Lesson Three: New Settlers Move West
Focus Questions:
• How did settlement in Oregon affect life for Great Plains tribes?
• Who helped bring the first settlers to South Dakota and how did that change life here?
• How and why did the Indians react to these changes?
Imbedded Information In The Student Lesson:
; Struck-by-the-Ree; Dakota Territory; Pony Congress
Worksheet:
Classroom Activities:
Break the class into four to six opposing teams. Next, assign important school locations to half the teams as their "territories": the library, the cafeteria, the computer lab, or the playground, for example. Next, assign these same locations to the remaining teams. Have students in opposing teams call a council. Each council must draw up a treaty to accommodate everyone competing for the same territory. The teams can then share the terms of their individual treaties with the whole class and talk about the compromises each group had to make. To expand the exercise, you can discuss the breaking of treaties and promises and relate that to today's issues.
