Pre-1600 Indigenous Nations Across the Continent — Sample from the Great Plains, Pacific Northwest, Desert Southwest, and California

Morning Meeting greeting + standing recite MG-8 Sovereignty Promise. Read aloud opening pages of 'Buffalo Bird Girl' (S.D. Nelson, Standing Rock Sioux/Lakota, 2012) showing Hidatsa farming life on the Great Plains.

• Standing recite MG-8
• Read 'Buffalo Bird Girl' opening
• Affirm: 'Pre-1600 North America had 500+ distinct nations across 5+ culture regions — today we sample just 4 regions beyond the 13-Colonies Northeast and Southeast.'

Show MG-2 again with the other 4 NMAI culture regions in focus. Profile sample nations: GREAT PLAINS — Lakota (Standing Rock Sioux today, North/South Dakota), Mandan and Hidatsa (Three Affiliated Tribes today, Fort Berthold ND), Comanche (Comanche Nation today, Lawton OK). PACIFIC NORTHWEST — Chinook (Chinook Indian Nation today, Bay Center WA, seeking federal recognition), Tlingit (Central Council of Tlingit and Haida today, Juneau AK), Salish (Coast Salish nations including Suquamish/Lummi). DESERT SOUTHWEST — Pueblo nations (Hopi, Zuni, Acoma, Taos, Santa Clara — each a sovereign nation today), Diné/Navajo Nation (Window Rock AZ — largest Indigenous nation in US by land area), Apache (multiple Apache nations today). CALIFORNIA — Chumash (Santa Ynez Band of Chumash today, Santa Ynez CA), Ohlone (multiple Ohlone nations seeking federal recognition), Pomo (multiple Pomo nations today). Each profile includes: how geography/climate influenced lifeway + ONE cultural-spiritual practice alive today + present-day headquarters. Discuss the 1680 Pueblo Revolt led by Popé — the most successful Indigenous revolt against European colonization in North American history, expelling Spanish for 12 years from New Mexico (referenced in Lesson 4 and on MG-4 chronology strip).

• Lifeway = how a people lives. The same general region can host multiple very different lifeways.

  model Mandan and Hidatsa were sedentary farmers along the upper Missouri River — corn / beans / squash + buffalo seasonal hunting. Lakota were nomadic buffalo hunters following the herds. Both used buffalo extensively but their relationship to place was different.

  prompt How did the Great Plains environment shape Lakota and Mandan lifeways differently?
• This is not in most elementary US history textbooks — Loewen BOOK-VS-EVIDENCE work.

  model Led by Popé (Tewa, of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo), Pueblo nations expelled Spanish from New Mexico for 12 years (1680-1692). It is the most successful Indigenous revolt against European colonization in North American history. The Pueblo nations are sovereign and present today.

  prompt What is the 1680 Pueblo Revolt and why is it important?

• Name one Pueblo nation that is sovereign and present TODAY.
• Why did Mandan and Hidatsa live differently from Lakota even though both were Great Plains nations?
• What happened in 1680 in New Mexico?

Children apply MG-7 page 1 SOURCING + page 2 CONTEXTUALIZATION to the 'Buffalo Bird Girl' read-aloud — Who wrote it (S.D. Nelson, Standing Rock Sioux/Lakota)? When (2012)? Why (to share Hidatsa girl's traditional life through the eyes of his great-great-grandmother)? Whose voice is centered (Indigenous own-voice)? What was happening when Hidatsa girl's grandmother lived (the 1860s — westward expansion as covered in G4-Spring; trauma-informed connection acknowledged).

M-5-F-CUL-03-A Photograph

Photograph of children at Taos Pueblo (Taos NM, 2024) participating in a traditional ceremony with adobe pueblo architecture visible in the background. Caption: 'Taos Pueblo, Taos NM, 2024. Taos Pueblo is the OLDEST continuously inhabited community in the United States — at least 1000 years of continuous Pueblo presence on this land. The Taos Pueblo people are SOVEREIGN AND PRESENT TODAY.'

• In pairs, fill out a Nation Profile Card for ONE nation sampled today — Great Plains OR Pacific Northwest OR Desert Southwest OR California.

  scaffold Use the geography-influences-lifeway sentence frame: 'The ___ nation lives in the ___ region. Their environment includes ___. This shaped their lifeway by ___.'
• Compare your nation with a partner's nation from a different region. What is similar? What is different?

  scaffold Use a Venn diagram or T-chart.

M-5-F-CUL-03-B Illustration

Illustration of Popé (Tewa, of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo) coordinating with leaders from multiple Pueblo nations using knotted-cord runners to deliver the coordinated date of the August 10 1680 revolt to all participating Pueblos. Style: respectful adult Indigenous figure in traditional dress, no caricature, no romantic-savage tropes; the illustration centers Pueblo leadership and coordination, not Spanish response. Caption: 'Popé and the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. Pueblo nations expelled Spanish from New Mexico for 12 years (1680-1692). The Pueblo nations are sovereign and present TODAY.'

• Name one Indigenous nation from each of FOUR culture regions (Great Plains / Pacific Northwest / Desert Southwest / California) with present-day tribal headquarters.
• Describe one cultural-spiritual practice alive today in one of these nations.

• Standing recite Sovereignty Promise
• Preview tomorrow: European colonization — the four colonial powers (Spanish, French, Dutch, English) and Bartolomé de las Casas as European critic of colonization

• Find one source about ONE Indigenous nation outside the 13-Colonies region; bring back ONE fact about the nation today.