A Crossroads Enrichment Activity
Unit 1: A World of Their Own: The Americas to 1500
Character Simulation
While our knowledge of Indian leaders before 1500 is limited, we
have many records of famous leaders after that time.
The student should choose a famous Indian leader to research.
After gathering information, the student could actually become that person
in a classroom presentation, by dressing the part, speaking in the first
person and answering questions from the audience.
Some suggestions for appropriate choices would be:
- Pope, who led a rebellion against the Spanish in 1680.
- Quanah Parker, a Comanche chief who is seen as a man of peace
rather than war.
- Crazy Horse, a daring Sioux Chief involved in the Battle of Little
Big Horn.
- Cochise, who led the Apaches against the settlers in Arizona.
- Geronimo, who led the Apache resistance against the settlers in
the late 1880s.
- Sequoyah, who created a written language for the
Cherokee.
Information on individual Indians can be found in many of the books listed
in
resources for Question/Problem 2.