National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month

Background Information, Lesson Plans, and Internet Resources for the

Elementary Classroom

Miami-Dade County Public SchoolsDepartment of Social Sciences

November 2015 (Revised)

THE SCHOOL BOARD OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA

Ms. Perla Tabares Hantman, Chair

Dr. Lawrence S. Feldman, Vice-Chair

Dr. Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall

Ms. Susie V. Castillo

Dr. Wilbert “Tee” Holloway

Dr. Martin Karp

Ms. Lubby Navarro

Dr. Marta Pérez

Ms. Raquel A. Regalado

Logan Schroeder StephensStudent Advisor

Mr. Alberto M. CarvalhoSuperintendent of Schools

Mrs. Maria L. Izquierdo, Chief Academic OfficerOffice of Academics and Transformation

Dr. Maria P. de Armas, Assistant SuperintendentCurriculum and Instruction, K-12 Core Curriculum

Mr. Robert C. Brazofsky, Executive DirectorDepartment of Social Sciences

Introduction to National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month

What started at the turn of the century as an effort to gain a day of recognition for the significant contributions the first Americans made to the establishment and growth of the United States has resulted in a whole month being designated for that purpose.

Early Proponents

One of the very early proponents of an American Indian Day was Dr. Arthur C. Parker, a Seneca Indian, who was the director of the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Rochester, New York. He persuaded the Boy Scouts of America to set aside a day for the “First Americans” and for three years they adopted such a day. In 1915, the annual Congress of the American Indian Association meeting in Lawrence, Kansas, formally approved a plan concerning American Indian Day. It directed its president, Reverend Sherman Coolidge, an Arapaho, to call upon the country to observe such a day. Coolidge issued a proclamation on September 28, 1915, which declared the second Saturday of each May as an American Indian Day and contained the first formal appeal for recognition of American Indians as citizens.

The year before this proclamation was issued, Red Fox James, a Blackfoot Indian, rode horseback from state to state seeking approval for a day to honor American Indians. On December 14, 1915, he presented the endorsements of 24 state governments at the White House. There is no record, however, of such a national day being proclaimed.

State Celebrations

The first American Indian Day in a state was declared on the second Saturday in May, 1916, by the Governor of New York. Several states celebrated the fourth Friday in September. In Illinois, for example, legislators enacted such a day in 1919. Presently, several states have designated Columbus Day as American Indian Day, but it continues to be a day we observe without any recognition as a national legal holiday.

Heritage Months

In 1990, President George H. W. Bush approved a joint resolution designating November, 1990, “National American Indian Heritage Month.” Similar proclamations have been issued each year since 1994.

The proclamation issued in 2014 by President Barack Obama states:

“Every year, our Nation pauses to reflect on the profound ways the First Americans have shaped our country's character and culture. The first stewards of our environment, early voices for the values that define our Nation, and models of government to our Founding Fathers -- American Indians and Alaska Natives helped build the very fabric of America. Today, their spirit and many contributions continue to enrich our communities and strengthen our country. During National Native American Heritage Month, we honor their legacy, and we recommit to strengthening our nation-to-nation partnerships.

As we celebrate the rich traditions of the original peoples of what is now the United States, we cannot forget the long and unfortunate chapters of violence, discrimination, and deprivation they had to endure. For far too long, the heritage we honor today was disrespected and devalued, and Native Americans were told their land, religion, and language were not theirs to keep. We cannot ignore these events or erase their consequences for Native peoples -- but as we work together to forge a brighter future, the lessons of our past can help reaffirm the principles that guide our Nation today.

In a spirit of true partnership and mutual trust, my Administration is committed to respecting the sovereignty of tribal nations and upholding our treaty obligations, which honor our nation-to-nation relationship of peace and friendship over the centuries. We have worked to fairly settle longstanding legal disputes and provide justice to those who experienced discrimination. We have taken unprecedented steps to strengthen tribal courts, especially when it comes to criminal sentencing and prosecuting individuals who commit violence against Native American women. And next month, my Administration will host our sixth annual White House Tribal Nations Conference, part of our ongoing effort to promote meaningful collaboration with tribal leaders as we fight to give all our children the tomorrow they deserve.

Today, as community and tribal leaders, members of our Armed Forces, and drivers of progress and economic growth, American Indians and Alaska Natives are working to carry forward their proud history, and my Administration is dedicated to expanding pathways to success for Native Americans. To increase opportunity in Indian Country, we are investing in roads and high-speed Internet and supporting job training and tribal colleges and universities. The Affordable Care Act provides access to quality, affordable health insurance, and it permanently reauthorized the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, which provides care to many Native Americans. And because the health of tribal nations depends on the health of tribal lands, my Administration is partnering with Native American leaders to protect these lands in a changing climate.

