Remote Lessons

American Indians in the Military - A Warrior Spirit - This lesson is appropriate for grades 7-12.

Ancient Art: Bear Gulch and Atherton Canyon - Learn about these sites in Montana that hold one of the largest concentrations of pictograph and petroglyph images in North America. This lesson is appropriate for grades 6-12.

Ancient Islands in the Sky - Archaeology in the Beartooth Ice - This lesson is appropriate for grades 7-12.

Bison Restoration: Resources for Learning about Contemporary American Indian Issues - This online ready lesson helps students learn about restoration of the bison to several Montana reservations and the importance to American Indians. It is appropriate for grades 6-12.

Blackfeet and Crow Star Stories - This lesson is appropriate for grades 5-8.

Contemporary Indigenous Artists of Montana - This lesson will introduce students to several Native American Artists of Montana. It is appropriate for grades 7-12.

Crazy Mountain Cathedral - This lesson is appropriate for grades 7-12.

Crow Chief Plenty Coups - This lesson regarding Chief Plenty Coups is appropriate for grades 6-12.

CSKT Online Education Resources: Fire on the Land, Explore the River, Lower Flathead River Interactive Map and Resource Guide

Essential Understanding One - This online ready lesson helps students learn more about Essential Understanding One: Tribal Diversity. This lesson is appropriate for grades 5-12.

Learning about the Seals of Montana Tribal Nations - This online ready lesson helps students learn about the meaning of the seals for each of the Montana tribal nations. It is appropriate for grades 4-12.

Learning about Tribal Sovereignty - This online lesson will provide students with important information regarding tribal sovereignty. This is for grades 9-12.

Preserving the Sacredness of the Badger-Two Medicine - This online lesson will help students understand a little more about the remarkable ceremonial and legal history of the Badger-Two Medicine region and the Blackfeet Nation. It is appropriate for grades 8-12.

Resilience in Indian Country: Yesterday and Today - This online lesson tells a story of Crow woman named Pretty Shield and an American Indian youth of today. It is appropriate for grades 6-12.

Sacrifice Cliff and a Deadly Pandemic -This lesson provides students with a story about a pandemic that occurred in the 1800s. It is appropriate for grades 7-12. 

Who Was Red Fox James?- This lesson provides information to learn about Red Fox James and his historic contributions to American Indian and Native Alaskan Heritage Month. It is appropriate for grades 7-12.

 

Teaching Montana History-This blog aims to nurture a supportive and enthusiastic network of educators committed to place-based learning and teaching Montana history.

Virtual Professional Development

VIRTUAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

RECORDED WEBINARS AND BEST PRACTICES CONFERENCE SESSIONS

Earn TMT Professional Development units (formerly known as renewal units) on your own time and at your own pace! Build your background knowledge! Gain resources to use in your classroom!

Need professional development units? The Montana Office of Public Instruction Indian Education for All Unit has some great virtual options for you! Each webinar/workshop is a 90-minute recording you can watch when it suits you and your schedule. To earn professional development units, you will need to compete a short survey after watching each recorded episode. You will also gain access to the extensive resource folder that supports the materials referenced in the recordings. Over 200 educators have viewed the recordings, and their feedback indicates these 90-minute webinars/workshops are valuable, interesting, and immediately applicable to all teaching scenarios.

A Background Knowledge Building Series provides detailed information to build your background knowledge in the topic being presented. This series is intended for individuals wanting to learn more about a topic in order to more confidently and accurately present and teach about the topic.

A Background Knowledge Building and Implementation Strategies Series both builds background knowledge in addition to providing specific resources and strategies for teachers to integrate into their curriculum.

The Best Practices Conferences provide information on various topics.

*Participants are only eligible to receive two professional development units per webinar session and one unit for each of the Best Practices Conferences keynotes/sessions. If you attended the live sessions or watched the recordings previously and received units, you will not be eligible to earn additional renewal units.

