As a new teacher, I remember feeling overwhelmed each time I started a new unit.
- What exactly did I need to cover?
- Did I actually know enough to teach it well?
- How would I make the material memorable for my students?
- And how on earth would I have this ready by the time class starts?!
If the prospect of preparing your Native American Regions unit has you stressed, I have some major solutions for you!
I want to save you time and help you fall in love with teaching history! So, in this blog post, I outline the most important things you need to know to teach about Native American Regions.
Below is a list of topics covered in this guide. You can click any of the links below to be taken to a specific section.
- Native American Regions Overview
- Native American History Timeline
- Teacher Resources for Teaching About Native American Regions
- Pacing Guide
- Free Great Plains Lesson
- Native American History Primary Sources
- Native American History Videos
- Native American History Picture Books
- Native American Regions Interactive Lesson Plans
Native American Regions Overview
Let’s begin with a quick refresher course on the key information you need as you start teaching about Native American Regions! After all, your last college history course may have been a while ago!
Who are Native Americans?
This term refers to the Indigenous people who have lived in the Western Hemisphere for at least 15,000 – 20,000 years. Long before their contact with Europeans, Indigenous people were successful stewards of the land – from the Northern Arctic Circle to the tip of South America.
Thousands of Indigenous groups created diverse and complex societies. They interacted with each other over millennia.
Where did the earliest Americans come from?
Today, most scientists believe that the first Americans came from Siberia in East Asia thousands of years ago. There are different ideas about how the first Americans came to the New World. The major theories are the Bering Land Bridge and Coastal Route theories.
According to the Bering Land Bridge theory, the first people traveled from Asia to America by walking across a strip of land that is now under the Bering Sea. Supporters of the Coastal Route Theory think the earliest travelers paddled small boats from East Asia to Alaska and down the western coast of the Americas to Chile.
Bering Land Bridge, link
What is culture?
Culture is a way of life for a group of people. This includes the behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols they accept (generally without thinking about them) and are passed along from generation to generation.
There is no single Native American culture. There are more than 2,000 Native American tribes. Each tribe has a unique culture that spans history from time immemorial to the present day. Geography, natural resources, and climate influence a group’s culture.
One way to look at culture is the Cultural Iceberg Model.
- The tip of the iceberg represents the external part of culture – or what we can see. This includes behaviors and some beliefs.
- The internal part of culture is below the surface. It is the part of culture we cannot always see. This includes beliefs, values, and thought patterns that guide behavior.
- It is suggested that the only way we can really learn the internal culture of others is to actively participate in their culture.
- This model teaches us that we cannot judge a culture based on what we see! We must take the time to get to know individuals from that culture and interact with them. Only then can we uncover the values and beliefs that underlie the behavior of that society.
What are the Native American Regions?
Many historians group Native American nations into distinct cultural regions. The Indigenous people in these regions share some cultural traits. In the land that is now the United States, historians identify the following cultural regions:
North American regions, link
Eastern Woodlands
The Eastern Woodlands cultural region extends from the Atlantic coast to the Great Lakes and down to the Ohio River. Many different Indigenous nations have lived in the Eastern Woodlands. These groups include the Haudenosaunee, Ojibwe, Delaware, Wampanoag, and Huron people.
Great Plains
The Great Plains cultural region is a flatland west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains. Many prominent Indigenous nations have lived in the Great Plains region, including the Crow, Lakota, and Cheyenne.
Southwest
The Southwest cultural region is located between the Rocky Mountains and the Mexican Sierra Madre. Many different Indigenous nations have lived in the Southwest region, including the Hopi, Zuñi, Navajo, and Apache.
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest region borders the Pacific Ocean. It ranges from the islands of Yakutat Bay, Alaska, in the north to the California-Oregon border in the south. Over three dozen separate tribal groups call this region home.
Plateau
A plateau is a raised area of land that is flat on top. The Indigenous peoples of the Plateau lived in the high-plateau areas of the Northwestern United States and Southwestern Canada. Many different nations have lived in the Plateau cultural region.
Great Basin
A basin is a natural dip in the earth’s surface. The Great Basin refers to the large area of land in the American West between the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada Mountain Ranges. Various nations have lived in the Great Basin cultural region.
California
The California Indigenous nations lived in parts of present-day California and Baja California, Mexico. This area had many natural resources, making it one of the most densely populated Native American areas in North America.
Southeast
The Southeast Indigenous nations lived along the Mississippi River and in the area surrounding the Gulf of Mexico. This included parts of modern-day Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Virginia, and Tennessee. Many different nations have lived in this region.
Native Americans from southeast Idaho link
What are the effects of colonization?
