this one is a bit long, but anyone interested might want to read it and offer opinions?
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Institute for Global Studies
"Teaching about the Holocaust and Contemporary Genocide"
Lesson Plan - Is the Native American Experience a Genocide?
Grade Level: 10th grade U. S. History
Time: 7 - 10 days
Focus: Since I teach on an Indian Reservation and more than half of my students are
Native Americans, I would like to create a unit based on their history. My goal is to
present and help students locate information about the Native American experience from
early exploration through urbanization. Students would than analyze that information and
come to a conclusion on whether or not the Native American experience can be defined
as a genocide. As an end project, students will write an essay demonstrating how and
why the Native American experience can be defined or not defined as genocide.
Resources: Alan S. Rosenbaum. Is the Holocaust Unique? David E. Stannard. American
Holocaust. Russell Thornton. American Indian Holocaust and Survival: A Population
History Since 1492.
OBJECTIVES
1. Define genocide and Holocaust with students understanding that the Holocaust refers
to a specific genocide.
2. Study Native American experience from European exploration to urbanization.
- Acts committed against Native Americans
- U. S. government policy
- Declining numbers
3. Analyze whether Native American experience can be classified as genocide.
Day 1: Define and discuss genocide.
Genocide
UN Convention, Dec. 11, 1946 Art II - Means any of the following acts with intent to
destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, or religious group, as such:
a) Killing members of the group
b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group
c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about
its physical destruction in whole or in part
d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within a group
e) Forcibly transferring children of this group to another group
What does this mean?
National - relating to or belonging to a nation
Ethnical - usually associated with language or culture
Religious - relating to a religion
Class breaks into monitored groups to discuss the five categories of genocide. What are
examples of each? Does the group understand the definition of genocide? Groups come
back and class as a whole reviews the group discussions.
Day 2 - 4: Discuss and define the Holocaust. (This is meant to be a general overview, not
an in-depth study of the Holocaust)
Holocaust
The dictionary defines holocaust as a great or complete devastation or destruction,
especially by fire or a sacrifice consumed by fire. Holocaust is a biblical term meaning
"burnt whole" or "burnt offering" or a sacrifice made to God. After 1945, the Holocaust
was gradually applied to the Jewish destruction by Nazi Germany.
When we talk about the Holocaust, we are referring to the Jewish genocide by Nazi
Germany during WWII. While there were other victims of the Nazi regime, including
Poles, Sinti and Roma ("Gypsies"), the handicapped, homosexuals, and Jehovah's
witnesses, the Jewish genocide is different in that the Jewish victims of the Holocaust
were targeted as a race of people to be destroyed.
At this point, I would use the Historical Summary section of the "Resource Book for
Educators: Teaching about the Holocaust" from the United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum in Washington D.C. to present information on the Holocaust to my students. I
would also provide other sources of visual information to the students, including the tape
by Seth Kramer.
Day 5 - 8 (time period here is subject to change): Outline the Native American
experience and decline relating to European exploration and colonization, the Indian
wars, establishment of Reservations, assimilation, and urbanization. As we go through
the experiences of Native Americans, we will refer back to the definition of genocide by
the UN.
Native American Experience
I. Population Decline
A. Although there is no way to know for sure the Native American population prior
to European exploration, it is estimated that between 5 - 8 million resided in
what is now the United States
B. By 1800, the number had declined to 600,000
C. By the late 1800s, the number reached its lowest at 250,000
D. Since that time, the population has continued to increase
Chart: "American Indian Population Decline and Recovery in the United States Area,
1492 - 1980" (Thornton, xvii)
II. Causes of Decline
A. Disease
- Generally associated with early European exploration
- Single most important factor in Native American population decline
1. Smallpox, measles, bubonic plague, cholera, typhoid, pleurisy, scarlet
fever, diphtheria, mumps, whooping cough, colds, venereal diseases
(gonorrhea, syphilis, and chancroid), pneumonia, typhus, malaria, and
yellow fever were some of the diseases brought from Europe and Africa
2. Native Americans did not have previous exposure to these illnesses, and
therefore no natural immunity or ability to combat them
3. The diseases came, spread, and killed again and again and again.
4. Alcoholism can also be considered a disease that has contribute to Native
American population decline
- Linked to high mortality rates from suicide, accidents, diabetes, and
cirrhosis
B. Warfare
1. "While warfare and genocide were not very significant overall in the
American Indian population decline, they were important causes of
decline for particular tribes." (Thornton, 47)
2. The U.S. Bureau of the Census asserted in 1894:
"It has been estimated that since 1775 more than 5,000 white men,
women and children have been killed in individual affairs with
Indians, and more than 8,500 Indians ...The Indian wars under the
government of the United States have been more than 40 in number.
