Smithsonian's History Explorer Resources Related To "History Explorer Podcast: Plains Indian Ledger Drawings"

Keeping History: Plains Indian Ledger Drawings Homepage

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 14:56:07 GMT

The drawings included in this online exhibition are first-person records of military conflicts, cultural life, and "Americanization." The website shares an American Indian perspective on westward expansion through primary sources. In the late 19th century, life was changing rapidly for the Natives who lived on the northern and southern plains. Native men developed a way of recording history through drawings on paper, often called "ledger drawings," in a mixture symbolic and representational illustration styles.

What Can You Make From a Buffalo?

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 13:01:22 GMT

The northern Plains Indians used every part of the buffalo. In this interactive matching game, students will match objects made by Native Americans from the body parts of buffalo to the appropriate part of the buffalo's anatomy. It is interactive whiteboard and iPad friendly and is included in the website Tracking the Buffalo: Stories From a Buffalo Hide Painting.

Tracking the Buffalo: You Be The Historian

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 14:57:44 GMT

What can we learn by studying a buffalo hide painting? In this activity, students will learn about the culture of the Plains Indians by determining the meaning of stories told on a buffalo hide painting and compare their interpretations to that of a Smithsonian historian. This activity is meant to help students learn more about Native American culture by analyzing and learning from objects; a guiding student worksheet is included. It is included in the website Tracking the Buffalo: Stories From a Buffalo Hide Painting.

Western Indian Wars

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 18:11:33 GMT

In the decades following the Civil War, the U.S. Army fought dozens of engagements with Indians in the West. This website explores Federal Indian policies and conflicts that arose as Americans flooded west into the Great Plains. Through the use of images and objects from the Museum's collections, students will learn about: Sitting Bull, George Custer and the Battle of Little Bighorn; the massacre at Wounded Knee; the resistance of Geronimo and the Chiricahua Apache; buffalo soldiers; and the realities of life on Indian Reservations. A non-flash version of the site is available: Western Indian Wars.