From Tears to Today ' ' ' Native American Culture

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From Tears to Today . . . Native American Culture
Grade Level 4 6
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Native Americans were the first Americans. Their
story began thousands of years ago . . .
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They inhabited a continent, traveled and traded
they had many different dwellings.
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Native Americans lived in villages tepees were
easy to take down and travel with.
European Americans lived in towns and settled in.
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Native Americans were very respectful of the
environment, and didnt waste much. The clothing
they wore was often made from animal skin and
fur. They later learned how to weave cotton, and
use woolen cloth for clothes as well.
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The American Indians family life revolved around
providing the necessities of life. These included
food, shelter, and clothing. Men and women had
separate tasks.
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When children were naughty, they were shamed, and
when they behaved they were praised. Not many
went to school, instead they learned the gender
roles of the community, and helped their parents.
Many teenagers went through initiation ceremonies
to show they were ready to become adult members
of the tribe, and ready to marry.
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The American Indians married at early ages, girls
from 13-15 years old and boys from 15-20 years
old.
Johnny and Julia Baker Ballard on their wedding
day, November 5, 1905. Credit Smithsonian
Institution, National Anthropological Archives
Leonard Collection.
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One of the most profound symbols
in Native American religion is the circle.
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The circle appears on many things in the world
and beyond.
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The meaning of the number four, as it is in
Native American life, is evident in the Medicine
Wheel. Fourfour directions, the four
Grandfathers, four worlds, four winds, four
elements (earth, air, water and fire) and the
four races of man. The wheel also teaches the
four aspects of our naturephysical, mental,
emotional and spiritual.
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The dream net has been madeFor many generations
Where spirit dreams have played.Hung above the
cradle board,Or in the lodge up high,The dream
net catches bad dreams,While good dreams slip on
by.Bad dreams become entangledAmong the sinew
thread.Good dreams slip through the center
hole,While you dream upon your bed.This is an
ancient legend,Since dreams will never cease,
Hang this dream net above your bed, Dream on,
and be at peace. (Author Unknown)
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The Wolf and the Indian once lived in harmony . .
. They hunted together and their spirits touched.
The wolf fulfilled two roles for the Indian he
was a powerful and mysterious animal, and so
perceived by most tribes, and he was a medicine
animal, identified with a particular individual,
tribe or clan.
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European Americans felt that the Native Americans
needed to be Christianized.
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American Indians were stereotyped as savages and
a people that needed to be conquered, tamed and
Americanized . . .
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The boundaries of the Cherokee Country prior to
the European invasion.
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The boundaries of the Cherokee Country at the end
of the Revolutionary War.
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The boundaries of the Cherokee Country in the
east prior to the removal.
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The Trail of Tears refers to the forced
relocation in 1838 of the Cherokee Native
American tribe to the Western United States,
which resulted in the deaths of an estimated
10,000 Cherokees.
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The obsession to possess the land was the driving
force behind the relocation of Native Americans.
European Americans could not understand the
concept of living with the land.
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American Indian Reservations
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Americanized clothing . . . One method of trying
to force the assimilation of Native Americans
into a developing American culture.
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Probably one of the most recognized symbols of
Native American culture is Kokopelli.
Kokopelli is regarded as the universal symbol of
fertility for all life, be it crops, hopes,
dreams, or love.
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Native Americans had many stories about the land
and the creatures that inhabited it . . .
The Turtle story
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American Indian Values Respect Respect for all
Living Things Respect for the Land NonInterferenc
e Honoring Elders Gratitude Generosity/Sharing Cou
