AKFCS TEACHING AMERICAN HISTORY PROJECT

May Workshop

2009-05-24T14:21:00.002-04:00

1. A brief summary of the seminar. Include any highlights for you – new information, a particularly useful exercise, a favorite moment. Be sure to identify the main historical themes and the core documents presented in the seminar.

The seminar focused on museums, collectors, and the representation of the artifacts. We had presentations by curators of the Fruitlands museum and had a tour of the Indian exhibit. As always the readings before the session were terrific. I especially was intrigued by the article on Comanche the "sole survivor" of Custer's Last Stand. We had some very interesting and thought provoking discussions on the ethics of collecting and what these collectors were trying to present and represent about Indian culture past and present. And as always the theme of the disappearance of the Indians and what it means to a sense of the American Identity was woven through much of the discussions.

2. What questions did the seminar raise for you and how will you follow-up on those questions? Will you need to do further research – and if so, how will you approach that research and what sources are available to you?

The seminar did not so much raise questions as reinforce the themes of identity, representation and disappearance. Some of our discussions related examples of Indian experience to themes of Imperialism and racial superiority that was prevalent in the late 19th and early 20th centuries during the world's fairs that were so popular at the time. Also how the preconceived ideas of the various collectors reinforced some of these ideas.

3. How would you use this material in the classroom?

As always there is a wealth of anecdotal references that can be added to existing lessons on a variety of subjects. Specifically I want to try to create a lesson or activity on the treatment of Comanche as the "sole survivor" of the contest between whites and Indians to again show how history is written by and reinforces the claims of the winners.

4. How does the material presented in the seminar deepen your understanding of the relationship between representation and reality in the history of New England natives?

The readings continue to reinforce the theme that while popular literature and sentiment depicted the Indians as having vanished, the public record and legal proceedings of the day continue to mention the vanished, usually in derogatory terms. Further the attitudes of the collectors concerning who is an Indian shows how the misrepresentation contradicts the reality of the evidence.

May Workshop Response

2009-05-18T14:05:00.002-04:00

1. A brief summary of the seminar. Include any highlights for you – new information, a particularly useful exercise, a favorite moment. Be sure to identify the main historical themes and the core documents presented in the seminar.

This seminar focused on a couple of different aspects related to collections, collectors and museums. The morning was dedicated to discussing some of the readings which were on the topic of native collections and museums. We discussed who was trying to build collections of Native American artifacts and culture of New England and otherwise and how those affected identity and the history of those natives to people of the area. We discussed how these collections often disrupted the identity of native peoples or sought to reconstruct it in an incorrect manner. A large portion of the day was used to explore the nature of museums both Native and otherwise and discuss why we collect things, who does the collecting and what implications that can have. It was a very interesting day with some of the best discussions so far in the grant sessions. We also saw a presentation from one of the curators of the museum which explained the reasons for its foundings and how it has changed over time. In the 1990's there was a reorganization of the museum which sought to more accurately reflect the history of Natives. It was also interesting to explore some of the Fruitlands museum, as I had never been to the site prior.

2. What questions did the seminar raise for you and how will you follow-up on those questions? Will you need to do further research – and if so, how will you approach that research and what sources are available to you?

The session made me really start to think about museums in general and why the people doing the collecting are doing it and what they gain from it, in other words, their motives for collecting. Some collect to preserve the past, but I think many, in terms of Native collections did is as a sort of status symbol. It was also good to think about this visit in terms of all the other places we have visited and see how each museum has portrayed history a little differently depending on perspective.

3. How would you use this material in the classroom?

I think this serves as a great discussion point and chance for educating our students when it comes to museums. Our kids certainly visit museums with us and with parents but my guess is they don't often think about where these items came from, who collected them, and why they are displaying them. To have a discussion with students about what is shown and what isn't and the motives behind that can be an excellent classroom activity. It is also a great idea as Jim Moran said, to encourage students to visit museums and get them in that habit as an educational outlet . This is a valuable life skill and activity and if we can get students to think critically about it, then they will see museums as an excellent activity that is rewarding.

4. How does the material presented in the seminar deepen your understanding of the relationship between representation and reality in the history of New England natives?

How the Natives were displayed and portrayed through museums and collections was through the viewpoint of whomever was doing the collecting. This means the history of Natives could be greatly distorted and those who viewed the collections of these museums would be getting misinformation. We discussed after seeing the Fruitlands museum the discrepency over praying villages which would lead one to get an incorrect idea about their purpose. We can conclude that all museums may have some innaccuracies, but as was discussed, this can be a valuable opportunity to make sure ones own research and information leads to a correct or better understanding of the topic being portrayed or presented.

3/21/09 seminar post

2009-04-15T13:09:00.000-04:00

1. A brief summary of the seminar. Include any highlights for you – new information, a particularly useful exercise, a favorite moment. Be sure to identify the main historical themes and the core documents presented in the seminar.

In the 1st session we discussed the idea of persistence in the 19th century, utilizing “Unseen Neighbors” by Thomas Doughton; “The Massachusetts Indian Enfranchisement Act” by Ann Marie Plane & Gregory Button and “The Dudley Indians: & “Visit to Grafton”.

In the second session we watched the documentary “Black Indians” and in the third session we considered Pan-Indianism, Pow-wows & auto-ethnographic authority. We also made use of multiple titles from Ann McMullen including “Soapbox Discourse”, “What’s Wrong With This Picture?...” & “The Heart Interest”.

Of particular interest to me was the discussion of the Massachusetts Enfranchisement Act (MGL Ch. 463 of 1869), and dispossession. We considered how enfranchisement led to the loss of land and government benefits, loss of the tribe and identity as well as the levying of taxes. Identity had been linked to the land and with the loss of land began a search for identity visa vie their history. We also discussed the revival of languages and the attribution of what had been common/shared languages to individual tribes for Federal/State recognition purposes, although this was/is historically illegitimate. Kinship is also a very important consideration with regard to identity of dispossessed natives, as is culture.

I was also surprised to learn that historical documentation of the Nipmuc did not begin until 1996 with Tom’s “Unseen Neighbors”.

I enjoyed considering the very fundamental question of what is history? Do we create it; establish it; find it? Is it fixed or malleable and what are the problems associated with either state?

Finally, I found the discussion of Pan-Indianism very interesting as I had no prior knowledge of the matter.

2. What questions did the seminar raise for you and how will you follow-up on those questions? Will you need to do further research – and if so, how will you approach that research and what sources are available to you?

One question, not raised directly by the seminar, which continues to intrigue me relates to the decimation of Native American populations by disease brought from Europe, such as measles and small pox. What I would like to understand is why this only happened to Native Americans and not also to Europeans. It seems to me that if there were diseases which Europeans developed some level of tolerance/immunity to, which Native Americans were never exposed to, that Native Americans also should have developed tolerances/immunity to diseases that Europeans were never exposed to, yet this clearly is not the case. I have queried a number people about this matter who have backgrounds in biology, but I have yet to come across any explanations which satisfy me. I need to find an epidemiologist to ask about this.

3. How would you use this material in the classroom?

The ideas of dispossession through enfranchisement and the loss of identity are intriguing areas to challenge students to think about, although it may be a bit ethereal for 9th graders. Considering the loss of identity and what constitutes identity are areas that we have considered in the seminar as well as the last seminar and there are a variety of ways this may be brought into the classroom. Having students create some family genealogy and then posing questions to them about how they identify themselves may be a useful too in attempting to introduce students to such issues.

4. How does the material presented in the seminar deepen your understanding of the relationship between representation and reality in the history of New England natives?

This was a very interesting aspect of the seminar and it provided a new perspective for the consideration of the ideas, one which is distinct from modern European/US history as commonly considered. The reanimation of local native history and consideration of how it is constituted and the influences on that process was very illuminating.

March Workshop Response

2009-04-03T12:02:00.000-04:00

1. A brief summary of the seminar. Include any highlights for you – new information, a particularly useful exercise, a favorite moment. Be sure to identify the main historical themes and the core documents presented in the seminar.

The first part of the seminar was spent discussing some of the readings and issues related to those readings. Thie biggest, or most interesting for me was the enfranchisement of Indians in Massachusetts and the benefits and downfalls of that for the Indians. There didn't seem to be many benefits for the Natives, as their tribal identity was stricken from them and their land was taken also in many cases. They did obtain some rights, but it was probably a much more beneficial situation to be under guardianship and retain their land. We also discussed how they retained or lost their identities as Native peoples. Some moved to other towns and became known as African Americans rather than Natives because it made more opportunities. Others retained Native identity, or recreated parts of their Native identity over time. We discussed how this was problematic, especially when tribes started to go for Federal recognition, because if the state had told them they were no longer Native, that ceased their "continuous meeting and governing tribal body". It's difficult to prove you are and have been descended from Natives when the state tells a people they are no longer Indian tribes.

The next part was a video on Black Indians. Most of the opinions of people in this video were very interesting and it was a topic which we hadn't really discussed too much prior. It was also different from what we have done previously because many of the people interviewed were from tribes not in Southern New England. The video certainly raised issues of identity and these people who are trying to raise families and belong to multiple identity groups and hold on the the cultural values of these groups.

The last part of the day was spent discussing pow-wow culture and how many of the modern Indian events and "cultural" activities may have nothing or very little to do with actual customs and traditions of the past. This is problematic because one can judge this negatively and say that is not authentic and therefore is not supporting their culture or one can say, at least it is a tradition that people can extend and hold on to, even if it isn't something ancestors did. It brings more questions than answers but it does bring to light that what we see represented as Indian in the modern times in this area probably is not tied to past Indian roots or traditions.

2. What questions did the seminar raise for you and how will you follow-up on those questions? Will you need to do further research – and if so, how will you approach that research and what sources are available to you?

Since the main question of this was identity, it was the biggest issue to raise questions. It made me think about how caught up we get in identity, when biologically, are we really what we claim to be? A person can say they are 50% Irish or 25% French, but really, biologically we have so many ancestors, that the geneological work needed to make those claims is unfathomable. Even just in modern times, knowing or having a firm grasp of ones identity culturally can be a problematic thing. One can take hold and latch on to one aspect and lose others of their own traditions. So, all of the issues related to Natives and losing and recreating identities through language or traditional customs brings up a lot of questions.

3. How would you use this material in the classroom?

The material from the session can be used extensively in U.S. history. While talking about Indian removal we can talk about creating and holding on to identities after being displaced. We can also focus on local history and show how the Natives of this area adapted after they were enfranchised and stripped of their tribal identity. It can also be used to get kids thinking of their own identities and what they are and cling to when it comes to cultural values and traditions.

