K-12 School Resources: Indian Education for All
The Buffalo Bill Center of the West offers many K-12 programs and resources to help teachers and students meet Montana and Wyoming’s Indian Education for All component in these state’s Social Studies Standards.
Onsite, outreach, and online offerings include:
- Field Trips with Guided Tour Opportunities
- Teacher Guides for Plains Indian Tours
- Field Trips with Self-Guided Opportunities
- Outreach Trunks
- Outreach Trunks Curriculum
- Skype in the Classroom Virtual Field Trips
- Wyoming and Montana State Standards Alignment
- Online Resources
- The Center’s Plains Indian Museum
- Social Media
- Videos
Field Trips with Guided Tour Opportunities
The Center offers various Plains Indian culture and history focused guided tours. All tours are aligned to Montana and Wyoming’s Indian Education for All Social Studies Standards.
Click here to register for a guided tour field trip
Plains Indian Tipi Activity Tours (Grades Pre-K – 2)
Explore the dwellings of some Plains Indian people. Students make miniature tipis or parfleches using their own designs. Maximum of 25 students per visit. Must register 3 weeks in advance. Available during the month of November only.
Plains Indian Culture: Yesterday and Today (Grades 3 – 12)
Discover how Plains Indians enrich their lifestyles today by incorporating contemporary aspects of culture while continuing to draw upon past traditions.
Do You See Me Like I See Me? Cultural Perspectives in Western American Art (Grades 6-12)
Students will explore how culture, individuality, technique, and place in history influence artists. Tour includes historic European views of Native life, as well contemporary American Indian perspectives.
Teacher Guides for Plains Indian Tours
The following guides are available for teachers to print. Each guide contains objectives, standards, pre- and post-visit activities, and a resource list. All teacher guides are aligned to Montana and Wyoming’s Indian Education for All Social Studies Standards.
Click on the images below for each tour to view its teacher guide.
Field Trips with Self-Guided Field Trip Opportunities
Click here to register for self-guided/teacher-led tours
Brand NEW Scavenger Hunts available now! Please print scavenger hunts for your students prior to your field trip visit.
Click on the photo below to download our scavenger hunts. This document contains scavenger hunts for all museums, including the Plains Indian Museum.
Outreach Trunks
Guidelines for Lending Materials
- All tours are aligned to Montana and Wyoming’s Indian Education for All Social Studies Standards
- Requests must be made at least three weeks prior to the requested date.
- Lending materials may be borrowed for two weeks. Longer periods are considered if requested in advance.
- All shipping costs are the responsibility of the borrower. An invoice for shipping to your school is included when materials are shipped.
Click here to register for lending materials
Click on each image for a larger view of trunk contents.
Plains Indian Art Trunk
This trunk fosters an understanding and appreciation for the culture of Plains Indian people. Materials in the trunk include examples of traditional Plains Indian arts such as: bead work; quill work; and painted objects. A teacher’s guide is enclosed.
Weight: 51 lbs. Size: 30 x 15 x 15 inches
Powwow Trunk – Brand New Curriculum Based on New Standards!!
Music and dance have long been central to American Indian cultures. Today’s powwow is a celebration of that heritage. Learn about powwows in their present form and the history behind them with a video, dance outfits, musical instruments, accessories, and a teacher’s guide.
Weight: 56 lbs. Size: 32.5 x 20.5 x 19 inches
Outreach Trunks Curriculum
Each trunk’s curriculum is aligned to Montana and Wyoming’s Indian Education for All Social Studies Standards.
Click on the images below to download the Plains Indian Art Trunk Curriculum and the Powwow Trunk Curriculum.
Skype in the Classroom Virtual Field Trips
The Center’s successful Skype in the Classroom program offers several lessons that are aligned to Montana and Wyoming’s Indian Education for All Social Studies Standards.
To learn more about each of our lessons, click the links for each lesson below:
Do You See Me Like I See Me? Cultural Perspectives in Western American Art
These resources are designed to aid teachers and students who are interested in the Skype in the Classroom lesson, Do You See Me Like I See Me?: Cultural Perspectives in Western American Art. Click on the images and links below to view this lesson’s teacher guide, sneak peak Microsoft Presentation, and other resources.
Do You See Me Like I See Me? Introductory Video
Do You See Me Like I See Me? Sneak Peak Sway Presentation
Other Teacher and Student Resources
Lesson Information and Registration
The Stories and Cultures of Plains Indians and the Buffalo
These resources are designed to aid teachers and students who are interested in the Skype in the Classroom lesson, The Stories and Culture of Plains Indians and Buffalo. Click on the images and links below to view this lesson’s teacher guide, activities, supplemental Sway presentation, and other resources.
