Subject Areas |
Art and Culture
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Anthropology |
History and Social Studies
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U.S. History - Native American |
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U.S. History - The West |
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Time Required |
| Lesson 1: Two class periods
Lesson 2: Two or three class periods
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Skills |
| analysis of data
collaboration
comparing and contrasting
critical thinking
information gathering
written and graphic representation of information
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Date Posted |
| 4/12/2002 |
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Native American Cultures Across the U.S.
The term 'Native American' includes over 500 different groups and
reflects great diversity of geographic location, language, socioeconomic conditions,
school experience, and retention of traditional spiritual and cultural practices.
—Debbie Reese, "Teaching Young Children About Native Americans"
Introduction
Children's
literature, movies, and other media often perpetuate generalized stereotypes,
whether positive or negative, in their representations of Native American peoples.
Teaching children about the First Americans in an accurate historical context
while emphasizing their continuing presence and influence within the United States
is important for developing a national and individual respect for the diverse
American Indian peoples, and is necessary to understanding the history of this
country.
By the time children in the U.S. begin school, most have heard
and developed impressions of "Indians" from books, movies, or in the context of
the Thanksgiving holiday. This lesson helps dispel prevailing stereotypes and
generalizing cultural representations of American Indians by providing culturally-specific
information about the contemporary as well as historical cultures of distinct
tribes and communities within the United States. Teachers can divide the class
into groups that each study a tribe from a different region, or the class can
select one region to study, such as the geographical region in which the school
is located.
Please note that this lesson plan alternates among the three
terms, "Native American," "American Indian," and "Indian people" so as not to
privilege one designation over the others. In her essay,
"Teaching Young Children about Native Americans," Debbie Reese explains that
she uses the term "Native American," but also "recognizes and respects the common
use of the term 'American Indian' to describe the indigenous people of North America.
While it is most accurate to use the tribal name when speaking of a specific tribe,
there is no definitive preference for the use of 'Native American' or 'American
Indian' among tribes or in the general literature."
The Bureau of Indian
Affairs states in its "Answers to Frequently Asked Questions" : "The term, 'Native
American,' came into usage in the 1960s to denote the groups served by the Bureau
of Indian Affairs: American Indians and Alaska Native (Indians, Eskimos and Aleuts
of Alaska). Later the term also included Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders
in some Federal programs. It, therefore, came into disfavor among some Indian
groups. The preferred term is American Indian." The issue of designating terms
is still evolving.
Guiding Questions:How are American Indians represented
in today's society? What objects and practices do we associate with Indian culture?
What are some actual customs and traditions of specific Native American groups?
What are some cultural traditions and customs that have changed over the centuries?
Which ones have continued into the present?
Learning ObjectivesAfter
completing the lessons in this unit, students will be able to: - Compare
and contrast how American Indians are represented in today's society with their
actual customs, traditions, and way of life
- Understand that Native
Americans are made up of diverse peoples and cultures
- Identify the
names of specific native North American tribes
- Describe the historical
and present-day locations, houses, clothing, food, and cultural traditions of
specific tribes
- Learn the geographic regions of the United States that
correspond to Native American cultural bands
- Name various tribes' cultural
traditions and customs that have changed over the centuries as well as those that
have continued into the present
Preparing to Teach this Lesson
- This lesson requires you to access Web pages through EDSITEment-reviewed
Web sites. You may share these pages with your students at individual computer
stations, assign small groups to share several computers, display computer-projected
images to the whole class, or print out the pages and distribute copies to the
students.
- You may want to review some of the following background
literature on teaching about American Indians, as well as the lists of recommended
fiction and non-fiction books for young children:
- The
ERIC Digest volume, "Countering
Prejudice against American Indians and Alaska Natives through Antibias Curriculum
and Instruction," written by Deirdre A. Almeida and available online through
a link from the EDSITEment-reviewed resource Native
Web, contains information on teaching about Native Americans in non-generalizing
and non-stereotyping ways.
- Debbie Reese's online article, "Teaching
Young Children About Native Americans," available through the Internet
Public Library, discusses the prevalence of stereotypes and classroom strategies
for teaching about cultural diversity among Native Americans. Debbie
Reese's Web page, available from the EDSITEment-reviewed resource Internet
Public Library, contains lists of recommended fiction and non-fiction books
about contemporary Native American people.