4. How does the material presented in the seminar deepen your understanding of the relationship between representation and reality in the history of New England natives?

I think this session deepened my understanding of the issues releated to keeping or abandoning an identity and then trying to hold on to or recreate that identity in future generations. Talking about the pow-wow culture and how it probably isn't an accurate representation of traditions of that culture shows how identity was a tough issue to deal with and still is today. The Natives who were stripped of identity and were enfranchised had serious issues to tackle when it came to what to do next. Having land removed and a tribal identity taken away was a serious problem that led to issues that Natives had to deal with, often times with unsuccessful results.

March 21, 2009 Workshop

2009-04-01T12:29:00.002-04:00

1. A brief summary of the seminar. Include any highlights for you – new information, a particularly useful exercise, a favorite moment. Be sure to identify the main historical themes and the core documents presented in the seminar.

In the first session, "Nineteenth Century Persistence", the focus was on how Southern New England Indians managed to survive being deprived of their legal corporate existence by the states. One method was through maintaining strong family and kinship ties, another was through the "reinvention" of the past. A telling illustration was the story of the "fish-dance" that Tom told of from his own family. It was supposedly a tradition going back to ancient times but was more likely a tradition that went back perhaps a century. Its main purpose was to re-connect with the past even as the dominant society tried to erase all memory of it. More recent cases of "re-creating" or "re-inventing" the past came with the resurgence of the Massachusett language under the guise of "Wampanoag" or "Nipmuc". The actual language has not been spoken for generations and the resurgence was taken from sources like Elliott's Bible (not terribly reliable for actual pronunciation and vocabulary) and other documents from the early period after the Europeans came. This attempt to re-invent a culture isn't unprecedented (the resurrection of Hebrew is an example of it happening elsewhere for similar purposes), but it has a divisive edge because a common language (Massachusett) is claimed by particular groups (Wampanoag, Nipmuc, etc.) to the exclusion of others.

The video we watched about "Black Indians" further demonstrated the theme of re-discovery/re-invention and the setting of limits. In this case people who identified with their Indian heritage (in some cases actually speaking living Indian languages) were having their "credentials" challenged by other Indians who claimed they were not really Indians and by Afro-centric blacks who saw them as repudiating their African ancestry. The concept of being both Indian and African American seems to be problematic for some in both groups.

Ultimately, for me, the issue is a matter of identity and who gets to determine it. Is it the individual concerned, a tribal or government authority, historical family/kinship ties, or some other set of criteria?

2. What questions did the seminar raise for you and how will you follow-up on those questions? Will you need to do further research – and if so, how will you approach that research and what sources are available to you?

The issue of identity has been a central one throughout this project, for me. This session has only reinforced it as the most fundamental of all the topics we cover (along with "representation" because the two are so intertwined). My research paper topic for this term will focus on matters of self-identification within tribes--often hotly contested--and identification and "representation" by outsiders.

3. How would you use this material in the classroom?

One of the participating teachers has already used the video in her classroom quite effectively. Even in AP World History, which I am teaching currently, the same concepts can be applied. How do people maintain their identity when they are deprived of legal status? How important is the opinion of outsiders (especially if they are the dominant society)? How are internal conflicts about identity worked out, legally, socially, culturally?

4. How does the material presented in the seminar deepen your understanding of the relationship between representation and reality in the history of New England natives?

A great deal, I think. I appreciate the deeply personal and familial nature of identity far more than I did before. We are not talking about people "play-acting" at being Indians (or whatever other ethnic/cultural/racial configurations that may come to play). When people are denied their identity by the state (and others within their ethnic group) their only options are to truly disappear or to continue to maintain their identity in the face of sometimes humiliating opposition. The stakes are much higher than I used to think they were and I can see how this struggle may also contribute to other struggles within these groups such as addiction, alcoholism, depression, etc. This is not a small thing. It is a real tragedy.

2009-02-12T08:36:00.001-05:00

1. A brief summary of the seminar. Include any highlights for you – new information, a particularly useful exercise, a favorite moment. Be sure to identify the main historical themes and the core documents presented in the seminar.

We began with Tom’s reading followed by his PowerPoint presentation. The passages chosen highlighted the prevalent beliefs of the time with respect to the disappearing native Americans. Some of the more interesting aspects of this presentation had to do with the fact that many of the respective authors were surrounded by Native Americans as they wrote. The idea of inevitability was common. Strikingly there was a substantial sense of the wrongness of what was happening, accompanied by an apparent reluctance to even suggest ways to avoid the inevitable.

The PowerPoint presentation, focusing on paintings of Niagara Falls, as well as a few other subjects was interesting. It clearly depicted the changing face of the Native Americans through the time period chosen, with respect to the views expressed by the various artists. These views were presented as a reasonable resource for the examination of commonly held views of the general population, which I expect is a fair presentation. I enjoyed this presentation far more than the preceding readings Tom presented, but that’s probably due to my predilection for visual stimulus.

In the afternoon we enjoyed the hospitality of the AHS at Antiquarian Hall. The presentation and analysis of the McKenny books was fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed viewing the spectacular images we were able to view. I also enjoyed the subsequent analysis of the smaller pictures/post-cards etc. and the discussion of the Native American legends associated therewith.

What questions did the seminar raise for you and how will you follow-up on those questions? Will you need to do further research – and if so, how will you approach that research and what sources are available to you?

I am curious about the Quaker missionaries that Tom mentioned. It sounded as though they were one of the only groups that were supportive of the Native Americans and actually attempted to work with them to save them from what everyone else seemed to think was their inevitable decimation. I expect I’ll just ask Tom about it at our next meeting. I’m also very curious about disease and the decimation of Native American populations. I have very little knowledge of the particulars, other than that a substantial majority of the Native American population was killed by disease. I would like to know how their populations reacted, as well as how the European colonists responded. What efforts, if any, were made to attempt to stop the spread of disease. I’m also very curious as to why people of European decent were not subject to diseases that had evolved in isolation (from Europe), for thousands of years. I have already begun to research this last matter with some of the teachers here at AKFCS, without any success.

3. How would you use this material in the classroom?

I think that the students I have now would likely be stimulated by questions centering around the conundrum of why historians are writing about the disappearance of Native Americans, despite the fact that they are in their midst at the time. Also, I think the graphic materials presented in Tom’s PowerPoint could be useful in the same way he presented them to us.

4. How does the material presented in the seminar deepen your understanding of the relationship between representation and reality in the history of New England natives?

I think the work we did with the Native American legends is directly applicable to this question. Learning about how some of the ‘legends’ are actually made up by people of European decent looking to ‘cash-in’ on the potential tourist attraction value of these ‘legends’. Also, the materials relative to the disappearing Native Americans produced by historians surrounded by Native Americans, bears on this question.

McKenny Materials online

2009-01-26T15:32:00.000-05:00

Anyone wishing to use some of the McKinney materials which we explored in our last library session with their students in their classrooms should check out these online resources.
web (http://digitalprojects.libraries.uc.edu/mckhall/index.asp and http://content.lib.washington.edu/mckenneyhallweb/index.html

Jim
James David Moran
Director of Outreach
American Antiquarian Society

2009-01-23T12:08:00.002-05:00

1. A brief summary of the seminar. Include any highlights for you – new information, a particularly useful exercise, a favorite moment. Be sure to identify the main historical themes and the core documents presented in the seminar.

I was most struck by what appeared to be, for lack of a better term, "white guilt" over the apparent "disappearance" of the Indians. There was more of it than I expected, considering the time frame. The poetry--as hyperbolic and sentimental as it was--indicated a real angst on the part of at least some of the population as did some of the paintings (the one of the Native American family and their confused dog on the shores of the Pacific). The McKenney & Hall folio exhibited this same sense of having done something terrible wrong (if inevitable) to the original peoples of the continent. I wasn't surprised by the excuses that were made about native 'limitations' (intelligence, versatility, etc.) but I was very much taken aback that whites (at least some liberal whites) felt so strongly about the wrongness of what was happening.

2. What questions did the seminar raise for you and how will you follow-up on those questions? Will you need to do further research – and if so, how will you approach that research and what sources are available to you?

I would like to follow up more on the question of dissent from the predominating policies.

I would also like to see any Indian artwork, poetry, and other expressions about how they experienced the period and also whether or not there were connections being made between white dissenters and Indians.

3. How would you use this material in the classroom?

In an AP class I would want to use images and text from the McKenney Hall folios (images are available from the Library of Congress and elsewhere) and perhaps some of the bad poetry. I'd also like to compare how the dominant population "adopted" an Indian heritage for themselves at a time when they would have been loathe to adopt anything from the black population. Do people have to 'disappear' before it is safe to claim a connection with them?

4. How does the material presented in the seminar deepen your understanding of the relationship between representation and reality in the history of New England natives?

It is pretty clear that even while the dominant population mourned the "disappearance" of native peoples--there were still Native Americans/Indians in their midst right here in New England--often very obviously so. I wonder how and why the same people who acted as 'guardians', employed Indians as servants and workers, and wrote of the Indian past could not see them right in front of their eyes? This is a psycho-social-historical question that really fascinates (and troubles) me.

January 22 Workshop Assignments and "Appeal for Diaglog"

2009-01-23T11:40:00.009-05:00

Hello everyone:

It's that time again!

Please respond to the following questions before February 1, 2009:

1. A brief summary of the seminar. Include any highlights for you – new information, a particularly useful exercise, a favorite moment. Be sure to identify the main historical themes and the core documents presented in the seminar.

2. What questions did the seminar raise for you and how will you follow-up on those questions? Will you need to do further research – and if so, how will you approach that research and what sources are available to you?

3. How would you use this material in the classroom?

4. How does the material presented in the seminar deepen your understanding of the relationship between representation and reality in the history of New England natives?

While posting reflections about the workshops may be a bit onerus at times, it fulfills the requirements both for those taking graduate course credit through Worcester State College and for the grant itself.

The four questions/reflection guides are meant to give each participant a chance to give his or her own "take" on te workshop and to invite others to give feedback.

It is the second aspect of the posting requirements that seems to be most difficult. How do we actually have an ongoing dialog about what we are learning in the workshops, what we hope to learn in the future, and where we are struggling--individually and as a group. Your feed back here will be most helpful for making this site truly interactive.

