The Extreme History Project presented a session on the Early Crow Reservation Oral History Project at the Indian Education For All Best Practices Conference in Missoula, Montana, February 3, 2014. The session discussed how to incorporate the oral histories into the classroom as well as how to interpret oral history.

1. Indian Education for All: Best Practices Conference
February 24 – 25, 2014
Resources
Going to the Source: An Extreme Oral History Project
Session Goals
o Inform participants of the resources from the Early Crow Indian Reservation Period Oral History
Project and how to use these resources in the classroom to meet the Common Core State
Standards
o Inspire participants to use the oral histories in their classroom
o Explore the unique challenges of interpreting oral histories
o Find ways to integrate oral histories into the written historical record
o Learn to use multi-vocal histories in the classroom
What is Oral History?
Oral history is a field of study and a method of gathering, preserving and interpreting the voices and
memories of people, communities, and participants in past events.
• The oral history interview is a complex historical document that contains many layers of
meaning and is itself embedded within wider social forces.
• Finding out what is said, how it is said, why it is said and what it means
• Not static recollections of the past but memories reworked in the context of respondents own
experiences
Oral history exists in four forms
1. original oral interview
2. the recorded version of the interview
3. written transcript
4. interpretation of the interview material
Oral History Process:
1. Question
2. Inquire
3. Contact
4. Arrange
5. Meet
6. Prepare
7. Ask
8. Record
9. Thank
10. Transcribe
11. Format
12. Distribute
Interpretation
What can we learn?
This process of “mutual sighting” is directly connected to nurturing empathy, civic engagement,
identification as a global citizen, and dare I say it, increased capacity for love and understanding. Who
knew that the real Common Core was empathy? From the Blog “Empathy: The Real Common Core” by
Cliff Mayotte. http://www.oralhistory.org/2014/02/10/blog-empathy-the-real-common-core/

2. Oral History Discussion
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Are some sources more “true” than others? Which sources should we leave out?
How can we learn to be comfortable with a multi-vocal history
How do we interpret a multi-vocal history?
How do we integrate a multi-vocal history into our current understanding of the past?
The most significant way to honor a person, group or culture is to listen to them
Contact Us
Marsha Fulton and Crystal Alegria
The Extreme History Project
P.O. Box 5019
Bozeman, MT 59717
info@extremehistoryproject.org
Extreme History Social Media
Website: www.extremehistory.wordpress.com
Find the Extreme History Project on Facebook and Twitter!
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD-tV_rPOluzc0JDFMW6b_g
Fort Parker Social Media
Website: www.fortparkerhistory.org
Find Fort Parker: The First Crow Indian Agency on Facebook!
Find The Fort Parker Documentary on Facebook!
Resources
To find the The Early Crow Indian Reservation Period Oral History
Project videos, please visit the Fort Parker website at
www.fortparkerhistory.org
Common Core Alignment
Oral history projects align to the Montana Common Core Standards in College and Career Readiness
Anchor Standards for Speaking and Listening and in Speaking and Listening Standards for grades 4-12
Websites
• Montana Historical Society Pamphlets on doing Oral History
http://mhs.mt.gov/research/library/pamphletsguides.asp
• Oral History Association www.oralhistory.org
• Listen Up: Common Core Listening Standards and Oral Histories
http://www.thinkfinity.org/community/hub/blog/2013/04/19/listen-up-common-core-listeningstandards-and-oral-histories

3. •
Blog “Empathy: The Real Common Core” by Cliff Mayotte.
http://www.oralhistory.org/2014/02/10/blog-empathy-the-real-common-core/
Publications
Forrest, John and Elisabeth Jackson. "Get Real: Empowering the Student through Oral History."
Frisch, Michael. A Shared Authority: Essays on the Craft and Meaning of Oral and Public History. Albany,
NY: State University of New York Press, 1990.
Wood, Linda P. Oral History Projects in Your Classroom. Carlisle, PA: Oral History Association, 2001.
Eliot Wigginton, Sometimes a Shining Moment: The Foxfire Experience (Garden City, New York: Anchor
Press/Doubleday, 1985)
Oral History Review 25 (Spring/Fall 1998): Special issue on oral history in the classroom
Metcalf, Fay D., and Matthew T. Downey. Using Local History in the Classroom. Nashville: AASLH,
1982.
Wineburg, Sam. Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts: Charting the Future of Teaching the Past.
Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2001.
Abrams, Lynn. Oral History Theory. London and New York: Routledge, 2010.