Native Americans in European Maps (one-day lesson)

Print Worksheet   Email

Overview

In this lesson, students will examine several maps and learn about the role that Native Americans played in European and early American mapmaking. Early explorers relied heavily on native knowledge of the land. However, as Europeans increasingly settled North America, representations of Native Americans disappeared from maps. By the end of the 19th century, maps were used to consolidate American national territory and demarcate Indian land cessions. Students will learn to read silences in maps, as well as arguments.

Learning Goals:

  • Students will examine maps that speak to the role of Native Americans in early mapmaking.
  • Students will begin to think critically about silences in maps.
  • Students will begin to understand how maps make arguments.

DAY ONE

Website Materials:

Step 1: 10 minutes: Introduction

a) Have students free-write in response to the following prompt:

What role do you think maps played in Native American-European relations?

b) Share and discuss students’ answers.

Step 2: 20 minutes: Examine maps

Pass out “Native American Influence” and “Terra Nullus” and have students answer questions.

Step 3: 15 minutes: Discussion

a) Share student answers.
b) Discuss as whole class:

  • According to the worksheets, what role did maps play in Native American-European relations?
  • How do the two worksheets offer different answers to the question?
  • What reasons might explorers (not governments) have had for including or excluding Native Americans from maps?
  • As the United States expanded, what role did maps play in Native American-white relations?

Step 4: 5 minutes: Read document

a) Pass out “Mapping Indian Land Cessions.”

b) Review unfamiliar terms and refresh students’ memories of the Indian Removal Act and the case of Cherokee Nation v. Georgia. If students have not learned about this, a summary of Indian Removal exists at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2959.html.

Homework

Have students read and answer questions on “Mapping Indian Land Cessions.”
--------------------