- The Oyate
Web site, a Native organization that evaluates books by and about Indian people,
is available through the EDSITEment-reviewed resource Internet
Public Library, and contains both recommended books and "Books
to avoid."
- This lesson uses information from the First
Americans Web site, available through the EDSITEment-reviewed resource Native
Web. You can review the History
section of the site, which provides a brief overview of the history of American
Indians from before the arrival of Europeans and extends into the present, for
background information or with students. To follow the narrative, click on the
arrows to the right of the Start button.
- The following vocabulary
appears in this lesson; you may want to go over these words with the students
as part of the introduction or as they come up in the lesson. If possible, obtain
and provide pictures of the items, or ideally, bring in examples of the actual
items to display and allow students to handle them in class.
-
Nation, tribe,
- Coast, woodlands, plains,
- North,
South, East, West
- Northeast, Northwest,
Southeast, Southwest
- Reservation,
- Trade,
- Ceremony,
tradition,
- Commemorate, ancestor,
- Canoe,
totem pole, hogan, tipi,
- Harvest, lye,
sofkey,
- Breechcloth, moccasin,
- Cradleboard
Suggested ActivitiesLesson
1: Representing Native Americans Today Lesson
2: First Nation Tribes Across the U.S. Extending
the Lesson Lesson 1 Representing
Native Americans Today Before offering
information about Native American Nations and cultural groups, introduce the terms
"Indian," "Native American," and "American Indian," and ask students what they
know about these terms and about the people they represent. Create two columns
on the chalkboard or a piece of paper, and write down student responses in the
first column. This first column shows students' preconceptions about Indian peoples;
the second column will reflect information students receive through the lesson.
Have students draw two pictures: one representing an "American" and one representing
an "American Indian." Line the two sets of pictures in two rows, and ask students
to compare the "Americans" to the "Indians." Add their observations about the
"American Indian" pictures to their initial responses on the board or paper.
After students have offered their first impressions about Native Americans,
explain to the class that the words "Indian" and "Native American" refer to a
diverse set of Native American tribes or nations who lived for centuries across
the lands that Europeans claimed later to have "discovered," which are now called
the Americas -- the Caribbean islands, Canada, the United States, Mexico, the
countries of Central and South America. "The
Peoples' Names and the Error by Columbus Continues…," available through the
EDSITEment-reviewed resource Native Web,
notes that, "Many Native Americans prefer to be called by their tribal name as
opposed to 'Indian' or 'Native American.'" Read one or more of the books
from the following list of Fiction Books about Contemporary Native American People,
recommended by Debbie Reese on her Web page, available from the EDSITEment-reviewed
resource Internet Public Library: - Children
of LaLoche & Friends. (1990). Byron through the Seasons. Fifth House Ltd.
(Grades: K-1).
- Harjo, Joy. (2000). The Good Luck Cat. Harcourt
Brace (Grades: P-3).
- Hunter, Sara Hoagland. (1996). The Unbreakable
Code. Northland (Grades: 2-3).
- Keeshig-Tobias, Lenore. (1991).
Bird Talk. Sister Vision (Grades: P-K).
- Sanderson, Esther.
(1990). Two Pairs of Shoes. Pemmican Publications (Grades: P-K).
- Smith,
Cynthia. (2000). Jingle Dancer. Morrow Junior (Grades: P-3).
- Tapahonso,
Luci. (1999). Songs of Shiprock Fair. Kiva (Grades: P-3).
- Waboose,
Jan Bourdeau. (1998). Morning on the Lake. Kids Can Press (Grades P-3).
- Waboose,
Jan Bourdeau. (2000). Skysisters. Kids Can Press (Grades P-3).
- Wheeler,
Bernelda. (1995). Where Did You Get Your Moccasins? Peguis Publications
(Grades: P-K).
Each of these books portrays Native American
characters in a contemporary context in ways that challenge common stereotyping
representations. After reading one or more stories, ask students to describe the
characters they have heard about. Write their responses in the second column of
the board or paper. Ask the class to compare their original ideas about American
Indians with the portrayals offered in the book(s). Do the stories and the people
represented alter their views about Indian peoples?
