Welcome to Our Introduction to Native American History Homeschool Course

Course Sample for Our Introduction to Native American History Homeschool Course

To view a full sample of the course, click here.

Native American History Week 3

Day 1: Miami

The Miami Indians originally inhabited the region South of Lake Michigan, but in the 1660s, they feared the Iroquois, so some of them moved to Mississippi, and some moved to Green Bay, Wisconsin. About 20 years later, the ones in Green Bay began to move back to Lake Michigan and Indiana.

They lived in villages with palisades, or fences surrounding the homes for protection. The palisades enveloped several elliptical houses for each family (sometimes for an extended family). The homes were wooden frames covered in tightly woven reed mats. Over the doorways and floors were bison skins. Each hut had a central hearth for light, heat, and fire for cooking, with a hole in the roof for smoke. In the center of the village sat the chief’s house, which also served as a general meeting place.

During the American Revolution, the Miami sided with the English. Chief Little Turtle, or Michikinikwa, led his followers in several decisive victories against the Americans in the 1790s during what is called Little Turtle’s War. In fact, Chief Little Turtle went down in history as leading the worst defeat of American colonists by Native Americans. It was 1791, and after some smaller skirmishes with Little Turtle, General Washington ordered an attack on him and his army. Little Turtle and his 1000 men defeated the colonial forces of 2000 from Fort Washington near the head of the Wabash River.

Define: palisades

Be sure to label map 2 with the Tribes we learn about this week!

1. Describe the homes of the Miami inside the palisades in at least one paragraph.
2. Who was Chief Little Turtle? What is he known for?

Course Outline for Our Introduction to Native American History Homeschool Course

Our Introduction to Native American History homeschool course includes eighteen printable weekly homeschool history lessons with daily readings and assignments for middle school through high school. Students examine the history and culture of Native Americans across North America.

• Week 1: General Information and Introduction to Native Americans of the Northeast
• Week 2: The Iroquois, Lenape (Delaware), and Massachuset
• Week 3: The Miami, Pequot, Powhatan, and Shawnee
• Week 4: Introduction to Native Americans of the Southeast and the Cherokee
• Week 5: The Chickasaw and Choctaw
• Week 6: The Creek, Natchez, and Seminole
• Week 7: Quiz, Introduction to Native Americans of the Plains, and the Arapaho
• Week 8: The Cheyenne
• Week 9: The Comanche and Crow
• Week 10: The Pawnee and Sioux
• Week 11: Battle of the Little Bighorn, Introduction to Native Americans of the Plateau, the Nez Perce, and the Yakima (Yakama)
• Week 12: Introduction to Native Americans of the Great Basin, the Paiute, Shoshone, and Ute
• Week 13: Review, Introduction to Native Americans of the Southwest, the Apache, and Navajo
• Week 14: The Pueblo, Introduction to Native Americans of California, the Chumash, and Pomo
• Week 15: Introduction to Native Americans of the Northwest Coast and the Chinook
• Week 16: Introduction to Native Americans of the Arctic, the Aleut, and Inuit
• Week 17: The Tlingit and the Bureau of Indian Affairs
• Week 18: Review for Test and Test

More about Our Introduction to Native American History Homeschool Course

This one-semester Introduction to Native American History homeschool course is broken down into daily lessons. Through this homeschool history course, students learn about Native American tribes of the Northeast, Southeast, Great Plains, Northwest, Great Basin, Southwest, and Arctic, as well as the Trail of Tears and various treaties with the Native Americans. Homeschool students read at least two books and complete two book reports during this history course.