Indiana Social Studies IS.1.2
The Standard
Explain how European colonization and the development of Indiana impacted Native Americans.
2026 Indiana Academic Standards: K-12 Social Studies · Pre-1800s
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain how French trading posts, British rule, and later U.S. settlement changed life for Native communities in the Indiana region. They describe effects on trade and land use, along with how Native nations responded.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can connect a French trading post to a change in trade for a Miami village. They can explain that Native nations made choices about trading, alliances, and resistance rather than simply accepting European claims.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think a European claim to land meant Native nations had agreed to give it up. They may treat Miami and Potawatomi people as one group or assume Native communities disappeared when settlers arrived.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: How could a French trading post near a Miami village change trade? Name one way Miami people might have responded.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
On a blank Indiana-region map, students place paper markers for Miami villages, Potawatomi communities, French trading posts, and later U.S. settlements.
Place an excerpt from the 1763 Treaty of Paris beside a map of Miami homelands and ask, 'Whose permission is missing?'
Have pairs sort cards labeled French trading posts, British rule, and U.S. land claims into a timeline, then match each to an effect.
Find Miami County on a current Indiana map, then compare it with a map of 1700s Miami villages and discuss what the name leaves out.
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Printable IS.1.2 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to IS.1.2, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
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Related Standards
- 3.H.1
Identify and describe how Native Americans impacted the development of local and regional communities.
- 4.H.2
Identify and describe historic Native American groups that lived in Indiana at the time of early European exploration, including ways these groups adapted to an...
- 3.G.7
Describe the difference in how Native Americans and early settlers of Indiana adapted to and modified their environment to meet their needs.
- 4.H.3
Explain the importance of the Revolutionary War and other key events and people that impacted the development of Indiana.
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