Procedures

• SET UP

  This lesson offers several options for you to use with your students whether you are teaching in class, using a hybrid model, or engaging through distance learning. It can be completed in steps as a class or students can move at their own pace and complete the activities independently.

  You can post links to the videos in the lesson along with the related handout and engage in discussion to share responses on a discussion board or learning management system.

  You can also save and share the following Google resource for students to use with this lesson.

  Handout: Graphic Organizer (Google Doc).

  In Google, choose "File" then "Make a Copy" to get your own copy. You can make any needed adjustments in the instructions such as which activities students need to complete, when it is due, etc. and then make it available to them via Google.

• WARM UP

  Pose the following brainstorming questions to your students, directing them to record their responses in their graphic organizer, share with a partner, and then with the class if they choose.

  • What types of objects do museums typically showcase in their exhibits?
  • How do you think these museums acquire the artifacts? Explain.

• INTRODUCTION

  Play the following introductory video clips of University of California, Davis, art history professor Heghnar Watenpaugh providing an introduction to her lecture and discussing historical museum collections and displays of objects of native American culture. Direct your students to answer the related questions on their graphic organizer and share their findings with a partner, small group, or the class when finished.

• Clip #1: Colonialism and Acquisition (4:21).

  • Take a moment to view the website shown in the clip (Native Land Digital). Enter your Zip Code. Record which Native American territories occupied where you now live.
  • Record the questions guiding the lesson, as stated by Heghnar Watenpaugh.
  • What are Native American “objects?” Describe the example shown in the clip.
  • How were the “vast majority” of Native American objects acquired by private and public collections?
  • Based on the clip, what did Native Americans incorporate in the development of objects? Describe the example shown in the clip.

• Clip #2: Museum Displays and Collection (2:31).

  • What “impression” of Native Americans objects do viewers receive in traditional museums’ collections?
  • According to Heghnar Watenpaugh, how were these types of collections designed?
  • Based on the clip, how do the objects’ presentation in these collections differ from their use in real life?
  • What was “astonishing” in its scale? Why?
  • Summarize what Watenpaugh means when she says some object collection methods were “coercive.”

• VOCABULARY

  Direct your students to their graphic organizers to view and define the vocabulary terms that will appear in the lesson in the chart in their graphic organizer handout. The vocabulary words are also listed to the right on this webpage.

  We recommend having your students complete the activity in a jigsaw format to save time. Or, depending on time and resources, you may consider having your students engage in a Frayer's Model activity, where each student is responsible for completing one or two items. Students can then post their models around the room for reference throughout the lesson.

  Note: this is not an all-encompassing list of terms included in each video. We recommend you preview the video clips to determine any necessary additions/subtractions to this list for your specific students.

• BACKGROUND

  Direct students to the background section of their graphic organizers. Instruct your students to view the following two video clips that provide background information on the history of the collection of Native American artifacts. Direct your students to answer the related questions on their graphic organizer and share their findings with a partner, small group, or the class when finished.

• Clip #3: Anthropology (4:25).

  • Based on the clip, which academic discipline was interested in Native American objects during the late-1800s to early-1900s?
  • Who was Franz Boas, and what “movement” was he a part of?
  • What “vision” did anthropologists project as they collected objects and human remains? Describe the example shown in the clip.
  • According to Heghnar Watenpaugh, what were the implications of the anthropologists' representation?
  • Why have Native American groups “reclaimed” these representations?

• Clip #4: Indian Boarding Schools (4:40).

  • How else was Native American culture “erased” during the late-1800s and early-1900s?
  • Describe what you see in the “before-and-after photo” shown in the clip.
  • What was the “mission” of the Movement, and how was this acted upon?
  • According to Heghnar Watenpaugh, how did coercion and abuse play a role in the Movement? What discussions have been occurring in recent years?
  • What two “processes” were occurring at the same time?

• ENGAGEMENT

  Direct students to the engagement section of their graphic organizers. Instruct your students to view the following five video clips that detail recent events and efforts related to Native American art and museum collections. Direct your students to answer the related questions on their graphic organizer and share their findings with a partner, small group, or the class when finished.

• Clip #5: Zuni Pueblo (6:56).

  • What did Native Americans “exercise?”
  • According to Heghnar Watenpaugh, what are ahayudas and how are they used?
  • Of what does “no one” have the authority to do to an ahayuda? Why?
  • Based on the clip, what happened during the era of colonialism?
  • Compare the two ways of ‘conceptualizing’ the ahayudas, as discussed by Watenpaugh.
  • What was the effect of the Zuni Pueblo leaders’ “campaign?” Why were their efforts significant?

• Clip #6: NAGPRA (2:47).

  • When was the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, or “NAGPRA,” passed?
  • According to Heghnar Watenpaugh, whose efforts led to the passage of NAGPRA?
  • What does the legislation “require,” “create,” “protect,” and “criminalize?”
  • Based on the clip, what other laws and policies exist, according to Watenpaugh?
  • What is part of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian’s “task?”

• Clip #7: Fallen Short (5:04).

  • According to Heghnar Watenpaugh, what does NAGPRA mean to Native Americans?
  • Has NAGPRA been “perfect? Why or why not?
  • What is needed to support the “implementation” of the legislation?
  • Summarize the scientific “resistance” against NAGPRA, and the outcome of the specific “disagreement” that was discussed.
  • Briefly review the ProPublica article discussed in the clip. Why do you think thousands of remains still have not yet been repatriated?

• Clip #8: International Issues (3:35).

  • To what does NAGPRA “not apply?”
  • What have many international organizations taken a “great deal of interest” in? What is currently held in France?
  • What did the Zuni Pueblo people “communicate,” and what response did they get?
  • Summarize the quote from the Zuni scholar, as read in the clip.
  • How have the “ethics of Zuni behavior” influenced how they’ve approached these discussions?

• Clip #9: Positives and Progress (1:54).

  • What have been the “positive effects” of NAGPRA?
  • According to Heghnar Watenpaugh, what ‘era’ has NAGPRA started? Summarize the evidence she provides.

• REFLECTION

  After students share their findings from the lesson, direct them to the reflection section of their graphic organizers. Instruct your students to view the following video clip of University of California, Davis, art history professor Heghnar Watenpaugh providing concluding thoughts to her lecture. Direct your students to answer the related questions on their graphic organizer and share their findings with a partner, small group, or the class when finished.

  Clip #10: Contemporary Reflections (4:01).

  • What is very important to “recognize” when considering contemporary Native American artwork?
  • Compare the two artwork examples shown in the clip.
  • According to Heghnar Watenpaugh, what does the 2017 totem pole shown in the clip represent and suggest?

• CLOSURE

  After your students are finished sharing their findings from the lesson, direct them to complete the final culminating writing prompt in their graphic organizers, and have students share their responses, comparing their perspectives with their classmates' perspectives: Having learned about the history of the collection of Native American objects and the related repatriation efforts, detail what steps you would take if you were tasked with opening a new museum exhibit. Be sure to include evidence from the video clips in the lesson to support your response.