First, students will have a large group discussion about the dominant narrative of feminism in the United States: that several progressive white women audaciously envisioned a gender-equal society. Then, students will listen to a PowerPoint lecture to learn about how Haudenosaunee (specifically Seneca) women and their societies influenced early American feminists as they envisioned their notions of equality. Finally, students will delve into a conversation on how today’s whitestream feminism discredits Native feminist theories.]]>
Description of Lesson:
This lesson builds on lessons one and two by discussing how to avoid the silencing, devaluing and discrediting of knowledge common within American history. In lesson one, students learned about how non-Native stereotypes about Native People function in devaluing Native People and their knowledge. In lesson two, students explored Indigenous knowledge about gender equality that is missed as a result of non-Native stereotyping and devaluing of Native People. This lesson teaches students how to avoid devaluing knowledge of certain people and groups by guiding them to see the importance of cultural exchange in the creation of new ideas.

First, students will have a large group discussion about the dominant narrative of feminism in the United States: that several progressive white women audaciously envisioned a gender-equal society. Then, students will listen to a PowerPoint lecture to learn about how Haudenosaunee (specifically Seneca) women and their societies influenced early American feminists as they envisioned their notions of equality. Finally, students will delve into a conversation on how today’s whitestream feminism discredits Native feminist theories.]]>
The United States is often remembered as a vital player in helping win WWII, but what is so often left out of the narrative is the crucial role that Native Americans played. The misremembrance of the war plays into the idea that Native Americans disappeared and were completely separate from larger American society. This unit seeks to rectify this larger miscommunication and as such should be incorporated into the teacher's larger unit on WWII. While the mini unit does touch on Native American soldiers, the main focus rests on Native code talkers, who helped code American messages that were unbreakable to enemy powers. At a time when coding and decoding messages was the difference between winning or losing battles, students will get a sense of how important these tribes were in winning the war.

In addition to simply discussing code talkers, throughout the unit students are asked to analyze a variety of primary and secondary sources to identify biases. The goal is to use these sources to help students build their own narrative of who the code talkers were, how they are remembered today, and the dangers of blindly trusting sources without interrogating their bias. ]]>