Background Knowledge
This page will provide multiple tips on how to teach more effectively and respectfully about Thanksgiving with a native perspective.
- Thanksgiving: A Native American Perspective
- The Wampanoag Side of the First Thanksgiving Story
- Are You Teaching the Real Story of the "First Thanksgiving"?-Provides stereotypes, teaching strategies and native perspective. Also provides links to cross-curriculum lesson plans. l
Resources
RECOMMENDED BOOKS, LINKS, AND VIDEOS:
- 1621 A New Look At Thanksgiving- we have in our library
- Thanksgiving: A Native Perspective . Seale, Doris (Santee/Cree), Beverly Slapin, and Carolyn Silverman (Cherokee), eds.,Berkeley: Oyate, 1998, teacher resource.- we have in our library
- Four Seasons of Corn: A Winnebago Tradition ( We Are Still Here)-We do not have, but can be purchased on Amazon.
- The Sacred Harvest: Ojibway Wild Rice Gathering (We Are Still Here)- We do not have, but can be purchased on Amazon
- Swamp, Jake (Mohawk), Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message. New York: Lee & Low, 1995, all grades.- we have in our library.
- Wittstock, Laura Waterman (Seneca), Ininatig's Gift of Sugar: Traditional Native Sugarmaking. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 1993, grades 4-6
- Goldstein, K. “As American as Pumpkin Pie.” Plimoth Plantation. How, when, and why the “first Thanksgiving” came to be known as such.
- Boston Children’s Museum. Teacher Resources on Native American History and Culture. Wampanoag voices, information, and suggested activities.
- Jones, G., and Moomaw, S. (2002) Lessons from Turtle Island: Native Curriculum in Early Childhood Classrooms. St. Paul, Minn.: Red Leaf Press. Problems and appropriate alternatives to addressing Native peoples’ experiences.
- Loewen, J. (2007) Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. New York City: Touchstone Press. Detailed information on the first Thanks-giving based on primary resources.
- Slapin, B., and Seale, S., eds. (2006) Through Indian Eyes: The Native Experience in Books for Children. University of California Press (available at www.oyate.org). Stereotypes and myths in children’s literature.
- Rethinking Schools. (2008) Unlearning “Indian” Stereotypes (DVD). Milwaukee: Rethinking Schools (available at http://www.rethinkschools.org). Introduction to Native American history through the eyes of children. Includes teaching ideas and resources.
- Rosenstein, J. (1997) In Whose Honor? American Indian Mascots in Sports. New Day Films. Examination of the use of racist logos, nicknames, and caricatures as “mascots” in college and professional sports—and the impact of this practice on Indian families and communities.
Youtube 2 Minute Clip: Raising Our Arms in Thanksgiving
Primary Sources from a Colonialist Perspective
- Bradford, William, Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647, originally published in 1856 under the title History of Plymouth Plantation. Introduction by Francis Murphy. New York: Random House, 1981.
- Bradford, William, Mourt's Relation: A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, first published in 1622. Introduction by Dwight B. Heath. Bedford, Mass.: Applewood Books, 1963.
- Council on Interracial Books for Children, Chronicles of American Indian Protest. New York: CIBC, 1971
- James, Sydney V., Jr., ed., Three Visitors to Early Plymouth: Letters about the Pilgrim Settlement in New England during its First Seven Years. [John Pory (letters 1622-23), Emmanuel Altham (letters 1623-25), and Isaak de Rasieres (letters c. 1628)] Applewood Books, 1963, 1997, grades 5-up
- Winslow, Edward, Good News from New England: A True Relation of Things Very Remarkable at the Plantation of Plymoth in New England, first published in 1624. Bedford, Mass.: Applewood Books, n.d.
Lesson Plans
Ideas for the classroom: Discuss with your students the examples provided of Native peoples’ connection to the world through their traditional knowledge and understanding of the environment.
- For younger students: Use the excerpt from The Thanksgiving Address and the four other quotes to discuss with students the importance of place to Native peoples. Have them talk about how a reciprocal relationship is maintained by regular expressions of gratitude and practices that show respect for the natural world. Do these philosophies relate to the students’ own lives in any way? What about the wider world?
- For older students: Have students listen to two stories from National Public Radio—“Drought Threatens Navajo’s Crops, Culture” and “Tale of Two Alaskan Villages.” These can be found at www.nmai.si.edu/education/thanksgiving. Use these examples to engage students in a discussion about how people’s connections to the places where they live are relevant to their broader worldview. In what ways do the struggles of the people in those stories relate to the content presented in this section of the poster? How do environmental changes affect the interconnected relationship between people and place? - from https://nmai.si.edu/sites/1/files/pdf/education/thanksgiving_poster.pdf
- 1621 A New Look at Thanksgiving-By Catherine O'Neill Grace and Margaret M. Bruchac with Plimoth Plantation 5 grade
- Project Archaeology gathered a selection of teacher resources that support cultural, accurate, and inclusive understanding of the historical events surrounding the popular myth of the first Thanksgiving. Grades 3-6
- Upper Elementary Lesson Plan (making a web, exploring myths and native views, discussion ideas, pair share)http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/thanksgiving-exploring-perspectives
- Lesson Plan: What Really Happened? Comparing Stories of the First Thanksgivinghttp://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/23/what-really-happened-comparing-stories-of-the-first-thanksgiving
Can be differentiated for 2nd grade - 5th grade
Review of lesson plan: http://teachinghistory.org/teaching-materials/lesson-plan-reviews/25034
