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Native American Studies

“Always Going 100” by Rick Bartow © Richard E Bartow Estate

Rick Bartow: Wiyot Storyteller in Art & Music

8.VA:CR2.1, L.8.4, L.8.5, L.8.6

In this 1.5 week long multimedia unit, students will learn about the Wiyot people through Baduwa’t Wiyot, Rick Bartow’s (1946-2016) family’s story. This unit personifies the tribe’s struggles and triumphs. Through Bartow’s story, students will learn how Wiyot people strengthened their culture and reclaimed ancestral homelands a century after their villages were displaced by settlers, who murdered their ancestors for their land and resources. Students will learn that Indigenous people have contemporary living cultures and practice art, language, and ceremony in both traditional and contemporary styles. Students will learn how Bartow utilized music to express emotion and feelings in the name of beauty and tragedy as a coping mechanism for historical trauma and personal trauma. (Bartow was a VietNam vet with PTSD who overcame substance abuse.) Students will learn how metaphors express meaning; imagery communicates emotion and story; and poetry and song provide what many Indigenous peoples call “good medicine” to help heal.

Stone Lagoon © VaderSS

Lagoons as Vital Cultural Ecosystems

Performing—Anchor Standard 6, Creating—Anchor Standard 2, MS-ESS3-3, MS-LS2-3, MS-LS2-4

Students will learn to see lagoons as important to Indigenous cultures and the surrounding communities, including themselves. Students will analyze the dangers of water pollution to the ocean and lagoons to plants, animals, and culture. Students will learn how to identify some of the common plants and animals at a lagoon. Students will learn how to speak about the importance of wetlands and lagoons to Indigenous culture through a story with a moral or lesson about good lagoon stewardship. The ultimate goal is for students to learn the importance of understanding the connection between healthy ecosystems and the resilience of Indigenous cultures.

Cultural Connections with Grizzlies 1

Maidu Bear Dances

3-LS2-1, 4-ESS3-1, 5-ESS3-1

The lesson centers California Native American perspectives, with a focus on the Maidu tribe, highlighting the ways Indigenous knowledge and ceremonies honor the natural world and guide responsible stewardship. In this lesson, students will explore the cultural significance of the Maidu Bear Dance and its deep connection to nature. Through learning about the Maidu People's respectful relationship with the land and animals, students will gain insight into how traditional cultural practices support environmental sustainability and conservation.

Cultural Connections with Grizzlies 4

New Conversations about Grizzlies

3-LS4-3, 3-LS4-4, 4-ESS3-1, 5-ESS3-1, 5-PS3-1

The lesson highlights the importance of grizzly bear conservation while centering California Native American perspectives, including insights from the Gabrieleno/Tongva tribe, to deepen understanding of Indigenous relationships with the land and wildlife stewardship. In this lesson, students will investigate the ecological role of grizzly bears and how human activity has affected their habitats and survival.

ultural Connections with Grizzlies

Respect, Reciprocity, and Reverence

3-ESS3-1, 4-ESS3-1, 5-ESS3-1, 3-LS4-4, 4-LS1-1, 5-PS3-1

Through learning from California Native American perspectives, including voices from the Gabrieleno/Tongva tribe, students will explore how these values guide environmental stewardship and cultural practices. This lesson introduces students to core values within Indigenous knowledge systems, respect, reciprocity, and reverence, and their role in fostering sustainable relationships with the environment. The lesson encourages reflection on personal and collective responsibilities to the land and invites students to identify meaningful ways to honor and care for their local environment through everyday actions.

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