Lesson by Rebecca Luebker
Essay by Kiara Vigil, Amherst College
Grade Level: 9–12
Number of Class Periods: 4
Primary Theme: American Indian History
About This Lesson Plan Unit
The four lessons in this unit explore how sovereignty—the power to self-govern—has provided the legal context for changes in tribal land holdings and matters of criminal jurisdiction. Students will investigate land deeds, legal decisions, a map, and newspaper notices.
Lesson Plan Author: Rebecca Luebker
Historical Background Essay by Kiara Vigil, Amherst College
Additional Information About This Unit
Common Core State Standards
Common Core State Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.3: Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain.
Essential Questions
Essential Questions
What laws and Supreme Court decisions changed tribal land ownership patterns?
In what ways did Indigenous land ownership change over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries?
What did McGirt v. Oklahoma (2020) establish as a new precedent?
Documents
Documents
Cherokee Nation Deed and Department of the Interior Deed, Margaret Polson Family Papers from the private collection of Rebecca Luebker
The Dawes Act, 1887
“Map Showing Progress of Allotment in Cherokee Nation” by R. L. McAlpine and Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, Tenth Annual Report, Department of the Interior, Washington DC, 1903
The Burke Act of 1906
Oklahoma Newspaper Notices from 1914, 1916, and 1917
US Supreme Court Majority and Dissenting Opinions in McGirt v. Oklahoma, 2020