Education Standards

The State We're In: Washington - Teacher Guide Ch. 6: Tribal Governments

The State We're In: Washington - Teacher Guide Ch. 6: Tribal Governments

Overview

This is a Teacher's Guide for The State We're In Washington: Your guide to state, tribal and local government. These quides are developed by members of the Washington State Social Studies Cadre.

There are key ideals established in state and tribal constitutions that determine the functioning of government. Washington state maintains important relationships among sovereign states (international and tribal) through both political and economic agreements. Tribes, as sovereign nations, have independent economies with different government regulations separate from the United States and Washington state. The economic impacts of tribes has been measured and positively impacts the economy of Washington in many ways.

Tribal Governments Today

General Overview

Enduring Understanding

There are key ideals established in state and tribal constitutions that determine the functioning of government. Washington state maintains important relationships among sovereign states (international and tribal) through both political and economic agreements. Tribes, as sovereign nations, have independent economies with different government regulations separate from the United States and Washington state. The economic impacts of tribes has been measured and positively impacts the economy of Washington in many ways.

Supporting Questions

Students consider these questions - finding and using evidence to support the Enduring Understanding.

  • How are tribal governments organized as sovereign nations to help their members?
  • How do tribal governments engage in economic activity to benefit their members and citizens of Washington State?

Learning Targets

Students will be able to…

  • Define “sovereignty”  and explain why it matters to tribes and non-tribal citizens (C3)
  • Explain how tribal governments are unique and compare/contrast with state government (C2.6-8. 2)
  • Describe the services tribes provide for their members (E3.6-8.2)
  • Explain how the Centennial Accord and the Boldt Decision impacted the people of Washington State (tribal and non-tribal) (C3.6-8.2)
  • use evidence to support an argument that evaluates the ways in which tribes impact the economy of Washington (SSS4.6-8.1, SSS1.6-8.1)

Tasks

  1. Launch
  2. Focused Notes
  3. Text-Dependent Questions
  4. Focused Inquiry

Attribution and License

Attribution

This Teacher’s Guide for Chapter 6: The State We’re In Washington was developed by Leslie Heffernan, Central Valley School District.

The downloadable digital version of The State We're In: Washington. Your guide to state, tribal and local government by the League of Women Voters of Washington Education Fund is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International License. Print copies of The State We’re In: Washington, may be purchased from the League of Women Voters of Washington website.

Cover image map of federally recognized tribes in Washington State courtesy of Washington Tribes.

License

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Except where otherwise noted, this Teacher Guide for The State We’re In Washington Chapter 6, copyright Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, is available under a Creative Commons Attribution License. All logos and trademarks are property of their respective owners. Sections used under fair use doctrine (17 U.S.C. § 107) are marked

Launch

Hooking students into the content of the chapter.

Distribute the Student handout: Launch to students.

Guide students in the launch activity. A possible description to guide students is articulated below. Encourage the students to explain their thinking with each other as they participate in the activity.

Display (digitally, if possible) the Washington Tribes Map from Washingtontribes.org (pdf version is available on their site).

  • Step 1: Ask students, “What do you notice about this map?” Students should know that each orange portion is the location of a federally recognized tribe in Washington State. Ask, “Which tribe is our closest neighbor?” Give students a moment to look at the map and direct them to click on the red pin.
  • Step 2: Model: Ask students to find out some basic information of their closest tribal neighbor. For example, students might find out how many members are enrolled in the tribe, or how much land the tribe’s reservation has. Students might also find out some information about the economic activity of the tribe. A sample guided note taker is included below, but may need to be modified to meet the needs of your students or the information located on the website.
  • Step 3: Now ask students to find out information about a tribe that is located in another region of the state, following the same procedure from Step 2.
  • Step 4: Direct students to write down two or three questions they might have about the tribes they previewed. Possible extension: ask students to click on the tribal websites for deeper exploration about the tribes.

Focused Notes

Activating thinking about the content of the chapter

Distribute the Student handout: Focused Notes to students.

  • As students read, they will record their understanding, thinking, and questions about the content using the handout. This can be done individually or collaboratively in pairs or small groups.

Text Dependent Questions

Engaging students in a close reading activity about specific content in the chapter.

Distribute the Student handout: Text Dependent Questions document to students.

First Read

Have the students read the section and answer the First read questions on the Text Dependent Questions document.

Second Read

Use the Second read questions below to facilitate a small or whole group discussion about the reading section. When they are done have them use the Text Dependent Questions handout to record their notes.

  • What was the process of the crafting of the Centennial Accord demonstrate about the pace at which important decisions are sometimes made between governments?
  • In what ways has the Centennial Accord inspired others to do similar work?

Post read

After students have done a first and second read of the page, use the following questions to facilitate a class discussion. Have students capture their notes on the student handout:

  • How was the Centennial Accord a turning point for government to government relations?
  • What do the agreements detailed in this chapter tell you about tribal and non-tribal relationships?

Teacher note: You may want to use some or all the Second read or Post read questions. The purpose of the Text Dependent Question activity is to have students do multiple close reads of the text leading to discussion that engages all students. Therefore, you may need to add reading strategies that meet the needs of your students.

Focused Inquiry

A focused inquiry is a one to two day lesson that will have students engaging in the C3 Framework’s Inquiry Arc. The link below includes both teacher and student documents.

Compelling Question

How does tribal activity benefit Washington State economically?

Teacher's Guide Menu

Download the all the guides in one document or click on an individual chapter below.

Washington tribe members fishing.  Today's Democracy.  Creating Government.  Century of Change

Governing Today.  Tribal Governments.  Local Government.   Civics and Nature

What's Next.  Good Citizen.  all chapters