You might point out
to your students that, through much of the 20th century, Indian peoples came under
intense social and economic pressure to assimilate into mainstream American society,
and as such had to make difficult choices between identifying with their native
communities and finding a livelihood in the larger society. Today, by contrast,
increasing numbers of Native Americans are able to participate more fully in traditional
community activities, which in many locations are thriving, while at the same
time attending college and obtaining jobs in non-traditional settings. For more
information on Indian peoples today, see "The
Current Condition of Native Americans," written by Harold Hodgkinson for the
ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools, Charleston, WV, and available
through the EDSITEment-reviewed resource Native
Web.
Lesson 2 First Nations
Across the U.S. To introduce the five
cultural bands of American Indian tribes and the general regions of the United
States in which they live, display or print out and distribute to students copies
of the History
page of the First Americans Web site, available through the EDSITEment-reviewed
resource Native Web. This page contains
a map of the United States divided into five Native American cultural bands, including
Plains, Northwest, Southwest, Southeast, and Northeast. The text explains that
areas in which people share similar environments and customs due to their proximity
to one another are called cultural bands. Print out and distribute to
students copies of a map of the United States, available from the Atlas on the
EDSITEment-reviewed resource National
Geographic Xpeditions. From the Atlas
page, select North America, then United States of America, and you can choose
whether or not to have state borders displayed. As students acquire information
about the regions of the U.S., Native American tribe names, and cultural aspects
and traditions of their assigned tribe, they can fill in the information on the
map by writing words and/or drawing pictures. Depending on the reading
and writing level of your class, you may choose to have students fill in the blanks
on a chart or answer questions and write a paragraph describing one tribe. This
activity can be done by the entire class for one tribe, or by small groups each
for one of the five tribes. The Tribes
page of the First Americans Web site displays images of clothing, housing, and
food items from the five cultural groups of Native Americans. When you place the
cursor over an image, the word describing the image appears, and the object's
corresponding Native American cultural band is highlighted on a small map of the
U.S.
From the Five
Tribes page, you can click on the name of a tribe to get information about
the land, clothes, housing, and other cultural aspects of the following five tribes:
Tlingit, Dinè, Lakota, Muscogee, and Iroquois. When you click on an image, it
takes you to a page with information about one tribe from the indicated region.
Using the information provided through each of these tribes' pages, have your
students identify the traditional customs of one tribe. On their maps, students
can shade in the area of the U.S. in which their tribe lives and can write the
words or draw a picture describing the clothing, house, and food of their tribe.
They can then complete the following written exercise: For Kindergartners,
have students fill in the blanks on the following chart, also available in pdf
format. Students can then draw a picture to illustrate the chart information for
one tribe.
Information
on the Native American Tribe__________ | For
the following sentences, fill in the blanks: | This
tribe is called __________. | We
live in the __________ region of the United States. | We
wear __________. | We
eat __________. | The
type of house we live in is called a __________. It is made of __________. |
For
first and second graders, ask students to read the descriptions of the land, food,
housing, and other social and cultural aspects listed for their geographical region.
Students can use the information to answer the following questions (also available
in pdf
format) or write facts on note cards. They can use the information they record
to write a paragraph about their group and draw a picture to illustrate their
paragraph.
Questions
about the Native American Tribe__________ | What
does the name of the tribe mean? | What
is another name for this tribe? | Where
did the tribe originally live?Where do members of this tribe live today? | What
did this group traditionally eat? What do they eat today? | What
are other cultural traditions that this tribe followed? | What
are some ways in which the tribe has changed its customs? Are there customs it
has kept over time? Which ones? |
Background
Information About Native American Tribes from the Five Cultural Bands of the United
States (Note:
Information is taken from the First
Americans Web site, unless otherwise noted.) Tlingit
Information
- Tlingit live in the American Northwest Coast that is now part of Alaska.
- Food
is provided by both land and sea.
- Originally traded and did business
with Europeans and other Native American tribes.
