Last updated: September 30, 2024
Lesson Plan
Intercultural Kinship
Kinship ties were important in the southern Great Plains
NPS/D. Ocheltree
- Grade Level:
- Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
- Subject:
- Social Studies
- Lesson Duration:
- 60 Minutes
- Common Core Standards:
- 3.L.4, 3.L.4.a, 4.L.4, 4.L.4.a, 5.L.4, 5.L.4.a
- State Standards:
- 4th History 1.1 c. Explain, through multiple perspectives, the human interactions among people and cultures that are indigenous to or migrated to present-day Colorado 4th Econ. 3.1 Explain how people respond to positive and negative incentives.
- Additional Standards:
- 4th Geography 2.2 d. Describe how places in Colorado are connected by movement of goods, services, and technology
- Thinking Skills:
- Analyzing: Break down a concept or idea into parts and show the relationships among the parts.
Essential Question
Name one advantage and one disadvantage Charles Bent and Ceran St. Vrain may have had by joining New Mexican families while also living and doing business in New Mexico.
Objective
Analyze potential benefits and drawbacks of intercultural unions for a merchant during the fur trade era.
Background
At about fourteen years of age, Lewis H. Garrard, read John C. Fremont’s Report of the Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, an account published in U.S. newspapers in 1843. Fremont’s descriptive account enticed Lewis to venture West by himself only three years later. Garrard wrote his own book of experiences lasting from 1846-1847 titled Wah-to-yah and the Taos Trail. “Wah-to-yah” is a Comanche word meaning “double peaks,” which described the mountainous Spanish Peaks found in southeastern Huerfano County, Colorado. As Lewis set off, Ceran St. Vrain, the founding partner of the Bent, St. Vrain, & Company, guided his wagon from Independence, Missouri to the trading operation along the Arkansas River, known as Bent’s Fort, in September of 1846.
This lesson on intercultural kinship explores how marriages and unions outside of one’s culture can have impact on the success of one’s business. The three partners of the Bent, St. Vrain, & Co. benefitted from their extended families and acquaintences. Charles Bent raised five children with Maria Ignacia Jaramillo from New Mexico. Ceran St. Vrain raised five children resulting from his unions with two Mexican women, Maria Dolores Luna and Maria Ignacia Trujillo. William Bent, who managed Bent’s Fort, married Mestaaéhehe (Mee-taw-Hay or Owl Woman), the daughter of a prominent Cheyenne named White Thunder, the Keeper of the Arrows. Even though Garrard does not mention William's kinship ties in his journal, remembering this aspect during the lesson will add fullness to the idea that kinship ties, no matter the culture involved, are crucial to one’s livelihood in the Borderlands during this time.
Preparation
Materials needed:
- 1840s U.S./Mexico territories map showing poltical boundaries
- Lewis Garrard narrative text "Intercultural Kinship"
- Intercultural Kinship Exit Ticket
- Small prizes (candy or other item)
Materials
A map showing political boundaries of the U.S. territory, Republic of Texas, and Mexico
Download U.S. Mexico Territories Map
Companion text to lesson on Intercultural Kinship with quotes taken from Lewis Garrard's journal "Wah-to-Yah and the Taos Trail."
Download Lewis Garrard Intercultural Kinship Narrative Text
Lesson Hook/Preview
Activity:
Ask students in what ways have others helped them out today? Accept all answers. Follow up by asking in what ways have they helped others today? Accept all answers.
Without supplying any background, tell groups to arrange themselves into smaller groups of three to five members. After groups are formed, have learners choose a group name. Direct them to compete for a prize that will be awarded to the group who has the most pencils total. Give them one minute to collect and count their pencils. Watch groups scramble and attempt to negotiate with other groups for pencils. After time is up, record number of pencils per group and hand out prize to group with most. Return all pencils to rightful owners.
Procedure
After group has been rewarded, invite discussion about behavior. Pose questions such as:
1. Did learners stay within their group for pencils or go outside their original group?
2. Did any student attempt to beg or borrow pencils?
3. Who randomly “lucked out” by having someone with a strong pencil supply in their group?
4. Invite students to reconsider arranging themselves into groups again with the same goal – who would they seek to have in their group?
5. Individually, in pairs, or whole group, read the Lewis Garrard narrative text “Intercultural Kinship” regarding Bent’s and St. Vrain’s unions and consider the value of marriage beyond companionship.
6. Find a link between having access to pencils through friends in your group with the lesson's activity and having access to goods through the traders you associate with.
7. Explain that historians cannot know the reasons for Bent's or St. Vrain's choices. However, they can study the effects that their choices had on business relationships.
8. Tell students that in 1846, the United States and Mexico went to war. Ask them to consider the impact war would have had on Charles Bent and Ceran St. Vrain since they were American citizens living in Mexico. Reflect on how having Mexican friends and relatives may have helped or hurt their situation during the war.
9. Direct students to form an opinion individually or in small groups:
a. Given what we know about Charles Bent and Ceran St. Vrain joining families of New Mexican women, what reasons beyond love and companionship might they have made that choice? Economic? Social? Political? Geographical? Other?
10. As a whole group, share answers to the previous question and write these on the board.
11. Pass out Intercultural Kinship Exit Ticket.
Vocabulary
customs - a national agency that enforces laws related to trading and taxing goods
prominent - influential, popular, usually wealthy
languidly - slowly in a relaxed manner
Assessment Materials
Intercultural Kinship Exit TicketExit Ticket containing the Intercultural Kinship lesson's essential question
- Name one advantage and one disadvantage Charles Bent and Ceran St. Vrain have had by joining New Mexican familes while also living and doing business there?
A printable exit ticket to use as an assessment for the Lewis Garrard lesson on Intercultural Kinship
Rubric/Answer Key
Intercultural Kinship Exit TicketPossible answers for the Intercultural Kinship Exit Ticket assessment
Possible answers include:
Name one advantage and one disadvantage Charles Bent and Ceran St. Vrain may have had by joining New Mexican familes while also living and doing business there?
Advantage: Charles Bent and Ceran St. Vrain had the benefit of local business connections through their partners. They would have been trusted by the local community and the government more easily because of their family relationship. Their extended families would have helped them adapt to the cultural manners, habits, and language of the people they would be doing business with the most. When the political situation between the U.S. and Mexico changed, they had the potential benefit of protection from their family against those who resisted American take-over. Because they resided in New Mexico with their families, trading from the southern end of the Santa Fe Trail helped them manage and protect their goods.
Disadvantage: Charles Bent and Ceran St. Vrain were taking a risk by setting up business in a country in which they were not citizens. They may have put their families in a difficult social situation with those who did not want American influence in the area. Because they were so far from their native country, it was difficult for them to have the full protection of the American government. They both had to learn and adopt customs, habits, diet, and language that was unfamiliar to them. They may not have agreed with the social expectations of the New Mexican culture. They would need to be aware of and follow the laws of both Mexico and the United States.
Possible answers to essential question for Lewis Garrard International Kinship lesson
Supports for Struggling Learners
Pre-read and define vocabulary words before engaging with the narrative text. Use reading partners or groups to help struggling readers interact with the text. Allow verbal answers to exit ticket where necessary.
Enrichment Activities
Social/Emotional Enrichment: Brainstorm and discuss benefits and drawbacks of friendships, marriages, or partnerships that are not material-based.