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Summary and Objective
Students will view Native American artifacts. They will be asked if they can figure out what the artifacts were used for or what they were made from. Students will understand that it took a lot of skill for Native Americans from several hundred years ago to make the items studied in this lesson.
Teaching Plan
Step 1.
The students will discuss how we live today may be different from 100 years ago.
Q. How is it different from 400 years ago?
Step 2.
The students will discuss the respect that the Native Americans had for nature. Review with them a couple of creation tales.
1. What did the Native Americans think about nature?
2. How did the Native Americans show their respect for nature?
Step 3.
The students will be shown a picture of a steatite vessel.
This was used 7000 - 3000 years ago and found in Wilbraham, Massachusetts. Using the feature of a closer look on the website, the children can make a detailed observation. Using a map of the area, they will mark the location where the steatite vessel was found.
1. What does "steatite" mean?
2. How might one make it into the shape they want?
3. How might someone get it to be that way without modern tools?
Step 4.
The elm burl bowl will be shown. The children will be asked how is it like and different from the first item. They will be told that it was used by the Pocumtuck nation in Western Massachusetts between 1600 - 1700. They can also use the feature of a closer look. The location of this artifact will also be marked.
Step 5.
The third artifact will be a birch bark bowl used by the Penobscot nation. Again, the students will be asked to look for similarities and differences. The location of the Penobscot nation will be marked on the map.
Q. Birch bark is easier to shape, but what might be tricky about working with it? (It splits and cracks.)
Step 6.
The last artifact will be a clay bowl created by the Woodland Indians. Again the students will be asked to make detailed observations and comparisons. Ask the students if they have ever worked with clay and if so, was their work as thin and smooth as the bowl attached to this lesson appears to be?
Step 7.
The students will hold a general discussion on making the best use of what is at hand in a time when modern tools and sources of power other than manpower did not exist. They should also discuss how the Native people found and prepared the materials needed to make all of these items.
Step 8.
When drawing the discussion to a close, point out the work and thought involved in creating something useful, durable, and pleasing to the eye.
Also point out that the items were all made a very long time ago when Native people lived a very different way from modern-day Native people, who mostly live like we do.
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