Every American, including every Native American, deserves the chance to work hard and get ahead. This month, we recognize the limitless potential of our tribal nations,

and we continue our work to build a world where all people are valued and no child ever has to wonder if he or she has a place in our society.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 2014 as National Native American Heritage Month. I call upon all Americans to commemorate this month with appropriate programs and activities, and to celebrate November 28, 2014, as Native American Heritage Day.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand fourteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-ninth.

BARACK OBAMA

An Instructional Note to Teachers about National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month

National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month is celebrated each November to recognize Native cultures and to educate students about the heritage, history, culture, and traditions of the American Indian and Alaska Native people.

To assist schools, the Department of Social Sciences has developed this instructional resource guide to support instruction on American Indian and Alaska Native people.

The resources in this guide include:

BACKGROUND INFORMATION - This section includes detailed background and reference information on American Indians and Alaska Native people.

LESSON PLANS - This section includes detailed primary and intermediate lesson plans with all support materials needed to teach about Native history and culture. Since Thanksgiving is celebrated during National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month, a fact-based lesson is also provided on the harvest feast (Thanksgiving) that took place in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621.

SUGGESTED INTERNET RESOURCES - Additional teacher and student background information, lesson plans, and classroom activities may be found on the web sites listed in this section of the guide.

ELEMENTARY CHARACTER EDUCATION RESOURCES – Additional lesson ideas are included to support the core value of “citizenship,” which has been designated by the District for the month of November.

Content related to American Indians and Alaska Native people are an integral part of social studies instruction, most notably in U.S. history courses. Teachers are highly encouraged to utilize the resources and lessons found in this resource packet to reinforce this content, whenever appropriate. Teachers are further encouraged to select and adapt the resources and lessons found in this guide to best fit the needs of their students.

National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month –

Teaching About Ethnic and Cultural History

How do you ensure that students will get the most out of the instructional time devoted each year to commemorating the history and contributions of the various ethnic and cultural groups we study? How do you avoid trivializing or marginalizing the group you are exploring with students? Below are some suggestions for National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month.

1. Incorporate Native history and culture into the curriculum year-round, not just in November. Use to National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month “dig deeper” into history and make connections with the past.

2. Continue Learning. Explore how to provide an in-depth and thorough understanding of the contributions American Indians and Alaska Natives. Textbooks often do not contain detailed information about the struggles of ethnic or cultural groups, so use the textbook as just one of many resources. While exploring multiple resources, help your students understand the importance of exploring reliable sources and sources that provide multiple perspectives on history.

3. Relate lessons to other parts of your curriculum, so that focusing on an event or leader, expands upon rather than diverts from your curriculum.

4. Plan meaningful school and classroom activities that address the history, values, and contributions of American Indians and Alaska Natives. Without meaningful and thoughtful classroom lessons as the primary focus during National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month, schools run the risk of trivializing their well-intended message to students. Special programs such as school-wide assemblies or performances may actually do as much to reinforce stereotypes than negate them. The special programs should complement the classroom lessons.

5. Connect issues in the past to current issues to make history relevant to students' lives. For example, ask students to gather information with a focus on what social issues exist today and how a particular group or leader has worked to change society.

Sources: Adapted from Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, http://www.tolerance.org/search/apachesolr_search/black%20history and, teachingforchange.org

Background Information American Indian History from World Book (Advanced)

American Indians by the Numbers – U.S. Census Bureau, 2014

Facts About Our Nation’s American Indian and Alaska Native Citizens - Bureau of Indian Affairs

Civil Rights and American Indians

American Indian Removal – 1814-1858

Reservations

Map of American Indian Reservations in the Continental United States

Maps - the Americas and the Bering Strait

American Indian vs. Native American

Are You Teaching the True Thanksgiving Story?

Historic Florida Indians

American Indian Culture Areas - Maps, Descriptions, and Representative Photos and Images

Ideas for Teaching About American IndiansAmerican Indian History

The excerpt below on American Indian history is from the on-line edition of the World Book Encyclopedia (2014) available for students and teachers through the Miami-Dade County Public Schools’ Department of Library Media Services. To access the full article:

1. Visit Library Media Services at http://library.dadeschools.net/ (Password needed. Check with the Media Specialist.)

2. Click the On-line Data Bases and select World Book (Advanced) Online Reference Center

3. Search for “American Indian.”4. Click on the article entitled “Indian, American.”

The full article is an overview of the many facets of American Indian history and culture. Only the excerpt on early history is included below.

American Indian History

The people now known as American Indians or Native Americans were the first people to live in the Americas. They had been living there for thousands of years before any Europeans arrived.

