Note that the study guides can be used as reference material for the exam. You DON’T have to turn in the study guides. This will be the only online assignment that will also require information for an exam. So, again, hold onto the study guides to be used as reference material for the first exam.
Respond to each of the essay questions below:
Yosemite Buffalo Soldiers
1. African American tourists comprise less than one percent of the visitation to Yosemite National Park. Shelton Johnson has made it his life’s work to connect the general African American population to the national parks. Present ideas that you have that would result in the national parks being more attractive to African Americans as a tourism destination.
Mount Rushmore, Telling America’s Stories
2. Gerard Baker is the first American Indian to be Superintendent of Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Discuss your thoughts on the inclusion of American Indian history and culture, in the Black Hills of South Dakota, at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. In other words, to what extent should Native American history be interpreted in our national parks? What, specifically, should tourists be exposed to in terms of Native American history?
Manzanar, Never Again
3. How should our country at war balance our citizens’ civil liberties and the need for national security? What relevance does this period of history (WWII) have in our world today (think 9/11) and some of the statements of President Trump? How does the fact that our country established a national site to honor a difficult period in our past reflect on us as a nation? What is it that tourists should learn about when they visit Manzanar?
Attached is the pdf for the stories
mount.pdf
sue.pdf
yosemite.pdf
Unformatted Attachment Preview
THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA’S BEST IDEA
UNTOLD STORIES DISCUSSION GUIDE
MOUNT RUSHMORE NATIONAL
MEMORIAL AND
NATIONAL PARK SUPERINTENDENT
GERARD BAKER
For more information, visit
www.pbs.org/nationalparks/for-educators/untold-stories-discussion-guide/
Mount Rushmore National Memorial and
National Park Superintendent Gerard Baker
American Indians and the Black Hills
On June 25, 1876, more than fifteen hundred Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne Indians rode
across the Little Bighorn River. In less than thirty minutes, General George Custer and his
group of 208 soldiers from the 7th Cavalry had been annihilated; not a single man from the
detachment survived. Among the Lakotas were Sitting Bull—the Hunkpapa chief and spiritual
leader who did not fight—and the Oglala war chief, Crazy Horse, who most certainly did. “Hoka hey!” Crazy Horse, it is said, called to his warriors at the beginning of the battle. “It is a good
day to fight! It is a good day to die! Strong hearts, brave hearts, to the front! Weak hearts and
cowards to the rear!” (Frommer 2).
The Lakotas and Cheyennes fought that day for the right to keep their tribal lands, specifically
the Black Hills: the all-important spiritual center of the Great Sioux Reservation, granted to the
Lakotas in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. Just months prior, the US government had offered
the Lakota $6 million for the land, having discovered gold there. When the Indians refused, the
government threatened “sell or starve” legislation, cutting off all subsistence to the tribe if they
refused to comply. Some tribal leaders eventually caved in. Those who did not—including
Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse—chose to fight (Nabokov 209).
The Paha Sapa (“Black Hills” in Lakota) were—and still are—a sacred landscape for the Lakota.
The Sioux were late-comers to the area, having arrived in the Hills at the end of the eighteenth
century, migrating from the woodlands of Minnesota and driving out the Arikara, Kiowas, and
Crows, who—in turn—had displaced earlier groups: the Shoshones, Poncas, Cheyennes,
Arapahoes, and others. For more than 13,000 years, American Indians have traveled through
and hunted in the Hills. Archaeological evidence indicates that the area has been sacred land for
centuries (Albers 14–15; Nabokov 207–208).
The Battle of Little Bighorn was a day of unmitigated victory for the Lakotas and Cheyennes
and—as a Native woman told National Park Service Superintendent Gerard Baker—“we’ve
been paying for it ever since.” Sensational and widely reported tales of the defeat of Custer and
his men resulted in public outrage throughout white America. Thousands more cavalrymen
were dispatched to the area by General Phil Sheridan and, over the next year, the Lakota were
relentlessly pursued. By the fall of 1877, all the Lakotas and the majority of Cheyennes were
effectively under federal control, settled on reservations controlled by federal agents. The Black
Hills had been lost to them forever (Baker; Albers 128–130).
Mount Rushmore National Memorial
The idea for carving a colossal monument in the Black Hills came from South Dakota state
historian Doane Robinson. In late August 1924, he proposed the idea to sculptor Gutzon
Borglum, hoping to entice him to carve heroes of the Old West—Redcloud, Custer, and others—
on the Needles, eroded granite pillars just south of Mount Rushmore in what is now Custer
State Park. The Needles, it turned out, were too soft to carve, and Borglum had different ideas
about what figures should be memorialized. He was not interested in regional heroes, but men
who epitomized the flowering of our nation—Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore
Roosevelt (Larner 90-91).
THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA’S BEST IDEA
Discussion Guide: Baker and Mt. Rushmore
1
Borglum took his work seriously; he considered himself to be “providing a formal rendering of
the philosophy of our government into granite on a mountain peak”—a rendering that would
last for all time: Borglum carved Washington’s nose one foot larger than scale to add another
100,000 years to the sculpture’s lifetime. The National Park Service and the Mount Rushmore
Preservation Society are more conservative in their estimates, guaranteeing the integrity of the
work for just 20,000 years (Larner 12; 125).
The initial dedication of the memorial was held in 1925, before funding or workers had been
secured. Two years later, a second dedication was held on August 10, 1927, this one officiated
by President Calvin Coolidge and including a ceremonial first blasting of Mount Rushmore—a
rocky outcropping the Lakota had called “The Six Grandfathers,” named for the earth, the sky,
and the four directions (Larner 241–244).
For many American Indians, the carvings on Mount Rushmore have come to epitomize the loss
of their sacred lands and the injustices they’ve suffered under the US government. In the
summer of 1970, members of AIM — the American Indian Movement — mounted a “siege” of
the memorial, occupying the ledge above the presidents’ heads for nearly a month. Although
such protests are not as common today, the Memorial can still be a focal point for Indian protest
and contempt. At the same time, it is a monument to the best principals of our nation—
democracy, freedom, enterprise—and each year millions of Americans are moved to tears when
they visit (Larner 278–286; Albers 180).
Superintendent Gerard Baker
In 2004, Gerard Baker inherited this complicated situation when he was appointed the first
American Indian superintendent of Mount Rushmore. A Mandan-Hidatsa, Gerard grew up on
the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota and was no stranger to controversy. He’d served
as superintendent at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, arriving in the wake of the
park’s name change (from Custer Battlefield to the more neutral Little Bighorn Battlefield) and
bringing American Indian tribes with him—as participants in the annual battle commemoration
ceremony, as seasonal rangers in the park’s interpretive program, and as visitors. Gerard left
the battlefield in 1998 amidst death threats from detractors and praise from his NPS
supervisors. He considers both a measure of his success in bringing the Indian story back to
Little Bighorn (Larner 175–176; Baker).
But taking the job at Mount Rushmore was different.
It was very challenging to accept the job here, because growing up I understood what
Mount Rushmore meant. And for us, for Indian people, it doesn’t mean “Success of
America.” It means the desecration of the sacred Black Hills; it means the losing of the
Black Hills to the United States government, to white people that came in and shoved
everybody out of here and put us on a reservation. So it meant a lot of negative things.
—Gerard Baker
Gerard thought about the offer for four days. He consulted with his family and the elders of his
tribe. He decided that, if they told him not to take the post, he wouldn’t.
THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA’S BEST IDEA
Discussion Guide: Baker and Mt. Rushmore
2
It was just the opposite. I’m the first American Indian here as superintendent and the
people back home were saying, “Man, what an opportunity to educate people. And
what a time period to educate people.” So, I took the job. —Gerard Baker
True to form, Gerard began making changes at Mount Rushmore, bringing the Indian
perspective to the interpretive program and bringing more Natives into the park—as visitors
and employees.
Coming here was a challenge in that Mount Rushmore’s enabling legislation has us only
tell the first centuries of America and these four presidents. And this is a challenge for
me because I believe that we should go back before that time. I want to show what life
was like before George Custer found gold in the Black Hills, before Borglum came in
and started carving the sculptures here. —Gerard Baker
As at Little Bighorn, Gerard met with resistance to his changes—particularly given Mount
Rushmore’s prominent place as a symbol of American patriotism.
This is a very big challenge, especially after 9/11. When I first came here, I’d go out in
the park and I would watch people. They would look at those four presidents and
they’d get teary-eyed. This place draws emotion. And it should! But again, we were only
telling half the story.
What we’re doing now is we’re telling all the story. But the challenge is: I don’t want
to make those four guys look bad, but I want to be real. How do you tell the real story?
That’s my challenge here.
Well, the way you tell it is: You tell it. —Gerard Baker
Baker began by erecting one teepee, simply to remind visitors of the ancient and ongoing
presence of American Indians in the Hills.
I remember one day I went out there and there were like 20, 30 people gathered, and so I
said, “What the heck, I’ll just start talking about this.” So I started and when I got
through there were about 200 people there. And so that made me think, “Let’s do
something else. Let’s start talking about this.” —Gerard Baker
In 2008, the park opened its “Heritage Village,” a place where Sioux interpreters, hired as
seasonal rangers, interface directly with the public, educating visitors about Sioux culture and
history and about their understanding of the Black Hills.
