Throughout the museum, American Indians kept mentioning that they were happy to have survived. American Indian culture is one we will never fully be able to recover, but with the foresight of people like Jim Schoppert we are able to enjoy and learn from some of the things that survive. I love this museum as a whole and really encourage people to visit. One video mentions that in creating the museum, they become a history like every other history...respect it...argue with it. That helped me to be aware of the significance of what I was experiencing. Excellent.

As a homeschooling parent, I am always on the lookout for additional resources for educating my children. Our focus for this year is early American History. I have found this website to be an excellent 'first stop' in my search. When I followed the links, I found wonderful curriculum and resources to use with my children.

This sight is great if you love WW 1&2 and/or American Indian history. The site is full of information with pictures, maps, and diagrams to accompany the text. There are many places in the site to read or hear some examples of "code talking" or other words in Comanche & Navajo. There are also easy-to-use lesson plans if you want to use the site in a class room. As a student, I'll definitely look at the site more than once!

To fully appreciate the role of the Indians in military services one must understand the unique contributions they have made through language. The strength of the very core of the Indian culture is edified in this work. This strength was a major contribution to the wars as well as preservation of their own culture. This is a great work that is important for students from Middle grades to College level studies. I hope you will consider this work for your classes as well as for your personal enjoyment and appreciation of the strength and beauty of the Native American peoples.

Although not attending the Smithsonian this worksheet gave me terrific ideas of activities to do with children in the lead up to our museum excursion that is also based on cultural diversity and anthropology.

This packet is wonderful for all ages to not only reflect on who they are but to build cultural understanding among groups. The lessons are short and are not reliant on higher level reading. Easy to implement yet potentially very powerful. Great tool for teachers to learn a lot about the students.

There is not a lot of information out there about Indian artwork. This is a very complete resource, and can be useful for most ages, including adults! There is a lot of details, including the meanings of the different signs. The learning activities are also very useful!

Cross curriculum: Art and ESL. Art is a wonderful subject for English Language Learners because students are more likely to take a chance using English when discussing a work of Art. They feel free to talk about the visual images and relate them to the subject. The paintings are very beautiful and a good source of information for ELLs. They don't need difficult text to acquire the information and relative cultural points. It is a user friendly resource for the primary document. (paintings). High Rating

This article provides a clear and concise history of the Mayan civilization and its decedents. I work in a school that uses the Student Enrichment Model (SEM), where students chose a grade appropriate history topic and extend their learning and understanding of that topic. Essentially, the students drive their instruction but the teacher helps facilitate their learning. In my SEM group, that focuses on Latin American Civilizations, I would use this resource as a research tool for my students. Based on questions they have developed, they would research this publication and answer their questions. This "webquest" will guide them in the culminating project (an essay, a research paper, an art base project, etc.) This publication also provides an integral link between the past and the present by providing information about the current decedents of the Mayans, a topic which is rarely discussed in elementary history books.

This article was very informative. It talked about the past and the present. It follows the Sna Jtz'ibajom production company in their strive for equality for their people, the Mayans. While the text was a little jumpy at times the over all effect was very good. I especially liked the plays that were added in, that showcase the point in modern times.