Nov.11th - 15th  Week one of two weeks on Native American Culture

      K - 3 will begin their study of Native American culture while the 4th and 5th grades will continue studying and composing their papers on Appalachian Culture, "Our Journey to Appalachia".
       We always begin our study of Native Americans by explaining how the first people arrived in North America by means of an ice bridge during the ice age and how over time the people moved and settled in different regions of North America.  This of course, leads into a discussion of climate, natural resources,types of dwelling, topography, animal life and an introduction for many to the use of map reading.
     The first group we study  because of their entrance into North America is the Inuit.  These are the Native Americans that settled in what is now Alaska, Canada and the region near the North Pole. Next, come the Tlingit tribe of the Pacific Northwest.  Their trademark of of course the totem pole.   We discuss the importance of  the totem pole and how it is an example of narrative art because it tells the story of their ancestors. Moving further south we come to the tribes of the southwest, the Navajo,the Hopi.  Because their climate is much different from the Tlingit we discuss the impact the geographical location on the tribes in how the get their food and how the live their daily lives. Each each group we also discuss their customs and traditions and the roles of family members.
Below is the vocabulary used in the is lesson.

K- 2  Native Americans, ice age, Bering Sea, land bridge, Various climates affect food and shelter choices. Reverence for nature and the relationship they have with it. `North west tribe = Tlingit (Cedar Plank house) and Inuit (snow house or igloo , totem poles, pot lash  vs. pow wows family reunions, natural resources, climate, Southwest tribe = Hopi (Adobes), Dry farming,  and Apache(Wiki ups) , nomads,  Kachinas, Ceremonial art, Plains tribes = Lakota,Cherokee, Cheyenne, Chippewa and Sioux, Navajo = Hogan ,  weavers, loom , functional art, tepees, buffalo,  Winter count, Narrative type of art, the sacred Dog / horses, nomads, Northeast tribes = Mohawk, and Iroquois, long house , Humid woodland Forests, women in charge of planting, Southeast tribes= Cherokee and  Kentucky, “Dark and bloody Ground”, arrowheads, Hunters, gardeners, foragers, gatherers. Petrogrpahs, picture writing, abstract representations,  Narrative art,  Thunderbird/ great spirit, Mother earth, Myths. We read ,“Spider the Fire Bringer”