rage/Bravery Honor Humility Humor Cooperation Cons
ensus Patience/Tolerance Equality/Acceptance Work
American Cultural Values Freedom Equality Democra
cy Champion of the little guy Helper of the
oppressed Defender against tyranny Capitalism Inde
pendence Strength Rightness Manifest
Destiny God Freedom of religion Family Wealth Happ
iness and entertainment
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Issues in Native-American Education Excepts from
a paper by Myrna Eshelman Historically,
education was used as a method of indoctrinating
Native American children and undermining their
own language, religion, and culture thus,
silencing the Native American culture. Currently,
Tierney described that in the typical educational
institution, Native American students become
invisible because of these lingering
assimilationist attitudes. As told by Tierney in
the voice of Delbert Thunderwolf, we hear
comments regarding this educational tendency.
Thunderwolf reports that education is something
that draws Native American students away from who
they are and he further wants educators to be
told not to try to make him into something he is
not. Tierney presents this pressure as a reason
many Native Americans voluntarily depart from the
educational process. To become part of the campus
community, the Native American student must
disassociate from their traditional communities.
The Native American student may be forced to
choose between higher education and their tribal
community (Tierney, 1993). Rather than
assimilate Giroux (Tierney, 1993) suggests that a
"border pedagogy" would be a preferred
educational strategy. Helping students negotiate
back and forth between cultures, teaching them
cultural savvy so that they can succeed in the
predominate culture, but at the same time, honor
and support their own cultural roots and
traditions. One solution would be for Native
American Educators to assist students and faculty
in this endeavor. However, over ninety percent of
educators are white (Viadero, 1996) which means
that less than 10 of educators are other
Hispanic, Native-American, African-American, and
Asian-American. However, much could be done to
assist educators to learn different cultural
styles.
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At night when the streets of your cities and
villages are silent and you think them deserted,
they will throng with the returning hosts that
once filled them and still love this beautiful
land. The White Man will never be alone. Let
him be just and deal kindly with my people, for
the dead are not powerless. Dead, did I say?
There is no death, only a change of worlds.
Words attributed to Chief Seattle in a speech
in1854/1855
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• Works Cited
• 1. Appropriate Methods When Teaching About
  Native American Peoples. Dos and Donts. 1998.
  Ableza Institute. 10/27/05 http//www.ableza.org/d
  odont.html
• 2. Resources for Selecting Fair and Accurate
  American Indian Books for Libraries, Schools and
  Home. Finding Unbiased American Indian Books.
  9/25/02.Emeroy Dean Keolo and Kay Porterfield.
  11/2/02 http//www.kporterfield.com/aicttw/excerpt
  s/antibiasbooks.html
• 3. Kolata, Alan L., Donald Fixico, and
  Sharlotte Neely. Indian American. World book
  Online Reference Center. 2005. World Book, Inc.
  7/11/05 http//www.aolsvc.worldbook.aol.com/wb/Art
  icle?idar274500
• 4. Native Americans. American Indians. Cyber
  Soup, Inc. and The Wild West.org. 10/24/05
  http//www.thewildwest.org/native_american/
• 5. Hirschfelder, Arlene and Paulette Molin.
  Native American Religions. New York Facts on
  File, 1992.
• 6. Robinson, B.A. Native American
  Spirituality. 11/5/05. Ontario Consultants on
  Religious Tolerance.
• 11/1/05 http//www.religioustolerance.org/nataspi
  r.htm
• 7. Religion. Encyclopedia of North American
  Indians. Houghton Mifflin Company. 10/24/05
  http//college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/naind/
  html/na_032600_religion.htm
• 8. Values. First Nations Studies. University
  of Wisconsin Green Bay, Green Bay, WI. 10/24/05
  http//www.uwgb.edu/fns/values.htm
• 9. Reese, Debbie. Teaching Young Children About
  Native Americans. ERIC Digest. ED394744. 1996.
• Teachers.net. 11/2/05 http//teachers.net/archive
  /ec111400.html
• 10. Eshelman, Myrna. Issues in Native-American
  Education. Spring, 1997. Arizona State
  University.
• 10/24/05 http//seamonkey.ed.asu/mcisaac/emc598g
  eold97/Spring97/5/eshel5.htm
• 11. Pepper, Floy C. Unbiased Teaching about
  American Indians and Alaska Natives in Elementary
  Schools. Kid Source Online. ERIC Digest.
  10/24/05 http//www.kidsource.com/kidsource/conten
  t3/unbiased.teaching.k12.2.html
• 12. A Review of the Research Literature on the
  Influences of Culturally Based Education on the
  Academic Performance of Native American
  Students. 4/15/03.Northwest Regional Educational
  Library. 10/24/05 http//www.nwrel.org/indianed/cb
  e/
• The New Millenium will the goals be met this
  time? History of Indian Education. 11/2/05
  American Indian Education Foundation.
  Albuquerque, NM. 11/4/05 http//www.aiefprograms.o
  rg/history_newmillenium.htm
• Siku from the album Caught in the Act by
  Pamyua
• American values http//www.commondreams.org/views0
  5/0420-20.htm

