The Ghost Dance and Wounded Knee: teaching spiritual resistance to colonialism

Purpose This article uses Tribal Critical Race Theory (TribalCrit) and human rights education (HRE) to frame social studies instruction about the Ghost Dance movement of the late 1800s. This religious ritual served as a source of spiritual communion for Native Americans across the Western United States during an especially brutal era of colonization, most tragically exemplified by the Wounded Knee Massacre. The critical approaches offered are meant to challenge dominant narratives that often neglect or minimize colonialism and White supremacy. Design/methodology/approach TribalCrit is useful in framing acts of racism and genocide faced by Indigenous people in American history and can help teachers approach issues of social justice in a way that identifies oppression, while also promoting empathy and advocacy (Brayboy, 2005; Sabzalian et al., 2021). Furthermore, human rights concepts can support a critical interrogation of colonialism by providing a framework that guides analysis of multidimensional oppression (Bajaj, 2011). Findings The pedagogical approaches included in this article link the historical context of these events to tenets of TribalCrit and HRE. These strategies are explicitly connected to the National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies and the C3 Framework. A lesson plan and enrichment sources, linked to the C3 Inquiry Design Model, are provided. Originality/value The Ghost Dance is a powerful illustration of spiritual resistance to colonial policies and ideologies in the United States, such as the Dawes Act and Christian nationalism. An examination of this important religious movement through the critical lenses offered here may build empathy, support justice-oriented citizenship and decolonize curriculum.