Red River Land: The Métis People Part 1
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
Red River Land is a series of programs about North Dakota developed for educational purposes in the 1960s by Erling Rolfsrud, educator, historian and writer, in conjuntion with Prairie Public Television, as it was then known.
Early French fur traders who settled in Canada and the Upper Midwest intermarried with women from Native American tribes in the area. Their descendants are the Métis, a French word meaning, “mixed blood.” Erling Rolfsrud describes how the Metis blended the two cultures, not entirely comfortable in either.
Source
Red River Land, Paririe Public & NCCST, Erling Rolfsrud.
Grade Level
2 - 12
Subject Matter
Social Studies
Standards
Describe the exchange of ideas, culture, and goods between the Native Americans and the white settlers (e.g., the Pilgrims, Wampanoag, explorers)
Identify the basic elements (e.g., language, food, dress) that make up a culture
Describe how community life has changed from past (i.e., pioneer and tribal) to the present
Identify examples of how different groups, societies, and cultures are similar and different (e.g., in beliefs, traditions, family relationships, celebrations, institutions, folklore)
Identify similarities and differences between past events and current events in North Dakota (e.g., in the lives of people from different cultures past and present)
Describe the daily lives (e.g., roles, shelter, significance of buffalo) of the first inhabitants of North Dakota
Explain the significance of fur trading in North Dakota (e.g., Hudson Bay, Charbonneau, American Fur Company, LaVerendrye)
Explain how background and history influence people’s actions (e.g., farming methods, hunting methods, economic decisions)
Explain the contributions of various ethnic groups (e.g., Native Americans, immigrants) to the history of North Dakota (e.g., food, traditions, languages, celebrations)
Explain the impact of climate, geography, and available resources on the daily lives of Native Americans (e.g., dwellings, clothes, food and crops, technology, tools, cultural traditions)
Compare how culture influences relationships, religion, and social institutions in various societies (e.g., different family structures, world religions, rituals, government structures, social policies)
Explain how physical systems affect human systems (e.g., Where do people live and why?)
Identify principles governing individual and group behavior (e.g., cooperation, collaboration, power, conflict) within social dynamics (e.g., familial, political, religious)
Analyze the rationale for western expansion and how it affected minorities (e.g. reservations, Indian Removal Act, treaties, Chinese Exclusion Act, Dawes Act, Manifest Destiny, Homestead Act)
Explain the significance of key events (e.g., settlement and homesteading, statehood, reservations) and people (e.g., Roughrider Recipients) in North Dakota and tribal history
Explain how culture influences gender roles, ethics, and beliefs
Explain how group and cultural influences contribute to human development, identity, and behavior (e.g., religion, education, media, government, and economy)
Explain the various purposes of social groups, general implications of group membership, and different ways that groups function (e.g., minority groups, cliques, counterculture, family relations and political groups)
Analyze conflict, cooperation, and interdependence among individuals, groups, and institutions (e.g., gender roles, social stratification, racial/ethnic bias)