The Vikings are believed to have explored the east coast of North America about 1000 and to have had some contact with American Indians. But lasting contact between Indians and Europeans began with Christopher Columbus's voyages to the Americas. In 1492, Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain. He was seeking a short sea route to the Indies, which then included India, China, the East Indies, and Japan. Europeans did not then know that North and South America existed. When Columbus landed on an island in the Caribbean Sea, he did not realize he had come to a  New World. He thought he had reached the Indies, and so he called the people he met Indians.

American Indian cultural areasAlmost every American Indian group had its own name. Many of these names reflected the pride of each group in itself and its way of life. For example, the Delaware Indians of eastern North America called themselves Lenape, which means genuine people. 

No people lived in the Americas before the American Indians arrived. Most scientists think the first American Indians came to the Americas from Asia at least 15,000 years ago. Other scientists believe the American Indians may have arrived as early as 35,000

years ago. At the time the Indians came, huge ice sheets covered much of the northern half of earth. As a result, much of earth that is now underwater was dry land. One such area that was dry then, but is submerged now, is the Bering Strait, which today separates Asia and North America. The American Indians, following the animals that they hunted, wandered across this land, a distance of about 50 miles (80 kilometers). By 12,500 years ago, American Indians had spread throughout the New World and were living from the Arctic in the north all the way to southern South America.

The American Indians spoke hundreds of different languages and had many different ways of life. Some groups lived in great cities and others in small villages. Still others kept moving all year long, hunting animals and gathering wild plants.

The Aztec and the Maya of Central America built large cities. Some of the Aztec cities had as many as 100,000 people. The Maya built special buildings in which they studied the moon, the stars, and the sun. They also developed a calendar and a system of writing.

Many of the American Indians of eastern North America lived in villages. They hunted and farmed, growing such crops as maize (corn), beans, and squash. At the southern tip of South America, the American Indians lived in small bands that moved from place to place in search of food. They ate mainly fish and berries. These American Indians spent so much time searching for food that they seldom built permanent shelters, made clothes, or developed tools.

American Indians or Native Americans?

The history of the New World includes the story of relations between the American Indians and the European explorers, trappers, and settlers. Most of the American Indians were friendly at first and taught the newcomers many things. The European explorers followed American Indian trails to sources of water and deposits of copper, gold, silver, turquoise, and other minerals. The American Indians taught them to make snowshoes and toboggans and to travel by canoe. Food was another of the American Indians' important gifts. The American Indians grew many foods that the newcomers had never heard of, such as avocados, corn, peanuts, peppers, pineapples, potatoes, squash, and tomatoes. They also introduced the whites to tobacco.

The American Indians, in turn, learned much from the whites. The Europeans brought many goods that were new to the American Indians. These goods included metal tools, guns, and liquor. The Europeans also brought cattle and horses, which were unknown to the American Indians.

The Europeans and the American Indians had widely different ways of life. Some Europeans tried to understand the American Indians' ways and treated them fairly. But others cheated the American Indians and took their land. When the American Indians fought back, thousands of them were killed in battle. At first, they had only bows and arrows and spears, but the Europeans had guns. Even more Indians died from measles, smallpox, and other new diseases introduced by the whites.

As the Europeans moved westward across North America, they became a greater and greater threat to the American Indian way of life. Finally, most of the remaining American Indians were moved onto reservations. Today, most American Indians in North America still do not completely follow the ways of white people. In some areas of Central and South America, several tribes have kept their language and way of life. But most of the tribes have become part of a new way of life that is both American Indian and European. Some Indian groups

Anthropologists, who study human culture, classify the hundreds of North and South American Indian tribes into groups of tribes with strong similarities. These groups are called cultural areas. The cultural areas of Canada and the United States are (1) the Arctic; (2) the Subarctic; (3) the Northeast, often called the Eastern Woodlands; (4) the Southeast; (5) the Plains; (6) the Northwest Coast; (7) California; (8) the Great Basin; (9) the Plateau; and (10) the Southwest. Those of Latin America are (1) Middle America, (2) the Caribbean, (3) the Andes, (4) the Tropical Forest, and (5) the South American Marginal Regions.

Source: Adapted from the on-line edition of the World Book Encyclopedia (2014).

American Indians by the Numbers – United States Census Bureau, 2014

Population

5.2 million

The nation’s population of American Indians and Alaska Natives, including those of more than one race. They made up about 2 percent of the total population in 2013. Of this total, about 49 percent were American Indian and Alaska Native only, and about 51 percent were American Indian and Alaska Native in combination with one or more other races.

11.2 million

The projected population of American Indians and Alaska Natives, alone or in combination, on July 1, 2060. They would comprise 2.7 percent of the total population.

432,343

The American Indian and Alaska Native population, alone or in combination 65 and over.

14

Number of states with more than 100,000 American Indian and Alaska Native residents, alone or in combination, in 2013. These states were California, Oklahoma, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Washington, New York, North Carolina, Florida, Alaska, Michigan, Oregon, Colorado and Minnesota.

