This lesson will show students how Native Americans demonstrated acts of philanthropy by helping Lewis and Clark explore new routes west to the Pacific Ocean.  Native Americans shared their knowledge and resources with the members of the expedition. The journey would likely not have been successful had it not been for their help.  Over 50 Native American nations helped Lewis and Clark.  Sacagawea, in particular, gave of her time and talents to help them on the journey.

NOTE: A copy of the movie Lewis and Clark: Great Journey West  may be purchased from Amazon.com

 The learner will:

• explore the interaction of diverse cultures
• describe an example of philanthropy practiced by a Native American culture.
• recognize the wise use of resources as stewardship.
• apply the idea of philanthropy as the giving of one’s time, talent, and treasures for the common good.

Before Viewing the Movie

Materials: 

• Journals – Students can create their own journals or they can be purchased.
• Pictures from magazines or other resources of people representing diverse cultures. (See Anticipatory Set)

Instructional Procedure(s): 

Teacher notes: Preview the websites and the attachments at the end of this lesson before teaching this lesson.  Several of the attachments at the end of this lesson are for resource purposes for the teacher, however they may be used with students as the teacher see fit.  This lesson should be started about a week before the class attends the movie to give the students time to reflect through journaling about the topic.  Some journal prompts are listed in the activity.

Anticipatory Set:

In advance of the lesson, the teacher will collect a number of pictures from different cultures from magazines – National Geographic Magazines are great for this.  Choose pictures with cultural characteristics evident.  (Examples: type of dress, food, shelter, pictures indicating where the people in the pictures might live.)
Give each group of two or three students a set of three or four pictures. (For younger children the pictures may be displayed as a whole class activity.)
Ask them to list cultural characteristics that they see in each picture.
Have the students show their pictures to the rest of the class and explain the characteristics that they have identified.
As each group reports, make a list of cultural characteristics on the board.
Now tell the students: You are going to explore two cultures that are very different.  Each culture is unique, having special characteristics and talents that they use to help each other. 

• Discuss the other unique features that make cultures diverse, such as traditions and beliefs.  Lead them to the idea of language.  If you have students that are ELL (English Language Learners) this could be a good time to celebrate them. 
  Teacher Note: Be sure to ask these students ahead of time if they are willing to share to avoid drawing unwanted attention to them.
• Begin by asking these students to share the challenges faced by them or their family members experienced by speaking a primary language other than English. Ask them to respond to these questions: Do you ever “translate” English for your family members?  Has your family ever encountered a serious problem because of an inability to understand or to be understood?  Ask the entire group: Have any of you traveled to another country with your family? Could you speak the language?  If not, did you find a native person who was willing to “translate” for you?  If you couldn’t find anyone to speak your language how did you feel or how might you feel?
• List some of the problems that might arise from not speaking the language.  Discuss some solutions.
• After this discussion, tell the students that they are going to see a movie about the explorers Lewis and Clark.  This expedition, organized by President Thomas Jefferson, had several goals.  Among them was the pursuit of the Northwest Passage, an Atlantic-to-Pacific water route that would ease trade with the Orient and make the United States a superpower, and the recording and collecting of plant and animal specimens. The expedition portrayed in this movie, involved very diverse cultures that worked together for success of the expedition.  The Native Americas knew how to survive on the land whereas the Europeans, Lewis and Clark, did not.  If it had not been for the contact and help of the Native People the expedition might have failed. They will also see how many Native Americans (about 50 nations), and a Shoshone woman named Sacagawea, helped the explorers to survive and accomplish their mission.
• Tell students that the Native Americans who helped the Expedition demonstrated philanthropy - the giving of ones time, talent, and/or treasure for the common good.  Explain that all cultures have their own traditions and examples of ways that they give selflessly for the good of all. Sacagawea was a philanthropist in helping the explorers.
• Tell the students that stewardship, careful use of natural resources, is an act of philanthropy.  An important part of traditional Native American culture and beliefs is the concept of “Mother Earth,” and the need to protect and preserve the environment for future generations.  Native Americans believe that no one can own earth, but instead they belong to the earth. 
• In keeping with President Jefferson's orders, and through careful journal writings, Lewis and Clark wrote a detailed record of their travels and the plants and animals they encountered.
• Explain that, like Lewis and Clark, they will be journaling about the expedition, Native Americans and philanthropy in the next few days or weeks.  For several days before and after viewing the movie, pose a question for the students to respond to each day generated from the class discussions, or from the movie.  Some possible journal prompts are:
  • You are new to this country and don’t speak the language of most of the students in class.  What challenges would you meet and what help would you need to survive?
  • How is the Native American belief about “Mother Earth” and their belief about ownership of land the same or different from that of the Lewis and Clark.
  • What responsibility did the explorers have to the Native Americans whose land they crossed during the expedition?

Extension: 

• Assign individuals or groups of students to read all or selected portions of the 28 Lewis & Clark journal chapters found at http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/JOURNALS/toc.html. Ask the students to select one or two points of interest from each chapter to share with the class.
• Download information on Sacagawea at www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/s_z/sacagawea.htm Discuss her philanthropic acts.  Include in the discussion Clark’s philanthropic act for Sacagawea.  Follow-up with a journal question: Why might Sacagawea have chosen to act philanthropically toward the explorers?

After Viewing the Movie

• After viewing the movie, ask students what acts of kindness (philanthropy) they saw in the movie.  When did they see people giving and sharing their time, talent and or treasure? Using information found at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lewisandclark/images/6_7_survival.pdf 
  discuss contribution made by several native american nations during Lewis and Clark's Expedition

Some examples:
The Nez Perce showed the expedition how to burn out the insides of logs to make canoes. - Talent.  They had one of the largest herds of horses on the continent. They agreed to care for the expedition’s horses until the explorers returned on their route home.  – Time.
The Mandan and Hidatsa Indians helped Lewis and Clark during the harsh winter by giving them shelter and providing them with buffalo for food -Time and Talent.
The Clatsop showed the expedition where to find elk, which they could use for food or to make clothing –Both time and talent 
 

• List the responses.  Have students decide which of the three philanthropy words (time, talent and/or treasure) matches the act.
• After the class discussion, assign or allow students to choose which Native American Nation they would like to research.  (Attachment One lists possible tribes for research and a web site.)  Distribute copies of Attachment Two as a guide for their research.  If Internet research is available to the students, suggest the web site.
• At the teacher’s discretion, have the students work on the project in class or at home and then present to the class.  Students may report their findings to the class through oral reports or by creating posters displaying the information.

• National Geographic Xpeditions
  www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/activities/01/lewis.html 
• Learning to Give
  www.learningtogive.org   
  3-5 grade unit:  Earth Connections Lessons 1&2
  http://www.learningtogive.org/lessons/unit145/
• 3-5 grade unit:  How Did We Help?  Lesson 1
  http://www.learningtogive.org/lessons/unit39/
• Inside the Corps
  www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/inside 
• a list of the Native American tribes and short articles about each
  www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/native
• Smithsonian National Museum of History site, Lewis and Clark as Naturalists,
  http://www.mnh.si.edu/lewisandclark/index.html?loc=/lewisandclark/home.html
• Lewis and Clark Journals
  http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/JOURNALS/toc.html
• Information on Sacagawea
  www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/s_z/sacagawea.htm