Sand Creek Massacre Lesson 5

Sand Creek Massacre Lesson 5

This lesson will guide students through various historical interpretations of the Sand Creek Massacre, including paintings and oral history about the massacre, as well as traditional textbook descriptions of the Massacre. Through this lesson, students will understand how different types of historical documents provide different insights into events. Specifically, they will understand why textbook descriptions cannot capture the entire reality of history, and we must rely on other types of information to get a more nuanced, complete story.

Ben Binversie

1 Day

Students will understand how different sources of information provide us with different understandings of the Massacre and examine and compare different types of sources outside of standard textbook descriptions.

Lesson 5 Presentation, Lesson 5 Worksheet

Sand Creek Unit
Lesson 5: What is History?

This lesson will guide students through various historical interpretations of the Sand Creek Massacre, including paintings and oral history about the massacre, as well as traditional textbook descriptions of the Massacre. Through this lesson, students will understand how different types of historical documents provide different insights into events. Specifically, they will understand why textbook descriptions cannot capture the entire reality of history, and we must rely on other types of information to get a more nuanced, complete story.

Essential Questions:
What counts as history?
Who gets to tell the story and with what information?
What can oral history and painting tell us about the Sand Creek Massacre that a textbook cannot?

Desired Results
Understandings Students Will Know/Will be Able To:
• Oral histories provide valid historical information and convey different meaning than written history
• Textbook descriptions of the Sand Creek Massacre are not adequate and must be supplemented by other sources
• Multiple sources and perspectives must be used in order to understand the emotional impact of Sand Creek
• Understand how different sources of information provide us with different understandings of the Massacre
• Examine and compare different types of sources outside of standard textbook descriptions


Assessment Evidence
• Analysis of textbook descriptions, paintings, and oral histories of Sand Creek Massacre

Key Terms
• Oral history

Lesson Materials:
Lesson 5 Worksheet
Lesson 5 Powerpoint

Lesson Activities:
Introduction (8 minutes)
• Textbook Descriptions of Sand Creek
o Students should complete Source 1 on Lesson 5 Worksheet as the teacher directs them
o The teacher will lead students through the description of Sand Creek found in their textbooks (if there is one) or one of the excerpts provided here (there is one on the worksheet itself, but you can substitute it if you choose)
• The teacher should focus on what the descriptions tell us, what kind of evidence they are using, and what is missing from these accounts
• Ask the students what else, given what they have learned about Sand Creek so far, and what they see in the textbook descriptions, they would like to see included if they were to tell a story about Sand Creek? What other sources (other than written accounts of what happened/textbook descriptions) might be useful to talk about Sand Creek.
Body Activity (40 minutes)
• As a class, look at the two paintings for this lesson
o Eugene Ridgely, Jr., Vision of Sand Creek Massacre, and Robert Lindneux, Sand Creek Massacre
o As you analyze the paintings, encourage students to think about the following questions, in addition to those on their worksheet for Source 2 (which they should complete in small groups).
 What do you see?
 What elements of the painting seem important?
 What emotions does the painting convey?
• Introduce students briefly to the topic of oral history and how it differs from written history (see PPT slide 4).
o Instruct students to read the quote from Ben Nighthorse Campbell on their worksheet page 4 and reflect on the emotional impact of the Sand Creek Massacre.
o Then watch minutes 33:00-36:21 of PBS documentary "Sand Creek Massacre" found here: http://www.pbs.org/video/2365379662/ or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDnPT1qYa64 and have students discuss the worksheet questions in small groups
 These are some oral accounts, mostly passed down through descendants, much of which are supported by testimony. Stories change, and they relay information and emotions that cannot be captured in other ways
Wrap-Up/Conclusion (8 minutes)
• Instruct students to revisit the textbook description(s) from the beginning of class. As they re-read the text, encourage them to think about what the limitations of textbooks are as it pertains to history. What did we learn from the other sources that we could not from the textbooks?

Lesson Sources:
Cayton, Perry, Reed and Allan Winkler. America: Pathways to the Present, Modern American History. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003.
Lindneux, Robert. Sand Creek Massacre. 1936. Colorado Historical Society, Colorado Historical Society. Archive Grid. Web.
Ridgely, Eugene, Jr. Vision of the Sand Creek Massacre. 2011. National Park Service, Centennial One Object Exhibit. Google Arts and Culture. Web.
Sand Creek Massacre. Direct by Julie Speer. 2014. Rocky Mountain PBS. Film.

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