EDUCATOR RESOURCES
Welcome to First Voices educator resources! These resources and lesson plans are designed to help you integrate First Voices Indigenous digital stories into engaging lessons for students in grades 8 through 12 and college. They can be used in schools, homeschooling, after-school programs, summer programs, community centers, colleges, and universities.
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Our resources are endorsed by Indian Education for All, an initiative from the Office of Public Instruction in Montana, to ensure that tools and lesson plans follow guidelines mandated by the Montana Constitution.
Hear directly from a First Voices teaching artist!
In the video below, meet Sammy Jo Bird, a Blackfeet artist. Sammy Jo is also a First Voices teaching artist: she created the wonderful artwork for the Tsèhésenèstsetsotse (The Big Dipper) story. In the short video, Sammy Jo shares her enthusiasm for First Voices.
See below for the resources that are currently available—and we invite you to keep checking back as we will be adding resources as the project grows and expands. To keep up to date on developments with First Voices please sign up for our newsletter.
LESSON PLANS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE
TWO ANCESTRAL STORIES
In this lesson, students watch two Tsitsistas/Suhtai (Northern Cheyenne) digital stories and then create their own story. The Big Dipper (Tsèhésenèstsestotse) tells the story of the children who became the constellation. The Great Race conveys how people came to be by challenging the buffalo to a race.
Subjects covered:
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Native American studies, specifically Tsitsistas/Suhtai (Northern Cheyenne) culture and language in Montana
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Storytelling
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Can be integrated into history, ELA (language arts), visual arts, music composition and sound design, choreography, dance, and film
Grade levels: Grade 8 through college (can be adapted for other grade levels)
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Duration: Two class periods or workshops of 60 minutes or more. This can also be expanded to cover a longer duration.
TSITSISTAS/SUHTAI
(N. CHEYENNE)
NAKÓDA (ASSINIBOINE)
BAHÁ IPÁ OWÁNÄ®JA
("They Perished at the Rock Point")
In this lesson, students will focus on what they remember from a story and what is forgotten.
The story is about a place known in English as Rocky Point where two hundred years ago a band of Nakóda relatives hid themselves away to prevent the spread of smallpox and ensure the resilience of their people. This particularly resonates with young people today in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Subjects covered:
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Native American studies, specifically Tsitsistas/Suhtai (Northern Cheyenne) culture and language in Montana
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Storytelling
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Can be integrated into history, ELA (language arts), visual arts, music composition and sound design, choreography, dance, and film
Grade levels: Grade 8 through college (can be adapted for other grade levels)
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Duration: One class period of 60 minutes or more (which can be expanded)
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RESOURCES COMING SOON
OLD MAN COYOTE
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Henry Real Bird, the former poet laureate of Montana and a highly respected Knowledge-keeper of the Apsáalooke (Crow) tribe tells an ancient story about the creation of the world.
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Henry also provides some fascinating information about Apsáalooke artifacts including tobacco pipes.
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Grade level: High school (can be adapted for other grades)
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Duration: 2 class periods of approx. 60 minutes
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Subject(s): Social Studies; History; ELA (can be adapted for other subjects also)
APSÁALOOKE (CROW)
TSITSISTAS/SUHTAI (N. CHEYENNE)
THE GREAT RACE
The Great Race is the students’ interpretation of the ancient Northern Cheyenne story told through art, narrative, and choreography.
Premiered at Yellowstone Art Museum, the filming was accompanied by a panel discussion with students and artists, reinforcing the deep need for intertribal collaboration.
Grade level: High school (can be adapted for other grades)
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Duration: 2 class periods of approx. 60 minutes
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Subject(s): Social Studies; History; ELA (can be adapted for other subjects also)