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 Social Studies Standards.
Scroll down to access all available Indian Education for All Teacher and Students Resources
Virtual Professional Development Modules
Enrollment for the next cohort of the Center’s Indian Education for All Teacher Professional Development courses is open! Build community, connect with Indigenous knowledge keepers, and earn PTSB or UW credit. Contact Heather Bender at [email protected] to enroll.
Click on the buttons below for the course overviews and session dates.



Are you interested in information about upcoming professional development courses and resources to use in the classroom? Please fill out this brief form, so we can keep you updated on professional development and resources. Contact Heather Bender at [email protected] or 307-578-4096 for more information.
Guided Experiences – Onsite and Virtual
The Center offers various Plains Indian culture and history focused programming both as onsite guided experiences and as live virtual field trips. All experiences are aligned to Montana and Wyoming’s Indian Education for All Social Studies Standards.
Contact Alex Martin or visit the links below for more information or to register for these immersive and interactive experiences for your students.
Guided Field Trip Experiences
Visit the Center on a field trip and schedule Plains Indian culture and history guided experience.
Virtual Field Trip Experiences
Is it too far to visit us in person? We offer all of our onsite Plains Indian guided experiences as live virtual field trips.
Scavenger Hunts Available!
Please print scavenger hunts for your students prior to your field trip visit. This document contains scavenger hunts for all museums, including the Plains Indian Museum.
Teacher Guides and Resources for Plains Indian Guided Experiences
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 image captions below for each tour to view its teacher guide.



Additional Resources for Your Classroom
- Stories and Cultures of Plains Indians and the Buffalo Sway Presentation
- Plains Indian Cultures Yesterday and Today Sway Presentation
- Do You See Me Like I See Me? Sway Presentation
- Land of Many Gifts Content Curriculum
- Buffalo and the People Content Curriculum
- Honor and Celebration Content Curriculum
- Adversity and Renewal Content Curriculum
- Other Student and Teacher Resources
- Clues for the Classroom – Social Studies
Self-Guided Field Trip Opportunities
Outreach Trunks
Click on each image for a larger view of trunk contents. Visit our Outreach Trunk page to learn more about reserving and borrowing one of our outreach trunks.
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
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.


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.
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.
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.
Our 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

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)