Indian Education for All resources from the Buffalo Bill Center of the West

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.

Scroll down to access all available Indian Education for All Teacher and Students Resources

A visitor studies a tipi in the Plains Indian Museum.

Virtual Professional Development Modules

Enrollment for the next cohort of the Center’s Indian Education for All Teacher Professional Development course is open! This course is FREE to you through WyEdPro. To get your free account click HERE. After you create this account then register below.

The Center has made some exciting changes thanks to your feedback.

We’ve increased this to 1.5 PTSB credits by including 3 lesson labs for collaborative lesson planning.
This iteration is for secondary level educators. We will delve more deeply into content and work toward 8^th and 12^th grade benchmarks.

Click on the buttons below for the course overview, session dates, and to register.

Course Overview and Session dAtes

MILES students at hide tipi; Museum Experiences for Students

Elementary teachers, we’ve answered your request for a program just for you! Look for enrollment details for a .5 PTSB course tailored specifically to K-5 classrooms later this fall. In the meantime, don’t hesitate to contact me for more information.

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 Gretchen Henrich 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.

Learn More and Register today

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.

Learn More and register today

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

Self-Guided Field Trip Opportunities

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.

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 on 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

Vest, Santee Sioux, Center Plains, ca. 1880. Tanned Hide, dyed porcupine quills, silk ribbon, cotton cloth, silk cloth, wool cloth, metal sequins. Paul Dyck Plains Indian Buffalo Culture Collection. NA.202.1445

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: