Subject Areas |
Art and Culture
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Anthropology |
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Archaeology |
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Folklore |
History and Social Studies
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U.S. History - Native American |
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Time Required |
| Lesson 1: 1 class period or less
Lesson 2: 1 or 2 class periods
Lesson 3: 1 or 2 class periods
Lesson 4: 1 class period or less
Lesson 5: open ended |
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Skills |
| primary document analysis
critical thinking
graphic representation of information
collaboration
brainstorming
information gathering
map reading
analysis of data
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Additional Data |
| Date Created: 05/24/02 |
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Date Posted |
| 5/24/2002 |
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Not 'Indians,' Many Tribes: Native American Diversity
Introduction
There were literally hundreds of Native American tribes and there
still are. All of those tribes have their own traditions and their own customs.
Many had their own language. To say that a certain word, recipe, or custom is
"Indian" is incorrect.
Source: Wisdom
Keepers, Inc. What comes to mind for your students when they think
of "Indians" or "Native Americans"? In this unit, students will heighten their
awareness of Native American diversity as they learn about three vastly different
Native groups in a game-like activity using archival documents such as vintage
photographs, traditional stories, photos of artifacts, and recipes. One factor
influencing Native American diversity is environment. Help your students study
the interaction between environment and culture.
Learning Objectives
After completing this lesson, students will be able
to: - Discuss ways a particular archival document reflects the culture
and environment of a Native American group.
- List at least three differences
among the Native American groups studied that relate to environment.
- Gather data about a Native group using the Internet, if available.
Guiding Question: How did geographic location, climate and natural resources
influence the diversity of Native American tribes and nations? What can we learn
about a Native group from archival documents? What, if any, generalizations are
reasonable to make about Native Americans throughout America?
Preparing to Teach this Lesson
Background Information on the Featured Native Groups:
Abenaki The Abenaki, of the Algonquian group of Eastern Woodland Groups,
lived in an area extending across northern New England into the southern part
of the Canadian Maritimes. Their lifestyle was similar to that of other Eastern
Woodland groups. Living in the northern range of the Algonquians, the Abenaki
may have depended more on hunting and fishing than groups living in a more temperate
climate. But they did grow corn, beans, squash and other crops.
More information about the Abenaki: Recommended readings
about the Abenaki (from NativeWeb):
- Landau, Elaine. The Abenaki
(First Books- Indians of the Americas Series). Franklin Watts, Inc., 1996.
64 pages. ISBN: 0531202275. Reading level: Ages 9-12.
- McCurdy,
Michael (Illustrator). An Algonquian Year: The Year
According to the Full Moon. Houghton Mifflin Co., 2000. Hardcover, 32 pages.
ISBN: 0618007059. Reading level: Ages 4-8.
- Quiri, Patricia Ryon.
The Algonquians (Full-Color First Books). Franklin
Watts, Inc., 1992. 64 pages. ISBN: 0531200655. Reading level: Ages 9-12.
- Bruchac, Joseph. The Heart of a Chief.
Dial Books for Young Readers, 1998. Hardcover, 176 pages. ISBN: 0803722761. Reading
level: Ages 9-12.
Hopi The
following information is from the Official
Hopi Cultural Preservation Office, a link from the EDSITEment resource NativeWeb.
Hopi Indians (pronounced HOH pee) are one of the Pueblo Indian tribes. According
to the 1990 United States census, there are about 11,000 Hopi. About 7,000 live
on the Hopi reservation in Arizona. They live in 11 villages on or near three
high mesas (tablelands). One village, Oraibi, is one of the oldest continuously
inhabited villages in the United States. It was founded about 800 years ago.
Like their early ancestors, many Hopi grow crops on plots of valley land.
Some Hopi earn additional income by making and selling baskets, pottery, silver
jewelry and kachina dolls. The carved wooden dolls represent messengers sent by
the gods. Religious ceremonies play an important part in the life of the Hopi.