14.3%

The proportion of Alaska’s population identified as American Indian and Alaska Native, alone or in combination, in 2013, the highest rate for this race group of any state. Alaska was followed by Oklahoma (7.5 percent), New Mexico (9.1 percent), South Dakota (8.5 percent) and Montana (6.8 percent).

30.8

Median age for those who were American Indian and Alaska Native, alone or in combination, in 2013. This compares with a median age of 37.5 for the U.S. population as a whole.

Reservations

325

Number of federally recognized American Indian reservations in 2013. All in all, excluding Hawaiian Home Lands, there are 630 American Indian and Alaska Native legal and statistical areas for which the Census Bureau provides statistics.

Tribes

567

Number of federally recognized Indian tribes.

Families

1,698,815

The number of American Indian and Alaska Native family households in 2013 (households with a householder who was American Indian and Alaska Native alone or in combination with another race). Of these, 38.5 percent were married-couple families, including those with children.

6.1%

The percentage of American Indian and Alaska Natives alone or in combination with other races who were grandparents living with their grandchild(ren) in 2013.

Housing

53.9%

The percentage of single-race American Indian and Alaska Native householders who owned their own home in 2013. This is compared with 64.0 percent of the overall population.

Languages

20.0%

Percentage of American Indians and Alaska Natives alone or in combination 5 years and older who spoke a language other than English at home in 2011-13, compared with 21 percent for the nation as a whole.

Education

82.2%

The percentage of single-race American Indians and Alaska Natives 25 and older who had at least a high school diploma, GED certificate or alternative credential. In addition, 17.6 percent obtained a bachelor’s degree or higher. In comparison, 86.3 percent of the overall population had a high school diploma and 29.1 percent had a bachelor’s degree or higher.

39.8%

Single-race American Indians and Alaska Natives 25 and older whose bachelor’s degree was in science and engineering, or science and engineering-related fields in 2013. This compares with 43.7 percent for all people 25 and older with this level of education.

13.5%

Percentage of single-race American Indians and Alaska Natives 25 and older who had a graduate or professional degree in 2013.

Jobs

25.9%

The percentage of civilian-employed single-race American Indian and Alaska Native people 16 and older who worked in management, business, science and arts occupations in 2013. In addition, 25.2 percent worked in service occupations and 22.7 percent in sales and office occupations.

Veterans

152,897

The number of single-race American Indian and Alaska Native veterans of the U.S. armed forces in 2011-13.

Income and Poverty

$36,252

The median household income of single-race American Indian and Alaska Native households in 2013. This compares with $52, 176for the nation as a whole.

29.2%

The percent of single-race American Indians and Alaska Natives that were in poverty in 2013, the highest rate of any race group. For the nation as a whole, the poverty rate was 15.9 percent.

Health Insurance

26.9%

The percentage of single-race American Indians and Alaska Natives who lacked health insurance coverage in 2013. For the nation as a whole, the corresponding percentage was 14.5 percent.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau Facts for Features 2014, http://www.census.gov/newsroom/facts-for-features/2014/cb14-ff26.html

Facts About Our Nation’s American Indian and Alaska Native Citizens, Bureau of Indian Affairs

The following information is provided by Indian Affairs (IA), the oldest bureau of the United States Department of the Interior. Further information can be found at http://www.bia.gov/

Indian Affairs (IA) was established in 1824. IA currently provides services to approximately 1.9 million American Indians and Alaska Natives. There are 567 federally recognized American Indian tribes and Alaska Natives in the United States.

Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is responsible for the administration and management of 55 million surface acres and 57 million acres of subsurface minerals estates held in trust by the United States for American Indian, Indian tribes, and Alaska Natives.

Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) provides education services to approximately 42,000 Indian students.

Who is an American Indian or Alaska Native?

As a general rule, an American Indian or Alaska Native person is someone who has blood degree from and is recognized as such by a federally recognized tribe or village (as an enrolled tribal member) and/or the United States.  Of course, blood quantum (the degree of American Indian or Alaska Native blood from a federally recognized tribe or village that a person possesses) is not the only means by which a person is considered to be an American Indian or Alaska Native.  Other factors, such as a person’s knowledge of his or her tribe’s culture, history, language, religion, familial kinships, and how strongly a person identifies himself or herself as American Indian or Alaska Native, are also important.  In fact, there is no single federal or tribal criterion or standard that establishes a person's identity as American Indian or Alaska Native.