John

2009-01-23T11:25:00.006-05:00

1. A brief summary of the seminar. Include any highlights for you – new information, a particularly useful exercise, a favorite moment. Be sure to identify the main historical themes and the core documents presented in the seminar.

We began by listening to Tom present some interesting information about how 19th century historians wrote on the disappearing indian. At times it was difficult to believe these were historical writings and not works of literature. The overlying theme of these writings was that the vanishing indian was a regretable necessity to the expansion and promotion of democracy and civilization. It was emphasized that while the disappearance of the natives was inevitable it did not allow for the mistreatment or murder of this group. The readings provided a foundation for what would later become manifest destiny and the fate of western indians was questioned. The question of how the indian vanished when they continued to live among those writing of their disappearance provides an interesting discussion topic to have with students.

After the break we looked at visual representations of Niagra Falls in an attempt to analyze how the indians became symbolic of nature whereas Europeans symbolized civilization and growth. The gradual movement of the indians to the edges of the art and ultimately eliminated all together continued the idea of the disappearing indian. The last picture showing a native family on the Pacific coast looking toward a setting sun presented the ultimate message of there being no place in a civilized America for the "noble savage." In addition we looked at literature romanticing the illicit unions of native warriors with white women during the early colonial times. It was through this literature that a European society could lay "legitimate" claim as the inheritors of America by being descendents of the early noble native cultures.

The afternoon session I found particularly interesting when we viewed the books put together by McKenney. The images were very powerful and the idea that someone could both be rationalizing the idea that natives were responsible for their own disappearance while at the same time expressing sympathy toward their plight seemed to bring together 2 important aspects of the day. In a way it tied together those bemoaning the vanishing indian through prose with those justifying their disappearance such as J.Q. Adams.

2. What questions did the seminar raise for you and how will you follow-up on those questions? Will you need to do further research – and if so, how will you approach that research and what sources are available to you?

I think the ultimate question is whether white American society was even aware of the paradox they presented with their writings on the disappearing indian while continuing everyday interactions with these very same indians. Had they so disassociated the "modern" indian society of eastern U.S. with the romanticized myth of a noble race that they truly did not accept these people as being native. Or did they ignore the continued existance of native peoples in their writings from a sense of justifying the seizing of their lands and wealth and indoctrinating a system that would then be applied to the western tribes.

3. How would you use this material in the classroom? If you do not currently teach this material, pretend that you do (you may be teaching it at some point in your career!).

I definitely would introduce the "disappearing indian" writings and information in discussions and analysis of the indian removal period and why it had such acceptance. At the same time I would like to present some information on the dissenting voices. Again a common theme would be "what is indian" and how does that relate to the paradox being presented. In addition this information would be great to raise the question on the reliability of historical sources.

4. How does the material presented in the seminar deepen your understanding of the relationship between representation and reality in the history of New England natives?

This session continued to deepen my understanding of the disconnect between the physical existance of native peoples and the perception of what is indian by the white society. It also ties back to the idea of what the ultimate agenda of a historical document is and how an understanding of the true purpose and audience is important when analyzing the information it provides.

January 22nd Workshop Response

2009-01-23T10:56:00.002-05:00

1) A brief summary of the seminar. Include any highlights for you – new information, a particularly useful exercise, a favorite moment. Be sure to identify the main historical themes and the core documents presented in the seminar.

One of the major themes of yesterday's workshop was the "Vanishing Indian" in art, literature and histories of the time despite the fact that there were still many Indians around. We discussed how the accepted fate of the Indians in the eyes of the whites was that they would vanish and be no more, even from those sympathetic to them. The historiography of the time lamented their loss even as many were under guardianship or working as servants in the very towns where the histories were being written. The overarching theme of the literature and history was that the disappearence of the Indians was to be unavoidable.

We then looked at images of Niagara as a symbol of America and other Indian images which alluded to their dissappearnce, defeat and westward migration. The Indians were often depicted at sunset or facing west while white civilization would be sunlight or lighter colors and images. The images showed how over time Indians disappeared from art, as earlier images had many Indians at Niagara while later images had British soldiers and no Indians. We then discussed how forbidden love narratives sprang up at this time and how many elites would claim to be descendants of Thundersquall or Pocahontas. Those who were responsible for the disappearance of Indians now wanted ironically to be connected to the noble children of the forest, even as they denoucned or ignored the Indians still around.

The afternoon was spent working with images from the McKenney books. These images were from extremely rare texts and showed a reverence for the Indians, even though the text may have shown them as savages. We did some activities on visual literacy that helped uncover what certain images were trying to convey. We saw the connection between Indian legends which were used to explain Indian disappearance (Indians commiting suicide, dying, or being killed on a mountain) but no Indians were used in imagery of these locations.

2. What questions did the seminar raise for you and how will you follow-up on those questions? Will you need to do further research – and if so, how will you approach that research and what sources are available to you?

The big question that was somewhat explored is how the people of the time had the paradox of claiming the Indians to be vanished and gone from the land, romanticizing the tribes and former Indians of the land while ignoring the Indians who still lived amongst them. We sort of concluded it was because of the difference of the servants or Indians under guardianship between the romanticized notion of the Indian in literature, poetry and art. It would be desirable to claim you were a descendent of mighty chief Thundersquall but that wasn't the same type of Indian who may live in your town or work for you.

3. How would you use this material in the classroom? If you do not currently teach this material, pretend that you do (you may be teaching it at some point in your career!).

The images we used can certainly be used as can a lot of the readings and poetry. We discussed at great length how this literature can be used in contrast with the census material from last session to contrast what was happening in culture and what was really happening with Indian populations to get the kids to think critically about sources.

4. How does the material presented in the seminar deepen your understanding of the relationship between representation and reality in the history of New England natives?

This session dealt mostly with representation and how the Indian was vanishing if you trusted the sources, literature, and art of the time but in reality they were still around, albeit in a very different lifestyle or identity than previous generations of Indians.

John Daly's response

2008-11-25T08:52:00.001-05:00

NOVEMBER 15 BLOG ASSIGNMENT

1. A brief summary of the seminar. Include any highlights for you – new information, a particularly useful exercise, a favorite moment. Be sure to identify the main historical themes and the core documents presented in the seminar.

The overview of the way in which Massachusetts Indians were de-tribalized and enfranchised was most interesting to me. I was unaware that this covered only the “Plantation Indians” who had entered into treaties with the Commonwealth during the Colonial period. The Briggs and Earle reports left me a bit confused when I read them because they seemed as if they were works in progress with lots of contradictions about Indian character and identity (though the overall theme that the Indians—as “Indians” had pretty much disappeared was clear). It helped to learn how the reports were constructed—mostly from letters to and from town officials. This helped explain why they had major inconsistencies.

2. What questions did the seminar raise for you and how will you follow-up on those questions? Will you need to do further research – and if so, how will you approach that research and what sources are available to you?

In spite of the racist undertones of the Briggs and Earle reports (perhaps unavoidable given the times) they were basically liberal documents that aimed to “improve” and assimilate the people they were concerned about. The connection to Reconstruction ideals and to national policies for a good part of the next century is clearer to me now. Yet, I always find myself coming back to the question of who controls the narrative. Usually it is the government and academic communities; they set the standard for the interpretation—and I think this remains true today. Even when we hear the voices of the people they are dealing with it is through the filter of the “official” line. I suspect that this is inescapable, but it makes me suspicious of all interpretations—the currently favored ones as well as the obviously flawed ones of the past. I guess this is a matter of historiography and may ultimately be an insurmountable problem. My solution is to remain true to my own character and apply the hermeneutic of suspicion to every document and interpretation I read!

3. How would you use this material in the classroom? If you do not currently teach this material, pretend that you do (you may be teaching it at some point in your career!).

In an AP or HL IB classroom I would have the students read the primary source documents, including large sections of the Briggs and Earle reports and work on their own interpretations and identifications of the issues at hand. In a CP class I would use shorter selections but still ask them to apply themselves to the problem of interpretation. If I were to do this it would be as part of a special project on historiography and points of view (bias)

4. How does the material presented in the seminar deepen your understanding of the relationship between representation and reality in the history of New England natives?

Again—the people who have control of the pen(or the press)—and especially the people who represent themselves as the “experts” basically get to do the representation. The reality is much more difficult to find and requires painstaking and brutally honest questions about our own agendas for investigating.
Interestingly, images often seen to speak more clearly than texts.

Henry Zussman's Reflections

2008-11-25T08:30:00.001-05:00

November 15th Blog Assignment

H. Zussman
8th grade World history
Abby Kelley Foster.

1. The word that stayed with me after understanding Professor’s
Doughton lecture was discrimination. Census taken by really anyone during the years 1780 – 1790 1800 > . That statement that I recall was, the county / state census taker walking into a general store, and asking “got any Indians? The store owner looks at the census takes and says, “ do you see any Indians around here?” a similar question asked in the barber shop.
As a result with a no answer and very satisfied, the census taker would report back to the state government that county had 0 Indians which = no
dollars issued from the federal or state treasury.

2 . Actually the only question that I asked was cleared up about the Dawes Act 1887. This was one way that Congress tried to assist the American Indian from being cheated. Regardless many Europeans settlers moved in to clam land and in some cases, government agents took advantage. Sadly, it would not be until 1924 before the American Indian were made citizens.

3. Teaching about the census pertaining to minorities, setting up a filter to break down the percentage of those Europeans passing through the Statue of Liberty in the 1880’s.

4. The material presented covered how the U.S Government treated the Native American when figuring out their population through the 1800’s.
In addition the pictures showing the Native American next to a Black or in some cases a Hispanic.

Workshop Response Questions

2008-11-17T11:50:00.002-05:00

High School Lesson Plan Ideas as posted by Mike

2008-11-17T10:22:00.002-05:00

Hey all, Mike here. Here's the lesson plan ideas the high school group came up with....

1) Show one of the pictures as a writing prompt. Have the students write a story, or figure out the history of a particular person.

2) Have the students conduct a census of their teachers without being able to ask them questions. They should determine age, family, etc. with just the prior knowledge they have. This would show how hard it is as an enumerator to be accurate with just guesswork in many cases.

3) Split up the local and Federal census information among different groups. Have them analyze a particluar person or family over time, or construct a history of that family. Then compare the data from the different groups to see how different the information is between the different sources.

4) Categorize the pictures into racial groups as a census taker would be instructed to do.

5) Create a family tree and show how race changed over time in the census data.

6) Show how property values related to race.

