Students will review in brief Native American history and elements of traditional Native American dance. Students will identify elements of traditional Native American culture and formal Modern/Contemporary dance aesthetics as they blend in Native Modern Dance, also referred to as Indigenous Contemporary Dance. This lesson is part two of a three-unit series designed to scaffold with each other. If the teacher wishes to provide the complete multi-unit lesson, please see lessons titled:Part 1: Learning about Native American Culture through DancePart 2: Primitivism and Identity in Early Modern Dance

Students explore 19th-century photographer Edward Curtis's documentation of a ritual performed by Native Americans. They then consider how ceremony and ritual practice are depicted and understood by those outside of a religious culture. Students use photography to document their own religious or spiritual rituals, and then examine one another's images and interpret their peers' spiritual beliefs based on the photographs.