Native American Religion Unit Lesson Plan
Here is a link to a two to three week unit plan on Native American religion. It contains four parts--features of primal religions, colonial encounter, forced schooling, and current issues.
Primal Religions Power Point
This is a pdf of an excellent powerpoint on the primary religions in America, Australia, and Africa. It also includes a good overview of the commonalities among the primal religions along with several short video clips.
The Big Myth
Creation myths from around the world.
This website plays the creation myths for different parts of the world through animation from North America to Australia.
This website plays the creation myths for different parts of the world through animation from North America to Australia.
In the Light of Reverence Documentary
"In the Light of Reverence is a documentary produced by Christopher McLeod and Malinda Maynor. It features three tribal nations, the Hopi, the Winnemem Wintu, and the Lakota Sioux, and their struggles to protect three sacred sites." I usually show of the segments so students can see the continuing struggle Native Americans with heir sacred sites. Here is a link to a lesson about the documentary that I adapted from the POV website.
Shamanism
Great NPR story about shamnism in Korea.
Yoruba in America NPR Clip
Here's an interesting story about the Yuruba from NPR. Students could read or listen to the story for homework or you could play it in class.
Broken Arrow: Award Winning Video
Here are a couple of possibilities for this unit. Broken Rainbow is an award winning video focused on the removal of 12,000 Navajo from the Joint Use Area in dispute with Hopi peoples.--all on line in 7 parts here: very interesting and engaging. Here is a review from the LA Times
Australian Aborigines
Aboriginal spirituality–the Dreaming–is part of our unit on indigenous religions. The Dreaming is essentially a creation story. Over time, these stories set “out the structures of society, the rules for social behavior and the ceremonies performed in order to maintain the life of the land.”
The Australian Museum has a great site about Aboriginal spiritual beliefs with a good overview of the Dreaming. The Australian government has another excellent site. Both are great for a webquest.
The Australian Museum has a great site about Aboriginal spiritual beliefs with a good overview of the Dreaming. The Australian government has another excellent site. Both are great for a webquest.
THE SHAMAN, THE SPIRIT HEALER & THE EARTH
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A PBS Series called, "The Global Spirit," has an episode that deal with indigenous people's beliefs called, The Shaman, the Spirit Healer and the Earth. You cannot stream the entire episode. You have it to buy the DVD. However, you can play a series of clips which will hold student attention better than a 50 or 60 minute documentary. Some of the questions the clips consider:
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African Indigenous Religions
Native Americans and Religious Liberty
- How did Thomas Jefferson, a key architect of religious freedom, justify using federal money to promote missionary activities toward Native American tribes?
- How can this historical example relate to religious liberty interpretation today? Provide examples.
- Which constitutional protections did Joe Ross claim for the Cherokee? Why were constitutional protections denied to the Cherokee?
- What were 2-3 cultural consequences for Native American youth as a result of forced Western style schooling? What have been the lasting impacts of the residential schools? In what ways did Red Jacket’s speech claiming religious liberty for his people reveal cultural misunderstandings between white settlers and Native peoples that sometimes led to violence?
- Red Jacket Defends Native American Religion, 1805
- "Montana Mosaic: Indian Boarding Schools" (2006)
- “Canada’s Forced Schooling of Aboriginal Children Was ‘Cultural Genocide,’ Report Finds” by Ian Austin, The New York Times, June 2, 2015
- Explore the “Rights of Native Americans” timeline from the National Archives exhibit “Record of Rights”
- PBS: Indian country Diaries
- Chapter 9, First Freedoms
Christianity and the Native American Religious Experience
Watch: Linford Fisher, assistant professor at Brown University, outline common elements of the colonization of Native Americans.
- List and offer evidence for each of the four common elements of colonization of Native Americans.
- List and explain three trends of the colonial period.
- How many Native Americans are estimated to have lived in North America prior to contact with Europeans?
- Why does the speaker refer to the period of Native American contact with Europeans as "the invasion"?
CBS Religion: Protecting the Sacred
In this episode, Protecting the Sacred, CBS Religion focuses on water, the environment, and climate change. They visited with those who would be affected by the country's emerging pipelines. Today, it's more relevant than ever.
Native Americans and Thanksgiving
In this short clip from Mic, Native Americans remind us that Thanksgiving was not really a share meal with Indians, but rather a genocide.
Thanksgiving isn’t what you think it is — so why does the country keep forgetting? pic.twitter.com/T8E7msBaMa
— Mic (@mic) November 21, 2017