Thank you for visiting the Alaska Native Education program website. You can find resources for implementing the Alaska State Cultural Standards here: Alaska Native Knowledge Network - Alaska Standards for Culturally Responsive Schools. 

Indigenous People’s Day Resources:

Discovering Columbus: Re-reading the Past

How to engage students in a critical analysis of the textbook version of “discover.”

https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/discovering-columbus/

Columbus in America

A video available to rent for $2.99 on the consequences that still ripple through different cultures in the US after Columbus came to the Americas.

https://columbusinamerica.com/

Native Knowledge 360

Explore multiple lessons on Native Americans

https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/resources/Culture-Quest.cshtml

Lessons about Native Storytelling

http://www.pbs.org/circleofstories/educators/lesson1.html

http://www.pbs.org/circleofstories/educators/lesson2.html

http://www.pbs.org/circleofstories/educators/lesson3.html

Pre-Columbian Native Peoples and Technology

The purpose of this lesson is for students to grapple with three separate definitions: primitive, civilized (civilization), and technology. Students examine or re-examine their own definitions of these words and how these words define what they understand about Pre-Columbian Native culture.

https://www.tolerance.org/classroom-resources/tolerance-lessons/precolumbian-native-peoples-and-technology

Here are more sights to check out:

Voices of a people’s history of the United States

https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/indian-removal/

All Our Relations

https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/all-our-relations-native-struggles-laduke

Before Columbus

https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/before-columbus

• More about: Indigenous Peoples Day Resources
• Native Knowledge 360
• Alaska Native Knowledge Network (ANKN) lessons and units
• National Education Association (NEA) Native American and Alaska Native Heritage Month, Grades K-5

Teaching Approaches:

• A culturally responsive approach to discussing thanksgiving in the classroom
• Teaching about Thanksgiving
• How Does the TT Community Teach Thanksgiving?
• Teaching Thanksgiving from a Native American Perspective
• Culturally Responsive Instruction for Holiday and Religious Celebrations
• Teaching culturally sensitive holidays
• Teaching Thanksgiving in a Socially Responsible Way
• Teaching Thanksgiving from the Perspective of Native Americans
• http://k12reach.org/tab6.php

Lesson Plans/ Study Guides:

• Thanksgiving Mourning
• Arts and Justice
• Myth and Truth: The "First Thanksgiving"
• Wampanoag Celebrations
• Re-Thinking Thanksgiving: The Complete Story of an American Holiday
• Thanksgiving Interactive: You are the historian
• Harvest Ceremony
• Beyond the Thanksgiving Myth

Native American Perspectives, Contributions and Celebrations:

• Greetings to the Natural World
• Native American contributions to the U.S.
• Thanksgiving POV
• American Indian Perspectives on Thanksgiving
• For many Native Americans, Thanksgiving is a day of mourning
• Do American Indians celebrate Thanksgiving?
• Do Native Americans Celebrate Thanksgiving and Should You?

Historical Resources:

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/33781-no-thanks-how-thanksgiving-narratives-erase-the-genocide-of-native-peoples

https://rethinkingschoolsblog.com/2011/11/21/from-the-archives-rethinking-thanksgiving-myths-misgivings/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYAdf-oGc8c

https://www.racefiles.com/2013/11/27/thanksgiving-and-the-conundrum-of-cultural-racism/

Resources for Families:

http://www.understandingprejudice.org/teach/thanksgiv.htm

http://www.evebratman.com/ten-thanksgiving-envirosocialjustice/

Book Lists:

http://coolmompicks.com/

https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/history/events/beyond-the-so-called-first-thanksgiving-5-childrens-books-that-set-the-record-straight/

Cultural Standards/Other Resources:

• Alaska Native Knowledge Network - Alaska Standards for Culturally Responsive Schools
• Guide to Implementing the Alaska Cultural Standards for Educators
• Alaska Native Values
• Alaska Federation of Natives
• 2016 Elders and Youth Conference
• Alaskool - Resource for biographies on Alaska Native leaders and more

ANE Cultural Resources:

ANE Native Heritage Cultural Activities
updated September 16, 2016

Please note that the ANE Administrative office has various books and resources that can be checked out for educational purposes, please contact the ANE secretary if interested.

Elizabeth Peratrovich