Teaching About Native Americans. National Council for the Social Studies Bulletin No. 84.

Summary: The aims and goals of this guide and the accompanying lesson plans include teaching about Native Americans with historical accuracy and fairness, the promotion of an awareness of moral and ethical values in the study of Native Americans, and the cultivation of a sensitivity to the needs and concerns of a dominated, displaced, and threatened people. The basic premise of the guide is that curriculum materials should be free of racism and ethnocentrism and that every teacher must be cognizant of the negative effects both today and in the past of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination. The topics focus on history, environment and resources, culture and diversity, change and adaptation, conflict and discrimination, current issues, and resources for teachers and students. The resources include a stereotypes inventory and criteria for the evaluation of materials to be used in teaching about Native Americans. Three appendices contain, respectively, an Indian Awareness Inventory, a historical outline of American-European and U.S. relationships with Native Americans, and a pre-European geographic classification chart.