James OHare

April 15, 2016

CM 542 Lesson Plan
Contextual Overview
I am teaching this lesson to demonstrate white privilege in the media with regards to images of
Native Americans and to demonstrate how it permeates into multiple billion-dollar industries.
Like many other minority groups, images of Native Americans are rare and often stereotypical in
order to retroactively justify American manifest destiny. More specifically, this lesson focuses on
how generic Native American depictions wrongfully homogenize an incredibly heterogeneous
population.
This lesson is for high school upper-classmen or college students (ages 16-21). Because the
examples used in this lesson are from male-dominated industries they are more relatable to boys.
Still, the ideas which are presented are not dependent on gender and can be just as impactful on
the girls in the class. A lesson on white privilege is definitely best-geared for white students but
more specifically for middle to upper-class white students who are the target audience for most
media (part of the countrys ethnic majority with money to spend). In this age range and
demographic, students are beginning to be desocialized and are starting to gain critical
consciousness thus it is a good time to challenge their subconscious acceptance of ignorant and
racist imagery.
Ideally, this lesson should be implemented in a traditional classroom setting in a highly
segregated town or city where predominantly white students are not exposed to issues of race on
a typical day. Majority of the school districts in Westchester County, New York fit this
description but none more than Chappaqua, NY. According to 2010 census data the town is
81.69% White, 12.53% Asian, 1.95% Black or African American, and 3.13% two or more races.
7.80% are Latino. Chappaqua is one of the wealthiest places in the country with a median
household income of $101,016, thus their public school district is well-funded and would likely
have access to the required teaching materials. For this lessen, there is added irony in that the
towns name is an Algonquian word.
Learning Objectives
1. Teach students that Native American is politically correct but is used as a blanket term
that does not accurately reflect an extremely diverse ethnicity.
2. Utilize media examples of Native Americans depicted as a singular people often in
stereotypical roles and sometimes by whites in redface.
3. Demonstrate the problematic use of these images in sports media in team names,
mascots, and game day costumes that are vehemently defended by white sports fans.

I chose these objectives because historically, Native Americans are a marginalized group. In the
present, media can be used to continue oppression or to achieve some measure of justice. I
believe these objectives support the latter. They are specifically ordered so that one goal leads
directly to the next: by understanding historical context students can see for themselves how
media images generally do not reflect reality and then go one step further to see how these
images have been co-opted for immense profit. Ideally, achieving one goal will have a domino
effect and students will hopefully be able to apply this lesson to depictions of other ethnicities.
Introduction
Ask the students about their familiarity with St. Patricks Day and share my personal
annoyance when someone asks me if Im going to wear a kilt to the parade I dont
know how many times Ive explained that kilts are actually Scottish, not Irish. Scotland
and Ireland are two incredibly similar countries that neighbor each other yet I am still
bothered when people repeatedly confuse them or misrepresent my heritage. (1 min)

Move the discussion more generally to the term European American. Have the students
briefly compare what they know about the cultures of Spain, Poland, Russia, Italy etc.
and tell them to talk about their own backgrounds. Ask them if the term European
American does justice in encapsulating all those countries and variety of backgrounds.
(Tweak it to Asian American or Caribbean American etc. based on the class) (4 mins)

By sharing a personal detail about myself students might feel more comfortable sharing as well.
It also shows from the start that ethnicity is incredibly important to many people and race
representation is a deeply personal issue. Its also a way to measure how much history/geography
they know to see how discussion-based or instruction-based the rest of the lesson should be.
Specific Learning Activities
1. Examine a map of Native American nations prior to European colonization. Ask students
if they knew so many tribes existed on a micro level (note that the map provides
resources that go into even greater detail). Were they aware of the variety of languages
and culture classifications? (6 mins)
2. Show images of Wes Studis acting roles as a Pawnee in Dances with Wolves (1990), a
Huron in Last of the Mohicans (1992), and an Apache in Geronimo: An American Legend
(1993). Refer back to the map to show the differences between these cultures. Ask the
class about the effects of casting the same actor (who is Cherokee) to play these
characters in homogenizing the ethnicity. Is it also significant that all these characters kill
people and take part in other acts of violence? (8 mins)
Watch the clip How to Be a Real Indian from Smoke Signals (1998). Ask the class
about the role movies like those featuring Wes Studi have had in shaping popular
perception of Native Americans. Highlight the line when Thomas (Evan Adams) says
But our tribe never hunted buffalo; we were fisherman. Relate back to the kilt
confusion from the intro. (8 mins)

