What level of government is the most important to me – local, state, tribal, or federal?

Download Primary Source Set: Federalism  

This inquiry set asks students to consider how different levels of government affected Native American children over the course of the 20th century through case study on boarding schools. The U.S. government used coercive methods to institutionalize Native American children in boarding schools across the country, in places far from their families and homelands. Children from Indian Nations attended schools operated by the Office of Indian Affairs (Department of War) later called the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), which had jurisdiction over many tribes. Through first-hand accounts of the leaders and students, this inquiry set allows students to consider the impact Boarding Schools had on Native Americans, their families, and communities, the U.S. military and domestic policy related to Indian tribes, the history of American education, and about race and ethnic relations.