I think I got most of our major ideas down. If not, certainly comment or elaborate on this post.
-Mike

2008-11-17T09:55:00.003-05:00

1. A brief summary of the seminar. Include any highlights for you – new information, a particularly useful exercise, a favorite moment. Be sure to identify the main historical themes and the core documents presented in the seminar.

The morning review of the Prucha readings went right past me as I did not have the Prucha readings prior to the seminar, although the discussion of enfranchisement was nonetheless interesting. The later discussion of the Natives and New England Governments was enlightening and the use of primary source documents, with particular regard to the court records was very usefull I thought. Also, I found the discussion of the state border related issues very interesting.

The work with the census documents was fairly confusing at the outset. I was not entirely sure what was expected of us and there was not sufficient time to adequetly work with the census, town and lineage documents provided. The review of the Enumerators instructions was great and gave a solid foundation for moving onto the census documents themselves.

2. What questions did the seminar raise for you and how will you follow-up on those questions? Will you need to do further research – and if so, how will you approach that research and what sources are available to you?

The seminar made me curious about the classification of Native Americans as non compus mentus and would like to follow-up on that, probably using Google/Wikapedia as initial sources of information.

3. How would you use this material in the classroom? If you do not currently teach this material, pretend that you do (you may be teaching it at some point in your career!).
There were a variety of good/applicable ideas discussed in the break-out group at the end of the seminar. Mr. Penny has/will have those on his blog.

4. How does the material presented in the seminar deepen your understanding of the relationship between representation and reality in the history of New England natives?
By focusing on what is "reality", visa vie census data/town data and court documents, light was shed upon the differences between representation and reality. Indeed, the extent to which "reality" can be determined with any sense of security is all the more suspect in light of the materials presented in the seminar.

2008-11-15T18:20:00.000-05:00

Grade 7-8 Census Analysis
Students will examine the primary source and a transcription of each document.
Students will determine the design and purpose for collecting and using census data.
Direct students to look for the same family names on several census reports to recognize trends over several decades. Students will examine category headings to determine the social and economic values of a place over several decades. Students can compare results and analyze the definitions of racial identity, occupation, economic status, movement, and citizenship. Also, determine the benefits or consequences for members of a category, as well as the power of census data to determine taxation, representation, and the existence, disappearance, or identity of a people by the definition a category.

NOVEMBER 15 BLOG ASSIGNMENT

2008-11-15T15:55:00.002-05:00

The following questions have been devised by Dr. Charlotte Haller for those receiving graduate credits for the Academic Year Workshops.As they are excellent reflection questions for us all we will use them for the post workshop blog assignments as well. Those taking the course for credit may wish to email their responses to Dr. Haller as well (email: challer1@worcester.edu)

1. A brief summary of the seminar. Include any highlights for you – new information, a particularly useful exercise, a favorite moment. Be sure to identify the main historical themes and the core documents presented in the seminar.

2. What questions did the seminar raise for you and how will you follow-up on those questions? Will you need to do further research – and if so, how will you approach that research and what sources are available to you?

3. How would you use this material in the classroom? If you do not currently teach this material, pretend that you do (you may be teaching it at some point in your career!).

4. How does the material presented in the seminar deepen your understanding of the relationship between representation and reality in the history of New England natives?

Your response is due by November 25, 2008

IN ADDITION YOU MUST COMMENT ON AT LEAST THREE (3) OTHER BLOGS RELATED TO THIS WORKSHOP

2008-10-30T17:56:00.004-04:00

1. A brief summary of the seminar. Include any highlights for you – new information, a particularly useful exercise, a favorite moment. Be sure to identify the main historical themes and the core documents presented in the seminar.

Tom Doughton began the day by giving us a few handouts. They seem very interesting! I especially can't wait to share "The Romantic Story . . . " with my 5th grade class--they love that mushy stuff! Then Tom began a discussion of the reading "Jehovah and the Uncouth Wilderness". Since I am a newcomer to the grant, I hadn't heard the disappearing indian term before. I found that article to be interesting, reading what the English believed as they were taking the land and homes of the natives. I learned that the notion of the disappearing indian was one of the foundational myths of our country. Tom also discussed detribalization and enfranchisement, again something that I had not heard much about. I have begun to read in depth the papers Tom passed out about native people of the east from the revolution to removal. Our 5th grade curriculum covers that area, and I am finding quite a lot of info that I'll be able to use.

Dr. Alice Nash presented the terms ocular and specular--something we should always be thinking about as we teach history. Her powerpoint on the first Thanksgiving was interesting, and I hope to get a copy of it to use the images. Last year, we just touched upon Manifest Destiny in our curriculum. This year, I plan to use the information from Dr. Nash to discuss it more with my 5th graders.

After lunch, we broke into groups to do the Teach Back. I was a willing listener in my group, and received some great ideas that I will be able to use.

2. What questions did the seminar raise for you and how will you follow-up on those questions? Will you need to do further research – and if so, how will you approach that research and what sources are available to you?

I am overwhelmed with information! I'm sure I have loads of questions . . . not sure which questions I will focus on . . .

3. How would you use this material in the classroom?

So much of this information directly relates to our curriculum that it will be easy to slip it into the class! When we discuss the Purtians, I can incorporate parts of "The . . . Uncouth Wilderness". As I have said, the summaries we received from the revolution to removal will give me a better understanding of events regarding Native Americans that I can share with my class. I would like to use the information and artwork from Dr. Nash's powerpoint to consruct a lesson on the First Thanksgiving. Is that powerpoint available? Thanksgiving is coming fast! I received some great ideas from our break out group. When we learn about King Phillip's War, I'd like to use Wamsutta's suppressed speech at Plymouth (1970). I will be making loblollie this year!

4. How does the material presented in the seminar deepen your understanding of the relationship between representation and reality in the history of New England natives?

I didn't realize how much I didn't know and was never taught about Native Americans. I am thankful to be involved in this project to learn how to teach history more ocular than specular.

Looking for a novel

2008-10-27T12:25:00.002-04:00

I'm looking for a novel to use for summer reading for incoming sophomores. Ideally the novel will be about pre-contact northeast Native Americans. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Sandy G-Q

Reflections on October 2 Workshop (finally!)

2008-10-23T13:47:00.000-04:00

October 2, 2008
American Antiquarian Society

Tom Doughton gave an overview of the topics to be covered in this academic year. The emphasis this year will be on the 19th century, considered to be a crucial time for native Americans in New England. He spent time discussing the truism/myth that is the core of 19th century historiography, and this is that the “once great and glorious natives have disappeared”. Tom provided documents that we will delve into in later workshops, including the 1830 story of “Thundersquall”, a romantic story purported to examine the lives of settlers and Natives from the 1700s.

Discussion then moved to a review of the historical view of European settlement of the Americas. This was the point of the assigned reading “Jehovah and the Uncouth Wilderness”. The Europeans had a divinely-guided destiny to employ this land. The historiography thus required that the native people disappear.

Tom also handed out notes relating to the history of Native Americans from the era of the Revolution to removal.

Alice Nash then introduced the concepts of “ocular” and “specular” as ways of viewing and interpreting historical data and artifacts. She presented the ideas in the context of the history, development, and celebration of Thanksgiving. This related to the theme of the once friendly and generous natives who had to be removed, and have now disappeared from our lives except in the perpetuation of 19th century historical mythology.

Following lunch, we broke into small groups to review and discuss lessons we have prepared and/or taught using the materials, content, and concepts provided in the first year and in the Summer Institute.

As usual, I found all of these elements interesting, engaging, and useful. Tom’s questions always provide me with new ways to think about history, and to point out those areas where I have too little knowledge – i.e. where are the Native Americans of New England, what happened to them, why did it happen, etc. I assume that close review of Tom’s notes, review of assigned readings throughout the coming year, and the workshops provided will provide much of the material I need to answer my questions about history. I would like to follow-up on Alice Nash’s discussion of ocular and specular. I thought I understood these when she presented it, but now I’m not so sure, and I think these are important concepts. With my advanced juniors, in particular, I want to help them understand that history is complex, and perceptions always color our understanding of history. I suppose that I should contact Ms. Nash and ask for more clarification and/or readings about this (I did a quick look on the internet but have only come up with the physics of the terms).

There are a variety of ways I can foresee using these materials in the classroom. When teaching the American Revolution it will be nice to expand the discussion of the impact of the Revolution to include more on the Native Americans. One possibility will be to use the songs “Crawford’s Defeat by the Indians”, and “St. Clair’s Defeat”. Students can be asked to respond to these in various ways – identifying facts, writing a news report based on the facts, looking for issues of bias and point of view, identifying the portrayal of the natives as well as of the soldiers, rewriting the songs from the point of view of the natives, etc. Our texts usually note that the Indians were not happy with the defeat of the British, and that these battles occurred as Americans and natives adjusted to their new situations. Using these songs provides additional and interesting content and context, while using another type of primary source. I could also incorporate the Thanksgiving information when looking at culture and society in the late 19th century and early 20th century, especially the celebrations surrounding the Colombian Exposition, etc.

The relationship between representation and reality in the history of New England natives is not new to me. The materials presented in this seminar continue to broaden and deepen my knowledge and understanding. TAH provides me with current historiography as well as access to appropriate resources, both primary and secondary, to use in my teaching.

2008-10-17T15:36:00.002-04:00

1. A brief summary of the seminar. Include any highlights for you – new information, a particularly useful exercise, a favorite moment. Be sure to identify the main historical themes and the core documents presented in the seminar.

I was particularly intrigued by the theme of forbidden love and the sense that early colonists felt compelled to carry on the spirit of the natives. I found this even more fascinating in light of our continuing discussion about the myth of the vanishing Indian and the myth of the Cherokee grandmother. Combined with the introduction of ocular and specular history, this course continues to challenge my traditional interpretation of Indian history.

2. What questions did the seminar raise for you and how will you follow-up on those questions? Will you need to do further research – and if so, how will you approach that research and what sources are available to you?

The question I raise still center on the myth of the vanishing Indian and the seeming conflict Americans have had with resolving out love of what they came to represent and our longing to identify ourselves with the nobility of their culture with our tendency to thoughtlessly destroy their culture. I look forward to being introduced to more discussion and resources that can shed more light on this.

3. How would you use this material in the classroom? If you do not currently teach this material, pretend that you do (you may be teaching it at some point in your career!).

We do approach all our curriculum at WHS from a thematic manner. In the case of US History, we hammer kids with the internalized ethos of the chosen people; the work ethic, fair play, rugged individualism. All I've been exposed to so far plays directly into those themes.