At certain times of the year, Hopi men dress as kachinas and perform dances in
the village square or in underground structures called kivas. The Hopi
Reservation is located in the high deserts of northeastern Arizona. The total
land area is almost 2.5 million acres and the elevation ranges between 4,700 feet
in the valley floors to 7,800 feet atop the northern reaches of the mesas. Temperatures
range from an average daily maximum of 87°F in summer to an average daily minimum
of 18°F in winter. The precipitation averages from 6 to 10 inches per year in
lower elevations to 10 to 14 inches per year in higher elevations. About half
of the annual precipitation comes from summer rains and the other half from winter
snowfall. While natural springs abound across the landscape, there are no year-round
rivers or streams and washes contain flowing water only after rains. Grassland
and desert scrub dominate the lower elevations while pinyon and juniper woodlands
cover the mesa tops. More information about
the Hopi: - The Hopi, from Kuwawata, official site of the Hopi tribe,
available through a link from the EDSITEment resource NativeWeb.
Recommended readings
about the Hopi (from the EDSITEment-reviewed NativeWeb):
- McDermott, Gerald. Arrow to
the Sun : A Pueblo Indian Tale. Viking Press, 1977. ISBN: 0140502114. Reading
level: Ages 9-12.
- Sekaquaptewa, Emory (Translator), Barbara Pepper
(Editor), Herschel Talashoema. Coyote & Little Turtle
: Iisaw Niqw Yongosonhoy : A Traditional Hopi Tale. Clear Light Pub., 1994.
Paperback, 90 pages. ISBN: 0940666855. Reading level: Ages 4-8.
- Anderson,
Peter. Maria Martinez : Pueblo Potter (Picture-Story
Biographies). Children's Press, 1992. ISBN: 0516041843. 31 pages. Reading
level: Ages 9-12.
- Keegan, Marcia. Pueblo
Boy : Growing Up in Two Worlds. Puffin, 1997. ISBN: 0140369457. Paperback
- 48 pages. Reading level: Ages 9-12.
Kwakiutl Members of the Kwakwaka'wakw (pronounced kwah kwah kyuh WAH
kwah), a group of loosely connected Native American tribes living along the northwestern
coast of British Columbia just north of Washington State, were dubbed Kwakiutl
(pronounced kwah kee OO tuhl) by Europeans who first encountered them late in
the 18th century. The Kwakiutl crafted intricately decorated houses
and canoes. Theirs was a highly organized society in which inheritance and personal
property were important in determining status. The potlach ceremony, in which
gifts were exchanged and property was sometimes burned or thrown into the sea,
was an important public demonstration of wealth and status. Status was signified
by totem poles placed in front of the home. Traditionally, Kwakiutl
men fished and hunted, while the woman gathered. After encountering Europeans,
Kwakiutl became fur traders, commercial fishermen and cannery workers. Though
they adapted well to these economic changes, the Kwakiutl were greatly affected
by European diseases. According to the E-Museum at the Minnesota State University,
which may be accessed through the EDSITEment-reviewed Internet
Public Library: "The Kwakiutl population recovered after World War II (1939-1945),
growing to more than 4,100 in 1991. Since the 1970s, traditional Kwakiutl culture
has also experienced a dramatic revival."
More information about the Kwakiutl: - University
of Washington Libraries: Digital Collections, available through the EDSITEment
resource American Memory,
including background information and photos of totem poles.
Recommended readings about the Kwakiutl (from the EDSITEment-reviewed NativeWeb):
- Neel, David. The Great Canoes:
Reviving a Northwest Coast Tradition. University of Washington Press, 1995.
ISBN: 0295974826. Note: Though this book is not written for children, it is richly
illustrated with excellent color photographs of traditional northwest coast canoes,
native people, and native clothing. The author is a Kwakiutl artist and writer.
Native American Documents In Lesson
2 in this unit, students will analyze the following primary source documents
from three separate Native American groups:
Using Primary Source Documents: Worksheets
are available to use or adapt in helping students analyze primary source documents.
If desired, download and/or adapt a worksheet from The
Digital Classroom, available through EDSITEment, to help students analyze
documents as they are reviewed. This site offers worksheets for artifact
analysis, photograph
analysis and written
document analysis that may be helpful in this unit.
Suggested Activities Lesson 1: Location,
Location, Location Lesson
2: First Primary Sources Lesson
3: Students as Ecological Anthropologists Lesson
4: Coming to Conclusions Lesson
5: Invite All Your Friends, Relatives and Local Dignitaries" Extending
the Lesson
Lesson 1 Location, Location,
Location
Discuss the influence of location on contemporary life.