We have stories that are very hard to tell; we have stories that are very hard to listen to.
Primarily the reactions have been very positive but there are always those few that
condemn; they didn’t want to hear about the American Indian plight, or they don’t want
to hear about the breaking of treaties. Because it happened a long time ago, it doesn’t
affect us today. And I believe it still affects us today. —Gerard Baker
The addition of Native voices in the interpretive program has imparted a more complex and
complete understanding of the National Parks and the legacies they protect and has brought
more Indian visitors to the park. The park now offers its popular audio tour not only in
European languages, but also in Lakota. And Gerard has expanded his vision to embrace not
THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA’S BEST IDEA
Discussion Guide: Baker and Mt. Rushmore
3
just Native stories and traditions, but the vast diversity of cultural traditions and stories that
make up our national heritage.
It’s not just a teepee here. We’re promoting all cultures of America…. That’s what this
place is! For goodness sake, this is Mount Rushmore! It’s America! —Gerard Baker
The new interpretive policy at Mount Rushmore encourages programs reflective of all cultures
in America. The park sponsors a “Roots of American Music” series, with performances ranging
from Rapid City’s Faith Temple Choir to rockabilly-inspired Gail and the Tricksters to a
German “oompah” band. And throughout the year, cultural groups like the Sons of Norway
demonstrate traditional dancing and crafts. According to Gerard, encouraging this sort of
resurgence is critical to our cultural survival.
We’re losing who we are culturally. The Germans don’t share their stories with their
children anymore. The Irish don’t share their stories; the Norwegians; everybody. We
have all these cultures that come and make up America. But we’re losing it really
quickly. America’s losing it. And in 200 years, if everybody looks the same, everybody
speaks the same, we’ve failed as a human race.
And we’re getting to that point. When people say to me, “Well, I don’t know what I
am. I’m Heinz 57,” I tell them, “Well, pick one then! And concentrate on that.”
—Gerard Baker
Pride in who we are, no matter what our backgrounds, is what Gerard believes Mount
Rushmore is all about, and is the message he wants visitors to leave with.
What that does is it helps everybody understand, “Hey, I’ve got a culture, too. How
come I don’t know about my culture? It’s about time I start learning about it! Because
I’m proud of being Welsh; I’m proud of being British; I’m proud of—“ whoever you are.
This is what makes up America! Everybody’s something different here. We’re all
different. We’re human beings, is what that says.
And so what we want is to have people open their eyes when they come in here—
especially young kids open their eyes. And maybe go back to the idea that we need to
start sitting down at our tables again in the evenings—turning off the TV, turning off the
computer—and start telling stories again. Maybe a kid asks, “Who were those four
presidents on the hill?” And Mom and Dad have to answer that, right?
And just maybe it gets us talking again as human beings, as Americans.
—Gerard Baker
* * * * *
Works Cited and Consulted
Albers, Patricia. The Home of the Bison: An Ethnographic and Ethnohistorical Study of Traditional
Cultural Affiliations to Wind Cave National Park. National Park Service, Department of the
Interior. 29 Sept. 2003.
Baker, Gerard. Interviews with author. 13 Sept 2006; 17 Aug 2008.
Duncan, Dayton. Out West. New York: Viking, 1987.
THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA’S BEST IDEA
Discussion Guide: Baker and Mt. Rushmore
4
Frommer, Frederic. “Black Hills Are Beyond Price to Sioux; Despite economic hardship, tribe
resists U.S. efforts to dissolve an 1868 treaty for $570 million.” Los Angeles Times 19 Aug.
2001. The 2004 American Indian Film Festival, Bellevue Community College. 8 Oct. 2007
Larner, Jesse. Mount Rushmore: An Icon Reconsidered. New York, NY: Thunder’s Mouth
Press/Nation Books, 2002.
Nabokov, Peter. “The Heart of Everything.” Where the Lightning Strikes: The Lives of American
Indian Sacred Places. New York, NY: Penguin, 2006.
THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA’S BEST IDEA
Discussion Guide: Baker and Mt. Rushmore
5
THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA’S BEST IDEA
UNTOLD STORIES DISCUSSION GUIDE
SUE KUNITOMI EMBREY AND
MANZANAR NATIONAL HISTORIC
SITE
For more information, visit
www.pbs.org/nationalparks/for-educators/untold-stories-discussion-guide/
Sue Kunitomi Embrey and
Manzanar National Historic Site
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese Air Force attacked the American Naval base in Pearl Harbor.
Sue Kunitomi, a Japanese American teenager living in Los Angeles, heard the news on the
radio.
It was around lunchtime when the radio announced the bombing of Pearl Harbor. My
mother was making lunch next door and // she said, “That’s not true. They can’t do
that.” She was very, very upset. And she said, “What’s gonna happen to us? They’re
gonna take us all away.” She felt that right away, because she was not a citizen.
