Name: Whose Story of Progress: Reading Westward Expansion Through Native Perspectives
Start: 2026-08-05T10:45:00-0400
End: 2026-08-05T12:45:00-0400

WISIT Summer Institute 2026

August 3 to 7, 2026
Washington International School, Tregaron Campus

Whose Story of Progress: Reading Westward Expansion Through Native Perspectives

LIMITED

Wednesday August 5, 2026 10:45am - 12:45pm EDT

National Museum of the American Indian

Limited Capacity seats available

Feedback Survey

How can we help students examine westward expansion as more than a story of growth and progress? How can museum resources support a more critical understanding of removal, representation, and national identity?

In this interactive session, participants will explore the Americans exhibit at the National Museum of the American Indian to examine westward expansion through Native perspectives. Through close observation and thinking routines, participants will analyze how familiar narratives of U.S. history, such as the Trail of Tears, Indian Removal, and Manifest Destiny, have been shaped, justified, and remembered. The session will also consider how Native people, histories, and imagery have been represented in American culture, and how those representations continue to shape contemporary understandings of the nation.

Participants will engage with images, objects, quotations, and exhibition texts to surface multiple perspectives and question dominant narratives. The session will also connect to Smithsonian's Native Knowledge 360° resources, providing educators with strategies and materials to support inquiry-based teaching about westward expansion, Indigenous presence and resilience, and national identity.

Participants will meet at the lobby of the National Museum of the American Indian.

Speakers

Sarah Cappo

Live It Learn It

Sarah Cappo (she/her) grew up in the Oklahoma City area and fell in love with museums at 6 years old. After graduating from William Jewell College with degrees in Nonprofit Leadership and Art, Sarah worked in higher education in Kansas City before moving to Washington, DC. She earned... Read More →

Wednesday August 5, 2026 10:45am - 12:45pm EDT
National Museum of the American Indian Fourth Street & Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20560

Museum Course 1

Tickets

Success you have shared X tickets.

WISIT Summer Institute 2026

Sarah Cappo

Get help with the event

Success you have shared X tickets.

WISIT Summer Institute 2026

Sarah Cappo

Sign up or log in to save this to your schedule, view media, leave feedback and see who's attending!

Get help with the event