As Europeans arrived in America, they carried diseases that Indigenous Americans had no natural immunity against. Some historians think up to 90% of Indigenous people died from this exposure. Consequently, the decimated tribes were disadvantaged as they fought against European efforts to enslave them and take their land.
Historians estimate that European colonizers enslaved between 2.5 and 5 million Native Americans; this led to constant warfare. Through unjust treaties and force, many Native American tribes were also removed from their original homelands onto reservations.
Some groups did enjoy the new trade goods from the Europeans (such as guns, metal fish hooks, or cooking kettles), however, these items often altered their cultural traditions. While some tribal cultures changed over time, other tribes and groups were wiped out by disease, slavery, and warfare.
Spanish Empire explorer Hernando DeSoto greeting Native Americans on the Mississippi River, link
Who are important native American leaders today?
Today, more than 6.5 million people identify as Native Americans. In history class, we mostly learn about famous Native Americans from the past. However, there are many modern influential Native American leaders.
For example, Deb Haaland (of the Laguna Pueblo) is the U.S. Secretary of the Interior. She is a member of President Biden’s cabinet, a group of advisors that constitute part of the federal government’s executive branch.
In my Native Americans unit, there is a lesson where students research and present on a modern Indigenous leader.
Deb Haaland, link
Native American History Timeline
It is challenging to narrow down events and know which to include and which to leave out. I’ve spent hours analyzing historical sources, so you don’t have to!
In the timeline, I included events from eight cultural regions: Eastern Woodlands, Great Plains, Southwest, Pacific Northwest, Plateau, Great Basin, California, and Southeast.
Here are 20 Native American key events to include in your Native American history timeline.
- Approx. 13,000 BC – Humans paddle small boats from East Asia to Alaska and down the Western coast to present-day Chile (Coastal Route Theory or Kelp Highway Theory).
- Approx. 12,000 BC-11,000 BC – Humans cross the Bering Land Bridge from present-day Siberia into North America (Bering Land Bridge Theory).
- 8000 BC – Tlingit people settle near the mouths of the Skeena and Nass Rivers in the Pacific Northwest.
- Approx. 900 – The Mayan Empire is at its height in Central America. This empire includes about 40 cities and up to 2 million people.
- 980 – Indigenous Americans and Europeans may have had their first contact. Scandinavian Vikings, led by Erik the Red, probably sailed to Canada and encountered the Thule Indigenous people.
- 1142 – The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy is formed in the Eastern Woodlands of the present-day United States. They passed the Great Law of Peace, an oral constitution, that may have influenced the U.S. Constitution of 1787.
- 1300s – Present-day Shoshone ancestors settle in the Great Basin region. Their people are famous for their woven baskets and painted pottery.
- 1492 – Christopher Columbus arrives in the Americas. His arrival, and the arrival of future European colonizers, introduced foreign diseases that killed millions of Native Americans.
- Around 1500 – The Incan Empire is at its height in South America. The empire included up to 12 million people and 25,000 miles of roadways.
- 1519 – The Aztec Empire is at its height in central Mexico. This empire Included 500 small states and up to 6 million people.
- 1572 – Spanish conquistadors demolish the Incan Empire to create present-day Peru and claim the land for Spain. This victory led to future wars in present-day Chile and Columbia and battles in the Amazon Rainforest.
- 1607 – English colonists arrive in present-day Virginia and settle Jamestown Colony, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. Jamestown settlers and the local Powhatan people have both peaceful and violent interactions.
- 1621 – Pilgrims celebrate the First Thanksgiving in Plymouth after arriving the year before. Local Wampanoag members helped the early settlers learn to grow crops and survive the harsh winter.
- 1754-1763 – The French and Indian War is fought between France and Great Britain over territory in North America. Some Indigenous groups support the French, while others support the British.
- 1805 or 1806 – The Yakama tribe from the Columbia River Plateau, known for hunting, gathering, and trading salmon, encounter Lewis and Clark on their Westward Expedition.
- 1830 – President Andrew Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act, forcing Native American tribes east of the Mississippi to relocate to reservations in the west.
- 1830-1850 – The U.S. Government forcibly removes the Cherokee, Muscogee (Creek), Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nations from the Southeast U.S. to reservations in what is now Oklahoma. This is called the Trail of Tears.
- 1849-1870 – The California Gold Rush leads to frequent conflicts between hopeful miners and local California Native American tribes.
- 1854-1890 – Sioux Wars: Multiple wars are fought between the U.S. government and the Sioux people, including the Dakota and Lakota tribes of the Great Plains.
- 1942– During World War II, Navajo men use their knowledge of the Navajo language to pass coded messages for the United States Marine Corps. Their code was never broken by the Japanese.
I recommend displaying a timeline like this in your classroom. You could even have students help you create the timeline as you are teaching about Native American Regions!
You can download a free Native American History Timeline for Kids HERE.