Then she said, “They’ll take ALL of us away.” And my brother said, “No, WE’RE
American citizens. They won’t take US.” And she said, “You don’t know that.”—Sue
Kunitomi Embrey (Shumaker)
Mrs. Kunitomi’s worst fears were soon realized. By nightfall, 2,192 Japanese had been arrested.
A series of proclamations issued later in December 1941 declared non-citizen Japanese,
Germans, and Italians “alien enemies” and laid down regulations governing their behavior
(Tours 2; Daniels 87; Burton 29–30).
Anti-Japanese sentiment grew rapidly, typified by an editorial in the Los Angeles Times: “A viper
is nonetheless a viper wherever the eggs are hatched—so a Japanese American, born of
Japanese parents—grows up to be a Japanese, not an American.” On January 2, 1942, Henry
McLemore, a Hearst syndicated columnist, wrote:
I’m for the immediate removal of every Japanese on the West Coast to a point deep in
the interior . . . let ‘em be pinched, hurt, hungry . . . let us have no more patience with
the enemy or with anyone who carry his blood. Personally, I hate the Japanese. — Henry
McLemore (Tours 3)
Executive Order 9066
On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing the
Secretary of War to “prescribe military areas . . . from which any or all persons may be
excluded” and to “provide for residents of any such area who are excluded therefrom, such
transportation, food, shelter, and other accommodations as may be necessary . . .” On March 2,
Washington, Oregon, California, and Arizona were divided into two such military areas. Within
a few months, Japanese American immigrants living on the west coast and their American-born
children—citizens of the United States—had been removed from their homes and relocated to
internment centers, known informally as “camps.” They lost their homes, their businesses, their
pets, their friends, and most of their belongings. (Burton 30–33; Shumaker).
In April we were told to start packing; that we had to be evacuated. And I thought, “Oh,
my gosh, we have this grocery store, and we have our house with all our furniture, and
we have our cars.” We just left everything behind. . . . Overnight we were completely
impoverished, not just in terms of money, but in our whole life. —Sue Kunitomi
Embrey (Shumaker; Levine 23)
THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA’S BEST IDEA
Discussion Guide: Sue Embrey and Manzanar
1
In all, more than 120,000 Japanese Americans, over two-thirds of whom were American citizens,
were incarcerated in ten camps, located throughout the western United States. The only cabinetlevel officials in the Roosevelt administration to oppose the camps were Interior Secretary
Harold Ickes, who sought to end them as soon as possible, and Attorney General Francis Biddle
(Daniels 88; Armor xviii).
Manzanar
The camp to which Sue’s family had been assigned was Manzanar, located 212 miles northeast
of Los Angeles on the site of a former Spanish settlement in Inyo County. At its peak, Manzanar
housed a population of over 10,000 evacuees, held within a one-mile-square enclosure. The
camp was surrounded by barbed wire fencing and overlooked by eight guard towers. Its layout
was based on a modified military “theater of operations” plan, with families housed in 36
blocks of 20′ X 100′ barracks, separated into four to six units, depending upon family size.
Construction was minimal, designed to meet the requirements of low cost and rapid fabrication,
and conditions were harsh. Even in late spring, the nighttime temperatures routinely dropped
below freezing. In the summer, temperatures rose above 110 degrees. And, as one internee
described it, “The main thing you remembered was the dust, always the dust,” created by a
land that was artificially made barren (Tours 6, 15–16; Armor xi, xiii).
Eventually, the people of Manzanar made the camp into a home—gardening, organizing
dances, and going to school. They held citizenship ceremonies, never forsaking their new
country, despite feeling forsaken themselves. Their young men enlisted in the army, joining an
all-Japanese regiment, the 242nd, which would become the most highly decorated unit in the
history of our nation. And, late at night, a few of them crawled under the fence to fish the trout
streams of the High Sierra.
We never had permission to go, we just snuck out of camp by ourselves (and tried) to
avoid the guard towers. It was pretty exciting to get out of the camp. To be sneaky to get
out of the camp was one challenge, and then to go fishing was another challenge! —Sets
Tomita, Former Internee†
Leaving Camp
Following a Supreme Court decision in December of 1944, detained Japanese Americans were
free to return to their West Coast homes. Internees had to leave on their own and those with
assets of less than $600 were given one-way train or bus fare, associated meals, and $25.00 for
expenses. Many evacuees found their boarded up homes vandalized and their goods stolen.
When the Kunitomi family returned to Los Angeles, they found their home and grocery store
demolished (Last Witnesses 175).
For years, Sue didn’t spend much time thinking about camp. She worked as a political activist,
married, h …
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