Sacred Encounters:

What is the difference in meanig and/or connection between this term and terms we often use when talking about what happened in the american west, such as exploration, pioneering, expansion, invasion and tourism.

What is the motive behind the Encounter? How much do we need to know about the participants on both sides of the Encounter? In this story are the missionaries more like tourists, explorerrs, pioneers or invaders? Why? What other kinds of Encounter stories might we find?

 

What is the particular appeal or power of historical artifacts? Do objects and drawings Speak? How do they Speak? Do they say the same things to all peoples and cultures and at all times? What can we learn from them about meanings and about mixed messages carrries across cultures and across time?

 

The historical record, like the archeological record, is made up of fragments, or pieces of a jigsaw puzzle which will never be completed. What we know is based on how creative we are in finding new pieces and piecing together what we have. How do we discover new pieces, and how do we "rediscover" or see old pieces in a new light. How can our students get in on this adventure?