Featured image showing a map of the American Indian and Alaska Native Population with the word History on top

The Size of the Indigenous Population in the United States – Part 1 History

The Size of the Indigenous Population in the United States (H2.3)  examines the cycles of conflict and compromise that occurred in the Americas between the Europeans and Native Americans. The Nation’s Indigenous people had a population of nearly 10 million people before meeting the Europeans. Their numbers began to fall rapidly after that due to war and diseases. Indigenous people went from occupying all of North America to only 2%.

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Course Information

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Course Instructor

Brenda Kilmurray Author

Brenda Kilmurray is a National Board Certified Teacher, currently certified in Arizona with 17 years’ experience in the classroom working with 3rd – 5th grade students.  Brenda was awarded Cochise County’s Arizona Rural Teacher of the Year (2017), The Air Force Association’s Cochise County STEM Teacher of the Year (2017), Sierra Vista Unified School District’s Elementary Teacher of the Year (2017), and The Arizona Educational Foundation’s Arizona Teacher of the Year Semi-Finalist (2018). Brenda brings her passion for the classroom and understanding of the Arizona Department of Education State Standards together to create engaging and developmentally appropriate lessons. These lessons incorporate differentiated reading, writing, and STEAM activities. The lessons featured here were reviewed and critiqued by content experts, including historians, archaeologists, other educators, many of whom are members of Indigenous communities. For a full list the advisors visit Our Contributor’s Page.

Special Thanks to Our Contributors

Amerind would like to thank Dr. Jennifer Nez Denetdale (Diné) for reviewing this lesson. The comments, advice, and guidance of our contributors improved these educational materials significantly. We are truly grateful for their help. Any errors or oversights in these materials are solely the responsibility of Amerind.

Course Structure

This course is delivered in 4 parts.

  1. History – Includes all links and activities in the Orange column below.
  2. ELA Reading and Writing – Includes all links and activities in the Yellow and Green columns with the title ELA.
  3. STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) – Includes all links and activities in the blue column with the title S.T.E.A.M.
  4. Resources – This is a simple page with links for extended learning and study. These are found in the purple column labeled Resources.

The image below gives a quick view of the lessons and links that are found in each of the lessons. You can access this document here.

The Size of the Indigenous Population in the United States
Curriculum Chart

History /Social Science Standard

Learning Objectives:

SP4.1 We will explain probable causes and effects of events and developments in United States history.
G1.1 We will use and construct maps and graphs to represent changes in the United States.
H2.1 We will describe the cycles of conflict that shaped the relationship between Europeans and Native Americans.
RI.1 We will answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text.
W.2 We will write informative texts to convey ideas and information clearly.

History ActivitiesELA 
Crosswalk		ELA
Activities		S.T.E.A.M.Resources
1) The Size of the Indigenous Population in the U.S. Digital Notebook
2) The Size of the Indigenous Population in the United States Slideshow 
3) The Size of the Indigenous Population in the United States CLOZE notes 

Reading Passages
1) Native American Population Decline
2) Broken Treaties and Promises
3) Disease and Native American Population
4)  Native Americans

Writing Assignment
The Size of the Indigenous Population in the United States: A Cause and Effect
Writing Activity

1) The Size of the Indigenous Population in the United States map activity
2) Trail of Tears Activity
3)  Compare and Contrast Tribal Lands in the United States
4) Native American History Library		1) Mary G Ross How to Build a Rocket
2) Indigenous STEAM Activities
3) STEM Activity – Legend of the Indian Paintbrush
4) Woody Crumbo Dancing Deer Indigenous Art
5) STEM Challenge Native American Shelters
6) STEM Challenge Build a Boat the Floats		1) Interactive Time
Lapse Map Shows
The Removal of Indigenous Homelands
2) Native American Population 2022
3) Native American History for Kids | An insightful look into the history of the Native Americans
4) Khan Academy Native North America, an introduction
5) Trail of Tears

Accessing the Course Content

This course is designed and presented with the goal that the material can be easily used by anyone. As a result, each lesson will present content in multiple ways to accommodate many different teaching styles and technology needs. For each lesson you will have the following options:

  • Website Content – The lessons/worksheets/videos will be available to view inside of the website. You can read and use the lesson from this site.
  • External Link – You will also have a link that directly links you to the resource (ie. Google Doc, Google Slide, YouTube Video)

* IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR GOOGLE DOCS AND SLIDES

If you go directly to a link to save a google document or slide, you must make a copy of the document and save it to your own account.