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.
Virtual Professional Development Modules
In these FREE sessions, you will build community, connect with Indigenous knowledge keepers, and earn PTSB or UW credit. Click on the buttons below for course overviews.
2023–2024 Dates
Elementary
7 hours = 0.5 PTSB credit
Four 90-minute modules and one 1-hour final session
Thursdays from 4–5:30 pm
10/26/23, 11/9, 11/30, 12/7, and 12/14
Secondary
21 hours = 1.5 PTSB credit OR 1 credit UW 5959
Six 2-hour and 20-minute modules, three 2-hour Lesson Labs, and one 1-hour final session
Tuesdays from 4–6:30 pm
10/24/23, 11/7, 11/21, 12/5, 12/19, 1/9/24, 1/23, 2/6, 2/20, and 2/27
Contact Heather Bender (Native Education Outreach Specialist) at [email protected] for more information.
On-site Professional Development
We recently hosted an on-site Indian Education for All Professional Development course in June 2023.
During our on-site professional developments, we connect with Indigenous knowledge keepers, develop a professional learning community, learn in the museum galleries, and earn PTSB or UW credit. Contact Heather Bender at [email protected] to be notified of upcoming on-site IEFA professional developments.
Click on the button below for an example course overview.
Field Trips: On-site 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.
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 several FREE, live, interactive virtual field trips about Plains Indian Cultures.
Additional Resources for Your Classroom
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 and curriculum are 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, a teacher’s guide, and curriculum.
Weight: 56 lbs. Size: 32.5 x 20.5 x 19 inches
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.
Videos
The 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:
