Grade 2 Fall History - The Native Peoples of Our Region: Living Nations, Land, and Knowledge
Lesson 3 45 min hist.g2.f.lesson_03

Whose Homeland Is This? Mapping the Nations of Our Region

Skills targeted
Objectives
  • Students identify the Indigenous nation(s) whose ancestral homeland includes their town/region on a pre-contact map AND on a present-day map.
  • Students explain that homelands have BOTH a pre-contact form AND a present form - many nations were forcibly removed but still maintain relationship to their homelands.
Vocabulary
homelandancestralpre-contactpresent-dayremovalstill hererelationship to land

Lesson plan

Warm-up

5 min

Quick-flip: yesterday we learned there are 574 nations. Today the question is: which nation's homeland is THIS land?

Teacher moves
  • Project MG-4 left panel only - pre-contact map
  • Children point to where the school is
  • Reveal: this land is the ancestral homeland of [LOCAL NATION(S)]

Direct instruction

15 min

Before European contact - more than 500 years ago - this exact land where our school stands was the homeland of the [LOCAL NATION]. They lived here, fished/hunted/farmed here, told stories here, buried their grandparents here, raised their children here, FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. Today, after removal and treaties, the [LOCAL NATION] still exists - they are a sovereign nation today, sometimes living on a reservation, sometimes spread out, AND many [LOCAL NATION] people still live right here in our region. Their HOMELAND is still their homeland.

Key examples
  • The map changes don't change whose homeland this is.
    model The land is still here. The rivers are still here. The Nation is still here, even though the borders changed.
    prompt What is the SAME between the pre-contact map and the present-day map?
Checks for understanding
  • Point to OUR town. Whose homeland is it?
  • Are the [LOCAL NATION] still here today? (YES)
Sourcework
Source type
Native-Land.ca interactive map + Tribal Nation official website + pre-contact historical atlas
Routine
WHO/WHEN/WHY on each map: who made it, when, for whom?
Media
M-2-F-GEO-03-A Map
Two-panel map 24x18 each, side by side. LEFT panel: pre-contact c.1500 map of our region with Tribal Nation territories

Two-panel map 24x18 each, side by side. LEFT panel: pre-contact c.1500 map of our region with Tribal Nation territories shown as overlapping zones (no hard borders - because pre-contact territories were rarely hard-bordered) using semi-transparent colored fills, river systems blue, no modern roads, no state lines, scale bar in miles. RIGHT panel: present-day same region with state borders (faint grey), highways (medium grey), our school as a star, current Tribal Nation lands/reservations highlighted in same colors as left panel, current tribal main-office locations as pin markers. Both panels use IDENTICAL coordinates so children can see continuity. Source line: 'Compiled from Native-Land.ca, the nations' own websites, and the Smithsonian Atlas of the Indigenous Americas.' Style: clean cartographic, dignified, no faux-aged 'olde mappe' aesthetic.

Guided practice

12 min
Tasks
  • Each pair receives the local-nation fact sheet (from tribal ed office). Read together. Find: name of nation, name of language, name of current government, where main offices are today.
    scaffold Highlight 4 colors for the 4 facts.
  • Add a sticky-flag to the wall map at the present location of the nation's main offices AND a different-color flag at the school's location.
Media
M-2-F-GEO-03-B Interactive Physical / non-image

Interactive tablet card 8.5x11, 4-color quadrant: (TL) Nation name with phonetic pronunciation guide; (TR) language name + audio QR; (BL) current government type with chief/chair name; (BR) current main-office location with photo. Bottom: source line 'Information confirmed by [Nation] Education Office, May 2024.' Each fact-card customized per school region. Style: clean infographic, large type, child-readable.

Formative assessment

5 min
Exit ticket
  • Name the Indigenous nation whose homeland includes our town.
  • Are they still here today? YES or NO.
scoring Both correct = mastery; one correct = practicing

Closure

3 min
Moves
  • Add 'homeland' and 'ancestral' to Word Wall
  • Preview tomorrow: land as RELATIONSHIP

Homework

5 min
Tasks
  • Look at a map at home (paper or digital) and find one Tribal Nation reservation or homeland marked on it. Bring the name.

Exercises in this lesson

hist.g2.f.geo.homelands_pre_contact.ex_01
On the MG-4 two-map comparison: (a) Find OUR SCHOOL on the present-day map. (b) On the pre-contact map at the same location - whose...
 map label · diff 2
hist.g2.f.geo.homelands_pre_contact.ex_02
Is the [LOCAL NATION] still here today? Use the TWO-MAP comparison (MG-4) to give EVIDENCE for your answer.
 still here check · diff 3

Differentiation

Scaffolds
  • Use the smaller take-home version of MG-4 with the school marked
  • Pre-fill sentence 'I live on ___ homeland.'
Extensions
  • Investigate: were there MORE than one nation's homelands overlapping in our region? Many regions did have shared territories.
English Learners
  • Bilingual map labels
  • Vocabulary card with 'homeland'='casa ancestral'/'故乡'/'وطن'/etc.
Ieps 504s
  • Use the raised-relief map
  • Verbal response acceptable for exit ticket

Teacher notes

BEFORE THIS LESSON: contact the local tribal nation's education office, identify the correct nation name(s), correct present-day government type (council, elected chief, etc.), and verify the homeland language preferred by the nation. Some regions have multiple overlapping nations - present them as overlapping, not exclusive. If your school is in a region where the historic nation was forcibly removed (e.g., Cherokee Nation removed from Georgia/Tennessee/etc. to Oklahoma 1838), the present-day map will show the homeland AND the removal destination. Address removal frankly but developmentally - 'the US government forced them to move, and they have kept their nation alive in the new place; their old homeland is still their homeland too.'