They have cost the lives of about 19,000 white men, women, and
children ...and the lives of about 30,000 Indians. The actual number of
killed and wounded Indians must be very much greater than the
number given, as they conceal ...their actual loss in battle, and carry
their killed and wounded off and secret them." (Thornton, 48)
C. Removal and relocation (Reservations)
* The dispersal of Native Americans from their homelands to the Reservations
caused increased mortality for several reasons:
1. Associated military actions
- Removal to Reservations did not mean an end to warfare or rebellion
2. Disease
3. Starvation
- Native Americans were removed from their native homelands and way
of life, put on reservations, and expected to become farmers
- Native Americans were not giving the necessary tools or supplies to
succeed. They were also not given any instructions on how to grow
crops, something they were unfamiliar with.
- Destruction of buffalo herds
4. Extremely harsh conditions during the moves (Trail of Tears)
5. Destruction of ways of life
- U. S. government policy of trying to force Native Americans to
become farmers and ranchers
- Efforts by churches & government to undermine Indian religious,
government, and kinship systems
- Deliberate destruction of flora and fauna used by Native Americans
- Near extinction of the buffalo
D. Assimilation
- Complete submergence of one culture into the larger, dominant culture
- Assimilation has always been the policy of the U.S. government
1. Children were removed from their families
2. Taken to boarding schools (generally run by Christian churches)
3. Forced to change their names, cut their hair, change their dress
4. Required to learn and speak only English language
5. Attempt to remove the "Indian"
- Assimilation has created many problems for Native American people
- An entire generation was removed from their way of life
- An entire generation did not learn how to parent
- Increase in depression, alcoholism, and suicide
E. Urbanization - movement of Native Americans from rural areas (Reservation)
to urban areas (cities)
* Table: "Percentage of the United States Indian Population Who Were Urban,
1890 – 1980" (Thornton, 227)
1. U. S. Bureau of Indian Affairs' relocation program
2. Majority of Native Americans migrate to urban areas for economic
opportunities
3. Returnees - total return rate between 30 and 70 percent
- Reasons for return are generally personal or economic
- Better-educated Indians more likely to move to and stay in urban
areas
- Mixed bloods more likely to stay in urban areas
- Individuals with stronger self-identification as American Indians
are more likely to leave urban areas (Thornton, 230)
- Many Native Americans follow a circular pattern of movement
back and forth between rural and urban areas
Along with this outline, we will look at U. S. documents and Indian policy.
1. U.S. Declaration of Independence
- Examine the wording of the Declaration and Independence and apply that to
the treatment of Native Americans by the U. S. government
2. Handbook of Federal Indian Law, Felix Cohen
3. Indian Reorganization Act of 1934
4. President Andrew Jackson's policy for Indian removal
5. American Indian Policy in the 20th Century, Vine Deloria
Visual depiction of treatment of Native Americans by settlers and government. (This
section will come with a warning as some pictures may be disturbing.
Day 9: Hand out and discuss table "Genocide and mass murder: Structural situations
in the 12-types scheme." Students have the remainder a class to work on their final
project.
FINAL PROJECT: On day 1, students will be given the following assignment due
on day 10.
Is the Native American Experience a genocide?
Directions: Using the information presented in class along with your own personal
knowledge and research, write a 2 to 3 page essay answering the following question:
Is the Native American Experience a genocide? Here are the requirements for your
essay:
1. Essay must be educated
2. Essay must answer whether or not you believe the Native American
experience is a genocide
3. You must give reasons for your answer along with the how and why
4. Finally, your essay should include examples and documentation supporting
your conclusion.
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what do you think?