WHEN CULTURES COLLIDE: EFFECTS OF STATE AND FEDERAL INDIAN POLICY UPON THE MODOC PEOPLE By Carrie Elizabeth Biggin Cook A Project Presented to The Faculty of Humboldt State University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Education Committee Membership Dr. Gayle Olson-Raymer, Committee Chair Dr. Delores McBroome, Committee Member Dr. Eric Vanduzer, Committee Member December 2015 Abstract WHEN CULTURES COLLIDE: EFFECTS OF STATE AND FEDERAL INDIAN POLICY UPON THE MODOC PEOPLE Carrie Elizabeth Biggin Cook This project provides eighth grade students an opportunity to see another perspective from the era of American Westward Expansion. Students learn about Modoc culture from anthropological records, Modoc stories, and investing their own time in a construction project. They then compare perspectives that Modoc may have felt to those of soldiers and pioneers who first interacted with Modoc people. For generations, student textbooks as well as numerous Hollywood western movies depicting prosperous western pioneer towns fixed a mainstream perspective. When thinking of America’s expansion across the North American continent, many people envision rugged individuals and think of the refrain, “sea to shining sea,” heard in Bates’s America the Beautiful. Common Core aligned text books are only beginning to expose students to other perspectives from the time period. As Americans established a dominant presence in lands not part of America’s expanse many indigenous populations had adverse experiences. This project offers evidence to allow students to evaluate various perspectives and establish their own. ii Acknowledgements This long held, personal goal was initiated when an energetic grant writer from Humboldt County presented an amazing opportunity to rural teachers in Trinity County. I joined the 5th cohort of teachers embarking on a very interesting journey expanding our expertise about our nation’s history. I am so thankful to have participated in the Teachers of American History Grant and become one of the many educators this program has helped to realize goals of higher education. Learning at this level is not an individual accomplishment. An extraordinary band of individuals supporting me brought this project to fruition. I have been so blessed with a support network moving me forward, and there are many people who I would like to thank. These folks include underwriters of the grant itself, organizers and professors of Teachers of American History (TAH) project, Mountain Valley Unified School District in Hayfork, CA, Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA, Trinity County’s Indian Education Committee members, friends and my especially my family. First, thank you to individuals funding and organizing the grant encouraging teachers to pursue higher education. I appreciate Jack Bareilles who wrote the numerous grants and enthusiastically visited rural districts encouraging teachers to learn more about American history. Many teachers in my district took advantage of the history classes and texts the program provided to teachers. Jack’s passion for history and belief in higher iii education encouraged me to take the next step of continuing higher education coursework through Humboldt State University. Humboldt State University facilitated my dream of obtaining a master’s degree when it partnered with the TAH program. Within Humboldt State, the School of Education and Department of History worked together to create a program that accommodated my full time teaching and family obligations. Both online and in person, the professors at HSU were truly caring and cheerfully provided as much support as needed, at times beyond the scope of individual courses. I have incredible gratitude for my advisors: Delores McBroome, Gayle Olson- Raymer and Eric Van Duzer without whom I would have been unable to finish the final steps. In addition to hours and hours of rich instruction, these advisors inspired persistence throughout challenging years. Dr. McBroome helped me find a valuable area of study which I have thoroughly enjoyed. Dr. Olson-Raymer provided unconditional encouragement and guidance as my writing synthesized my research. She was always available for assistance, even sharing her home. Dr. Olson-Raymer patiently guided each member of my cohort throughout many revisions. When I wondered how I could take on yet another course I thought of my advisors’ steadfast support and of Dr. Van Duzer’s words of advice, “In my experience, those who keep showing up, win.” These wonderful instructors helped bring this project to completion even after other teachers in the TAH 5 cohort had finished. Dr. McBroome, Dr. Olson-Raymer and Dr. Van Duzer are outstanding advisors who have been supporting my endeavors above and beyond anything I could have anticipated. iv Also going above and beyond, I humbly thank friends and family who helped me day in and day out all through the entire process. Friends inquired about headway and were genuinely interested in my research findings. Thank you members of the Trinity County Indian Education Committee for help with research and revision. Dena Magdaleno, thank you for sharing your wisdom and cultural perspective during the research and writing of the literature review section. I truly appreciate the 12 years Cheewa James invested in her research for book, The Tribe That Wouldn’t Die. Katrina Sau-tau-nee thank you for the use of your personal library. Thank you JessieLynn, for helping me actually get to places of history. Thank you Debbie, Kim, Sunday, Jen, Evie, and Suzanne for always offering encouragement, appreciating creative lessons, and commiserating over the struggles encountered when balancing advanced coursework, hours of commuting, and family life on top of teaching full time. Undoubtedly my principal gratitude goes to my family who held everything together and not only offered encouragement but picked up all of the jobs Mom typically performed before the research, night classes, and writing made me a bit of a recluse. Thank you for believing in me. Charlie you amaze me in your certainty that I can accomplish so many goals. Thank you to Silas and Lori whose home became a lovely bed and breakfast throughout many Humboldt State weekend classes. And, thank you to my late Cousin, Catherine D. Scott, who valued higher education and aided my university tuition. This rich support network made it possible to immerse myself into the learning process. Thank you! v vi Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iii Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Literature Review................................................................................................................ 4 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 4 Development of Federal Policy ...................................................................................... 6 Modoc Enter the American Story ................................................................................. 18 Expansion to Oregon and California ............................................................................ 23 The Modoc War of 1852 ............................................................................................... 30 Treaties and Compromise ............................................................................................. 35 Broken Promises ........................................................................................................... 46 Modoc War of 1872 – 1873 .......................................................................................... 53 After the War ................................................................................................................ 63 Method .............................................................................................................................. 67 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 67 Research Question ........................................................................................................ 68 Curriculum .................................................................................................................... 69 Overview of Instructional Delivery .............................................................................. 71 Eighth Grade Lesson Plan ................................................................................................. 73 Objectives ..................................................................................................................... 73 Academic Language ..................................................................................................... 73 vii Day 1 ............................................................................................................................. 74 Second block Day 1 ...................................................................................................... 77 Day 3 ............................................................................................................................