Teacher Resources for Teaching About Native American Regions
Now that you know the basics, here are a few amazing resources to help you better understand Native American Regions.
- UXL Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes– This free ebook has multiple volumes covering tribes from all over the United States and Canada, including small tribes and some that no longer exist. The best part? It’s written for a middle school audience!
- Encyclopedia Britannica– A collection of well-researched articles all relating to “North American Indians,” including regions, tribes, and key figures.
- Khan Academy – Articles and videos explaining the thriving Indigenous groups (and various regions) in North America prior to European contact.
- Boundless History Textbook– With key terms and to-the-point explanations, this online textbook covers information about the early inhabitants of the Americas, regional settlements, and the pre-colonial development of North America.
- Framework for Essential Understandings about American Indians– This framework from the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian outlines key concepts that will give 21st-century students “comprehensive knowledge and perspectives about Native Peoples.”
Pacing Guide
If creating your own Native American Regions lessons has you overwhelmed, check out my Native American Regions unit.
This history unit will help you thoughtfully teach about Native Americans’ diverse cultures. It will also prepare you to tackle complex topics like Indigenous slavery, Old World diseases, and colonization.
Even better, I’ve made it engaging! Your students will especially love the lesson where they create a presentation about one Native American group. But these aren’t simple posters or PowerPoints. Instead, students can pick from options like creating a podcast, designing a museum exhibit, writing a news broadcast, and more!
Free Great Plains Lesson
Do you need help getting started teaching about Native American Regions? For an engaging, low-prep lesson, grab my FREE Great Plains Gallery Walk lesson! This is a free sample from my Native American Regions unit.
In this activity, students learn about the Great Plains region and the Lakota tribe’s history and culture.
This freebie includes 10 informational posters (plus a student worksheet) for a low-prep, high-impact lesson as students walk around the room learning new material.
Native American Primary Sources
Primary sources bring history to life in your classroom. These sources are an incredible tool to add when teaching about Native American Regions since they give students a glimpse into what life was like in past eras. But finding high-quality and age-appropriate primary sources can be difficult.
To help you use primary sources in your classroom, I’ve compiled a list of Native American primary sources.
One of my favorite Native American primary sources is this video of a contemporary Cherokee storyteller. Whitney Roach can demonstrate to your students that Native American culture is both historically significant and relevant today:
A Fire for the Future: Cherokee Storyteller Whitney Roach
- Description of Primary Source
- Whitney Roach is a Cherokee storyteller, a former Miss Cherokee (2018-2019), and an emerging young leader. In this video, she shares her favorite Cherokee story about how the Water Spider brought the first fire. The legend begins at the 3-minute mark, but your students will probably appreciate the context of who is telling the story and why she is motivated to tell it!
- Class Discussion Questions
- Why is Whitney Roach interested in sharing Cherokee legends?
- What characters were included in the legend of the “First Fire?”
- How did the fire affect the different animals in the legend?
- What was a message or lesson in the legend?
- What role does storytelling play in Cherokee culture?
- Resources for this Primary Source
- A Fire for the Future: Cherokee Storyteller Whitney Roach (YouTube, Osiyo TV)
- Worksheet for analyzing video (National Archives)
Need more Native American primary sources? Click here to read the blog post.
Native American History Videos
Videos can hook just about any student’s attention when you are teaching about Native American Regions. But, as most teachers know, finding historically accurate and age-appropriate videos can be tricky. To help provide you with some fun, informative videos, I have compiled a list of 9 Native American History Videos for Students.
Here is a video about the unique record-keeping method of the Lakota Tribe. This would be a great follow-up to the Gallery Walk Lesson, and an opportunity for your students to make something creative that helps you get to know them better.
Lakota Winter Counts- Smithsonian Design Museum
- Link to video
- Two Smithsonian experts describe the Lakota tradition of creating ‘Winter Counts’ as a way of recording important events from the year.
- 5 minutes
- My rating: Ages 10+
- Notes: This video shows examples of Lakota Winter Counts, which were annual records that showed key events through drawings. The historians explain what we can learn from these records. You could have students create a visual record of their lives, thinking of one key event per year since they were born.
Need more Native American History videos? Click here to read the blog post.
Native American Picture Books
There is just something special about reading a picture book aloud with your students. Picture books not only captivate student attention, but they also allow students to connect to history in a more personal way.
One of my favorite picture books to use when teaching about Native American Regions is:
We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga
Book Description:
This book follows a full year of Cherokee celebrations. Through each season, the characters show gratitude through their traditions. Written by a member of the Cherokee Nation, it also includes a helpful glossary and the complete Cherokee syllabary.
This book is appropriate for ages 8 and up.
Ideas for Using this Book:
- If using my Native American unit, this would be a great addition to Lesson 13 (Southeast and Cherokee).
