Lesson One: John B. S. Todd and Gabriel Renville
Focus Questions:
• Why were Todd’s treaty negotiations so important?
• Why did Todd want the land to be part of the United States?
• What role did Renville and the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux play in the Dakota Conflict of 1862?
• What key skill did Renville teach his people on the reservation? Why was it so important?
Imbedded Information In The Student Lesson:
; Lake Traverse Indian Reservation; Fort Sisseton
Worksheet:
Classroom Activities:
This unit is about biography and how the events of a person’s life are interconnected with the history of a time and place. Have the students choose an important event or incident within the last year that has changed them in some way. Then ask them to write an illustrated story about this event—what they saw, how they felt, what they learned from the experience. Ask students to share their stories with each other.