4. How does the material presented in the seminar deepen your understanding of the relationship between representation and reality in the history of New England natives?

It further proves the complexity of history and that it is constantly in a state of debate and revision. I have not been exposed to much of this information despite a fair amount of course work in US History. I'm further discouraged from relying / using textbooks as the primary source of content delivery.

Response to workshop

2008-10-17T10:20:00.006-04:00

1. A brief summary of the seminar. Include highlights for you--new information, a particularly useful exercise, a favoreite moment. Be sure to identify the core documents presented in the seminar.
During this session, we were introduced to various ideas about the first Thanksgiving and Manifest Destiny and how those are depicted. Also, the idea of occular and secular was very interesting. It was extrememly helpful to think about whose ideas were being portrayed and why. Sometimes, we believe we are saying things from a Native stand point but in reality it is our point of view for them.
2. What questions did the seminar raise for you and how will you follow-up on those questions? Will you need to do further research – and if so, how will you approach that research and what sources are available to you?
The most important question is how can I apply all this information to a 4th grade student. Some of the information we discuss is out of their league so to speak but many of the pictures and articles can be used to focus on different areas. In 4th grade, we teach native cultures of the various regions of the US so there is a lot of opportunity to bring information into the classroom.
3. How would you use this material in the classroom? If you do not currently teach this material, pretend that you do (you may be teaching it at some point in your career!).
The easiest way for me to use this information is by using the primary sources as a way to deepen the students' understanding of what we are laready learning. I would like to try to get my students to see things from an occular point of view by using these materials as well.
4. How does the material presented in the seminar deepen your understanding of the relationship between representation and reality in the history of New England natives?
It is definitely interesting to see how the history of Native Americans has been depicted throughout history and how it is then used to increase our own history. The secular and occular ideas were very interesting to hear and made me think about how I teach certain things in class.

AKFCS Teaching American History

2008-10-16T23:00:00.003-04:00

1. A brief summary of the seminar. Include highlights for you--new information, a particularly useful exercise, a favoreite moment. Be sure to identify the core documents presented in the seminar.

The seminar covered a variety of interesting topics relating to the place of the Native American in colonial society, and later in American society. I was especially interested in Professor Doughton's notes on Jehovah and the "Uncouth Wilderness": A Native People Doomed to Disappear". Edward Winslow spoke of "a wonderful plague" that left so many Native Americans dead, and their lands available to English settlers. This situation was seen as providential, willed by God that the moral and upright English should inhabit and cultivate the land formerly held by a people who were described by Natick minister Stephen Badger as indolent, lazy, and savage. The Calvinist belief of predestination was applied here, since settlers believed that they were predestined to inhabit and profit from this land in the New World since they led lives dictated by the laws of God, unlike the savage natives who seemed to possess no redeeming values. This point of view persisted throughout American history, because at every turn, the white majority used any means possible to gain the upper hand that led to the ultimate dispossession of Native Americans from their land until 1890 when the frontier was officially closed, the Indian Wars had ended, and Native American population was relegated to government mandated reservations.

The Indian Removal Act of 1830 led to forced removal of many tribes from the southeast to Oklahoma Territory. My students are always amazed that President Jackson ordered their removal without consideration for loss of land or loss of so many lives. The population charts provided by Professor Doughton of slave population in southern states provide a correlation between the removal of Native Americans and the growing number of slaves in the South.

Professor Nash spoke a "ocular" and "specular" interpretation of history. The specular view applies to the dominant view of Native Americans. Professor Nash introduced the concept of Manifest Destiny which dominated American thinking in the 1840's and 1850's. The claims to land by the "right" people, who possess the correct values and civilization again are part of the predestination concept never doubted by Americans. President Polk based his expansion policy on this concept in the 1840's.

When national unity was threatened by the Civil War, Sarah Josepha Hale spoke of images of Thanksgiving in Godey's Ladies Book. After 1890, when an influx of "new immigrants" from southern and eastern Europe arrived, and made Americans uncomfortable, attempts were made to "Americanize" the new arrivals. One tact was to teach them about Pilgrims and Indians and the first Thanksgiving in order to understand American values and identity.

2. What questions did the seminar raise for you and how will you follow-up on those questions? Will you need to do further research--and if so, how will you approach that research and what sources are available to you?

I had questions about the first Thanksgiving and the development of the Thanksgiving holiday. I have read some of the articles on the Plimoth Plantation website that have filled in the gaps for me, but I want to read more and I can access more information at that website. I hope to visit the American Antiquarian Society to look at primary sources from the 17th century relating to thanksgiving celebrations.

I had questions about treaties that were made with Native Americans by the U.S. government,, and the development of U. S. policy toward Indian tribes. Native Peoples of the East from the Revolution to Removal, Notes by Thomas Doughton, gave me a greater understanding of those issues.

3. How would you use this information in the classroom?

In my American History classes, I plan to have my students read Professor Doughton's Notes on "Jehovah and the Uncouth Wilderness: A Native People Doomed to Disappear" to introduce the concept of the "disappearing Indian". We have discussed the Indian Removal Act and its implications on the Native American population. Students have examined the chart "Expansion of Slavery in Area 1820 to 1850", along with the map "Land Cessions of the Five Civilized Tribes".

I plan to include a mini-lesson on Thanksgiving in November using primary sources and images of Thanksgiving presented in the October seminar.

4. How does the material presented in the seminar deepen your understanding of the relationship between representation and reality in the history of New England natives?

Reading primary sources from the colonial era have been very helpful. It is interesting to learn about the colonists' point of view toward, and stereotyping of, Native Americans. Professor Nash's examples of ocular and specular interpretations of history have been helpful in understanding the representation of Native Americans throughout American history. Information from the Kampoosa Bog dig have shed light on the reality of Native American culture overlooked or misunderstood

2008-10-16T13:01:00.002-04:00

1. A brief summary of the seminar. Include any highlights for you – new information, a particularly useful exercise, a favorite moment. Be sure to identify the main historical themes and the core documents presented in the seminar.

I really enjoyed the occular versus specular aspects of historical writings and primary sources. This idea is very easy to incorporate into any time period. I also found the discussion on citizenship and enfranchisment and the resulting loss of tribal identity extremely interesting. Particularly when Tom discussed the white settlers then claiming the title of "native." The concept of the disappearing indian and it not being a malicious intent but just the way things "were meant to be" with manifest destiny and the new Israel was also a key point I hope to bring up in classes.

2. What questions did the seminar raise for you and how will you follow-up on those questions? Will you need to do further research – and if so, how will you approach that research and what sources are available to you?

I definitely want to find more information on Massachusett's enfranchisement of the natives and the subsequent loss of their tribal identity. I would like to know what the reaction to this was both within the indian communities themselves and within the white and free black communities. The entire question of identity is extremely interesting to me including who and what determines identity and the impact of that determination on the individual and the group.

3. How would you use this material in the classroom? If you do not currently teach this material, pretend that you do (you may be teaching it at some point in your career!).

I will definitely be using some of the primary source materials and the discussion ideas in my Minority History class. We are currently entering into the 19th century and I think much of what was discussed in the seminar was helpful. As always Tom provided us with some extremely interesting primary sources that I know my students will enjoy. (what student doesn't like Horrid massacres and Shocking murders!) I also intend to introduce the occular versus secular perspective because I think it is important for students to understand the role of bias in historical analyses.

4. How does the material presented in the seminar deepen your understanding of the relationship between representation and reality in the history of New England natives?

Again I go back to the whole idea of identity and how the view of native americans altered over time until ultimately they were no longer identified as indians. Almost every student in my U.S. II class stated that there were no more indians in the eastern United States by the 20th century. When I ask them where the tribes currently recognized by or seeking recognition by the government come from inevitably I have students tell me they are part indian in their ancestory. I also found the 2 discussions on Thanksgiving, both last year & on Oct. 2 to be interesting in the evolution of the holiday.

Response to Oct. workshop

2008-10-15T12:20:00.002-04:00

1) A brief summary of the seminar. Include any highlights for you – new information, a particularly useful exercise, a favorite moment. Be sure to identify the main historical themes and the core documents presented in the seminar.

I once again found the information presented by both Tom Doughton and Alice Nash to be very helpful in finding new ways and perspectives to look at the enormous amount of material we've gotten and will continue to get on this topic. Particulalry useful was the "occular"/"specular" session and trying to decide when we talk from a certain perspective are we talking about Native history or or we talking about our history. To cite an example from the workshop the Jesuit writings that were really more about the Jesuits themselves than the Natives they were encountering. So are we looking at our own history or Native history through many of these sources? That to me was a very interesting part of the workshop. Also of note was the theme of the identity and how it was changed with enfrachisement and detribalization, which is certainly applicable to the classroom. Also, the piece on Thanksgiving and Manifest destiny were something that can be brought right into the classroom for discussion.

2. What questions did the seminar raise for you and how will you follow-up on those questions? Will you need to do further research – and if so, how will you approach that research and what sources are available to you?

After almost all of these seminars my question is the same. How am I going to use this in the classroom and how do I make a high school kid interested in this topic? Always second place in my order of questions is How do I fit this in with the frameworks? I think since our focus is shifting further into the 19th century, much more will be applicable to the standards. It's always very difficult to examine much of what we covered last year and through the summer unless it is used as a comparison to something else, because there simply isn't enough time to start and cover with any depth anything before the French and Indian War. I think I've gotten a little better at drawing in some of what we've learned and certainly have made use of the multitude of primary sources we've been given.

3. How would you use this material in the classroom? If you do not currently teach this material, pretend that you do (you may be teaching it at some point in your career!).
Teaching U.S. I I think that getting kids to see the difference between an occular and specular learning. To get students to try and see things from an occular point of view and get them to understand history from a certain cultures own point of view and experiences is a critical skill. Also, the idea of manifest destiny becomes a huge theme in U.S. History I and is something that can really be explored by the students who search for justification and understanding of how it happened.

4. How does the material presented in the seminar deepen your understanding of the relationship between representation and reality in the history of New England natives?

The representation is certainly of the vanishing Indian. However, the reality may be that this was done over time and that Inidans were looked at as the remains of a once noble people and so weren't really looked at as Indians in the first place. The enfranchisement and detribalization is a big part of the identity and how many Indians became citizens and therefore no longer part of their tribes. Also, many were just looked at as vagrants and therefore weren't real Indians either. This power play by Europeans to steal Indian identity contributes to the myth of the vanishing Indian when we know they were here and continued to be even after most of their land was taken.

