Stage 6: Today & Footer | Unit 12

STEP 1

Read the First Two "Today" Cards

Scroll to the bottom of the Live Preview. You will see the "How This Era Shapes Us Today" section with two pre-written cards and a third card waiting for your writing. Read the first two cards carefully before you write your own.

These cards do not just report what happened. They draw a direct line from a historical event in the 1800s to something that is still true, contested, or active in the legal and cultural life of Tribal nations today. That is the entire purpose of this section: to show that this history is not over.

Card 1 Summary: Treaty Rights Are Still Active Law

Many of the treaties signed during the Treaty-Making Era remain enforceable federal law today. The United States Constitution's Supremacy Clause makes ratified treaties "the supreme Law of the Land." Courts have upheld treaty hunting, fishing, and water rights as recently as 2018. When you read about a treaty in this era, you are reading about legal rights that Tribal nations are still defending and exercising right now.

Card 2 Summary: The Doctrine of Discovery Has Not Been Overturned

Johnson v. McIntosh (1823) has never been formally overturned. The Doctrine of Discovery it enshrined still appears in U.S. property law. In 2023, the Supreme Court cited it in Haaland v. Brackeen as background doctrine. The United Nations formally condemned the Doctrine of Discovery in 2007 in its Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The United States did not endorse that declaration until 2010, and it is not legally binding. The doctrine lives.

STEP 2

Write Your Third Card

Find the third .today-card in your editor (it has the class today-card-student). Write 2-3 sentences connecting the Treaty-Making Era to your own nation, community, or region today.

Replace both placeholder comments: the card title and the card text.

Questions to Help You Write

You do not need to answer all of these, just one that resonates with you: Does your Tribal nation have a treaty from this era? Is there a treaty right that your community still exercises? Is there a place, a boundary, or a land claim that goes back to this period? Is there a way that the removal of other Tribes during this era affected the region where your community lives? What do you wish more people understood about this era and why it still matters?

Write First in Google Docs

Write your paragraph in a Google Doc first, then paste it into the placeholder comment in the code. Replace the entire comment including the  markers.

STEP 3

Add Your Research Source to the Footer

Scroll to the <footer> in your editor. There is a sources list with the pre-built references for this unit. At the bottom of the list you will see a comment placeholder for your own research source.

Add the source you used for your timeline research events and your My Research section. Use this format:

// Source format: Author (if known). "Title." Publisher/Site, Year. URL <li class="source-item">
[Author]. "[Title]." [Publisher], [Year].
<a href="[URL]" target="_blank">[URL]</a>
</li>

If your source is a website without a clear author, use the organization name as the author. If you cannot find a publication year, use the date you accessed it.

STEP 4

Why Every History Site Needs a "Today" Section

History websites that stop at "here is what happened" leave readers with a closed story. The Treaty-Making Era ended in 1871. But the rights, doctrines, legal structures, and broken promises from that era are still shaping what is possible for Tribal nations right now. A site that makes that connection earns its reader's trust.

The large decorative numbers in the today cards are a typographic technique called a numeral accent. At 5rem and very low opacity, they do not compete with the text; they provide visual rhythm and break the cards from feeling like identical boxes. The number itself is meaningless; it is a shape, not information. Good designers use type decoratively when it serves the composition without adding noise.

// Large decorative number: high font-size, low opacity .today-card-number {
  font-size: 5rem;
  font-weight: 900;
  color: var(--gold);
  opacity: 0.15;
  line-height: 1;
}

Stage 6 Complete!

Your site now has all seven sections: Hero, Key Cases, Timeline, U.S. Context, My Research, How This Era Shapes Us Today, and Footer. In Stage 7 you will make final refinements: responsive CSS for smaller screens, nav anchor links polished, and a review of the full site as a published piece of work.

How This Era Shapes Us Today & Footer