For Educators: Teaching Units & Lesson Plans:

Politics & Diplomacy

Lesson Plan 2: Encounters with Tribes—The Big Picture

OBJECTIVES

Students will:

• identify four diplomatic strategies used by Lewis and Clark
• infer (using clues from journal entries, from locations on the map, and sequence and duration of stays shown on the time line) the probable diplomatic success of various encounters

MATERIALS

OPENING

Display or project the image of the peace medal and tell students: "This is an object that Lewis and Clark carried with them on their expedition. Let's see what we can find out about it."

PROCEDURE

1. Now ask the students to consider the following questions while they examine the image of the medal, and discuss their responses. To begin, you may want to use the Object Analysis Worksheet.
   • how is this object decorated?
   • describe any designs on it
   • what is it?
   • how was it used?
   • what message(s) could it communicate?
   • what message might it have communicated to the American Indians?

   After the discussion, identify the item as a peace medal.

2. Now tell the students that you will read an entry from Captain Clark's journal, which refers to peace medals like this one. Ask them to listen carefully for more information about the medals. Explain that this entry refers to the same council meeting as Sketch #1 from yesterday's lesson-the meeting with the Oto and Missouri Indians— but tell the students that Lewis and Clark followed this same pattern at almost all other tribal encounters as well.

   William Clark, August 3, 1804
   "...Made up a small present for those people in proportion to their consequence, also a package with a medal to accompany a speech for the Grand Chief...the principal chief for the nation being absent, we sent him the speech, flag, medal and some clothes. After hearing what they had to say, delivered a medal of second grade to one for the Ottos and one for the Missouri and presented 4 medals of a third grade to the inferior chiefs two for each tribe... we gave them a canister of powder and a bottle of whiskey and delivered a few presents to the whole, after giving a breech cloth, some paint...and a medal to those we made chiefs...."

   • What information does this passage provide about peace medals?
   • What does "made chiefs" mean?
3. Tell the students they are going to look at another item from the Lewis and Clark expedition and project an image of the facsimile of Warcharpa Certificate of Loyalty. The text of the Certificate of Loyalty is given below:

   THOMAS JEFFERSON
   PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

   From the powers vested in us and by the above authority: To all who shall see these presents, Greeting: Know ye, that from the special confidence reposed by us in the sincere and unalterable attachment of chief of the ______________NATION to the UNITED STATES; as also from the abundant proofs given by him of his amiable disposition to cultivate peace, harmony, and good neighborhood with the said States and the citizen of the same, we do, by the authority vested in us, require and charge all citizens of the United States, all Indian Nations, in treaty with the same and all other persons whomsoever to receive, acknowledge and treat the said__________and his ________________in the most friendly manner, declaring him to be the friend and ally of the said States: the government of which will at times be extended to his protections, so long as he does acknowledge the authority of the same." Having signed with our hands and affixed our seals This________day of _________180____

4. Ask students
   • what does this say?
   • when was it written?
   • who wrote it?
   • to whom was it addressed?
   • what was the purpose of this document?
   • how would you compare the purpose of these certificates with the purpose of a peace medal?
   
   
5. Tell the students there are journal entries from Lewis and Clark that refer to these certificates and that they are going to examine one such entry. Project or distribute copies of Clark's August 19, 1804, journal entry and read and discuss it with the students:
   
   

   William Clark, August 19, 1804; meeting with Oto and Missouri tribes
   
   "We then brought out the presents and gave all some small articles & 8 carrots of tobacco. We gave one small medal to one of the chiefs and a certificate to the other of their good intentions. One of the Indians after receiving his certificate delivered it again to me...the Big Blue Eyes the Chief petitioned for the certificate again. We would not give the certificate, but rebuked them very roughly for having in object goods and not peace with their neighbors. This language they did not like at first, but a length all petitioned for us to give back the certificate to the Big Blue Eyes...He came forward and made a plausible excuse, I then gave the certificate to the Great Chief to bestow it to the most Worthy, they gave it to him, we then gave them a Dram and broke up the council."

6. Questions to consider:
   • why do you think Big Blue Eyes refused the certificate at first?
   • why would he later ask for it back?
   • why did Lewis give the certificate to the Great Chief and not directly to Big Blue Eyes?
   • did the Indian tribes use paper certificates in their culture?
   • do you think the Indian people valued certificates or medals more?
   • if you were offered a medal or a certificate as a reward or award, which would you prefer?

   This might be a good place to break the lesson.

7. Tell the students that Lewis and Clark encountered about forty different Indian Tribes (nations) on their two-year journey and that they used four major diplomatic strategies in dealing with these peoples. Explain that often the tribal chiefs used variations of these same strategies to try to meet their own goals.