RESPONSES TO OCTOBER 2 WORKSHOP

2008-10-14T08:18:00.002-04:00

1. A brief summary of the seminar. Include any highlights for you – new information, a particularly useful exercise, a favorite moment. Be sure to identify the main historical themes and the core documents presented in the seminar.

To sum up briefly, the dominant theme (for me) was the alleged "disappearance" of Native American peoples--whether physical (Indian Removal), emotional (the distancing of white New Englanders from the Indians remaining among them and the transference of their identity to themselves (!) ,spiritual (the pseudo-religious ideology of Euro-America as the "New Israel/New Jerusalem"), and political (Manifest Destiny)

2. What questions did the seminar raise for you and how will you follow-up on those questions? Will you need to do further research – and if so, how will you approach that research and what sources are available to you?

The workshop reinforces my interest in the complex issue of "identity" and the questions about how a sense of identity remains in spite of such profound transformations as religious conversion and the adoption of (or adaptation to) many of the dominant culture's political and social structures. I will continue to research particular examples of this kind of adaptation in my research into the Brothertown Indians and other similar examples.

3. How would you use this material in the classroom? If you do not currently teach this material, pretend that you do (you may be teaching it at some point in your career!).

I am using the "model" if not the specific content of the workshop in my AP World History class every time we discuss "clash of cultures". What happens to the group that gets displaced? How does it persist (Does it persist? Why? Why not?) I will use some of the specific content when we get into the chapters about the European 'invasion' of the Americas.

I also found the whole discussion about 'specular' vs. 'ocular' ways of doing history very intriguing . The whole issue of perceptions between groups--how we see each other, and how far we are willing to go to try to see things from the 'other's' perspective--is central to the way I try to approach historiography. Alice Nash's presentation about the two different ways of looking at this was very helpful.

4. How does the material presented in the seminar deepen your understanding of the relationship between representation and reality in the history of New England natives?

It reinforces my belief that the people in control also control the "story" (or, canon, as Tom put it). This, however, is changing because of the "others'" ability to get their interpretation out through the press and, now, the Internet. Even in the 18th century this was possible because of the efforts of educated Native Americans like Samson Occom (and others). It is even more possible today. The question remains, how many people in the dominant society will choose to avail themselves of those alternate points of view?

2008-10-08T22:26:00.002-04:00

AMERICAN INDIAN AND YANKEE LIFEWAYS 10/4/08
(class held at Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, MA)

--Margaret Bruchac and Bette Lotterman (from OSV) were the main presenters at this workshop. Marge, over the day, asked the workshop participants to form a type of "KWL" chart.

Here’s what I know and where I started:
My school started a new program this year. The 4th graders are working with the art, gym, and music teachers on activities relating to Native Americans. They have been playing Indian games in gym, and in art class, they have been drawing a picture of a girl on a platform, scaring away crows in the cornfield. These activities have segued into a study of how we “get” food now vs. how Native Americans in the 18th and 19th century “got” their food. The students are beginning to realize that food production/gathering was a major part of an average person’s day. When they write letters to their imaginary Native American “friend” from the past, their letters show the knowledge they are gaining about Native culture from the 18th and 19th century. I myself tie the other content areas in (geography, math, etc.) whenever I speak of Native Americans. I love to explore the food of different cultures at school. I think what goes in your mouth…and what you had to do to get it into your mouth…speaks volumes about the people who created the dish. I want to know more about this interaction between the Native Americans and those who called themselves Yankees. The term “Yankee,” I must assume, in this context refers to residents of New England who were of European descent. There were many manifestations of the term “Yankee” through the history of the United States, and at the time period we are studying, I think that this description most aptly fits the bill.

Here’s what I want to know and what I did:
We began the day by working as a group…working together even though we didn’t know each other. What we had in common was a hunger for knowledge about Native American and Yankee interactions, especially in the common area of food. I thought that food would be an excellent area to examine the transfer of information and tradition between cultures...everybody’s got to eat! And so it was the hunger for information and the increasing hunger for a delicious meal that brought our group together.

We found that the European population relied on “receipts” (modern day translation: recipes) that were based upon ‘the same results time after time.’ Measurements such as a pint or a spoonful were common, and ingredients ranged from local to the exotic (read: imported). They preserved and/or dried much of the yearly harvest in order to have the same foods available year round. Many of their original receipts were based on what they had grown up on in Europe. The Native American communities, however, based their meals on what was locally available at the time they were cooking. Salt and spices were not a major factor in Indian cookery. Results were not based on a specific set of tasks, rather, a process that may or may not follow the same path to lead to a satisfying result. Consistently, the Native Americans proved to live by a diet that was varied by the seasons, but still fulfilled the components necessary for proper development and sustenance. There wasn’t a reliance on salt or spices as the European tongue desired. Flavoring was much more subtle, from the burnt grits on the edge of a kettle lending a smoky flavor to the Wampanoag Nasaump, to the creamy goodness of corn, lima beans, and butternut squash cooked with sweet-tasting bear fat over the fire to become Succotash (a term that roughly translates to “chopped into small bits”).

Here’s what I want to do next time:
I would absolutely love to continue this journey into the “foodways” of the New England Yankees and local Native American tribes. The adage “you are what you eat” certainly applies to the melding of cultures in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries of North American history.

Specific questions I would like to explore include how readily each culture accepted the ‘others’’ ways…what worked ‘best’ style and preparation-wise? I would also like to discover what each population had in common taste-wise with each other…was there a predilection towards creamy foods or crunchy, etc.? Were there similar or different preparation methods?

Reaction to October 2 Workshop

2008-10-08T22:13:00.002-04:00

I was really happy to come back to the TAH group this fall. It felt like it had been ages since the summer institute. Thomas Doughton, our lead scholar, began the day by telling us that the emphasis would be on 19th century New England during this school year. I am happy we are spending time in this era, since the MA Frameworks require students to learn about this time. The more connections we get with the Frameworks, the better.

I liked the “cautionary tales” that Tom handed out to us that morning. The story of Miss Ann Carter was somewhat ‘sweet,’ I thought, as I read it that night. …Baring your soul, exposing your past…accepting the charming European newcomer…what a soap opera…a romance novel. The last paragraph, however, brings it all into place; two hundred years since the settlement of Boston (at the time the story was written—1830), times have changed. What once was a small colony of Europeans struggling to survive, versus what the writer described as the intelligent, handsome and attractive Indian peoples showing them the way, comes a “mighty and flourishing republic…marked out by Heaven for some great purpose.” Hence the ideation of the “vanishing Indian” is stated.

I wonder how to effectively communicate the idea of “the vanishing Indian” to my young (4th and possibly 5th grade) students. I think I should look into primary source documents that contain some type of narrative about a young person –Native American or otherwise—that shows some evidence of this. I worry that this type of thing is rare, elusive…and will require extensive research. If I do indeed find this information, I will consider it a necessary part of my instruction. This will be a more realistic approach to teaching history as opposed to the usual representation you find in the textbooks.

The Shocking Murder by the Savages! story definitely had a bent towards illustrating what the author termed “savage barbarity” by the Native American population. Poor Mrs. B describes her tale of murder, kidnapping, and escape from “INDIANS, on the frontiers, who are butchering whole families without regard to age or sex!” Here, too, is another way the Indian “vanished” from the New England hills. This time, instead of wholeheartedly offering his/her heart and soul, indeed the very identity of the Native American population, the Indian was presented as an interloper, a butcher worthy of a swift and savage interruption of the progress that the European immigrant was attempting to gain.

This reminds me somewhat of today’s “reality TV” or other popular media ‘entertainment’ that students will be familiar with. I find many of them (and some adults, for that matter, I hardly watch TV compared to others!) often compare stories about what they’ve seen to events happening in school or about town. In the classroom, I would absolutely love to compare/contrast this story to a popular (or recently read) story that the students are familiar with. We could use the “double bubble” technique, where similarities in stories/people/themes are connected to both bubbles, and differences are connected to only one bubble or another. It would be a nice tie-in with E/LA.

Tom’s discussion of Jehovah in the Wilderness further underscored the idea that the “disappearing Indian” was one of the foundational myths of America. Again, the idea of “Blackness expands” and “Indian shrinks” was discussed. In 1869, Massachusetts Indians were considered citizens of the Commonwealth. Indians viewed this, for the most part, as the end of tribal existence due to enfranchisement. By the early 1920’s, the only popular way to describe “European Indian-ness” was to state that your “grandmother was an Indian Princess.”

Alice Nash also presented on this day. She discussed the connection between Thanksgiving and the Manifest Destiny. The Manifest Destiny, according to John O’Sullivan in 1845, indicated a natural right to go forward with the annexation of Texas / the taking of Oregon… “We…” as Americans, have a “greater claim to it” than other countries, including Britain. Progress in the form of overspreading and claiming land, it appears, is a God-given right. Originally, the idea of a “Thanksgiving” was advocated for by the editor of Ladies’ Godey’s Book during the Civil War in 1864. A “day of fasting and prayer” was suggested, rather than a celebration of Pilgrims and Indians.

Alice showed us several images relating to those early days of “Thanksgiving.” Uncle Sam’s Thanksgiving Dinner , done in 1864, shows a variety of folks around the Thanksgiving table. I liked that image the best. There were people of all races around the table, and it included women participating freely in the conversation going on. Uncle Sam himself looked very different from the current version we are used to. He was a lot younger! But then again, America was young then, too.

Alice’s main topic was the two different ways to look at “history”—either the ocular view (looking directly at something and stating what you see) or the specular view of history (from the Latin “mirror” or through a lens)...measuring yourself against others. “…I’m good, you’re savage,” which is based on either prior personal experience or hearsay.

Alice stated that many historical accounts amount to the base or foundation of the specular view of history. People generally observe the world through a “lens,” which consists of their own experiences, which may or may not affect their plane of existence. Personally, I think this is the way folks naturally view events. As a woman in a sketch on Saturday Night Live once said, “…But enough about me. What do YOU think of me?”

I think that the “ocular” view of history is an important way to see history…as far as I can see from my 4th/5th grade (rather specular) view, people, events, and the very conditions Native people lived in are presented in an extremely specular view—via textbooks and traditional reading materials. I would love to propose a paradigm shift in historical studies—to the ocular view. How about (to use an old adage) walking a mile in the other person’s shoes? There is an elementary school in Rhode Island that does just that. Webster Middle School (where I work) received a FELS grant, which will allow us to take a field trip to visit this school. I am very excited about it…the children participate in a major undertaking every year…they (along with adults) put together a colonial and Native American village in the back of the school. Each child assumes a persona, and researches it so thoroughly that they are able to act as interpreters (as in Sturbridge Village or Plymouth Plantation) of the particular historical time they are involved with. We’re talking cabins, wetus, and even drying fish. Apparently, ask these kids any questions, and they will answer appropriately (e.g., “do you like to chew gum?” “…gum? I know not of which you say. Do you mean the gum from the pine tree?”). This school has been doing this activity every fall for many years. It is a success due to the involvement of the parents as well as the commitment of the staff. I can’t wait to see it.

