One of Loewen's recurring criticisms is that textbooks introduce Native Americans as a brief prelude to European arrival and then let them fade from the story. The Americas before 1492 are often described as mostly empty, and Indigenous nations reappear mainly when they are in conflict with settlers. Students end up with a thin, one-directional picture.

You do not need a full new curriculum to address that. A few well-chosen assignments can add depth to what you already teach. The key is giving students sources from Native perspectives and asking them to use those sources as evidence.

Doing this well requires attention to who is speaking. Many accounts of Native history were written by outsiders, so part of the lesson is learning to ask whose voice is present. That skill applies to nearly every historical topic.

Writing tasks are the best place to make that skill visible.

Assignments to Try

Choose tasks that ask students to work with evidence instead of only reacting to the topic. Each of these can be scaled to grade level by adjusting the number and difficulty of sources. Give a source packet whenever possible.

• Compare how a textbook and a Native-authored source describe the same treaty or event
• Write a claim about how much a textbook chapter includes Native perspectives, supported by specific passages
• Research one nation in your region and write an essay on its history before and after European contact
• Analyze a map showing Indigenous territories alongside colonial claims
• Evaluate a museum exhibit description for what it includes and omits

Being Specific and Accurate

Encourage students to name specific nations rather than using "Native Americans" as a single group. The cultures, languages, and political systems differed widely, and precision is part of good historical writing. Build that expectation into your rubric.

Also emphasize that Native history did not stop in the nineteenth century. Include at least one source that deals with contemporary issues. Students often learn for the first time that these communities are very much present.

Assessment and Feedback

Grade for the quality of evidence and analysis, and add a criterion for specificity. Essays that generalize should be prompted to name the nation, time, and source they mean. This kind of comment improves accuracy across the whole paper.

If your class is large, AI grading tools can flag vague language and missing source attribution across many papers in one pass. You can then spend your comment time on interpretation and reasoning, which is where a teacher's judgment adds the most.

Working with Local and Community Resources

Where possible, connect the lesson to local tribal histories, museums, or published material from Native-led organizations. These resources are often more current and more detailed than a textbook can be. They also show students that history is tied to real places and communities.

If you invite a guest speaker, prepare students with questions and follow up with a written reflection. The writing gives you a way to assess learning and gives the speaker's words a lasting place in the unit.