Native American Unit

The Palm Springs Unified School District, in collaboration with The Foundation for PSUSD and the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, have created a 6 Lesson Unit of Study to address the History / Social Science Content Standard:

• 11.1 - Students analyze the significant events in the founding of the nation and its attempts to realize the philosophy of government described in the Declaration of Independence.

  • ​11.1.3 - Understand the history of the Constitution after 1787 with emphasis on federal versus state authority and growing democratization.

    • (Students describe federal authority versus the Agua Caliente People’s authority over the local region long ago, in the recent past, and in the present.)

• 11.2 - Students analyze the relationship among the rise of industrialization, large-scale rural-to-urban migration, and massive immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe.

  • 11.2.2 - Describe the changing landscape, including the growth of cities linked by industry and trade, and the development of cities divided according to race, ethnicity, and class.

  • 11.2.3 - Trace the effect of the Americanization movement.

    • (​Students describe federal and state efforts of assimilation and the development/segregation of Native Americans into reservations.)

• 11.3 - Students analyze the role religion played in the founding of America, its lasting moral, social, and political impacts, and issues regarding religious liberty.

  • 11.3.3 - Cite incidences of religious intolerance in the United States (e.g., persecution of Mormons, anti-Catholic sentiment, anti-Semitism).

  • 11.3.5 - Describe the principles of religious liberty found in the Establishment and Free Exercise clauses of the First Amendment, including the debate on the issue of separation of church and state.

    • (Students describe the efforts to eliminate culture and religious customs and beliefs and then the return of rights under the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978.)

• 11.4 - Students trace the rise of the United States to its role as a world power in the twentieth century.

  • 11.4.2 - Describe the Spanish-American War and U.S. expansion in the South Pacific.

    • (Students describe how the sovereignty of the Agua Caliente people changed with their interactions between Spain, to Mexico, to the United States.)

• 11.10 - Students analyze the development of federal civil rights and voting rights.

  • 11.10.6 - Analyze the passage and effects of civil rights and voting rights legislation (e.g., 1964 Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act of 1965) and the Twenty-Fourth Amendment, with an emphasis on equality of access to education and to the political process.

    • (Students discuss voting and citizenship rights of the Native Americans with regards to being recognized as U.S. citizens.)