- Ceremonial dress includes
carved masks, weapons and "Chilikat" robes
- Chilikat robes may be fringed, fur-trimmed,
and multicolored. The designs on clothing depict animals significant to the family
and town.
- The Tinglit used to wear hats made of roots. Men and women
wore ear and nose rings. Some had tattoos and disks pierced through their lower
lip.
- Tlingit are master fishermen.
- They eat fish; most important
is salmon.
- In the summer they eat wild berries.
- Tlingit traditionally
hunted and trapped animals such as goats and deer, and used canoes to hunt seals,
sea lions, and otters.
- Tlingit live in towns with wood buildings that
are sometimes decoratively painted.
- Long ago families lived together.
- The
houses had no windows but had a hole in the roof to let smoke out.
- Houses
had no rooms but had partitioned sleeping and storage areas.
- Fishing gear,
canoe paddles, and other large objects were stored in the rafters.
- The
Tlingit made totem poles to tell a family story or legend, honor the dead, commemorate
a birth, or make fun of someone.
- Totem poles are carved from cedar trees,
painted and placed near the house or in the forest.
Dinè
(Navajo) Information - Dinè means "Children
of God."
- "Navajo" comes from a Spanish word meaning "stealer."
- Their
ancestral home is the desert of the American southwest.
- Dinè is the largest
Indian Nation.
- Today, most Dinè live on the "big rez" which includes parts
of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.
- The Dinè are known for creating beautiful
silver and turquoise jewelry and wool rugs.
- Rugs are made on a loom.
- The
Dinè originally farmed beans, squash, and corn and hunted deer, prairie dogs,
and other animals.
- Corn was the most important food. Indian corn comes
in many colors and could be eaten fresh or dried and ground.
- Today, many
Dinè raise sheep for meat and wool.
- They eat mutton and fry bread.
- The
traditional house is called a hogan.
- Hogans have six or eight sides and
are made of logs, brush, and mud.
- The door of the hogan faces east towards
the rising sun.
- Today, many Dinè live in modern houses, while some still
live in hogans in order to live together rather than separately.
- Hogans
are still used for family ceremonies.
- Some Dinè believe that illness comes
from harmful forces and have medicine men get rid of the harm by performing ceremonies
that include singing and sacred objects.
- Sometimes the medicine men make
sand paintings as a way to get rid of the harm.
- Dinè now have access to
doctors; however, some continue to use medicine men because Western doctors are
just now learning the importance of curing the spirit.
Information
from Photographs of the Dinè (Navajo) by Ilka Hartmann, available through
the EDSITEment-reviewed resource Native Web: - The
Dinè, Dineh, or Navajo Nation is the largest Native nation in the United States,
both in territory and population.
- Navajo
Reservations are in Arizona and New Mexico and are held in trust by the United
States Government.
- The population is approximately
165,000.
- Approximately twenty percent of
the Dinè live off the reservation, many in urban areas.
- The
name Dinè means "The People."
- Dinè women
own sheep herds and produce very beautiful Navajo rugs.
- Dinè
men create beautiful works of art in turquoise and silver.
Muscogee
(Creek) Information - The Europeans
called the Muscogee people "Creeks" because they built their villages near creeks.
-
The people call themselves "Muscogee."
- Their
ancestral home is the American southeast, in what is now Georgia.
-
Because white settlers made them leave their original home, most Muscogee people
now live in Oklahoma.
- Women traditionally
wore skirts, and men wore deerskin breechcloths.
-
In the 1700s, European traders introduced wool and cotton clothes made in England.
-
The Muscogee adapted the European clothing and traded deer pelts for it.
-
Today, Muscogee wear American clothing.
-
Corn was an important food, which women ground into meal and boiled with lye to
make "sofkey."
- For food, women gathered
nuts, wild onions, and berries, and men hunted deer.
-
Muscogee had gardens full of corn, beans, and squash.
-
They shared the food among the group.
- Today,
Muscogees mostly eat American foods.
- The
Muscogee originally lived in houses with thatched roofs.
-
A typical village was built around the council house and a large field used for
sports.
- After the Muscogees were forced
to move west, their towns and homes looked different.
-
In the West, most of the houses were made of logs.
-
Traditional Muscogee ceremonies take place at the stomp ground.
