The Library of Congress

Brett Silva and Peter Milbury

Introduction and Overview

Reservation Controversies Then and Now covers historic issues dealing with American Indian Reservations in the 1870s and also in the present. It is divided into two sections with separate "scenarios" for the students. 

This is a two part experience using Problem Based Learning (PBL), in which the student is confronted or faced with two different, but related real world problems which have no preconceived right or wrong answers.

Using various teaching/learning strategies, which include brainstorming, role playing, and oral presentations, the students access primary sources and other background sources to arrive at a recommendation, based on the information. The teacher, librarian, and other support staff act as guides or advisors through most of the process.

The Objectives and related information on this two-part unit are available here.

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The Two Reservation Controversies Scenarios

The First Scenario: The Indian Agent Appointment Interview
The first scenario puts the student as prospective Indian Agent for the Comanche Indian reservation in 1873. For this scenario there are specially selected online links and resources for the unit. It also has the prompt which sets the entire lesson into motion.

The Second Scenario: The Indian Reservation Gaming Issue
The second scenario is a modern one in which the student plays the role of a newly appointed congressional intern who has received a letter from the his congresswoman  asking him for help regarding modern issues regarding Gaming Casinos on American Indian reservations. There are specially selected online links and resources to help with research.

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American Memory Orientation Activities

If you or your students are not very familiar with the American Memory collection, we recommend that you use some of the excellent lessons and activities that are available to you from the Learning Page of the Library of Congress.

The following are online lessons and activities especially recommended with your class in preparation for use of Reservation Controversies:

• Framework for Using Primary Sources with Students
  "Using primary sources in research papers and projects is a time-honored way to engage students with primary historical materials. Yet primary sources can be incorporated into all phases of instruction. This framework will help you use primary sources throughout your teaching."

• The Historian's Sources
  "This lesson introduces students to primary sources -- what they are, their great variety, and how they can be analyzed. The lesson begins with an activity that helps students understand the historical record. Students then learn techniques for analyzing primary sources. Finally, students apply these techniques to analyze documents about slavery in the United States."

• Using Oral History
  "Social history is the history of the everyday experiences and beliefs of ordinary people. Social historians look at teachers, store clerks, factory workers, police officers, the unemployed, children, computer programmers -- all kinds of people you might meet in your own life." This lesson shows how to use social history effectively. It is especially valuable, because the First Scenario: The Indian Agent Appointment Interview makes use of the American Life Histories gathered by the Federal Writers Project.

• Port of Entry: Immigration, Teacher Material
  "A sample lesson highlighting the immigrant experience in American life. Students assume the role of historical detective and travel back in time to the turn of the century. As historical detectives, they search for clues to the past in images and primary source documents from the American Memory collections."