Do not summarize the topic.

Self Determination Research Paper (50 points) – students will analyze how one Native American individual or group from the list below pursued self-determination for themselves and/or their community. Answer the research question: How did ___(select from the list below)_____ imagine and seek after self-determination? Students may center that question on any of the following individuals or groups (note: some topics are harder/easer to research than others):
Squanto (c. 1585 – 1622)
Wahunsenacawh/Powhatan (c. 1547 – 1618)
Metacomet/King Phillip (1638-1676))
Pontiac (c. 1547 – 1618)
Joseph Brant (1734-1807)
John Ross (1790 – 18660
Tecumseh (c. 1768 – 1813) and/or Tenskwatawa/the Shawnee Prophet (1775-1836)
Kennekuk the Kickapoo Prophet (1790 – 1852)
William Apess (1798-1839)
Little Crow (c. 1810 – 1862)
Stand Watie (1806-1871)
Susette La Flesche (1854-1903)
Crow tribe during the Plains wars (1870s-80s)
Sitting Bull (c. 1831 – 1890)
Wovoka (c. 1856 – 1932)
US Vice President Charles Curtis (1860-1936)
Society of American Indians (1911-1923)
National Indian Youth Council (1960s)
George P. Lee and/or Lamanites (Mormon Indians), 1950s-2000)
American Indian Movement (1968-1970s – do not explore 1980s+)
Ada Deer (1935-present)
Wilma Mankiller (1945 – 2010)
In writing the two research papers, students MUST rely on source analysis of primary sources, demonstrate historical skills such as contextualization, periodization, and empathy, and exhibit clear prose and argument. DO NOT SUMMARIZE THE TOPIC. The purpose of history writing is to explore new ideas and arguments which can be proven with ORIGINAL analysis of primary sources. DO NOT PARAPHRASE OR SYMTHESIZE EXISTING ARGUMENTS. Instead, read existing arguments and see if they apply to new primary sources; or, consider if there is a better explanation that can be drawn from primary sources. Be original.
Students will submit completed four to five page double spaced Times New Roman font size 12 research papers formatted in Chicago style. This draft should include a completed thesis, body paragraphs that make an argument that supports the main thesis, and provide evidence to defend that argument that is drawn from inferences made from at least two primary sources (cited with footnotes); and a conclusion paragraph that restates the argument and articulates the relevance. This paper should show both historical content and innovative analysis (source analysis + inference = your own ideas) that prove the thesis. Note: do NOT structure your paper so that each paragraph focuses on a different primary source; do structure your paper so that each paragraph focuses on a different argument and then uses one or two primary sources to prove that argument.
This research paper is the place to demonstrate creative and original thinking. Students must imagine a unique argument that can be created from original analysis of primary source documents. College level writing does not simply summarize what happened (that was high school). A quality history paper will include a summary in the background but the focus of the paper – found in the thesis – will be to advance an argument that is proven by the student inferring information from primary sources. Also, a quality history paper will exhibit a variety of history skills, from causation to contextualization to historical metaphors. You will learn about those skills as you read Critical Thinking & Writing in History.