Stage 1: Introducing Minnesota's Tribal Nations

STEP 1

Welcome & Land Acknowledgment

Minnesota is the ancestral homeland of the Dakota people and the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) people. Today, 11 federally recognized Tribal nations call Minnesota home.

These nations are divided into two cultural groups:

Dakota (4 nations) - Southern Minnesota, "friend" or "ally"
Anishinaabe (7 nations) - Northern Minnesota, "original people"

💡 Did You Know?

Each Tribal nation is sovereign - meaning they have their own government, laws, and services, just like a state or country.

STEP 2

Start Your HTML Document

Every webpage starts with the same basic structure. Let's create the foundation of your page.

👉 Type this in the code editor → <!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
</html>

What does this mean?

<!DOCTYPE html> - The very first line of every webpage. It tells the browser "this file uses HTML5" so it knows exactly how to read and display what follows. Without it, the browser has to guess which version of HTML you're using and might display things incorrectly.
<html> - The opening tag that wraps your entire webpage. Everything your visitors will ever see lives inside these two tags. Think of it as the cover of a book - it holds everything together.
</html> - The closing tag. Notice the forward slash / - that's how you tell the browser "this element ends here." Every opening tag has a matching closing tag, like a pair of bookends.

🎯 Important Rule

Every opening tag needs a closing tag! The closing tag has a forward slash: </html>. If you forget to close a tag, the browser will try to guess where it ends - and usually gets it wrong.

STEP 3

Add the Head Section

The <head> section contains information about your page that doesn't show on the page itself.

👉 Add this INSIDE your <html> tags: <head>
<title>Minnesota's Tribal Nations</title>
</head>

The <head> is the "backstage" of your webpage - it holds information the browser needs but visitors don't see directly. The <title> inside it sets the text that appears in your browser tab. It's also what shows up as the clickable headline when your page appears in Google search results - so it matters!

STEP 4

Add the Body Section

The <body> section contains everything that's visible on your webpage.

👉 Add this AFTER your </head> tag: <body>
<h1>Minnesota's 11 Tribal Nations</h1>
</body>

The <body> is where everything visitors see on your page lives - text, images, buttons, everything. If it's not in the body, it won't show up on screen.

<h1> stands for "heading level 1" - the largest, most important heading on the page. Every page should have exactly one <h1> because it tells both visitors and search engines what the whole page is about. Watch the preview panel → your heading should appear right away!

STEP 5

Add Information About Dakota Nations

Let's add a section about the Dakota people.

Shakopee Mdewakanton

Scott County

Prairie Island

Goodhue County

Lower Sioux

Redwood County

Upper Sioux

Yellow Medicine County

👉 Add this INSIDE your <body> tags (after the <h1>): <h2>Dakota Nations</h2>
<p>There are 4 Dakota communities in southern Minnesota.</p>

<h2> is a section heading - one level below <h1>. Use it to label the main sections of your page, like chapters in a book. <p> stands for "paragraph" and wraps any block of regular text. The browser automatically adds a little space above and below each paragraph so text doesn't run together.

STEP 6

Add Information About Anishinaabe Nations

Now let's add the Anishinaabe communities.

White Earth

Mahnomen, Becker, Clearwater

Red Lake

Beltrami, Clearwater, Lake of the Woods

Leech Lake

Beltrami, Cass, Itasca, Hubbard

Fond du Lac

Carlton, St. Louis

Bois Forte

St. Louis, Koochiching

Grand Portage

Cook County

Mille Lacs

Mille Lacs, Aitkin

👉 Add this after your Dakota section: <h2>Anishinaabe Nations</h2>
<p>There are 7 Anishinaabe communities in northern Minnesota.</p>

STEP 7

Make It Your Own!

Now it's your turn to add more content. Try adding:

Another <h2> heading with a Tribal nation's name
A <p> paragraph with information about them
An <h3> heading (even smaller than h2)

🌟 You Did It!

You just built your first webpage and learned about Minnesota's Tribal nations. In the next stage, we'll add lists and more structure!