   Outline these four diplomatic strategies for the students and list these strategies BRIEFLY on a classroom chart for future reference:

   Gift giving: Lewis and Clark brought along with them eighty medals of silver to distribute to the tribal chiefs. Certificates of loyalty were also given to chiefs. The captains brought many other items to use as gifts also. They brought knives, needles, hawk's bells, brass kettles, blue blankets, leggings, red flannel, hats, shirts, glass trade beads, pocket mirrors, magnifying glasses, tobacco, and red and green face paint, among other items. Sometimes Lewis and Clark made mistakes by giving gifts that the tribes didn't value.

   Chief making: Lewis and Clark weren't always certain who the "chief" of a tribe was. They sometimes "made chiefs" or decided to whom they would give the biggest peace medals and best gifts. Sometimes the chiefs they chose did not match with the tribes' choices. For instance, tribes might change their leaders depending on whether they were at war or at peace or on a hunt. When Lewis and Clark chose one leader to honor and gave that person a large peace medal or special gift, they might leave out another important leader who would be offended at not being recognized. Also, there were different kinds of leaders. Episodes like this caused Lewis and Clark problems.

   Speech making: Lewis was the primary speech maker. He usually began by addressing the Indians as "children" and by telling the tribal chiefs that they had a new "father" and that the United States now would be their protector and friend if the tribe would give allegiance to the United States. Tribal chiefs also made speeches, often telling the captains that the tribal people needed trade goods and making a plea for these things. Lewis and Clark did not always have good interpreters to help them communicate their messages to the chiefs. Also, they did not always understand everything the chiefs said in their speeches.

   Ceremonies/Show of Strength: Lewis and Clark wanted the tribal leaders and people to know that the United States was powerful, so they put on shows of strength. Examples of showing strength included parading in official uniforms with flags, shooting cannons, or giving a demonstration of their new air gun. The tribal peoples showed their strength by notching their arrows in bows or performing dances such as the scalp dance. They also used special ceremonies such as the smoking of the pipe to indicate kinship or cement friendships. The captains and the chiefs did not always understand each others' ceremonies and often the Indian tribes felt that the captains treated them as children. This offended some of them.

8. Divide the class into four cooperative groups. Give each group an envelope containing information about one particular tribal encounter. Tell them that each group will study one of four important encounters the Corps had with Indian tribes. Explain that after studying the material in the envelope, each group should decide if they think that that encounter was a diplomatic success, failure, or mixed result from Lewis and Clark's perspective.
   
   
9. When students finish working with their packets, have groups share their findings and inferences with the whole class.
   
   

   Assignment: After the whole class has discussed the four encounters, have each student, individually, fill in the following encounters on the timeline template, putting them in correct sequence.

   August 13-23, 1805 Shoshone
   September 25-28, 1804 Teton Sioux
   November 15, 1805-March 23, 1806 Chinook/Clatsop
   October 24, 1804-May 1805 Mandan/Hidatsa

   Using the following color code, have the students color each encounter on the timeline to show if they think it was a diplomatic success, failure, or mixed result from Lewis and Clark's point of view:

   Color Code:
   a diplomatic success=green
   a diplomatic failure=red
   a diplomatic mixed result=yellow

   Tell students that there are no wrong answers in this assignment, but that they should be able to defend their choices. (See defenses below.)

   Diplomatic successes should show proof that Lewis and Clark fulfilled President Jefferson's goal in that Lewis and Clark and the tribal leaders had a friendly encounter and both seemed satisfied with any exchanges they made. Also there should be evidence that Lewis and Clark convinced the chiefs that they should give allegiance to the United States and stop warring with neighboring tribes.

   Diplomatic failures should show proof that Lewis and Clark did not fulfill President Jefferson's goal in that there was a confrontation between the Americans and the tribe, that one party or the other (or both) was/were not satisfied with exchanges they made, and that the tribe did not agree to give allegiance to the United States or stop warring with neighboring tribes.

   Diplomatic mixed results should show proof that Lewis and Clark met some of the goals. There were some friendly exchanges but there is evidence also of some unhappiness by either (or both) the Americans and the tribal chiefs at the end of the encounter.

CLOSING

Take a class vote on the statement: "I think that Lewis and Clark probably became better diplomats with practice and experience": Yes or No. There are no wrong answers here. This serves just to determine what students think after this lesson.

SUGGESTED FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

Have students draw a picture of an encounter between the Corps of Discovery and an Indian tribe. The drawing should show, using labels, at least one example of each of the four diplomatic strategies. (Either the captains or the tribal chiefs can be shown using the strategies.)