Teaching American Indian Geography and History with New Perspectives: The Lodge Pole River Project Example.

Abstract A three-year institute called “The Lodge Pole River Project” was designed to change educator perceptions of American Indian historical geography and encourage the creation of balanced and culturally sensitive American Indian K-12 curriculum. This project offered unique opportunities to assess a geography institute's impact upon teacher knowledge and perceptions towards Native people and pedagogical approaches to teaching about American Indians and their landscapes. The assessment suggests that three weeks of field work, archival research, and curriculum writing increased participant knowledge of American Indian history and culture, solidified sympathetic perceptions and attitudes towards Native people, and strengthened the ability of educators to offer different interpretations of American Indian geography and history to their students.