There are major differences, however, when the term “American Indian” is used in an ethnological sense versus its use in a political/legal sense.  The rights, protections, and services provided by the United States to individual American Indians and Alaska Natives flow not from a person's identity as such in an ethnological sense, but because he or she is a member of a federally recognized tribe.  That is, a tribe that has a government-to-government relationship and a special trust relationship with the United States. These special trust and government-to-government relationships entail certain legally enforceable obligations and responsibilities on the part of the United States to persons who are enrolled members of such tribes.  Eligibility requirements for federal services will differ from program to program. Likewise, the eligibility criteria for enrollment (or membership) in a tribe will differ from tribe to tribe.

How large is the American Indian and Alaska Native population?

According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the nation’s estimated population of American Indians and Alaska Natives, including those of more than one race, is 5.2 million. In 2012, they made up about 2 percent of the total population. The projected population of American Indians and Alaska Natives, alone or in combination, on July 1, 2060, is 11.2 million. They would comprise 2.7 percent of the total population.

Why are American Indians and Alaska Natives also referred to as American Indians?

When referring to American Indian or Alaska Native persons, it is still appropriate to use the terms “American Indian” and “Alaska Native.” These terms denote the cultural and historical distinctions between persons belonging to the indigenous tribes of the continental United States (American Indians) and the indigenous tribes and villages of Alaska (Alaska Natives, i.e., Eskimos, Aleuts, and Indians).  They also refer specifically to persons eligible for benefits and services funded or directly provided by the BIA.

The term “Native American” came into broad usage in the 1970's as an alternative to “American Indian.”  Since that time, however, it has been gradually expanded within the public lexicon to include all Native peoples of the United States and its trust territories, i.e., American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, Chamorros, and American Samoans, as well as persons from Canada First Nations and indigenous communities in Mexico and Central and South America who are U.S. residents.

What is a Federally Recognized Tribe?

There are more than 560 federally recognized tribes in the United States, including over 220 village groups in Alaska. “Federally recognized” means these tribes and groups have a special, legal relationship with the United States government. This relationship is referred to as a government-to-government relationship.

What are Reservations?

In the United States, there are only two kinds of reserved lands that are well-known: military and Indian. An Indian reservation is land reserved for a tribe when it relinquished its other land areas to the United States through treaties. More recently, Congressional acts, Executive Orders, and administrative acts have created reservations. Today, some reservations have non-Indian residents and land owners.

There are approximately 325 Indian land areas in the United States administered as Indian reservations (reservations, pueblos, Rancherias, communities, etc.). The largest is the Navajo Reservation of some 16 million acres of land in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. Many of the smaller reservations are less than 1,000 acres with the smallest less

than 100 acres. On each reservation, the local governing authority is the tribal government.

Approximately 56.2 million acres of land are held in trust by the United States for various Indian tribes and individuals. Much of this is reservation land; however, not all reservation land is trust land. On behalf of the United States, the Secretary of the Interior serves as trustee for such lands with many routine responsibilities delegated to BIA officials.

The states in which reservations are located have limited powers over them, and only as provided by federal law. On some reservations, however, a high percentage of the land is owned and occupied by non-Indians. Some 140 reservations have entirely tribally owned land.

Must all American Indians and Alaska Natives Live on Reservations?

No.  American Indians and Alaska Natives live and work anywhere in the United States (and the world) just as other citizens do.  Many leave their reservations, communities or villages for the same reasons as do other Americans who move to urban centers:  to seek education and employment.  Over one-half of the total U.S. American Indian and Alaska Native population now live away from their tribal lands.  However, most return home to visit relatives; attend family gatherings and celebrations; participate in religious, cultural, or community activities; work for their tribal governments; operate businesses; vote in tribal elections or run for tribal office; retire; or to be buried.

How Does One Trace Indian Ancestry and Become a Member of a Tribe?

The first step in tracing Indian ancestry is basic genealogical research if one does not already have specific family information and documents that identify tribal ties. Some information to obtain is: names of ancestors; dates of birth, marriages and deaths; places where they lived; brothers and sisters, if any; and, most importantly, tribal affiliations. Among family documents to check are Bibles, wills, and other such papers. The next step is to determine whether one’s ancestors are on an official tribal roll or census by contacting the tribe.

Are American Indians and Alaska Natives wards of the Federal Government?

No.  The Federal Government is a trustee of Indian property, not a guardian of all American Indians and Alaska Natives.  Although the Secretary of the Interior is authorized by law to protect, where necessary, the interests of minors and adult persons deemed incompetent to handle their affairs, this protection does not confer a guardian-ward relationship.

Are American Indians and Alaska Natives citizens of the United States?

Yes.  As early as 1817, U.S. citizenship had been conferred by special treaty upon specific groups of Indian people.  American citizenship was also conveyed by statutes, naturalization proceedings, and by service in the Armed Forces with an honorable discharge in World War I.  In 1924, Congress extended American citizenship to all other American Indians born within the territorial limits of the United States.   American Indians and Alaska Natives are citizens of the United States and of the individual states, counties, cities, and towns where they reside.  They can also become citizens of their tribes or villages as enrolled tribal members.

