Cultural Lit. 27: U.S. Government & Indian Nations

Summary

Students will: Explain the Constitutional basis of the Federal Indian relationship; summarize the Constitutional references to American Indians; and, evaluate the importance of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, after receiving direct instruction from instructor, reading selected texts, and working in group structures, within two class periods.

Materials

1. David DeJong. 2000. The Constitutional Basis of the Federal Indian Relationship. Casa Grande, AZ: Mountain Top Curriculum.
2. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787.
3. The Constitution of the United States.
4. Journal or notebook.

Instructional Procedures

Anticipatory Set:
Post the words 'Sovereign, Sovereignty, Treaty, Ordinance, Constitution' on the board, on a flipchart or on a projection device and ask the class if they are familiar with these words and their meaning. Conduct a collective brainstorming session (utilizing group structures) and add the generated vocabulary words to listed words. Allow students to postulate the meaning of words and their understanding of concepts.

Activities:
Instructor will read aloud, while students follow along, the Key Terms and Concepts in Activity One, of DeJong text.
Instructor will facilitate DeJong Activity One-- sub-activities 1-3.

Assessment Plan

Students will record in their journals the ways in which the Northwest Ordinance and the US Constitution established and protects the nation-to-nation relationship that exists between the US and Indian Nations.