Grade 11

Mary Tarango © Sacramento State PC: Andrea Price

California Native Change Makers: Mary Tarango, Wilton Rancheria

This lesson focuses on Mary Tarango, a key figure in the Wilton Rancheria’s fight for the restoration of federal recognition. Designed for high school students, the activity introduces learners to the concept of a “Change Maker” by examining Tarango’s leadership, advocacy, and lasting impact on her tribal community. Students will explore the history of the Wilton Rancheria, including the devastating effects of the 1958 Rancheria Act, the tribe’s loss of federal recognition in 1964, and their eventual restoration in 2009—a movement in which Tarango played a significant role. The core activity asks students to work with a partner to research and create a collaborative Google Slides presentation that explains Mary Tarango’s contributions and the broader significance of tribal sovereignty. The presentation will include biographical information, historical context, and reflections on how Tarango’s leadership helped preserve her people’s identity and rights. The lesson meets Common Core writing standards by guiding students to analyze complex historical content and express their findings clearly and accurately in a multimedia format. It also integrates technology, requiring students to use the Internet and digital tools to create and publish their work. Students will begin with a brief introduction to Mary Tarango and the Wilton Rancheria's history through teacher-led discussion or multimedia resources. They will then engage in guided research, curate information with their partner, and design a visually engaging and informative presentation. A self-assessment rubric helps students reflect on their process, contribution, and final product. Completed presentations will be shared in class and submitted to the teacher to become part of a growing resource bank of California Native change makers, offering a long-term educational tool for future students to learn from.

The Klamath from 1822 to 2002 © Jackie Fawn

California Law Impact to Native Peoples

This unit offers students a powerful and honest exploration of California’s early statehood through the lens of Native history, ethics, and civic responsibility. Instead of glorifying westward expansion or the Gold Rush, students investigate the devastating impacts of colonization, state-sanctioned violence, and the legal infrastructure that enabled the genocide and enslavement of Native Californians. Through engaging activities like simulated journalist interviews, primary source analysis (including videos), law critiques, and reflective writing, students deepen their understanding of justice, historical truth, and ethical governance. They are encouraged to question traditional narratives and examine how white supremacy shaped California’s earliest laws and leadership. The culminating task, imagining a more ethical approach to colonization, empowers students to creatively apply their learning, while also identifying real ways to support Native communities today. This unit is not only rooted in critical thinking and empathy, but also fosters meaningful dialogue about history, power, and civic responsibility. It's a timely and impactful resource for any teacher committed to teaching truthfully and equitably.

National Policy: Indian Boarding Schools in California

HSS 11.1.4, HSS 11.3.2

This unit reviews a brief history of national Indian Boarding School policy and its effects locally in California with particular attention to Sherman Indian School in Riverside, CA. Students will engage in a Think – Pair – Share activity, will learn about the creation of the first off-reservation boarding school, and see a timeline of western and California-based schools. Students will hear first-hand accounts from federal officials and learn how boarding schools prioritized gendered labor. At the end of the lesson, students will define key terms and revisit essential questions. Lesson includes references to optional videos and additional materials and resources.

Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, WHIS 9066, Camden Family Portrait, circa 1857-1859

California Policy: Training and Working Native Peoples

HSS 11.1.4

This unit reviews a brief history of the 1850 Act for the Government and Protection of Indians—a law that allowed for the legal enslavement of California Indian children and adult “vagrants.” Students will watch a short 13-minute film (optional), review a brief timeline of California history (orienting them to the American period) and read and analyze primary source excerpts of the 1850 Act with a discussion on the 1860 amendment. Post lecture discussion will ask students to ponder if California was indeed a “free state”. Lesson includes an optional worksheet and recommends additional resources including articles, a podcast episode and further homework activities.

"Alcatraz Island." Wikimedia Commons. Accessed Jan 29, 2025. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alcatraz_Island_-_panoramio_%283%29.jpg.

“We Hold the Rock,” Native Activism on Alcatraz

RH.9-10.9

This lesson introduces students to the history of American Indian activism in California and the occupation of Alcatraz Island in 1969-1971. This lesson provides a historical context of resistance on Ohlone homelands since colonial invasion and examines Native activism in the 1970s to demonstrate Native peoples' relationship to their homelands, their fraught legal relationship with the United States, and their prior existing and more legitimate sovereignty. This lesson expands on students’ knowledge of history, their critical thinking skills, and media literacy skills by inviting them to examine primary sources with interactive activities. Essential Questions: Where is Alcatraz island? Whose homeland is it part of? What factors led to the Native American reclamation and occupation of Alcatraz? How was the Native American occupation of Alcatraz depicted in the media at the time it was happening? What were some dissenting views and opinions of the occupation of Alcatraz amongst Native peoples? What is the lasting significance of Native activism on Alcatraz for Native peoples in California and beyond? Practices: The teacher must understand the importance of highlighting intertribal political activism on occupied California Indian homelands. The teacher must be prepared to actively engage students with questions and coach them through how to read primary sources critically. Learning Targets for students: I can understand that newspapers and news reels are crafted narratives rather than objective truths. I can work with a group to be creative and imagine alternative headlines from different points of view. I can create useful and thorough notes after reading a personal narrative of an historic event.