Do American Indians and   Alaska   Natives have the right to vote?

Yes.  American Indians and Alaska Natives have the right to vote just as all other U.S. citizens do. They can vote in presidential, congressional, state and local, and tribal elections, if eligible. And, just as the federal government and state and local governments have the sovereign right to establish voter eligibility criteria, so do tribal governments.

Do American Indians and   Alaska   Natives have the right to hold public office?

Yes.  American Indians and Alaska Natives have the same rights as other citizens to hold public office. Over the years, American Indian and Alaska Native men and women have held elected and appointed offices at all levels of federal, state, and local government.  Charles Curtis, a member of the Kaw Tribe of Kansas, served in both houses of Congress before holding the second highest elected office in the nation – that of Vice President of the United States under President Herbert Hoover.  American Indians and Alaska Natives also serve in state legislatures, state judicial systems, county and city governments, and on local school boards.

Do American Indians and Alaska Natives have special rights different from other citizens?

Any “special” rights held by federally recognized tribes and their members are generally based on treaties or other agreements between the tribes and the United States.  The heavy price American Indians and Alaska Natives paid to retain certain rights of self-government was to relinquish much of their land and resources to the United States.  U.S. law protects the inherent rights they did not relinquish.  Among those may be hunting and fishing rights and access to sacred sites.

Do American Indians and Alaska Natives pay taxes?

Yes. They pay the same taxes as other citizens with the following exceptions:

1. Federal income taxes are not levied on income from trust lands held for them by the U.S.

2. State income taxes are not paid on income earned on a federal Indian reservation.

3. State sales taxes are not paid by Indians on transactions made on a federal Indian reservation.

4. Local property taxes are not paid on reservation or trust land.

Do laws that apply to non-Indians also apply to Indians?

Yes.  As U.S. citizens, American Indians and Alaska Natives are generally subject to federal, state, and local laws.  On federal Indian reservations, however, only federal and tribal laws apply to members of the tribe, unless Congress provides otherwise.  In federal law, the Assimilative Crimes Act makes any violation of state criminal law a federal offense on reservations.  Most tribes now maintain tribal court systems and facilities to detain tribal members convicted of certain offenses within the boundaries of the reservation.

Do all American Indians and Alaska Natives speak a single traditional language?

No.  American Indians and Alaska Natives come from a multitude of different cultures with diverse languages, and for thousands of years used oral tradition to pass down familial and cultural information among generations of tribal members. Some tribes, even if widely scattered, belong to the same linguistic families.  Common means of communicating between tribes allowed trade routes and political alliances to flourish.  As contact between Indians and non-Indians grew, so did the necessity of learning of new languages.  Even into the 20th century, many American Indians and Alaska Natives were bi- or multilingual from learning to speak their own language and English, French, Russian, or Spanish, or even another tribal language. 

It has been reported that at the end of the 15th century over 300 American Indian and Alaska Native languages were spoken.  Today, fewer than 200 tribal languages are still viable, with some having been translated into written form.  English, however, has become the predominant language in the home, school, and workplace.  Those tribes who can still do so are working to preserve their languages and create new speakers from among their tribal populations.

Do American Indians and Alaska Natives serve in the Armed Forces?

Yes.  American Indians and Alaska Natives have a long and distinguished history of serving in our nation’s Armed Forces.

During the Civil War, American Indians served on both sides of the conflict.  Among the most well-known are Brigadier General Ely S. Parker (Seneca), an aide to Union General Ulysses S. Grant who recorded the terms of Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia that ended the war, and Brigadier General Stand Watie (Cherokee), the last of the Confederate generals to cease fighting after the surrender was concluded.  American Indians also fought with Theodore Roosevelt in the Spanish-American War.

During World War I over 8,000 American Indian soldiers, of whom 6,000 were volunteers, served.  Their patriotism moved Congress to pass the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924.  In World War II, 25,000 American Indian and Alaska Native men and women fought on all fronts in Europe and the South Pacific earning, collectively, at least 71 Air Medals, 51 Silver Stars, 47 Bronze Stars, 34 Distinguished Flying Crosses, and two Congressional Medals of Honor.  Alaska Natives also served in the Alaska Territorial Guard.

Starting in World War I and again in World War II, the U.S. military employed a number of American Indian servicemen to use their tribal languages as a military code that could not be broken by the enemy.  These “code talkers” came from many different tribes, including Chippewa, Choctaw, Creek, Crow, Comanche, Hopi, Navajo, Seminole, and Sioux.  During World War II, the Navajos constituted the largest component within that elite group.

