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The landing page has two awesome photos that lets you know right away that this is a contemporary, relevant topic. Often, when we think of Indigenous ethnic groups in the U.S. they are presented in anachronistic, unflattering or controversial ways. It is appalling how little exposure our students have about Native American nations outside of the "conquered peoples" narrative. So right away, I thought that those two images were a powerful counternarrative to mainstream representations. (P.S. - I think I would make the font larger so that the text is more inviting to read.)

You make a great point about the emphasis on the use of dates in the service of a particular discourse that presents history as an orderly process which reflects a eurocentric idea about progress and modernism in your "Crucial Frameworks" section. It's great that you are getting students to think about analying this universalist view of history and that Indigenous peoples had their own philosophies and concepts about time, about land, about their place in the universe that should be acknowledged.

The premise of the porject, the process the Federal Gov't uses to recognize the Indigenous nations and ethnic groups is fascinating and necessary. The controversy that finally led to the Washington Football Team name change is also illustrative of how Native American activism maintained pressure and enlisted allies in their campaign to educate people on why the term "Redskins" was so objectionable and a throwback to casual racism.

I think you've done a great job including information about historical thinking - the video clip is very helpful, and the resource page is a wonderful addition for those who want to do further research. I notice that there are a number of narrative passages about the project in the site, so I look forward to seeing some of the actual activities that you will have students do and the additional materials that they will work with. The overall layout of the site is easy to navigate with the headers, so what I would want is to see the actual texts, visuals, supplementary materials that students will work with at the undergraduate level.

I also like that you will focus on a specific ethnic group, the Menominee, as this will allow for a focused, in-depth study that can then be replicated. Will students have the opportunity to apply what they learn about the Federal process of recongnizing this Native American group to doing research on another Indigenous group of their choosing? Will there be a final project? I notice that you have three tracks on the site: The Menominee, the Washington Football Team, and the activism around the Keystone - XL Pipeline project (another victory for Native American activism!). Will you have enough activities around just these three topics for an entire semester? How will you be connecting them?

I can't wait to see the finished project and am excited to learn more! I think it is so amazing that Deb Haaland is now the U.S. Secretary of the Interior. Since you have her photo on the home page, I thought you would be doing some activity that included her. As this is a semester-long course, would incorporating an activity about how the Pueblos of New Mexico were recognized and why her appointment is so monumental be something you would consider? This could be done in comparison with the process of recognition for the Menominee. It would also get students think about the creation of the Dept. of the Interior and the inner workings of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and why we have a Federal process of recognition at all. As an expansion exercise, students could analyze why we keep violating our treaties with Native American nations. You may be going in a completely different direction and have your activities all planned, but I thought I would offer this up as a suggestion.

This project is a terrific idea!