Teaching Native American resilience and resistance with <i>The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee</i>

Written as a “counternarrative to the story that has been told about us,” (p. 6), The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee is Ojibwe author David Treuer's account of Native American history since 1890 (Treuer, 2023). Treuer opens his work by recounting the horrific events of the Wounded Knee Massacre on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, before outlining how the last major armed conflict between the US government and Native Americans distorts contemporary Americans' view Native American people and their history today. In short, Treuer believes that subsequent acts of genocide and dispossession, as well as Native resistance and resilience in the face of these forces, are missing from dominant narratives in United States history. The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee is dedicated to telling the story of Native Americans since 1890 in a way that helps the reader to understand current conditions and issues in modern Native American life. Topics detailed in the text include boarding schools, land allotment, the American Indian Movement, struggles for citizenship and sovereignty, the evolving reservation system, and protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline. Through these events and more, Treuer emphasizes resistance and resilience amongst Native American individuals and communities to repel colonial efforts. With these stories in mind, readers can better contextualize recent movements within Native communities, such as Land Back or language revitalization. Ultimately, the perspectives provided in this text have enormous potential in social classrooms to raise critical consciousness about Native America, both past and present.This multi-part lesson uses inquiry-based learning to examine the key themes of The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee. The compelling question is: How have Native Americans encountered and resisted colonialism since 1890? First, teachers will read the text's prologue with their students to better understand the Wounded Knee Massacre and the author's aims. Next, student reading will focus on three of the book's seven chapters, “The Indian Problem,” Becoming Indian, and Digital Indians, which best illustrate resistance to colonialism. Guiding questions for these chapters are provided to focus student attention on key events and concepts related to the learning objectives (Appendix 1). Next, students will follow the Inquiry Design Model (IDM) created to extend their learning on the content of each selected chapter (Appendix 2). Inquiry-based practices have been tied to “deep learning” in social studies instruction, whereby learning is more engaging and transformational (Grant et al., 2022). Furthermore, inquiry-based practices promote perspective-taking, which is especially important when discussing sensitive or controversial historical themes (Selwyn, 2014), including Native American history (NCSS, 2018). Central to this lesson, the IDM contains supporting questions, performance tasks, and resources to support the themes of the text and scaffold responses to the compelling question. Nine videos have been curated for the IDM to bring Treuer's text to life. Enrichment activities investigate the occupation of Alcatraz by Second Wounded Knee (1973), boarding school testimonials and primary sources, reservation system maps/explainers, legal histories, and Cherokee language revitalization efforts. The lines of inquiry and media in the IDM are aligned with National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies (NCSS) standards position statements, as well as the Civics, Geography, and History dimensions of the C3 Framework. After synthesizing the information in the text and enrichment videos, students complete one (or both) of the culminating tasks for this lesson. First, students create a Zine to answer the compelling question. Associated with underground communities or minoritized groups, Zines are often utilized for creative expression about issues of power (Scheper, 2023). This medium uses images and written text to tell a story, which in this lesson's case are the counternarratives promoted themes of resistance and resilience. Second, students write a five-paragraph essay that addresses the compelling question. The IDM has been structured to support the traditional five-paragraph essay format (Appendix 3), whereby the supporting questions are answered in each body paragraph.D2.Civ.5.9–12. Evaluate citizens' and institutions' effectiveness in addressing social and political problems at the local, state, tribal, national, and/or international level.D2.Geo.5.9–12. Evaluate how political and economic decisions throughout time have influenced cultural and environmental characteristics of various places and regions.D2.His.5.9–12. Analyze how historical contexts shaped and continue to shape people's perspectives.D2.His.14.9–12. Analyze multiple and complex causes and effects of events in the past.Students will:Compelling question:Supporting Questions:All class members will return to a whole group setting to discuss their experiences with the assignment. Students can review new perspectives on Native American history gained from the lesson, share their Zines, or describe the content of their essay. The teacher may also ask students if they have any lingering questions about the assignment's content or share opportunities to learn about local Native American history/culture.ExplorationDevelopmentExpansionSource(s): Appendix 1 Author’s own creationParagraph 1: IntroductionParagraph 2: First Body ParagraphParagraph 3: Second Body ParagraphParagraph 4: Third Body ParagraphParagraph 5: ConclusionSource(s): Appendix 3 Author’s own creation