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• Questions relating to Native American Culture and
  American Culture
• How did Native Americans originally live when
  they encountered Europeans and how did this
  compare to how the Europeans lived?
• Native Americans often lived in villages that
  could easily be taken down and moved while
  European Americans tended to build towns with
  buildings and settle in.
• What is the difference between Native American
  religion and mainstream American religion?
• Native Americans use many symbols and spirits to
  represent their beliefs. Mainstream America
  based on recent surveys would say that they
  adhere to the Christian idea of religion which is
  one God and a potential savior.
• What two values from the list of Native American
  values would you say are important? Which two
  from the American Cultural values? Why did you
  choose these?
• Answers will vary.
• How do Native Americans and European Americans
  view the land?
• Native Americans did not believe in owning the
  land. They saw the land as something to respect
  and live off of. European Americans see land as a
  valuable possession.

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• Native American Cultural Activity 1
• Navajo Code Talkers of World War II
• Materials Needed
• teacher-selected materials about the Navajo code
  talkers or information about them from the sites
  noted in the lesson
• printouts from Original Navajo Code or Navajo
  Code Talkers' Dictionary (one per group)
• Paper
• pens or pencils
• Lesson Plan
• Read to students background information about the
  Navajo code talkers from library sources or from
  The Navajo Code Talkers or Navajo Code Talkers
  World War II Fact Sheet. Discuss the code
  talkers' contributions.
• Divide the class into small groups. Distribute
  printouts from one of the dictionaries. (Note
  There is a slight difference between the two
  dictionaries. Choose the same one to distribute
  to each group.)
• Give students an example of how the code might
  work. (For example, boy in Navajo code might be
  "shush ne-ahs-jah tsah-as-zih." Shush is the
  Navajo word for "bear" ne-ahs-jah is the Navajo
  word for "owl" and tsah-as-zih is the Navajo
  word for "yucca." If you take the first letter of
  each translated word, those letters spell boy.)
• Tell students to work together to create messages
  using the dictionary. Then tell groups to
  exchange papers to decode one another's messages.
  Encourage creativity!
• Assessment
• Observe students' participation and ability to
  work in cooperative groups.
• Lesson Plan Source
• Education World

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• Native American Cultural Activity 2
• Ball and Triangle Game
• Materials Needed
• picture of ball and triangle toy from the library
  or the Web site mentioned in the lesson plan,
  cardboard, scissors, thread or string, modeling
  clay or a similar medium
• Lesson Plan
• Show students a picture of the Ball and Triangle
  Game the Penobscot Indian children in New England
  often played. Children fashioned the toy from a
  triangle-shaped piece of bark from a birch tree.
• Students can use cardboard in place of birch
  bark. Cut the cardboard into triangle shapes
  approximately 8 inches long on each side. Cut a
  hole in the center of the cardboard the hole
  should be about the size of a silver dollar. Poke
  a small hole in one corner of the triangle and
  tie an 18-inch-long piece of string through the
  hole.
• Fashion from a piece of modeling clay a small
  ball about the size of a medium-size gumball.
  Wrap the other end of the string around the ball
  -- tightly, but not too tightly -- and knot. Let
  the clay ball harden. (Note For young students,
  you may want to provide small rubber balls, Silly
  Putty, or other soft balls.)
• Children hold the triangle and try to swing the
  ball upward so that it drops through the hole in
  the triangle.
• Keep score by passing a bean to students each
  time the ball drops through the hole. The
  students with the most beans at the end of the
  game are the winners.
• Assessment
• Evaluate students on their ability to follow
  directions and on their eye-hand coordination.
• Lesson Plan Source
• Education World

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Native American Cultural Activity 3 Native
American Folklore
Allow students to search for Native American
folklore and myths on the internet and select one
tale/myth that interests them. Students should
write their impression of the tale/myth and
report this to the class. A link to one possible
choice is below.
The Turtle story
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Native American Resources Native American
Webquest exploring Native Americans using a web
quest Student resources for researching Native
Americans Native American Lore an index of 100
tales from Native American cultures The Seminole
Tribe of Florida Bureau of Indian Affairs