Text-Dependent Questions and Indigenous Heritage

"Under the crust of that part of the earth called the United States of America are buried the bones, villages, fields, and sacred objects of the first people of that land--the people who are often called American Indians or Native Americans. Their descendants, also called Indigenous peoples, carry memories and stories of how the United States came to be the nation we know today. It is important to learn and know this history, but many people today lack that knowledge and understanding because of the way America's story has been taught."

What does the author state is the cause of many today lacking the knowledge of indigenous history?

• The way America's story has been taught

• Lack of interest

• The history is buried, like the bones, villages, and fields.

• Indigenous tribes have too many names

"What has happened since Europeans first encountered the land masses known as North and South America? Most books about American history say they were discovered by Christopher Columbus and other Europeans, settled by courageous English citizens seeking religious freedom, and expanded by brave settlers who moved westward in search of adventure and a better life. Most people's understanding of what it means to be an American is founded upon such tales, which together form a myth-like origin story."

Why do many believe the "myth-like origin story"?

• Most books center European American settler narratives

• It is a more compelling story

• Europeans encountered land masses known as North and South America

• Settlers were brave

What does this map show?

• The original 13 colonies that Europeans settled in America

• What students most often draw when asked what early America looked like

• Early America along the Pacific seaboard

"Origin narratives, or 'stories about how all this began,' help a group of people feel they belong to a community with a common past and shared ideas about what is important. Origin stories are central to a people's sense of a unifying identity. However, origin stories may leave out key aspects of what actually happened and overemphasize others. That is the case with the most familiar origin story of the United States."

In the context of the passage, what does the word "unifying" mean?

• becoming united

• totalizing

• marrying

• becoming mixed

"The Doctrine of Discovery was laid out in a series of communications from the pope, the leader of the Catholic Church, who was extremely influential in European politics at the time. It asserted that Indigenous inhabitants lost their natural right to that land as soon as Europeans arrived and claimed it. People whose homelands were 'discovered' were considered subjects of the Europeans and were expected to do what the 'discoverers' wished. If they resisted, they were to be conquered by European military action."

What does the word "subjects" mean in the context of the passage?

• People overpowered by another group

• A topic of study

• To bring under control

• A person or thing being discussed

"The Doctrine of Discovery was laid out in a series of communications from the pope, the leader of the Catholic Church, who was extremely influential in European politics at the time. It asserted that Indigenous inhabitants lost their natural right to that land as soon as Europeans arrived and claimed it. People whose homelands were 'discovered' were considered subjects of the Europeans and were expected to do what the 'discoverers' wished. If they resisted, they were to be conquered by European military action."

Why does the author put quotation marks around the words discovered and discoverers?

• To indicate doubt and skepticism about how this word is typically used

• To show an objective presentation of another's words

• To simply quote another author

• To show different spellings

"Even when the United States consisted of just a few states on the Eastern Seaboard, the country's founders fully intended for 'America' to extend 'from sea to shining sea.' In fact, the first law of the new nation was created because that demand for land. The Continental Congress wrote the Northwest Ordinance in 1787, two years before the Constitution was ratified. It allowed setters to live in 'Indian Territory' west of the Appalachian and Allegheny Mountains. Before that, the British Government's Proclamation of 1763 prohibited settlement there."

Why was the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 created?

• Demand for western land

• To ratify the Constituion

• The country's founders wanted to move west

• High supply of unpopulated land

"Even when the United States consisted of just a few states on the Eastern Seaboard, the country's founders fully intended for 'America' to extend 'from sea to shining sea.' In fact, the first law of the new nation was created because that demand for land. The Continental Congress wrote the Northwest Ordinance in 1787, two years before the Constitution was ratified. It allowed setters to live in 'Indian Territory' west of the Appalachian and Allegheny Mountains. Before that, the British Government's Proclamation of 1763 prohibited settlement there."

What was the effect of the Northwest Ordinance?

• Settlers could live in "Indian Territory" west of the Appalachian and Allegheny Mountains

• The Continental Congress

• More states on the Atlantic Seaboard

• The British Government's Proclamation of 1763

Click on the map to read the caption.

What does the map show?

• The territory affected by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787

• How the Great Lakes affected Native Americans

• New states that were created in 1787

• The 13 colonies

What is one thing you learned from the reading about Indigenous people in what is today the United States?