This 4th and 5th grade inquiry expands students’ understandings of Indian removal in the early 1800s by centering Cherokee resistance to removal policies. The compelling question—“How did the Cherokee resist removal?”—engages students in an examination of the Cherokee, whose ancestral homelands include parts of present day Tennessee, and the efforts they took to resist removal through geography, culture, and legal action.
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About the inquiry
Compelling Question
How did the Cherokee resist removal?
Staging Question
View Thomas Lindneux’s 1942 painting, The Trail of Tears, and describe the story the artist is telling about Indian Removal.
1
Supporting QuestionHow did the Cherokee use geography to resist removal?
Formative TasksConstruct a claim with evidence answering the supporting question.
SourcesSource A: Unto These Hills: Scenes of the Drama, East Carolina Manuscript Collection, 2005.
Source B: Google Earth, Tsali Campground, National Park Service.
2
Supporting QuestionHow did the Cherokee use culture to resist removal?
Formative TasksConstruct a claim with evidence answering the supporting question.
SourcesSource A: The Cherokee Phoenix, New Georgia Encyclopedia, 2002 (updated 2020).
Source B: Resistance from “The Trail of Tears: A Story of Cherokee Removal,” NMAI online exhibit, video.
3
Supporting QuestionHow did the Cherokee use legal action to resist removal?
Formative TasksConstruct a claim with evidence answering the supporting question.
SourcesSource A: Constitution of the Cherokee Nation, 1827.
Source B: Protecting Homelands from “The Trail of Tears: A Story of Cherokee Removal,” NMAI online exhibit, video.
Summative Performance Task
Argument: ARGUMENT How did the Cherokee resist removal? In Home Groups, construct an argument addressing the compelling question using claims and evidence from each group member’s Expert Group.
Extension:
Taking Informed Action
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