The American Yawp constructs a coherent and accessible narrative from all the best of recent historical scholarship. Without losing sight of politics and power, it incorporates transnational perspectives, integrates diverse voices, recovers narratives of resistance, and explores the complex process of cultural creation. It looks for America in crowded slave cabins, bustling markets, congested tenements, and marbled halls. It navigates between maternity wards, prisons, streets, bars, and boardrooms. Whitman’s America, like ours, cut across the narrow boundaries that strangle many narratives. Balancing academic rigor with popular readability, The American Yawp offers a multi-layered, democratic alternative to the American past.

Throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries tribal nations and Indigenous communities have continued to assert their right to self-governance and sovereignty despite numerous efforts to force them to assimilate. By extension, the purposeful erasure of Indigenous peoples as a living and thriving presence in the current, modern-day world also remains a reality.  Tribal sovereignty predates the existence of the U.S. government and the state of Oregon. Tribalgovernments are separate and unique sovereign nations with the power to execute their self-governance to protect the health, safety, and welfare of their citizens and to govern their lands, air, and waters. One of the ways Indigenous communities have been embodying their right to sovereignty is through the establishment of an Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Indigenous Peoples’ Day serves as a reminder of the contributions, both past and present, of Indigenous communities and tribal nations. In this lesson, students will explore the concepts of tribal sovereignty and self-determination and learn about efforts by tribes and other entities to promote and support the celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. This lesson is meant to be used with its companion lesson: Indigenous Peoples’ Day as an Act of Sovereignty Part II.

Throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries tribal nations and Indigenous communities havecontinued to assert their right to self-governance and sovereignty despite numerous efforts to forcethem to assimilate. By extension, the purposeful erasure of Indigenous peoples as a living and thriving presence in the contemporary world also remains a reality. Tribal sovereignty predates the existence of the U.S. government and the state of Oregon. Tribal governments are separate and unique sovereign nations with the power to execute their self governance to protect the health, safety, and welfare of their citizens and to govern their lands, air, and waters. One of the ways Indigenous communities have been embodying their right to sovereignty is through the establishment of an Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Indigenous Peoples’ Day serves as reminder of the contributions, both past and present, of Indigenous communities and tribal nations. This lesson extends the knowledge gained from Part I by asking students to make meaning of Indigenous Peoples’ Day and to explore how advocacy leads to a local proclamation and change.

ESSENTIAL UNDERSTANDINGS• Genocide • Language • History • IdentityLEARNING OUTCOMESStudents will utilize primary documents for historical investigationStudents will define cultural genocideStudents will identify how attempts at education affected the culture of PNW Native Americans2018 SOCIAL SCIENCE STANDARDS• 4.12, 4.14, 4.16-4.22 • 8.3, 8.24, 8.25, 8.28-8.33 • HS.55, HS.56, HS.60-74ESSENTIAL QUESTIONSWhat are the intended and unintended consequences of government policies?What is cultural imperialism?What is destroyed in the name of progress? What is created?

The documents and questions may be used for classroom investigation or as a unit assessment. Documents can be distributed and assigned as a jigsaw or as a complete set. Students read the document and apply historical investigation skills. Students should have access to prior learning about the nature of Indian and white settler contact.Updated video link for Broken Treaties

The Stages of Genocide Toolkit contains six case studies of historical genocide:• Armenian Genocide• Genocide in Cambodia• Genocide in Guatemala• The Holocaust• Genocide of Native Americans in the United States• Genocide in RwandaThese specific case studies were chosen for their wide geographic range and their place in modern historical chronology. It is important to note that these genocides are not the only examples of genocide that one can find throughout history, nor do the authors of this toolkit consider them to be “worse” or more important than those that are not included in this toolkit. We believe strongly that there is no place for a “hierarchy of suffering” in genocide education. Additionally, these summaries are not meant to be comprehensive histories of each genocide. They were written to align with Dr. Gregory Stanton’s Ten Stages of Genocide and as such, there are many historical details that are not included in the summaries.