This inquiry explores the impact of the fur trade in North Dakota through the investigation of the compelling question “How did the fur trade bring different cultures together?” The importance of understanding the fur trade in this inquiry is twofold: (1) students should be able to understand changes that impacted Native American tribes of the region and (2) students will understand how the fur trade accelerated and impacted the exploration of the region by Europeans and Americans. While progressing through the inquiry, students will analyze the changes occurring to both natural and cultural resources.
The terms “Native Americans” and “Native peoples” are used in this inquiry. The terms “American Indians” and “Indians” are used in much of the scholarly literature. In this inquiry, precise tribal names will be used when they are known.
This inquiry is expected to take three class periods; however, teachers are encouraged to adapt the inquiry to meet the needs and interests of their students and the amount of time they have available.
- Native American Map Set
- Early Exploration Map Set
- An Introduction to the History of the Fur Trade on the Northern Great Plains
- Autobiography of Poor Wolf
- People of the Upper Missouri Document Set
- Fred Gerard and the Fur Trade Document Set
Understand: Identify tribes who consider the land where your community is as part of their traditional homelands.
Assess: Determine what has happened to those people—who are they and where do they live now? Are their ways in which your community can support them today?
Act: Using the poster and additional research you conducted, create a short documentary film. Present the documentary to your community during a history fair.