If members of the class have lived in more than one place, how did their clothing,
food, shelter and lifestyle change as a result of their move? (In essential ways,
probably very little!) What did change? How? Why? Let students know that in this
unit, they will have an opportunity to explore the relationship between environment
and way of life of some Native American groups. The lesson begins with
a discussion of the climate in three locations: Lewiston, Maine (Abenaki), Polacca,
Arizona (Hopi Reservation, First Mesa, near Winslow) and Winter Harbour, British
Columbia, Canada (Kwakiutl, just north of Washington's Olympic Peninsula).
If you want to provide climate information for the students, distribute the
following, based on The
United States Climate Page, a link from the EDSITEment-reviewed Internet
Public Library: About the weather in: - Lewiston, Maine -
The average daytime temperature varies from 30 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Yearly
precipitation averages 42 inches; snowfall averages 76.1 inches.
- Polacca, Arizona - The average daytime temperature varies from 40 to 95 degrees
Fahrenheit. Yearly precipitation averages 8 inches; snowfall averages 13.5 inches.
- Winter Harbour, British Columbia, Canada - The average daily daytime temperature
varies from 45 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Yearly precipitation averages 103.5 inches;
snowfall averages 14.8 inches.
If students have time and access to technology,
they can retrieve weather and climate information on their own, using the following
links from the EDSITEment resource Internet
Public Library: - At the Weather
Underground, students can access weather data for any U.S. location on any
day in the last few years, using the zip code.
- For Lewiston, Maine (Abenaki),
use 04240.
- For Polacca, Arizona (Hopi), use 86042.
- For
Winter Harbour (Kwakiutl), use 98350, the zip code for Quillayute, Washington
(a United States location near and similar to Winter Harbour), or search for Canada
weather and select Port Hardy, British Columbia.
- The
United States Climate Page offers a clickable United States map. Students
can obtain climate information by selecting the following closest available locations:
- Augusta, Maine, for the Abenaki
- Winslow, Arizona, for the
Hopi
- Quillayute, Washington, for the Kwakiutl
Locate
the three cities (Lewiston, Maine; Polacca, Arizona; Winter Harbour, British Columbia)
on a map. Share climate information for these three cities, or have the students
research the information and then share it with the class. What are the significant
differences between climates? How might the climate affect the way people without
modern technology would live? Encourage the students to begin making hypotheses
about the lifestyle of Native Americans who lived in these areas before Europeans
arrived.
Lesson 2 First Primary Sources:
Getting Started with Archival Documents
What can one learn from
primary documents about the way of life of a Native American group? Students will
discover there is much to be garnered from, for example, traditional recipes and
stories. Begin by asking students to brainstorm what they think of when
they hear the term "Indian" or the term "Native American." Write the list on chart
paper and save it for the end of the lesson. (Note: Make sure students
understand that when reviewing a primary document from an unknown source, there
are bound to be parts of the document that will not be understood. Students should
concentrate on what they can gather from the
document, rather than focusing on things they can't understand, such as Native
American words.) If practical, divide the class in half and split each
half into three groups, each assigned one document. Ask the students to be detectives,
looking very carefully for clues about where their assigned Native American tribe
might have lived and what the group's lifestyle may have been. Present
students with the following three Native American documents, which are provided
here in text format for ease of use in the classroom: Students can read
the documents in their groups, or the documents can be read aloud for the entire
class. Have students begin their analysis by listing observations about the text;
students might divide their observations into categories as follows: - climate
(e.g., the Abenaki story mentions a sled, implying snow)
- plant life
(e.g., the Kwakiutl recipe mentions cedar bark)
- animal life (e.g.,
the Abenaki story mentions moose)
- relationships within the group
(e.g., the Kwakiutl recipe emphasizes sharing and politeness)
- what
the group considered important (e.g., the Hopi tale has a strong emphasis on corn)
Once
the students have completed their observations, they can make hypotheses about
the people from whom the tale or recipe derived. How did the people live? What
can be hypothesized about their culture? What was important to them? Which of
the three locations studied in Lesson 1 is most likely to be home for this group?
