Week 9: Native American Culture (Part II)
READ: K – 4: Little Runner of the Longhouse by Betty Baker AND American Indian Crafts Kids Can Do by Carol Griojewski (pg 12; see Activities Below)
5 – 6: Indians of the Woodland (Before and After the Pilgrims) by Beatrice Siegel (page 49 to the end) OR Indians of the Northeast Woodlands by Beatrice Siegel (Note: Parents, this book contains drawings of Native American men and women wearing very little clothing. You may want to flip through the book first, before assigning it to your child.)
7 – 8: The Wigwam and the Longhouse by Charlotte and David Yue (Read Chp 5 to the end)
These images were obtained from Amazon.com.
- What types of houses did Native Americans live in? (wigwams or longhouses)
- Did they move their houses? (yes, could be moved easily)
- Why? (Sometimes they moved to be near fields for planting; sometimes moved near the woods for hunting, etc.)
- How were Native American homes made? (With very thin tree trunks that were bent and tied together. Then, these were covered with bark or mats made from reeds)
- What’s the difference between a wigwam and a longhouse? (a wigwam was just big enough for one family; the longhouse was for many families – all related to each other by a female head)
- Name some of the Native American festivals? (Midwinter festival, New Year festival, Planting festival, Maple festival, Green Bean ceremony, Green Corn ceremony)
- Why were these celebrated? (to thank the Creator or the spirits for the good food)
- What did Native Americans wear for the festivals? (dressed up in special costumes and masks)
- What did Native Americans wear for shoes? (moccasins)
- Name an Indian tribe that lived in longhouses? (Iroquois)
- What else did Native Americans do at festivals? (told stories, danced, sang, played games)
- Name some games the Native Americans played? (snow snake – competition to see whose stick would glide farthest on the icy snow; running races, swimming, lacrosse – which is a game played with a racket kind of like a tennis racket; they also gambled with things they had made) (There is a picture of a lacrosse stick on pg 14 of Little Runner of the Longhouse.)
- How did Native Americans carry things? (in baskets)
- What was wampum? (Beads made of shells; they were very important to the Native Americans. They used them as money, sewed them into belts and jewelry. Sometimes messages were sewn into the belts. White belts meant peace. Dark belts were sent to enemies to challenge them or declare war.)
- What special sweet did Native Americans like to eat? (maple sugar)
- How were babies carried? (See pg 32 of Little Runner) (On cradleboards; Babies were kept close to their mothers while they worked. A mother could carry the baby on her back or hang the cradleboard on a tree so the baby could watch her and see what was going on.)
ACTIVITIES: K – 3: Do Kiowa Cradleboard craft on pg 12 from American Indian Crafts Kids Can Do (see above) You will need an empty tissue box, hole punch, yarn, fabric, 2 paint stirrers or tongue depressors, glue, beads, colored toothpicks, craft feathers, & straw.
4 – 8: Make a map of some of the larger Indian tribes that inhabited the original 13 colonies. (The 13 colonies were: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, & Georgia. Click on each of the 13 states to find out what tribes lived in each state.) Use this website from native languages.org. Click HERE. A blank map can be obtained from eduplace.com. Click HERE. OR Make a map of the Indian tribes that inhabited ONE of the original 13 colonies using the site link above and choosing a state from eduplace.com. Click HERE.
Copyright October 6th, 2012 by Gwen Fredette
To reach last week’s post, Native American Culture (Part I), click HERE.