Celebrate Native American Heritage Month and Thanksgiving by extending the conversation prompted by Indigenous People Day. As students prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving with loved ones (present and absent), how can immigrant adult learners learn from Native Americans to nurture and preserve their culture and engage their youth?
The resources below are a follow-up to the Oct 2023 Civics Resources for Indigenous Peoples Day and Native American Heritage Month. Last updated 2024-11-29.
NativeAmericanHeritageMonth.gov
American English at State: Spotlight: Thanksgiving
California Indian Education for All: Thanksgiving Teaching Toolkit | Classroom Resource: Thanksgiving (scroll down)
Common Sense: Free Learning Resources for Native American Heritage Month (K12)
- National Native American Heritage Month
- Happy National Native American Heritage Month! (video)
- US Dept of the Interior YouTube Channel (event and weekly summary videos)
Facing History and Ourselves: 18 Teacher Resources on Native American History and Culture
Gilder Lehrman Institute: Thanksgiving (9-12, AP)
Girls Write Now: 34 Books By Indigenous Authors to Read for Thanksgiving Break (And Every Day)
High Country News: Indigenous Affairs
Indian Country Today: website | YouTube Channel | A Wampanoag retelling of Thanksgiving
Indian Country Today: A tale of two colonizing peoples, the Puritans and Pilgrims: How the first Pilgrims and the Puritans differed in their views on religion and respect for Native Americans
Indian Law Resource Center: website
ISTE: 15 Resources for Teaching Native American History and Culture
LOC: Today in History: Thanksgiving Day | Living Nations, Living Words: A Map of First Peoples Poetry
National Archives: Native American Heritage Month | Thanksgiving
National Congress of Native Americans: Tribal Nations and the United States: An Introduction | pdf
Native Lands Digital: map | teacher guide | using map to understand treaties | territory acknowledgement
Native America Calling: news and podcast
Native Gov: Resources
Native Hope: The History of Thanksgiving from the Native American Perspective
NEA: Resources for Teaching About Indigenous Peoples (K12)
NEH: American Indian History and Heritage
NIH: Native Voices Timeline: Colonizers and Resistance: AD 1621: Wampanoag people save Pilgrims
NMAI: Native Knowledge 360
- Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address Greetings to the Natural World
- Harvest Ceremony: Beyond the Thanksgiving Myth
- The Invention of Thanksgiving
- Rethinking Thanksgiving Celebrations: Native Perspectives on Thanksgiving
NPS: Native American Heritage Month | Alaska and Indigenous Peoples Day | Native American Heritage
News from Native California: magazine
PBS:
- The American Experience: Native Americans | Pilgrims and Myth of Thanksgiving
- Native America | Make Ohlone Salad (more from Cafe Ohlone)
Plimoth Patuxet: Digital Classroom
Southern Poverty Law Center: Learning for Justice: Celebrate Native American Heritage
Smithsonian Channel: The Tragic Truth Behind Wampanoag, Squanto, & the Thanksgiving Story
Story Corps:
This I Believe: Native American Heritage Month | Thanksgiving | Rice for Thanksgiving
UMN Duluth: Resources for Teaching American Indian History and Culture
United American Indians of New England: National Day of Mourning
USC Dornsife: Indigenous Migrants in Los Angeles County
USCIS
- Thanksgiving 1 - Pilgrims and American Indians - Beginning Level Lesson Plan Handouts | Answer key
- Thanksgiving 2 - The Pilgrim Story and My Immigrant Story - Beginning Level Lesson Plan | Handouts | Answer key
- Thanksgiving 3 - Traditions - Beginning Level Lesson Plan | Handouts | Answer key
- Early America - Intermediate Level Lesson Plan | Handouts | Answer key
uscitizenpod:
- U.S. Citizenship Resources for Native American Heritage Month page
- U.S. Citizenship Resources for Thanksgiving page
VOA: Native America (features and weekly summary stories)
Washington Post: “Why Thanksgiving isn’t necessarily a celebration: a Native American writer’s take,” a perspective by Tommy Orange
Wikipedia: List of organizations that self-identify as Native American tribes