How Did the Fur Trade Bring Different Cultures Together?

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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.

Inquiry Design Model (IDM) Blueprint™
Compelling Question
How did the fur trade bring different cultures together?
Standards and Practices
ND.6_12.4.2 Analyze European exploration and early settlement of North Dakota and its impact on Native American groups.
Staging the Question
Make a list of the culture exchange that occurred on the northern Great Plains between Native Americans, Europeans, and Americans.
Supporting Question 1
Supporting Question 2
Supporting Question 3
Who were the first western explorers and traders to visit the northern Great Plains?
What was the cultural and economic impact of the fur trade on the nations involved (including Native American, European, and American)?
What impact did the fur trade have on new generations of people living on the northern Great Plains during this period?
Formative Performance Task
Formative Performance Task
Formative Performance Task
Create a chart of the explorers and traders of the northern Great Plains the dates of exploration, and the tribes they visited.
Write a timeline that shows how the end of the fur trade era overlapped with the beginning of the reservation era.
Write a summary describing how the fur trade impacted the children of Native American women and European and American men.
Featured Sources
Featured Sources
Featured Sources
  • Fred Gerard and the Fur Trade Document Set
Summative Performance Task
Argument
How did the fur trade bring different cultures together? Construct an argument that addresses the compelling question using specific claims and relevant evidence from historical sources while acknowledging competing views. Create a poster and present your argument to your class with evidence to support your claims.
Extension
Invite a Native American elder or tribal community representative or archeologist to speak to your class either in-person or virtually.
Taking Informed Action

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.