Have each student group share at least a brief summary of its document
with the entire class and report any findings. Make sure students support conclusions
with observations from the document. Finally, after all groups have reported,
reveal which Native group lived in which location.
Lesson 3 Students as Ecological
Anthropologists
For this activity, retain the student groups formed
in Lesson 2, if possible. Students will work together to solve the following problem:
Five (use more or less if appropriate your group) documents from each of three
Native tribes have been discovered, but unfortunately the documents have become
mixed up. Which documents belong to which group? Students will use their knowledge
of climate conditions where each Native group lived, plus what they learned about
the groups' lifestyles in Lesson 2, to connect each of the new documents with
the correct Native group. (Note to the educator: These artifacts are
from a variety of time periods up to the present, but each one embodies a long-standing
tradition of the group dating back to the time of first contact with Europeans.)
Distribute any or all of the following primary source documents equally (but
randomly) to each half of the class. Before distributing the documents, make sure
that the name of the native group has been deleted or obscured. (All of the following
documents are accessible through links from the EDSITEment-reviewed NativeWeb
unless otherwise noted.) Abenaki Documents
Hopi
Documents (available through links from the EDSITEment-reviewed Internet
Public Library) Kwakiutl Documents
- How
to Catch a Sea Otter
- Kwakiutl
canoes, Aleut Bay, British Columbia, September 5, 1909 (photo) (a link from
the EDSITEment resource American
Memory)
- Kwakiutl
totem pole in front of house with painted thunderbird, Alert Bay, British Columbia,
September 5, 1909 (photo) (a link from American
Memory)
- Kwakiutl
village on a hillside, Vancouver Island on Johnstone Strait, British Columbia,
in engraving made 1792 (drawing) (a link from American
Memory)
- The
Story of Bookwus (includes a photo of a mask)
- The
First Cat in the Northwest
Students should keep any documents they
think belong to their Native group, based on the map and data gleaned from Lessons
1 and 2. As cooperating scientists, they should give any other documents to the
appropriate group. It's fine if a few documents remain unidentified after the
trading session. Give those to the correct group. Discuss why it was difficult
to assign those documents to a Native group. Once the trading has ended,
merge the two student groups that were assigned to each Native tribe. Have them
compare documents. Make sure every group has a correct set. The combined student
groups should now refine their hypotheses about their assigned Native group on
the basis of observations made through the new set of documents. Share the new
hypotheses with the class.
Lesson 4 Coming to Conclusions
Now that students have looked at documents from the Abenaki, Hopi and
Kwakiutl, they can make some comparisons between the three Native groups. In what
ways are the Native groups similar to each other? How are they different? Are
they more different or more similar? How different/similar are the environments
in which they live(d)? Can some of the differences between the groups be explained
by the environments in which they live(d)? Which differences between the groups
cannot be explained by environment? Is it more useful to think of these three
Native groups as one people (Native Americans) or as separate groups?
To assess student awareness of Native American diversity, make a new list of what
students think of now when they hear the term "Indian" or the term "Native American."
Write the list on chart paper. Compare it to the list created at the beginning
of the lesson. If awareness of diversity has increased, the list should be quite
different. Students may list more and different specific items (for example, if
the students formerly said something like, "Indians hunt buffalo," they might
now list whales, moose and/or muskrats) or they may include more generalizations
(such as, "Native Americans live in many different kinds of houses") since one
stereotypical view is no longer suitable. To assess student learning
about using an artifact to hypothesize about lifestyle, show an image of Plains
tipis, available through a link from the EDSITEment resource American
Memory. Ask students to hypothesize about the lifestyle of the Native Americans
shown in the photograph. Think about the Kwakiutl homes, for example. They are
quite different from the tipis shown in the photo. What differences in lifestyle
might be reflected? Think about the Hopi dependence on corn. What difference in
lifestyle is reflected by this photograph? It is impossible, on the basis of one
photo, to correctly characterize a Native group. Instead, look for students to
come up with many observations. When they make hypotheses, these should be supported
by observations. In this unit, the students have seen how one environmental
factor, climate, affects lifestyle. Do the students hypothesize that environmental
changes would have had a profound effect on Native Americans? To assess student
learning about the relationship between environment and lifestyle, pose a hypothetical
scenario to students and encourage discussion: If whales and fish became scarce,
how might that change have affected the Kwakiutl? If a group like the Abenaki
were forced to move to the Great Plains, how might that affect their lifestyle?
