Map of the Native American Reservations with the limits of the United States with History as a heading

How Many Tribal Governments Are in The United States? – Part 1 History

This lesson investigates the 574 federally recognized tribal governments in the United States. Tribal governments are sovereign, meaning having the inherent right of a people to govern themselves. Each tribe is responsible for education, law enforcement, health care, and environmental protection on tribal lands. They must maintain houses, roads, bridges, public buildings, technology, and waste treatment. This is nothing new, as these tribes have always been sovereign, long before colonization.

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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. Matthew Sakiestewa Gilbert 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 table below gives a quick view of the lessons and links that are found in each of the lessons.

How Many Tribal Governments Are in The United States?

History /Social Science Standard

Learning Objectives:
H3.1 We will investigate the influence of constitutional governments on fundamental rights, rule of law, representative government, and separation of powers.
G3.1 We will explain how the location and use of resources affects the treatment of Indigenous people.
RI.1 We will ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text.
RI.3 We will explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.
RI.10 We will use social studies content to read grade-level informational texts.
W.2 We will write an informative essay using precise language and vocabulary to explain the topic.

History ActivitiesELA 
Crosswalk		ELA
Activities		S.T.E.A.M.Digital
Resources
1) How Many Tribal Governments Are In the US Digital Notebook
2) How Many Tribal Governments Are in the US  Slideshow  
3) How Many Tribal Governments Are In The U.S.  CLOZE notes		Reading Passages:
1) Tribal Governments in the United States
2) Structure of a Tribal Government
3) 3 Branches of Tribal Governments

Writing Assignment:
Informative  Writing How Many Tribal Governments Are in The United States?		1) Tribal Government Digital Library
2) U.S. Tribal Government Vocabulary Mystery
3) Compare and Contrast Tribal Lands in the United States		1)  The U.S. Forest Service Tribal Connections Viewer
2) How Can We Use the Sky to Navigate?
3) Drinking Water Problem
4) Draw a tree and the 3 branches of government
5) Objects Made by Weaving Pandanus Leaves
6) Dream Catcher Stem Activity		1) What Do Tribal Governments Do?
2) Tribal Sovereignty: The Right to Self-Rule
3) BESE Explains: Tribal Sovereignty
4) How Many Native American Tribes Are There?
5) United States Tribes List by State
6) Native American Governments | Simple Civics
7) How Does Tribal Government Work?
8) Tribal Governance
9) Tribal Government: Powers, Rights, and Authorities

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.