3. Now that students are familiar with Native American generalizations, discuss the use of
Native Americans in sports media. For instance the team name Washington Redskins, the
Chief Wahoo logo used by the Cleveland Indians, the tomahawk chop and war chant by
the Atlanta Braves, and the costumes worn by Kansas City Chiefs fans. Ask the class how
media has contributed to the use of this imagery. Why would Native Americans want it
ended? (8 mins)
All activities require a means to display large images to the class: working internet connection,
computer/projector or smart board, and PowerPoint or some other presentation tool. These
activities basically address the learning objectives one-by-one: provide historical context to show
how people are generally ignorant about the vastness of Native American culture; demonstrate
how Native Americans are being portrayed and who is portraying them; and discuss real world
results as a result of such narrow representations.
Backup Activity
Show students a picture of Osceola, Florida State Universitys mascot (representing a historical
Seminole leader, whose tribe lends its name to the schools athletic teams). The use of Osceola is
generally considered to be acceptable having been created with Seminole input and having been
approved by current Seminole leaders. Then show a video of current student Brendan Carter
(who is white) putting on redface to play Osceola. Ask students if this changes how they feel
about the mascot. Show images of Burt Lancaster in Apache (1954) and Oscar de Corti as the
Crying Indian as a frame of reference. (7 mins)
This relates to the learning objectives by further showing white privilege and by challenging a
widely accepted Native American mascot. Furthermore, this example is an easy transition from
racist sports imagery to the use of redface and blackface in general.
This is my backup activity because its the next logical step in this discussion and applies more
generally to media literacy in regards to race representation. This, in turn, sets up how I plan to
check for understanding.
Check for Understanding
1. Talk about other representations of Native Americans that fit this trend (Cartoons?
Disney? Advertising?)
2. Can you think of any media examples of other ethnicities being under-represented and/or
misrepresented?
Class should break up into groups of three or four to answer these questions before regrouping as
a class to provide feedback. Students might be more likely to participate and share their thoughts
with a smaller audience first before aggregating their conclusions for the entire class.

Conclusion
Explain how this is just one instance of media imparting a false perception of reality and
emphasize how important it is for people of different races, genders, and sexualities to be able to
tell their own stories.
A second lesson could take a more in-depth look at films like Dances with Wolves and Last of the
Mohicans and how they fit the white savior stereotype (Kevin Costner and Daniel Day-Lewis,
respectively). These movies are considered to feature positive depictions of Native Americans
but such a lesson could reveal the problematic nature of the films despite what (predominantly
white male) critics say. Because these films were written and directed by white men it further
emphasizes the necessity of diversity in positions of creative control.
Appendix A
Introduction: 5 mins
Learning Activities: 30 mins (backup activity: 7 mins)
Check for Understanding: 9 mins
Conclusion: 5 mins
Applause: 1 min
Appendix B
Laptop with internet connection, presentation tool, and connection to larger screen
Native American nations/languages/cultures map:
http://www.emersonkent.com/images/indian_tribes.jpg
Wes Studi in Dances with Wolves:
http://cdn.moviestillsdb.com/sm/1b553e746a79c73df54ebe3d0dc7a362/dances-with-wolves.jpg
Wes Studi in Last of the Mohicans:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CcGBkScW8AAFWmk.jpg
Wes Studi in Geronimo: An American Legend:
http://cdn2b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/7c/91/7c91050a723f379d7b
de74537d063da7.jpg?itok=hrsKg_WM
Smoke Signals, How to Be a Real Indian clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwcJaUaVfR0
Washington Redskins Logo: http://prod.static.redskins.clubs.nfl.com/nfl-assets/img/gbl-icoteam/WAS/logos/home/large.png
Chief Wahoo logo: https://abagond.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/chief-wahoo.jpg

Tomahawk chop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEdlX6OYn7M

Kansas City Chiefs fan: http://www.foxsports.com/content/dam/fsdigital/RSN/Kansas
%20City/2014/11/09/chiefs_fans_2014_004.vnocropresize.940.529.medium.10.jpg
Brendan Carter becoming Chief Osceola: http://gamedayr.com/sports/college-ncaa/florida-stateseminoles/who-is-chief-osceola-121458/
Appendix C
Internet Movie Database: www.imdb.com