Remind the class of the near extinction of the buffalo. How must that have affected
any tribe dependent on them? See if students can move from conclusions to new
hypotheses (for example: If the Abenaki moved to the Plains, they would no longer
be able to hunt moose or fish. If they couldn't hunt moose, then they would need
to find new sources for their clothing….) If you wish, present additional hypothetical
scenarios to students about changes in environment/resources that may have affected
Native groups, or ask students to devise their own hypothetical scenarios for
discussion.
Lesson 5 "Invite All Your Friends,
Relatives and Local Dignitaries"
To culminate the unit, students
can create a classroom museum made up of downloaded items such as maps, photographs
and images of artifacts. They can start with the artifacts used in this lesson,
and expand through their own research. If desired, students can be assigned new
Native groups to research. Many more artifacts can be located using the EDSITEment
resources listed in this unit. American
Memory and NativeWeb
are searchable. The Internet
Public Library has an index of tribes. Students should create explanatory
labels for every item on display. Each label should describe the item and make
connections between it and the lifestyle and environment of the tribe. Labels
might indicate the date of the artifact and the location of its origin. Students
should be prepared to talk about each object on display. Displays should be organized,
readable and accessible to visitors. Students should look for ways to enhance
their presentations with readings from traditional stories, sound recordings,
hand-outs and even authentic food samples from Native American recipes.
Students can open the exhibit to their families and other classes. Acting as docents,
they explain the different areas of the exhibit and answer questions about the
artifacts and the relationship of culture to environment. This will give students
an ideal opportunity to showcase their understanding of the Native cultures they
studied.
Extending the Lesson
- If the class has sufficient access to technology,
students can research other Native groups appropriate to their course of study.
Begin by gathering data about the Native group's location. Then use the sites
listed in the Resource
Links section, most of which offer a search function.
- Students
can research how European presence altered the environment (e.g., near extinction
of the buffalo, removal of tribes to distant locations) and thus the lifestyle
of particular Native groups.
The Cherokee tribe is a fruitful subject
here. The Cherokee environment was changed by the U.S. government—after living
primarily in southeast Georgia, the Cherokee people were removed to Indian Territory
in the 1830s, a significant change in climate and terrain. How did this move affect
the Cherokee lifestyle? Students should look at changes in food, shelter, clothing,
hunting, celebration and other practices. An introduction to this incident may
be found in America's
Library of the Library of Congress, a link from the EDSITEment resource American
Memory.
- Try some recipes from the Native
Way Cookbook, which features recipes from many tribes indexed by tribe, type
of dish, and traditional or contemporary recipes. Examples include Mikodissimin
Opinabo, a traditional Abenaki bean/pea soup, and Pueblo
Bread, Santa Ana, a simple, contemporary recipe. There are many others
available on this site, a link from the EDSITEment resource NativeWeb.
- Conduct research on Native Americans in contemporary society
and the movement to preserve traditions. An intriguing starting point for such
research might be the controversial Makah Indian whale hunt conducted in May 1999.
The EDSITEment resource NativeWeb
provides information on this subject.
Selected EDSITEment Websites -
American Memory
A vast archive of primary documents of all kinds, American
Memory has a search tool that is simple to use. From the home page, select "Search."
Search by tribe/nation name; add words as desired. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amhome.html
- The
American Indians of the Pacific Northwest collection may be particularly useful
within the context of this unit, or any study of Native groups.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award98/wauhtml/aipnhome.html
- Useful links from American Memory:
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Digital Classroom
http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/index.html -
Document Analysis Worksheets
http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/lessons/ analysis_worksheets/worksheets.html
- The Internet Public
Library
http://www.ipl.org - Useful links:
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NativeWeb
This site is searchable and also has an "Index of Nations."
http://www.nativeweb.org/ - Useful links:
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Native Tech
http://www.nativetech.org -
Drawing of Abenaki in Clothing of the 1700's
http://www.nativetech.org/clothing/regions/region3.html
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Building a Wigwam
http://www.anthro.mankato.msus.edu/prehistory/
settlements/regions/east_and_southeast.html -
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Abenaki Covered Basket
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