This last weekend (Oct. 4, 2008), I attended a workshop at Old Sturbridge Village which was entitled “American Indian and Yankee Lifeways,” featuring Marjorie Bruchac. You remember she visited us during our summer session as the “Indian Doctress.” We cooked Yankee and Indian food, talked, looked at primary source documents, and visited the Village. I was struck by the connection between Thursday’s and Saturday’s seminars.

I found myself describing in detail the two ways of looking at history: ocular and specular. Not only was my own understanding of the relationship between representation and reality in the history of New England natives deepened…I was also able to ignite the imagination and thought processes of others. For this, I am grateful.

--Nora Werme

OCTOBER 2 POST WORKSHOP ASSIGNMENT

2008-10-06T11:11:00.001-04:00

OCTOBER 2 2008 POST WORKSHOP BLOG ASSIGNMENT

The following questions have been devised by Dr. Charlotte Haller for those receiving graduate credits for the Academic Year Workshops.
As they are excellent reflection questions for us all we will use them for the post workshop blog assignments as well. Those taking the course for credit may wish to email their responses to Dr. Haller as well (email: challer1@worcester.edu)

1. A brief summary of the seminar. Include any highlights for you – new information, a particularly useful exercise, a favorite moment. Be sure to identify the main historical themes and the core documents presented in the seminar.

2. What questions did the seminar raise for you and how will you follow-up on those questions? Will you need to do further research – and if so, how will you approach that research and what sources are available to you?

3. How would you use this material in the classroom? If you do not currently teach this material, pretend that you do (you may be teaching it at some point in your career!).

4. How does the material presented in the seminar deepen your understanding of the relationship between representation and reality in the history of New England natives?
October 2, 2008, American Antiquarian Society. Response is due by Thursday, October 16th.

2008-10-01T20:21:00.002-04:00

I am going to do a novel study with a small group of 4th grade Special Education students at my school. I'm usually teaching a structured, prescripted reading intervention program that doesn't really involve other content areas (i.e., history), but I often enhance their program of study with small novels. To give you a bit of background, in the beginning weeks of the school year, the students listened as I read Flat Stanley; it's a story of a young boy who is flattened by a large bulletin board which falls on him during the night.
The students discussed the prejudice that Flat Stanley experienced during his "disabled " state as a flat person (until his brother blew him back up with a bicycle pump). Some of the children wondered why people made fun of him, and based on this questioning of prejudice, and I had the students read a novel called The Hundred Dresses. It's a classic tale of students who made fun of a girl who claims to have a hundred dresses at home, while she wears the same blue dress every day. In the end of the story, the students realize that Wanda (the blue dress girl) truly does have 100 dresses, in the form of beautiful sketches. They realize that despite her differences and difficulties, Wanda is a person to be valued and respected, just like everyone else. It's actually not a very happy story.
To follow up this novel, I plan to have the children read The Courage of Sarah Noble (this is where Teaching American History really kicks in). It is the story of 7 year old Sarah and her father, who travel from Massachusetts to New Milford, CT in the early 1700's to set up a new home for the rest of the Noble family. During the trip (and after they set up their new homestead), Sarah observes the negative reactions of other settlers regarding the Native Americans. Her father, on the other hand, is accepting of other cultures. She also remembers her mother's patent message, which is "Keep up your courage, Sarah Noble;" this proves to be what could be called a defining mantra for Sarah. By believing in this statement, Sarah (and her father) are able to accept the natives on their own terms, and understand their ways. Eventually Sarah lives with them for a time, while her father fetches the rest of the family.
I know this is a lot of background information, but I wanted you to see the natural progression into the topic of our study. During and after we read the novel, students will be discussing the varying views of Native Americans that the settlers had. They will also use the time to discover what life was really like in the 1700's (Natives and settlers). How did they get food? How did they learn? How far did Sarah and her father travel, and how long did it take to get to New Milford? Why did some people have such a negative view of the Indians?
This novel study will segue into a study of the actual Noble family--why John Noble decided to relocate to CT--how Sarah was able to function on her own with a native family--what happened to the family after everyone else arrived. We will use primary source documents and internet resources to find our answers.

Blog Assignment #1 Reflection from Rosemarie W.

2008-10-01T06:57:00.000-04:00

Because I am nearly transfixed by the thought provoking lectures and the rich content, it will take at least one more course of this type before I feel remotely competent to synthesize my thinking (wrap my head around it).It is puzzling for me to reflect and apply rational, logical, reasonable, or sympathetic conclusions to this part of American history, the inane human ability to manipulate and dispossess other human beings for the despondent desire for power and control over other human beings. But I would like to begin considering an analogy that others have made. Which is applicable to the frameworks of a lesson that recognizes the achievements of Native Americans, and that is the similarity between the social-political organization of Native American Confederations and the social-political organization of American States (USA)., A primary source material example could be the Samuel Occum and Brotherton Indians (8/17/08 session), establishment of a reservation to provide a secure place for nurturing, maintaining and preserving cultural identity. The example of the Iroquois League, http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/CULAMRCA/IRLEAGUE.HTM, supports this point of view, “Many Native American tribes or nations formed loose defensive confederations which held together briefly or for a long time. The Iroquois, a confederation of first five and then six Native American nations in the northeastern United States, however, formed what was an anomalous confederation that would form much of the basis for the American invention of government. This was a powerful confederation of sovereign nations held together by a constitution that based itself on the structure of the confederation and its decision-making apparatus rather than on the charisma or power of individuals. This would then become the model that the framers of the Consitution would turn to in designing a nation that was, in theory, a set of sovereign nations: the United States.”

1st blog

2008-09-24T21:49:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone is having a great start to their year. Though I'm not teaching any US History content this year, I am teaching our thematic World history course at Westborough High. The main theme of the forces that shape and challenge personal and community identity. I'll seek to use some of our summer content to bring this theme into focus as we discuss religion, power, revolution, nationalism and the like.

Ed

October 2 Workshop Information and Reading Assignments

2008-09-18T14:18:00.002-04:00

We are ready to start our second academic year of the grant in just a couple of weeks.

Our presenters on Thursday October 2, 2008 will be our Lead Scholar, Thomas Doughton and Alice Nash--those who attended the Summer Institute know that we can look forward to superb presentations from both.

Charlotte Haller from Worcester State will be with us in the afternoon to participate in the "Teach-Back" and to sign up those who are interested in receiving graduate credits for the Academic Year workshops. This is an extraordinarily good deal. Check out the links on the site for more information

The reading(s) below have been assigned in advance of our October 2, 2008 Workshop

"JEHOVAH UNCOUTH" (accessible in pdf format on the website)

From Calloway’s First PeoplesChapter 3: “Indians in Colonial & Revolutionary America 1680-1783,” pp. 154-217Chapter 4: “American Indians and the New Nation, 1783-1838,” pp. 218-89

From Prucha’s Great FatherChap. 2: “Regulating Trade and Intercourse,” pp. 31-47Chap. 3: “Civilization & Education,” pp. 48-63Chap. 4: “The Policy of Indian Removal,” PP. 64-77Chap. 5: “Emigration of the Tribes,” pp. 78-92

First Assignment: New England Indians in the Sixteenth Century

2008-09-02T14:28:00.002-04:00

I will begin the year with the Verrazzano letter to King Francis I of France. I want my students to read primary sources in order to determine the strategic goals of France and other European nations in the early exploration of the Americas. In addition to that, I want them to think about the attitudes Europeans had toward native peoples,and how those attitudes shaped their treatment of native peoples.

Assignment1

2008-08-22T14:20:00.003-04:00

I would like to focus on making younger grades (4th in particular) aware of the vast number of native groups in this area and how they influenced historical events they are already learning about.

Assignment 1

2008-08-22T14:17:00.001-04:00

Blog Assignment #1

2008-08-21T13:56:00.000-04:00

Roger Williams - Forced out of Mass. Beyond his religious POV that government should not force people to worship a certian way. He belived that it was WRONG for settlers to take land away from Native Americans--Henry Zussman

Blog Assignment 1--Thanks to all who have contributed

2008-08-21T13:48:00.000-04:00

Below are the contributions from some of our participating teachers. Some were comments which have been made into postings with attributions for the convenience of readers.

2008-08-21T13:47:00.000-04:00

I would like to look at how different groups experiences differ based on geography, specifically Martha's Vineyard natives.---Mike Penney

2008-08-21T13:42:00.001-04:00

I plan to focus on how native americans and african americans interacted and intermarried and the impact that had on the indian identity and land rights.--Kelly Davila

2008-08-21T13:37:00.002-04:00

I’m toying with the idea of working on the connection between economics and labor in early colonial New England. The lecture by Dr. Newell and the readings addressing Indian servitude were fascinating. I think having students understand the why, how, and consequence of Indians becoming indentured can be a valuable life lesson-- Phil Hureau

From Phil Hureau

2008-08-18T06:06:00.001-04:00

Wow there was a lot to digest, but now that some time has passed and I’ve had a chance to think about the Summer Institute I think I can offer some thoughts. First off it was a terrific week. It was wonderful to get out of the classroom and into the classroom. The interaction with the other members of the group was very intellectually stimulating. I enjoy lectures, so I appreciated the presentations by the scholars. Tom as always was terrific as was David Silverman, Margaret Newell, Hillary Wys, Alden Vaugn, and Neal Salisbury. I guess what surprised me the most was the attacks on Indian identity in New England. It was one thing to diminish the value of their culture and deprive these people of their property and freedom, but the efforts to “de-indianize” them and seemingly make them disappear was startling. The lectures, primary sources and other resources that were made available to us will be invaluable in the classroom. I already created an introductory lesson giving an overview of the causes of conflict between Europeans and Indians. I’m also using this lesson as a way to reinforce document analysis skills with my students.In the future I plan to create lessons highlighting economics, freedom, and identity.
August 10, 2008 12:05 PM

Blog Assignment #1 plan

2008-08-01T15:02:00.003-04:00

I am planning to work on the topic of identity. How one identifies oneself, how others identify us, how our identity changes over time. I'm thinking of the identities that the governing society gave Indians and how Indians in Southern New England began to change how they saw themselves (as tribal only at first, then more as "Indians"). The Brotherton experiment is a very interesting case.--John Daly

BLOG ASSIGNMENT # 1

2008-07-25T20:50:00.003-04:00

Choose a topic/session/experience at the summer institute that struck you as something you can use in the classroom and why.

