Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
As we watch Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (HBO, 2007), read the following selected documents:
Native American Testimony (Nabokov) - “To Learn Another Way”
How Boarding Schools Tried to “Kill the Indian” Through Assimilation (Becky Little)
Writing Assignment:
OPTION 1 (Creative Response)
Write a 500-600 word (2 pages double spaced) essay written from the first person point of view of one of the historical personas listed below. Your essay will be written as either a letter to Congress, the President of the United States, or as a diary entry for the person you are writing as. This letter or diary entry should include the following:
Introduce who you are
Describe in detail what your experiences have been like as a Native American facing the government policies toward your people
You should propose a possible solution as to how the government should change its policies, or describe what you intend to do in response
You must include at least ONE QOUTE in italics from the assigned reading (write it as if your person is saying it, or directly quote the person you’ve chosen)
Your essay must be written in standard English — please do not get creative in writing with a dialect
Possible topics include: the problems of removal from native lands and forced onto the reservation system; the Indian Boarding Schools; the slaughter of the buffalo; the Battle of the Little Big Horn; the exodus of the Nez Perce; the massacre of Wounded Knee
Historical Personas:
Chief Sitting Bull
Chief Joseph
Crazy Horse
Chief Red Cloud
Charles Eastman
Elaine Goodall
A child in the Indian Boarding Schools
OPTION 2 (Short Research Paper)
Write a 500-600 word (2 pages double spaced) research essay written about one of the historical personas listed below. Your essay must include the following:
Introduce who you are writing about
Describe in detail what that person’s experiences were like as a Native American facing the government policies toward their people
Describe how this person dealt with the challenges facing them, or how they resisted genocide
You must include at least TWO QOUTES from the assigned reading, and you can research additional sources as well. Your sources must be cited in MLA format. For instance, “Sitting Bull was at first resistant to meeting” (Dee 418).
Possible topics include: the problems of removal from native lands and forced onto the reservation system; the Indian Boarding Schools; the slaughter of the buffalo; the Battle of the Little Big Horn; the exodus of the Nez Perce; the massacre of Wounded Knee
Historical Personas:
Chief Sitting Bull
Chief Joseph
Crazy Horse
Chief Red Cloud
Charles Eastman
Elaine Goodall
A child in the Indian Boarding Schools
