Native American / Indigenous Peoples

Traditionally, history has been told through the perspective and to the advantage of the people whose position and privilege have given them the dominate voice.  The purpose of this page is to provide history resources that: 

                         a)   examine or challenge the traditionally presented view of history and/or 

                         b)   include the voices of people whose lived experiences have been misrepresented or excluded. 

 

The Biography & History section includes books and media resources on topics that are currently being reexamined.

 

The Curriculum & Instruction section provides resources individuals, parents, and teachers can use to reexamine traditional understandings. 

 

The Local & Regional section includes books and media resources on the indigenous people who have lived and/or do live in Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Pulaski, Roanoke, and greater Southwest Virginia.

 

Biography & History

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"Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history.”

Carter G. Woodson

50 Years a Slave, the Hidden History of Rachel Findlay, Virginia Currents, NPR audio interview and transcript.

 

American Indians, the Doctrine of Discovery, and Manifest Destiny by Robert J. Miller, online article from Wyoming Law Review.

 

Celebrating Tribal Nations: America’s Great Partners, Suzan Shown Harjo’s Library of Congress 2008 Native American History Month Keynote Address, video.

Historians’ Brief But Spectacular take on Understanding the past to live a better future, Daina Ramey Berry, chair of history department at the University of Texas at Austin, PBS News Hour, February 5, 2021.

How Did We Get Here? 163 Years of The Atlantic’s Writing on Race and Racism in America, online list of linked articles.

 

Indian Country Today: Digital Indigenous News, includes news articles and newscasts.

 

Indigenous People, online newspaper. 

 

Indian Slavery and Freedom Suits: The Cases of Rachel Viney and Rachel Findlay Mary B. Kegley, The Smithfield Review, Vol. 12, published online.

 

Land-Grab Universities: Expropriated Indigenous Land is the Foundation of the Land-grant University System by Robert Lee and Tristan Ahtone, online article High Country News. Includes Interactive map to explore land-grab university data, step by step chart tracing the Morrell Act of 1862 and maps of universities endowed by the Morrell land grants.

 

The Land Speaks: The Monacan Nation and Politics of Memory, American Indian & Indigenous Community Center at Virginia Tech, website.

 

​National Memorial for Peace and Justice, Museum and Memorial.

 

Rachel Findlay, Slave, Won Her Freedom by Suing Virginia. Twice, Appalachian History.net, online article.https://www.appalachianhistory.net/2020/08/rachel-findlay-slave-won-her-freedom-by-suing-va-twice.html

​Surviving Columbus: The Story of the Pueblo People, PBS, free access video.

 

Surviving Columbus:  The Story of the Pueblo People, Vision Maker Media Video, American Archive of Public Broadcasting.

 

Uprooted:  The 1950’s Plan to Erase Indian Country, Minnesota Public Radio, Video and Audio recording with text.

 

Virginia Indian Archive, a project of the Virginia Indian Heritage Program at the Virginia Humanities, searchable website.  ​

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Media​

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Rethinking Schools (a nonprofit publisher and advocacy organization dedicated to social justice teaching and education activism: magazine, books, and other resources.

 

Uprising and Our Schools, Vol. 35, No. 1, Fall 2020. (example of a Rethinking Schools magazine).

 

Virginia History and Social Science Standards of Learning, Virginia Department of Education, website.  

 

Virginia’s First People: Past and Present, Virginia Department of Education, website.

 

Curriculum & Instruction

“Education creates the voice through which human rights can be claimed and protected.”

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Curriculum

Instruction

American Indian DOCSTeach and Sample Lessons:  American Indian Voting Rights through History and Analyzing a Letter About American Indian Voting Rights

 

EDSITEment! BEH.Gov,. History, Culture, and Heritage Teacher Guides; American Indian History and Heritage

 

Decolonizing Thanksgiving:  A Toolkit for Combatting Racism in Schools, Age of Awareness, an annotated list of over 20 resources for teachers and parents.

 

DOCSTeach National Archives:  Primary Documents, Activities to Use to Teach and Engaging Activities

 

Learning for Justice, Classroom Resources and  Magazines & Publications.

 

Learning for Justice, Critical Practices for Anti-bias Education.

 

Racial Wealth Gap Learning Simulation, Bread for the World, including Facilitator’s Guide, simulation resource Printing Kit, Policy Packet. The following link does not open for preview but directly downloads the resource to your computer: PowerPoint with talking points.

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Resources for Teaching about Indigenous Culture & People, Teaching While White, website.

 

Zinn Education Project:  Teaching People’s History, website resources of free downloadable lessons and articles organized and searchable by theme, time period, and grade level.  Links to Search Results for Native American.

 

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Local & Regional History

“Heritage and ‘wisdom’ and simply personal family and local history enrich the one able to tap such information.  As it is I wish I had garnered more from my grandparents and parents."

Gary Gygax   

Local

​Indigenous History at Virginia Tech,  VT Special Collections and University Archives Online.

 

Regional

An Eclectic History of Montgomery County, Virginia by John A. Nicolay.  (Link goes to list of local libraries from which the book may be requested.  For a $5.00 postage fee, a branch of the Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library will request for patrons.)

 

Celebrating Floyd County, Virginia, Online Collections Database, Floyd County Historical Society: Archives/Photos/Libraries/Objects, searchable website.

 

Indigenous History at Virginia Tech Collection, VT Special Collections and University Archives Online.

 

The Land Speaks: The Monacan Nation and Politics of Memory, American Indian & Indigenous Community Center at Virginia Tech, website.

 

Virginia’s Montgomery County edited by Mary Elizabeth Lindon. (Available at Christiansburg Branch of Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library.)