Students explore the transformation of North America in the nineteenth century and probe this complicated and violent history, considering the major events and policies that accompanied U.S. territorial growth and the effects at a local level.
September 2016
Objectives
Students will:
- Discuss the controversy over the Dakota Access Pipeline.
- Read and analyze letters from native youth activists who oppose the project.
- Reflect on the role of youth in social movements.
Resources
Rezpect Our Water: The Letters
Youth Activist Letters: Graphic Organizer
Opening Discussion
Ask students what they have heard about the controversy over the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Have students heard of the project? Have students heard about resistance to the project? As a class, read the CNN article 5 things to know about the Dakota Access Pipeline. What topics does the article cover? According to this article, why is the pipeline being built? Who is protesting, and why? Who supports the project, and why? Inform students that, while there are many dimensions to the controversy over the Dakota Access Pipeline, they are going to explore just one—the responses of native youth from the activist organization Rezpect Our Water to the project.
Youth Activist Letters
Break the class into groups of two to three students. Distribute “Rezpect Our Water: The Letters” and “Youth Activist Letters: Graphic Organizer” to each group and assign each group two to three letters to read. Instruct groups to read their assigned letters and fill in their graphic organizers.
Making Connections
Invite the class to reconvene. You may wish to call on students or groups to share their answers to a few of the questions on the handout. What reasons did youth activists provide for opposing the pipeline? Specifically, what economic, environmental, political, and cultural reasons did they cite?
Closing Discussion
After reading more about the Dakota Access Pipeline and reading about the opposition to the pipeline by some native youth, what do students think should be done about the pipeline? Ask students to share their thoughts, but remind them to support their statements with facts.
Next, transition into a discussion about native activism surrounding the Dakota Access Pipeline. Did students find the letters that they read in opposition to the pipeline persuasive? Why or why not? What commonalities did students notice between the letters? What differences did they notice? Who do students think are the intended audience for the letters? Why might the activists have made this decision? What role can youth play in making meaningful changes in their communities through activism? Have students heard of other types of activism being practiced in response to the Dakota Access Pipeline?
Extra Challenges
Remind students that native people in the United States have been engaged activists throughout history. Ask students to create a timeline of native resistance and activism to colonial and U.S. government policies.
Can students imagine themselves participating in any kind of protest movement? Why or why not? Do any students in the class consider themselves activists now? What current issues inspire students in the class? Is there a cause that students can imagine themselves dedicating their lives to? What lessons can students learn from the Rezpect Our Water activists? Have students respond to these questions in writing.
Photo by Tony Webster.