“NO GO!”: California Indian Activism & Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Association 1988

This lesson would take approximately two class sessions to complete. The lesson introduces students to the Lyng v. NICPA 1988 Supreme Court case and the California Indian peoples who sought to protect their homelands from extractive timber via the G-O road. This lesson supports students’ growing media literacy skills by coaching them through evaluating a website that features primary sources related to the GO Road while also showing them how to interrogate sources as researchers. This lesson also encourages students to think creatively by engaging them in a creative writing exercise intended to help them relate to the lesson by evoking the landscape of the High Country. And finally, this lesson develops students’ political interests and engagement by encouraging them to examine their own values and passions through protest art, a vital part of the Native resistance to the G-O Road. The teacher must understand the inconsistencies in legal protections for Native peoples. The teacher must be prepared to actively guide students through creative practice and online research. Essential questions include: What does religious freedom mean for Indigenous peoples who live under settler state occupation? What are the contradictions and limits of the first amendment? What are extractive industries? What are some examples of Native peoples defending their homelands in the 21st century?

California Indian Cooking: Bodega Bay Crab Louis

This lesson introduces students to the concept of food sovereignty through a Miwok and Pomo elder’s personal narrative about Indigenous foods. This lesson encourages students to think about traditional foods and reflect on how robust food systems have contributed to Native Americans’ health and abilities to resist settler colonial violence. The handouts for this lesson help students connect to the subject of food sovereignty by providing them with a first person narrative that describes food, familial bonds, American history and California Indian history simultaneously. This lesson also expands students’ culinary skills by providing a recipe and cooking activity. Essential Questions: How did the Bodega Bay Miwok and Dry Creek Pomo practice food sovereignty prior to colonial invasion? How are Native food systems threatened by U.S. settler colonial occupation? What are some examples of traditional California Indian foods? How do Native people innovate their traditional foods? Why is sharing recipes important? Students will: Engage in active close reading by annotating a personal narrative. Complete a hands-on cooking activity as part of their lesson on food sovereignty. Create a meal with Indigenous foods. The teacher must: Understand the political and cultural significance of food sovereignty for Native peoples. Be prepared to actively engage students in close reading and coach them through building annotation skills.

California Indian Astronomy

This lesson introduces students to the fascinating topic of California Indian astronomy. The lesson covers some of the historical, political, and social context necessary for understanding Indigenous peoples’ relationship to the stars. The lesson also touches on the significance of space exploration and “discovery” to settler states such as the U.S. and Canada and links it to the ongoing occupation and exploitation of Indigenous homelands using examples from Hawai’i. The lesson covers 3 key terms, 2 versions of a Hupa origin story, and includes a creative in-class activity where students will get the opportunity to create their own star stories and constellations.

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW)

This lesson covers sensitive material and should be treated with care. Give ample warning to the students because colonial gender violence is part of this lesson. This lesson introduces students to the historical context and contemporary reality of missing and murdered Indigenous women, or MMIW. Importantly, this lesson focuses on MMIW not as an “epidemic” nor as the cumulative result of a few bad actors. Rather, the lesson treats MMIW as an outcome of structural violence directly related to ongoing U.S. settler-colonial occupation of Indigenous homelands. In this lesson students will participate in active note taking with help of a handout while the teacher presents the slide show and facilitates large class discussion. Students will also watch a short 6 minute film featuring the poem “American Arithmetic” by Mojave poet Natalie Diaz and participate in a think, pair, share activity that will help them process this difficult topic. As the film and Diaz’s poem make clear, police violence against Native people, particularly in California, is a significant element of MMIW and therefore part of this lesson. Essential Questions: What does MMIW mean? Why are Native women and Two-Spirit people targeted for violence? How do state actors like the police contribute to MMIW? Students will: Paraphrase main ideas from the lesson while taking notes. Analyze a short film featuring Mojave Poet Natalie Diaz’s poem, “American Arithmetic,” by participating in a think, pair & share activity. Describe MMIW as a result of ongoing settler-colonial occupation. The teacher must: Understand that MMIW is a structural issue not an interpersonal one. Be prepared to actively engage students’ difficult questions and reactions to the sensitive subject matter of the lesson.

Native Americans and Reproductive Justice

This lesson introduces students to the history of Indian Health Services in the U.S. as it relates to reproductive justice and the involuntary sterilization of Native women during the 1970s. This lesson supports students as they learn critical thinking skills by relating issues of health and wellness to colonization. This lesson also provides students with the chance to collaborate with one another to define key terms pertaining to the topic of reproductive justice. Essential Questions: What is reproductive justice and what is its relationship to Native American peoples? What is the history of the Indian Health Service? Why is reproductive justice an important concept for Native Americans and all people? Students will: Demonstrate their understanding of key terms by participating in a gallery walk activity with their classmates in small groups. Paraphrase important concepts by actively listening to the lecture. Reflect on the lesson and evaluate the significance of reproductive justice for Native Americans by completing the gallery walk handout. The teacher must: Understand that the historical context of reproductive health for Native peoples is essential to discussions of health and wellness. Be prepared to actively engage students’ personal experiences and family stories about sterilization, out adoptions, and general health.

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