RENEWAL UNITS SURVEY

INDIAN EDUCATION FOR ALL BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE BUILDING WEBINAR SERIES

IEFA Across the Content

Melody Small - Integrating IEFA and Science: Teaching about Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Western Science, November 21, 2023

Adriane Tailfeathers – Integrating IEFA and Math: Blackfeet Tribal Voting and Percentage Strategy, October 17, 2023

Willamina Tailfeathers – Integrating IEFA and ELA: Blackfeet Language and a Read-Aloud Strategy, September 19, 2023

Tribal Sovereignty

Covers different aspects of sovereignty, such as a basic history of tribal sovereignty, tribal governance, natural resource management, blood quantum, cultural autonomy and more

Indian Boarding Schools: From History to Healing

Covers the Boarding School era, and its history and implications. The intention behind the series is to build background knowledge and provide a context for both the inter-generational trauma and the resiliency of many tribal individuals in both the US and Canada. Trigger Warning: these videos contain graphic and honest depictions of boarding school experiences that some may find triggering and/or troubling

Ethnobotany

Covers tribally-specific and engaging ethnobotany information that can build teacher background knowledge and provide guidance for respectful classroom implementation

INDIAN EDUCATION FOR ALL BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE BUILDING AND IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES WEBINAR SERIES
 

Teaching about Contemporary Issues in Indian Country Presented by 2020-2021 Advocacy Award Recipients

Covers current events and contemporary issues facing Montana tribes and strategies for respectful integration and how to choose primary documents for classroom use, Pre-K-20

Unpacking the Essential Understandings

Covers the Essential Understandings Regarding Montana Indians and provides basic strategies and resources for implementation throughout curriculum in any educational setting, Pre-K-20

Essential Understandings Deeper Dive

A follow up to the Unpacking the Essential Understandings Webinar Series and a deeper dive into strategies and resources for integrating The Essential Understandings into any educational setting and content area, Pre-K-20

INDIAN EDUCATION FOR ALL BEST PRACTICES VIRTUAL CONFERENCES 

2021: Keynotes and Presentations

2022: Keynotes and Presentations

2023: Keynote and Presentations

 

 

 

Featured Publications

 

100 Years: One Woman's Fight for Justice

100 YEARS is the story of Elouise Cobell and her 30-year fight for justice for over 300,000 Native Americans whose mineral-rich lands were grossly mismanaged by the US Government for over a century.

 

 

the framework: guide for Montana teachers and administrators implementing Montana Education for All

The Framework: A Practical Guide for Montana Teachers and Administrators Implementing Indian Education for All is designed to provide schools with a roadmap for IEFA Integration. Key topics include dimensions of multicultural education, school specific needs and approaches, and components of IEFA. 

The Essential Understandings Regarding Montana Indians provide the structural foundation for IEFA Integration in Montana.  They were developed through consultation with Tribal members and the Montana Advisory Council on Indian Education.  The revised 2019 edition is the third version of this document.  

 

  

Resilience: Stories of Montana Indian Women is a compilation stories about Native American women across Montana history.  The stories reflect their personal and cultural resiliency, highlight the diversity among Montana’s Indian Tribes, and provide a window into the impact of Federal Indian Policies and American political movements on Montana Indians.  Their stories also show students that ordinary people can do extraordinary things.  

The purpose of this document is to help teachers, librarians, and curriculum directors evaluate classroom materials for stereotypes, inaccuracies, omissions, and biases about American Indians that are so prevalent in American literature, films, and educational materials, so educators can make informed decisions when selecting instructional materials.

Investigating the First Peoples: The Clovis Child Burial

This curriculum guide is for eighth through twelfth grade teachers and their students studying U.S. History. Recently, there has been DNA analysis of the ancient skeletal remains of a child buried near Wilsall, Montana. The investigation of the child’s DNA revealed surprising new information about the First Peoples in America and their relationship with modern American Indians.