In the Korean Conflict, one Congressional Medal of Honor was awarded to an American Indian serviceman.  In the Vietnam War, 41,500 Indian service personnel served.  In 1990, prior to Operation Desert Storm, some 24,000 Indian men and women were in the military.  Approximately 3,000 served in the Persian Gulf with three among those killed in action.  American Indian service personnel have also served in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom) and in Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom).

While American Indians and Alaska Natives have the same obligations for military service as other U.S. citizens, many tribes have a strong military tradition within their cultures, and veterans are considered to be among their most honored members.

Source: U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs, http://www.bia.gov/FAQs/index.htm

Civil Rights and American Indians

American Indians are those peoples who were on the North American continent before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492. There were hundreds of different tribes native to both North and South America. Historically, we have called these native peoples Indians by mistake - Columbus thought he had reached the Continent of India. Today, we use the term American Indian because that is the term used in the Constitution. Indian tribes call themselves many names. They might be known by both an English name and a name in their tribal language. The Navajo call themselves Dine’, which means “the People.” The Tohono O’odham (People of the Desert) were known for many years by the name Papago.

The Constitution of the United States specifically refers to Indian tribes where it says that “Congress shall have the power to regulate Commerce with foreign nations, among the several states, and with the Indian tribes.”

There are over 560 American Indian tribes that have tribal governments that are recognized by the United States in a government to government relationship. There are also approximately 325 federal Indian reservations in the United States. On an Indian reservation, the tribal government performs many of the same functions that State governments do. There are tribal court systems, departments of justice and police forces on most reservations.

Indian reservations are usually lands that the tribes kept when they entered into treaties with the federal government. Indian Treaties have the same recognition under federal law as do treaties with foreign governments such as France or Germany. Some Indian reservations are land bases that are larger than some states. The Navajo Reservation is approximately 14,000,000 acres of land. The State of Massachusetts is only 5,284,480 acres. The Wind River Reservation in Wyoming is 1,888,000 acres. The State of Rhode Island is 776,960 acres. There are twelve Indian Reservations that are larger than Rhode Island and nine reservations larger than Delaware (1,316,480 acres). The Navajo Reservation, which is the largest, is larger than nine States (Maryland, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Hawaii, Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island.)

American Indians are also a racial group who sometimes face discrimination the same as African Americans do. In fact, before the civil rights laws were enacted, in some states you could find three separate drinking fountains labeled “whites,” “Colored” and “Indian.” There were also three sections in some movie theaters. All of the civil rights laws that protect people from discrimination because of race or color or national origin also protect American Indians.

Recently, the Department of Justice sued a school district in Utah for not having a high school in the remote community of Navajo Mountain. The Navajo and Paiute high school age students who live in this community all had to go more than 90 miles from home and live in dormitories or with relatives and attend boarding schools operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The school district had built high schools in communities where non-Indians lived. The school district argued that because the Indians lived on a reservation, they didn’t have a right to a public school built and operated by the district. American Indians are citizens of the United States and of the States where they live. The court ruled that even though they live on an Indian reservation, American Indians have a right to receive all of the same services that state and county governments offer to all other citizens of the state. The settlement of this lawsuit required the school district to build a new high school in this community. A temporary high school program began in September, 1997. This lawsuit was the first time the Civil Rights Division had ever enforced the education statutes on behalf of American Indians. This lawsuit was originally filed by Indian students and their parents. Both the Navajo Nation and the United States joined in the lawsuit to support the students and their parents.

Source: Almanac of Policy Issues, http://www.policyalmanac.org/culture/archive/native_americans.shtml

American Indian Removal1814-1858

Early in the 19th century, while the rapidly growing United States expanded into the lower South, white settlers faced what they considered an obstacle. This area was home to the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Seminole nations. These Indian nations, in the view of the settlers and many other white Americans, were standing in the way of progress. Eager for land to raise cotton, the settlers pressured the federal government to acquire Indian territory.

Andrew Jackson, from Tennessee, was a forceful proponent of Indian removal. In 1814, he commanded the U.S. military forces that defeated a faction of the Creek nation. In their defeat, the Creeks lost 22 million acres of land in southern Georgia and central Alabama. The U.S. acquired more land in 1818 when, spurred in part by the motivation to punish the Seminoles for the practice of harboring fugitive slaves, Jackson’s troops invaded Spanish Florida.

From 1814 to 1824, Jackson was instrumental in negotiating nine out of eleven treaties which divested the southern tribes of their eastern lands in exchange for lands in the west. The tribes agreed to the treaties for strategic reasons. They wanted to appease the government in the hopes of retaining some of their land, and they wanted to protect themselves from white harassment. As a result of the treaties, the United States gained control over three-quarters of Alabama and Florida, as well as parts of Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky and North Carolina. This was a period of voluntary Indian migration, however, and only a small number of Creeks, Cherokee and Choctaws actually moved to the new lands.