-
An important celebration is the Green Corn Festival, when people give thanks for
the harvest.
- During the Green Corn ceremony,
women dancers wear turtle shells or cans on their ankles to make music while they
dance.
Haudenosaunee
(Iroquois) Information - The word
Iroquois means "rattlesnakes."
- The Iroquois
call themselves Haudenosaunee, which means "people building a long house."
-
Iroquois live in what is now the state of New York and parts of Canada.
- The
Iroquois Confederacy originally included five nations and was a democracy.
- The
five nations include: Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Mohawk, and Oneida.
- The
pine tree symbol in the middle of the flag represents a White Pine because this
tree's needles are clustered in groups of five.
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Onondaga - Keepers of the Fire, Capital of the Confederacy (currently they live
near Syracuse, New York). Seneca - Keepers of the Western Door (currently they
live in New York and Canada). Cayuga - Younger Brothers of the Seneca (currently
they live near Buffalo, New York). Mohawk - Keepers of the Eastern Door (currently
they live in New York and Canada). Oneida - Younger Brothers of the Mohawk (currently
they live in Wisconsin and Canada).
- The
U.S. government was modeled on the Iroquois nations.
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The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) used European cloth and adapted it to their own style.
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Some men wore feathers in their hair, rings in their nose, and other jewelry.
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Men also wore capes, sashes around their waist, breechcloths, leggings, and moccasins.
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Today, the Iroquois wear modern clothes.
-
Before the Europeans came, the Iroquois were farmers and hunters.
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The main crops were corn, beans, and squash, and these were known as the "sustainers
of life" and were called the "Three Sisters."
-
These three crops were considered special gifts from the Creator, and each was
believed to be protected by one of the Three Sister Spirits.
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Legends were woven around the Three Sisters who would never be apart from one
another, just as corn, beans, and squash were planted together, eaten together,
and celebrated together.
- The Haudenosaunee
(Iroquois) people lived in villages and farmed.
-
Iroquois houses were called longhouses because they were longer than they were
wide.
- The houses were made from elm bark.
-
Longhouses had door openings at both ends and no doors or windows.
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During the winter, the doors were covered with skins.
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The Haudenosaunee Flag represents the original five nations that were united in
peace by the Peacemaker.
Lakota
(Sioux) Information - Sioux means
"Lesser Snake" in Chippawa.
- The people call
themselves Lakota, which means "friend."
-
The Lakota lived on the plains with many other tribes, such as the Cheyenne and
Oto.
- Traditionally, the Lakota hunted buffalo
and followed the herds from place to place.
-
Today, the Lakota have reservations in North and South Dakota and Montana.
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The Lakota decorate their clothing with bead work and designs to honor the spirit
world.
- Traditionally, clothing was made of
buckskin and elk skins.
- Women traditionally
wore dresses and leggings, and men wore shirts and breechcloths.
-
In cold weather, Lakota wore buffalo robes. Infants were placed in cradleboards
for protection.
- The Lakota people used buffalo
to provide everything they needed to survive.
-
The buffalo was considered a Spirit Being by the Lakota.
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Buffalo meat provided food, the pelt, clothing, and the bones, tools.
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The buffalo is central to the traditional religion of the Lakota and of neighboring
tribes.
- The Lakota called their houses "tipis"
which means "the place where a person lives."
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Because they roamed the plains following the buffalo herds, Lakota needed housing
that was lightweight and could be taken apart quickly.
-
Tipis were made from buffalo hides. They were warm in the winter and cool in the
summer and large enough for the entire family.
Extending
the Lesson - Have students create a book about their own families
and cultural traditions and customs, including their lodging, clothing, food,
and other aspects of everyday life, and relate their family activities and traditions
to similar Native American customs. Students will see the continuity over time
and the influence of the First Americans on contemporary life in the U.S. through
food items such as corn and squash, and through activities such as fishing and
canoeing.
- Using the profiles on the People
section of the EDSITEment-reviewed resource New
Perspectives on the West, have the class create biographies of the following
nineteenth-century Lakota leaders: Red
Cloud; Sitting
Bull; Crazy
Horse; and Big
Foot.
Selected EDSITEment WebsitesOR:
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