Please post your topic (just one or two lines) by August 15.

People may share ideas/responses with one another on line.

By September 15 you must post a more detailed reflection (0ne or two paragraphs). Again, people are encouraged to give one another feedback/ideas online.

Be prepared to discuss your ideas in the form of a “teach back” when we get together in October.

You don't need to present a formal lesson plan, but you must be prepared to give a good 5-8 minute overview of how you would construct your lesson and what materials/sources you would use, where you would get them, etc.

REFLECTIONS ON SUMMER INSTITUTE 2008

2008-07-19T20:41:00.002-04:00

Our first Summer Insititute is past and the response has been very positive. One of the things that we spoke about several times was making the blog a much more interactive part of our experience.
Why don't we start with individual feedback about the Institute.
What presentations worked best for you and why?
What did you learn that you truly never knew about before?
What ideas do you have about applying this in your classroom?
Over the next several weeks, lets share our insights and experiences with one another here so that when we come together again in October we can feel that the important dialogs we began this past week have continued.

Year End Comments

2008-05-08T10:00:00.002-04:00

Abby Kelley Foster's Teaching American History grant project is nearing the end of our first year. We still have the Mashantucket-Pequot Museum visit coming up on Friday May 16th to complete the academic year and our first Summer Institute during the third week in July (Monday July 14-Friday July 18).

Our blog site has been under-utilized, though. I'd like to encourage participating teachers, scholars, and Steering Committee members to share their comments about what has worked, what needs to be worked on, and any memorable events over the course of the year--in workshops or in classroom application.

New teachers and those who will be joining us over the summer, please feel free to add your own comments about hopes and expectations.

Looking forward to a good end of the year, a great Summer Institute, and an even better Year 2.

John Daly

Project Director/Manager

February 13 Workshop

2008-01-28T14:25:00.000-05:00

Expect some readings in the mail soon for the February 13th workshop. One of our chief presenters will be Alden T. Vaughan---a renowned expert on the Native Americans of Easter North America. The following is taken from, http://www.shakespeareinamericanlife.org/documentary/players/advisors/vaughana.cfm

Alden Vaughan is professor emeritus of history at Columbia University, where he taught colonial history for many years. He is one of the preeminent authorities on this subject. He has published numerous books, including Roots of American Racism: Essays on the Colonial Experience, American Genesis: Captain John Smith and the Founding of Virginia, and New England Frontier: Puritans and Indians, 1620–1675. He also wrote the essay on Pocohantas for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. He and his wife, Virginia Mason Vaughan, co-wrote the book Shakespeare’s Caliban: A Cultural History (1991) and jointly edited an important edition of The Tempest for the Arden Shakespeare edition (1999). The Vaughns were co-curators of the 1992 NEH-supported Folger exhibition A New World of Wonders, for which they also lectured on The Tempest and the New World in conjunction with a staged reading from the play. In 2007, they co-curated the Shakespeare in American Life exhibition at Folger Shakespeare Library and compiled and edited the exhibition catalog. Vaughan has been a fellow with the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the Charles Warren Center for Studies of American History at Harvard University, and the American Antiquarian Society. He holds a B.A. from Amherst College and a Ph.D. from Columbia University.

Our lead scholar, Dr. Thomas Doughton will also be presenting. Dr. Doughton received his Doctorat-ès-Lettres from the Université de Paris, Paris, France, Siège de la Sorbonne. He has written extensively on Native American and African American topics and will be presenting on the use and misuse of historical materials in the struggle of Native Americans to receive federal recognition.

Changing Practice

2007-11-15T09:47:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! As the 'outside evaluator' for this Teaching American History project, we are really interested in hearing about what you have been doing in your classrooms. I've already heard informally that some of you have made changes to your 'Thanksgiving' units. It would be greatly appreciated if you'd just add a simple note here on the blog about things you have done differently, maybe what's worked well and even what didn't work so well. I'm sure your fellow teachers would enjoy reading them as well!

Why is it so difficult to 'question' historical viewpoints?

2007-11-15T09:28:00.000-05:00

We are often presented with 'authoritative' statements about historical events that may seem quite suspect, or, at least raise questions about the way in which they are being interpreted, but many of us are cautious about asking questions. This is particularly true when the 'authority' is from a group that has historically suffered oppression. Thus, when Nat Turner is presented to us as a liberator, we feel squeamish about asking whether he might not (also) have been a religious fanatic and a terrorist. When we are told matter-of-factly that all Native Americans lived 'peacefully, humbly' and 'close to the earth' we don't raise questions about slash and burn farming, intense inter-tribal warfare, or rigid class structures that some Native Americans practiced as a matter of course. When we hear it asserted that womens' political 'power' was minimal to non-existent before they achieved the franchise (or, Roe v Wade), we do not ask about the very significant role they played as petitioners to Congress in opposition of the Indian Removal Act, slavery, conditions in prisons, etc.

Are we simply victims of political correctness? Or, do we become genuinely confused in the face of the 'experts'? It would be good if we could openly address some of these issues within the confines of this group. We cannot expect our students to become serious historical inquirers if we shy away from asking hard questions ourselves--and perhaps examining our own underlying assumptions (we call this 'point of view' today; it used to be known as 'bias')

At any rate, we can look forward to a very interesting workshop on February 13, 2008 when the topic at hand will be 'historiography' (how one actually reads and writes good history from a critical perspective). In the last analysis, this is really about critical thinking skills--our own and those we hope to inculcate in our students.

What did you learn at Plimoth?

2007-11-06T14:02:00.000-05:00

I am curious to know what people learned at Plimoth Plantation that you didn't know before.

For instance, though I knew that the traditional "first Thanksgiving" story was a national myth, I didn't know about the spring of 1621 treaty that might have inspired the Wampanoag warriors (minus women and children) to make their visit. Did they arrive out of concern that their 'allies' were being attacked?

I also learned (on the way home, from our Lead Scholar, Tom Doughton) that the Wampanoag settlements (& other Massachusetts settlements) had been under attack from Micmacs coming down the coast from Maine. Is it doing good history to at least raise the question that the Wampanoag warriors might have thought Plimoth was under attack from their enemies to the north?

We only have the brief reference to the event in Winslow's letter and the fact that we know there was a 'treaty', plus the additional information that the natives of coastal Massachusetts had been under attack. Is this enough information to make an educated guess?

What did you find out and what questions have you had since our visit?

Wampanoag Language & Thanksgiving Links

2007-11-01T10:13:00.000-04:00

WAMPANOAG LANGUAGE & THANKSGIVING LINKS

Below is some information on the Wampanoag language reclamation project that we heard about at Plimoth. It is not quite as mysterious as the historical interpreter at the Wampanoag site made it sound. Also included is a link to the Harper's Magazine site. Here one of the famous 19th Thanksgiving cartoons is presented and explained. This could make for interesting discussion in the classroom.Thanks to our Lead Scholar, Thomas Doughton, for providing them.

Overview Native Languages of New EnglandWampanoag--also known as Massachusett, Pokanoket or Natick--was an Algonkian language of New England. The language is no longer spoken in Wampanoag communities today, although some Wampanoag people are trying to revive it.

http://www.native-languages.org/wampanoag.htmhttp://www.wampanoagtribe.net/Pages/Wampanoag_Education/languageWampanoag Language Reclamation Project

The goal of the Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project is the reclamation of the Wôpanâak language (also spelled Wampanoag; Wôpanâak is the spelling in the modern orthography). This language was once spoken in eastern Massachusetts, but has had no speakers in over a century. On the other hand, it enjoys a particularly large corpus of texts (including a translation of the Bible by John Eliot in 1663, the first complete Bible in any language published in this hemisphere, and a number of legal documents, mainly deeds and wills, written by native speakers and recently collected and analyzed by Kathleen Bragdon and Ives Goddard), and it is a member of the large Algonquian family of languages, which has been studied by linguists for many decades. The project takes advantage of both of these fortunate circumstances, combining careful study of the available texts with cross-linguistic comparison within the Algonquian family, which allows us to reconstruct the grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary of the language.The Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project began in 1993 as a collaborative project between the tribes of the Wampanoag Nation. MIT became involved in 1996, when Jessie Littledoe Baird, a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, began working formally here at MIT with the late Ken Hale, a renowned linguistic scholar with a long history of work with many Native American languages. The project benefited greatly from the work of a number of graduate students, including Benjamin Bruening and Andrea Rackowski; Norvin Richards began working on the project in 1999, when he joined the faculty here.After receiving her Masters degree in linguistics in 2000, Baird returned to Mashpee, and now teaches classes in Wôpanâak in Mashpee and on Aquinnah at several levels, including an immersion course in which only Wôpanâak is spoken (classes may be attended only by members of the tribe). Nitana Hicks, one of Baird's Wôpanâak students, received her own Master's degree in linguistics here in 2006, and has begun helping with the reclamation work. Baird, Hicks, and Richards continue to work on pedagogical materials for the language, including a dictionary and a textbook. The dictionary currently contains approximately 8200 words; click here to see a sample entry. For more information, contact Jessie Littledoe Baird or Norvin Richards.

Here is the link to the Harper's site:

http://www.harpweek.com/

A copy of the cartoon, "Uncle Sam's Thanksgiving Dinner," is attached.

For an explanation of the cartoon, see the following:

http://www.harpweek.com/09Cartoon/BrowseByDateCartoon.asp?Month=November&Date=22

WELCOME

2007-10-31T14:19:00.001-04:00

This blog has been created for educators and scholars taking part in the Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public School Teaching American History grant. Our full title, “Citizenship, Property, Identity & Representation: the Historical Journey of Southern New England’s Native Peoples” is both wordy and descriptive. We are making a common journey through 400 years of American History with a very timely focus.

Since some of our best questions and insights come in the days and weeks after a workshop, institute, or after completing an assigned reading, this site (and our companion website) has been created so that we can all continue in the conversation.

This is the place to share inspirations, observations, new information, and classroom experiences in a way that will encourage us to deepen our knowledge and understanding of an essential area of American History.

So, let the conversation begin!