribes."
(The Art of Storytelling: Reservations)

Tribal Seals (20 mins)

Now that students are more familiar with the seven tribes of Montana and their reservations, we will look more closely at their identities and cultures. To do this, we will look at the symbolism and histories of the seals of the seven tribes of Montana.

Explain to students that the seven tribes of Montana are sovereign nations, and as sovereign nations, tribes express their sovereignty in the same way others do. Seals indicate self-rule, sovereignty, and a collective identity. You may have seen examples of seals like the seal of the United States, as shown here:

US seal

and the seal of the state of Montana, as shown here:

Montana seal

These seals depict symbols, which are images that are used to represent or signify a larger concepts or ideas. For example, the Montana seal depicts a plow and miner’s pick, showing the state’s agricultural and mineral wealth. The mountains, river, and grasses in the background depict the treasures of Montana, and are strengthened by the motto “Oro y Plata,” which means silver and gold in Spanish.

Group students into groups of seven. Give each group a single seal from the Tribal Seals handout.

Write the following on the board:

Which symbols represent historical events? How or why are those events important?

Which symbols represent nature or natural resources? How were nature and natural
resources important in the past? How are they important for us today?  

Which symbols represent culture or cultural identity?  

Which symbols represent specific people? How are these individuals important to their
tribes (in the past, presently, or in the future)?  

How were you inspired by the tribal seals, their symbols, and the stories/histories
behind them?

Task: Each group will look at the seal and read through the explanation. Groups will create a poster that explains the symbols of the seal, using the above questions as prompts. At the top of the poster, students should write the name of the tribe. They do not need to answer each question, as not all questions can be answered by each seal. Students should choose the questions that can be answered. Groups will use visuals and minimal words to present their discussion to others in the room.

When groups are done, groups will post the posters around the room. Students should do a gallery walk to read through all the posters.

Vocabulary

The following are terms used in this lesson.

Term Definition
Native American/American Indian/Indigenous terms to refer to groups of people who claim the earliest connection to land in the United States. These people lived in the United States before the United States existed and have maintained distinct cultures and ways of life. American Indian Tribes have status as independent (sovereign) Nations within the United States.
Ancestral Lands lands occupied and utilized by indigenous people for many centuries or millennia. The ancestral lands of American Indian tribes are frequently referred to in their oral histories and are still important to tribes and their cultures today. These lands may or may not be on reservations.
Community a group of people who live in the same area (such as a city, town, reservation, or neighborhood) and share common resources. They may be of a single culture or of diverse cultures.
Cultural Appropriation the use or usurpation of an aspect of another’s culture, such as the misuse of specific American Indian symbols by non-Indian people or the claims of non-Indians to be leaders of tribal ceremonies.
Culturally Relevant significant to a particular culture; of value to a specific group of people because of connections to their culture and collective identity.
Culture the collective identity of a particular group of people as evident in their beliefs, values, customs, social behaviors, practices, language, way of life, political and economic systems, shared history, and material goods.
Diversity difference among people or groups of people living within a common boundary. Diversity can be indicated by cultural, economic, racial, ethnic, or religious differences between groups of people. While Montana tribes share some similarities, there is also great diversity between them.
Identity who someone is or who a group of people are. Identity is shaped by culture, family, life experiences, etc. Collective identity is the shared identity of a group (community, ethnicity, tribe, culture, or nation).
Oral History each tribe has a history that can be traced back millenia. Many of these histories are recounted verbally (orally) and have been passed down through generations, often through storytelling and song. Oral histories are as valid and important as written histories.
Oral Tradition the practice of recounting history verbally and/or teaching cultural values through stories. Many cultures around the world had or have oral traditions. Some tribes may only tell certain stories from their oral tradition during certain times of the year, and this practice should be respected.
Reservation an area of land reserved by tribes for their use and occupation. These lands were reserved (held back) by the tribes for their own use through treaties, not “given” to tribes. Reservations, as the product of treaties, are an indication of tribal sovereignty.
Seal an identifying mark, emblem, or symbol of office. Tribal seals are emblems of tribal governments and in that sense are expressions of tribal sovereignty.
Sovereignty the supreme power from which all political powers are derived. Sovereignty is inherent and cannot be given to one group by another. Sovereignty ensures the right to self-government, facilitates cultural preservation, and enables a peoples’ control of their own future. Legally, federally recognized tribal nations are considered semi-sovereign entities and as such have a unique relationship to the federal government. Sovereignty affirms the political identity of Indian Nations; they are not simply a racial or ethnic minority.
Symbol an image that used to represent or signify a larger concept or idea.
Tribal Nation a tribe (or group of tribes) that is recognized as a sovereign entity with a right to self-rule. When the United States made treaties with tribes, it recognized them as tribal nations.