Stories and Cultures of the Plains Indians and the Buffalo Introductory Video
Stories and Cultures of the Plains Indians and the Buffalo Supplemental Sway Presentation
Professional Development
Brand New Skype in the Classroom Lesson for Teacher Professional Development
What’s the Story: Teaching with Objects in Your Classroom to Facilitate Student Centered-Learning
Did you every think different kinds of shoes have a story? Or maybe, different hats? Together we’ll work with teachers to uncover the hidden stories about objects centered around our Plains Indian collection at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. Then teachers can take what they’ve learned back to their classroom. Click on the photo to the left to get a sneak peek into this new lesson.
Wyoming and Montana State Standards Alignment
All of our K-12 school offerings meet Wyoming and Montana state Social Studies Standards, including Indian Education for all. Please click on the link below to view our standards correlation chart.
Wyoming and Montana State Standards Correlation Chart
Online Resources
Teachers and students can use our online resources to supplement their Indian Education for All curriculum. Each resource is designed to meet the needs of K-12 schools, whether they visit the Center or not.
NEW! Explore Plains Indian Culture and History
Looking to enrich your curriculum with primary resources through photos, art, and oral histories? This rich content will help teachers and students, whether they have visited the Center or not. Visit the following links to explore Plains Indian culture and history.
Land of Many Gifts
Learn about village life from the historic era.
Buffalo and the People
Explore the economic and spiritual importance of buffalo to the Native people of the Plains.
Honor and Celebration
Discover the ceremonial aspects of Plains life.
Adversity and Renewal
Reflect on the changes and innovation that have taken place in the cultures of Plains people since being placed on reservations.
Plains Indian Map Project
This Plains Indian Map—created with generous funding from The Brown Foundation, Inc., of Houston—is a fusion of scholarship and educational interpretation. The map represents 230 years of movement on the Plains amongst more than 45 different Indian cultures. Territorial, treaty, reservation, and state boundaries flow in an animated timeline.
The innovative scholarship and interpretation showcased in this map is recommended for a broad audience, including K–12 teachers and students. Viewers can pause the online animation at any point to study a particular map.
Center of the West Online Collections
Visit our new Online Collections database, where you and your class can browse our artifact collection and create your own “Virtual Exhibits.” Select the Plains Indian Museum when conducting your search to narrow your results.
McCracken Research Library
The Center’s McCracken Research Library has extensive primary resources, including photographs of Plains Indian history and culture. The library also offers specialized research for middle and high school groups.
The Center’s Plains Indian Museum
The Plains Indian Museum tells the significant story of the lives of Plains Indian peoples, their cultures, traditions, values, and histories, as well as the contexts of their lives today.
In the words of Plains Indian Museum Advisory Board member and Crow tribal historian Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow, the Museum is “a living, breathing place where more than just Indian objects are on display.” Since 1979 the museum has been a leader in promoting public recognition of the importance of Plains Indian art due to its nationally significant collection.
Paul Dyck Plains Indian Buffalo Culture Collection
Vest (front and back), Santee Sioux, Center Plains, ca. 1880 Paul Dyck Buffalo Culture Collection NA.202.1445. Tanned Hide, dyed porcupine quills, silk ribbon, cotton cloth, silk cloth, wool cloth, metal sequins.
The 2,000 piece collection consists of objects dating from the late 1700s to 1890s. With many individual pieces of exceptional artistry and historic significance, the collection as a whole includes works from every Plains tribe.
The Paul Dyck Collection includes objects associated with individuals of national significance in American cultural history including leaders such as Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce; great Lakota leaders Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse; the last recognized chief of the Crow nation, Plenty Coups; Mountain Chief, leader of the Blackfeet; and historic explorers, Lewis and Clark. Other collection materials are associated with significant historical events including firearms and other weapons used at the Battle of Little Bighorn and objects associated with Curly and White Swan of the Crow 7th Cavalry scouts at the battle.
To view information on the various tribes represented in the collection, visit the following links:
Researching Plains Indian Tribes
For more information about some of the Plains Indian tribes in our region, please follow these links:
- Northern Arapaho
- Eastern Shoshone
- Crow Tribe
- Northern Cheyenne
- Blackfeet Nation
- Gros Ventre and Assiniboine
- Shoshone Bannock
- Rosebud Sioux
- Oglala Sioux
- Cheyenne River Sioux
- Standing Rock Sioux
- Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara
Social Media
Follow us on social media to stay current on all of our Plains Indian related posts.
Plains Indian Museum on Facebook
Plains Indian Museum on Instagram
Buffalo Bill Center of the West Facebook
Kids Programs at the Center of the West Facebook
Videos
Other Resources
The links below provide more valuable resources available to students and teachers.
Wyoming Department of Education’s Native American Education Resource Page
Wyoming PBS’s Wind River Education Project (History of Wyoming’s Native Americans)
