Resource Library
Find compelling classroom resources, learn new teaching methods, meet standards, and make a difference in the lives of your students.
We are grateful to The Hammer Family Foundation for supporting the development of our on-demand learning and teaching resources.
![A group of high school students sit at desks in conversation.](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_480/public/2023-10/AdobeStock_254378868.jpg?itok=f6YAphey)
Introducing Our US History Curriculum Collection
Draw from this flexible curriculum collection as you plan any middle or high school US history course. Featuring units, C3-style inquiries, and case studies, the collection will help you explore themes of democracy and freedom with your students throughout the year.
Defining the Indian
Two main pieces of legislation laid the foundation for what was to be the new Dominion’s policy regarding relations with First Nations: the Gradual Civilization Act of 1857 and the Gradual Enfranchisement Act of 1869.
![Graphic from cover of "Stolen Lives: The Indigenous Peoples of Canada and the Indian Residential Schools."](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/SL_graphic5.png?h=bc3345c8&itok=_uc8CaVR)
Student Journal: Choices in Little Rock (Spanish)
This digital journal, available in Google Slides, gives students a place to record their responses to the unit's journal prompts.
Banning Indigenous Culture
The ultimate goal of the Indian Act has always been the assimilation of the Indigenous Peoples as separate nations into mainstream Canada.
![Graphic from cover of "Stolen Lives: The Indigenous Peoples of Canada and the Indian Residential Schools."](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/SL_graphic5.png?h=bc3345c8&itok=_uc8CaVR)
Traditional Education
The idea that Western culture was superior and that the Indigenous Peoples needed to be Christianized and civilized came from the biases of Europeans and their unwillingness to appreciate the complex, largely unwritten teaching processes inside indigenous communities.
![Graphic from cover of "Stolen Lives: The Indigenous Peoples of Canada and the Indian Residential Schools."](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/SL_graphic5.png?h=bc3345c8&itok=_uc8CaVR)
Aggressive Assimilation
The key to this policy was a system of industrial schools where religious instruction and skills training would help the Native Americans catch up with the demands of Western society.
![Graphic from cover of "Stolen Lives: The Indigenous Peoples of Canada and the Indian Residential Schools."](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/SL_graphic5.png?h=bc3345c8&itok=_uc8CaVR)
Legislation for the Residential Schools
Prime Minister Macdonald authorized the creation of new residential schools and granted government funds for those that were already in place.
![Graphic from cover of "Stolen Lives: The Indigenous Peoples of Canada and the Indian Residential Schools."](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/SL_graphic5.png?h=bc3345c8&itok=_uc8CaVR)
The Role of the Churches
Learn about the Catholic and Anglican churches' role in propagating residential schools throughout Canada.
![Graphic from cover of "Stolen Lives: The Indigenous Peoples of Canada and the Indian Residential Schools."](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/SL_graphic5.png?h=bc3345c8&itok=_uc8CaVR)
Building the Indian Residential Schools System
One of the most important historians of the residential schools, James R. Miller, estimates that a great number of indigenous students were, in fact, educated in day schools, although the residential schools left the most painful, long-lasting marks on indigenous communities.
![Graphic from cover of "Stolen Lives: The Indigenous Peoples of Canada and the Indian Residential Schools."](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/SL_graphic5.png?h=bc3345c8&itok=_uc8CaVR)
“Until There Is Not a Single Indian in Canada”
Over the 150-year span of the Indian Residential Schools system, Canada saw close to 150 schools and 150,000 pupils.
![Graphic from cover of "Stolen Lives: The Indigenous Peoples of Canada and the Indian Residential Schools."](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/SL_graphic5.png?h=bc3345c8&itok=_uc8CaVR)
The Experience of Students
Aside from those who paid the highest price—their lives—many students suffered lifelong trauma, which has also been passed on to children and grandchildren.
![Graphic from cover of "Stolen Lives: The Indigenous Peoples of Canada and the Indian Residential Schools."](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/SL_graphic5.png?h=bc3345c8&itok=_uc8CaVR)
The Bear That Wasn't (en español)
Explore identity, conformity, and authority with this modern fable about a bear forced to navigate society's perception of who he is. This resource is in Spanish.
![An illustration from Fred Tashlin's The Bear That Wasn't.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Bear_04_Medium_res.jpg?h=e234a08a&itok=1oJczY0C)