- Have your students practice saying the Cherokee words as you are reading.
- The National Education Association has an engaging lesson plan written specifically for this book, including thoughtful discussion questions. In this activity, students choose a deciduous tree in their community as their gratitude tree. They observe the tree weekly and make notes and drawings as it changes with the seasons. They also reflect upon things they are grateful for.
Need more Native American picture books? Click here to read the blog post.
Native American Regions Interactive Lesson Plans
How would you like your Native American Regions Unit to be completely planned for the next 3 weeks? I’m talking 15 lessons, worksheets, answer keys, and activities completely ready to go.
Sounds amazing, right?
I’m a former 5th-grade teacher myself. I’ve been in your shoes! With the ever-increasing demands placed upon teachers, it can be hard to keep up. For me, that often meant letting my social studies lessons fall through the cracks.
Now, I work full-time creating U.S. History curriculum to help busy teachers like you. I want to help you fall in love with teaching history.
My history units have been loved by thousands of 5th-8th grade teachers! Keep reading to find out why you will love my newest interactive unit all about Native American Regions.
What’s included in the Native American Regions Unit?
- 15 detailed Native American Regions lesson plans for 5th-grade and middle school students
- 3 weeks of student activities that are compatible with either printed copies OR digital versions for 1:1 student devices
- Suggested pacing guide
- Answer keys (Of course!)
- Google Slides for EACH lesson (Google Classroom compatible with clear student instructions)
- Easy printing file with all student worksheets and articles
- 175+ pages with a variety of activities (PowerPoint presentations, task cards, maps, gallery walks, a cultural atlas, student project choice boards, and so much more)
- Early Finisher Activities for 9 of the lessons (each one is customized for the daily lesson material)
- Editable end-of-unit test and study guide
Native American Regions Table of Contents
Introduction Lessons:
- Origin of Indigenous People— Contrast Indigenous creation stories and examine scientific theories of human settlement in the Americas
- What is Culture?— Define “culture” and analyze your own identity by creating an identity chart
- Mapping Cultural Regions— Explain how geography, natural resources, and climate influence culture; label 8 Native American cultural regions on a map
8 Cultural Regions:
- Eastern Woodlands— Create Cultural Atlas pages about the Native people of the American Northeast and the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois)
- Great Plains— Create Cultural Atlas pages about the Great Plains Indigenous peoples and the Lakota (Sioux)
- Southwest— Create Cultural Atlas pages about the Southwest Indigenous peoples and the Navajo
- Pacific Northwest— Create Cultural Atlas pages about the Native people of the Pacific Northwest and the Tlingit
- Student Project— Plan a group project about a Native American group (project choices: poster, podcast, test and answer key, task cards, lap book, newscast, slideshow, or museum exhibit)
- Student Workday— Plan a group project about a Native American group
- Plateau & Yakama Presentations— Listen respectfully to student presentations and create Cultural Atlas pages about the Plateau Indigenous peoples and the Yakama
- Great Basin & Shoshone Presentations— Listen respectfully to student presentations and create Cultural Atlas pages about the Great Basin Indigenous peoples and the Shoshone
- California & Yurok Presentations— Listen respectfully to student presentations and create Cultural Atlas pages about the California Indigenous peoples and the Yurok
- Southeast & Cherokee Presentations— Listen respectfully to student presentations and create Cultural Atlas pages about the Southeast Indigenous peoples and the Cherokee
Conclusion Lessons:
- Effects of Colonization— Explain how European colonization affected Indigenous Americans in general and how it affected people in four specific cultural regions
- Indigenous People Today— Option 1: Write thoughtful questions to ask a representative of a local tribe about their culture OR Option 2: research and teach about a modern-day Indigenous American leader; illustrate three main ideas from the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Here’s what teachers are saying about the Native American Regions Unit
“This is THE BEST resource I’ve been able to find for comprehensive Social Studies units/lessons. Now I have nothing I need to do but read the lessons and prep the materials! This has made my life so much easier and, even better, the students are LOVING the learning! Thank you! I’ll be purchasing the rest of the units as the year progresses.” –Heather C.
“Wow. This has absolutely everything you could need. My students were engaged, I didn’t have to prep a lot, and students learned a lot-me too actually. Thank you for creating this resource! I will be getting more. Highly, highly recommend.” –Mandi M.
Final Thoughts
Whew! You’ve made it all the way to the end of this Ultimate Guide to Teaching about Native American Regions!
If you’re still coping with the stress of figuring out a new unit, I hope this Native American Regions Unit will be just the resource you need. After all, I made it with teachers like you in mind. I want to save you time (and stress!) so you can focus on what you love – teaching!
Need help teaching other eras of U.S. history? Click here to see all my U.S. History teaching guides.
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