In 1823, the Supreme Court handed down a decision which stated that Indians could occupy lands within the United States, but could not hold title to those lands. This was because their “right of occupancy” was subordinate to the United States’ “right of discovery.” In response to the great threat this posed, the Creeks, Cherokee, and Chicasaw instituted policies of restricting land sales to the government. They wanted to protect what remained of their land before it was too late.

Although the five Indian nations had made earlier attempts at resistance, many of their strategies were non-violent. One method was to adopt Anglo-American practices such as large-scale farming, Western education, and slave-holding. This earned the nations the designation of the “Five Civilized Tribes.” They adopted this policy of assimilation in an attempt to coexist with settlers and ward off hostility. But it only made whites jealous and resentful.

Other attempts involved ceding portions of their land to the United States with a view to retaining control over at least part of their territory, or of the new territory they received in exchange. Some Indian nations simply refused to leave their land - - the Creeks and the Seminoles even waged war to protect their territory. The First Seminole War lasted from 1817 to 1818. The Seminoles were aided by fugitive slaves who had found protection among them and had been living with them for years. The presence of the fugitives enraged white planters and fueled their desire to defeat the Seminoles.

The Cherokee used legal means in their attempt to safeguard their rights. They sought protection from land-hungry white settlers, who continually harassed them by stealing their livestock, burning their towns, and squatting on their land. In 1827, the Cherokee adopted a written constitution declaring themselves to be a sovereign nation. They based this on United States policy; in former treaties, Indian nations had been declared sovereign so they would be legally capable of ceding their lands. Now the Cherokee hoped to use this status to their advantage. The state of Georgia, however, did not recognize their sovereign status, but saw them as tenants living on state land. The Cherokee took their case to the Supreme Court, which ruled against them.

The Cherokee went to the Supreme Court again in 1831. This time they based their appeal on an 1830 Georgia law which prohibited whites from living on Indian territory after March 31, 1831, without a license from the state. The state legislature had written this law to justify removing white missionaries who were helping the Indians resist removal. The court this time decided in favor of the Cherokee. It stated that the Cherokee had the right to self-government, and declared Georgia’s extension of state law over them to be unconstitutional. The state of Georgia refused to abide by the Court decision, however, and President Jackson refused to enforce the law.

In 1830, just a year after taking office, Jackson pushed a new piece of legislation called the “Indian Removal Act” through both houses of Congress. It gave the president power to negotiate removal treaties with Indian tribes living east of the Mississippi. Under these treaties, the Indians were to give up their lands east of the Mississippi in exchange for lands to the west. Those wishing to remain in the east would become citizens of their home state. This act affected not only the southeastern nations, but many others further north. The removal was supposed to be voluntary and peaceful, and it was that way for the tribes that agreed to the conditions. But the southeastern nations resisted, and Jackson forced them to leave.

Jackson’s attitude toward American Indians was paternalistic and patronizing – he described them as children in need of guidance and believed the removal policy was beneficial to the Indians. Most white Americans thought that the United States would never extend beyond the Mississippi. Removal would save Indian people from the depredations of whites, and would resettle them in an area where they could govern

themselves in peace. But some Americans saw this as an excuse for a brutal and inhumane course of action, and protested loudly against removal.

Their protests did not save the southeastern nations from removal, however. The Choctaws were the first to sign a removal treaty, which they did in September of 1830. Some chose to stay in Mississippi under the terms of the Removal Act. But though the War Department made some attempts to protect those who stayed, it was no match for the land-hungry whites who squatted on Choctaw territory or cheated them out of their holdings. Soon most of the remaining Choctaws, weary of mistreatment, sold their land and moved west.

For the next 28 years, the United States government struggled to force relocation of the southeastern nations. A small group of Seminoles was coerced into signing a removal treaty in 1833, but the majority of the tribe declared the treaty illegitimate and refused to leave. The resulting struggle was the Second Seminole War, which lasted from 1835 to 1842. As in the first war, fugitive slaves fought beside the Seminoles who had taken them in. Thousands of lives were lost in the war, which cost the Jackson administration approximately 40 to 60 million dollars – ten times the amount it had allotted for Indian removal. In the end, most of the Seminoles moved to the new territory. The few who remained had to defend themselves in the Third Seminole War (1855-1858), when the U.S. military attempted to drive them out. Finally, the United States paid the remaining Seminoles to move west.

The Creeks also refused to emigrate. They signed a treaty in March, 1832, which opened a large portion of their Alabama land to white settlement, and guaranteed them protected ownership of the remaining portion, which was divided among the leading families. The government did not protect them from speculators, however, who quickly cheated them out of their lands. By 1835, the destitute Creeks began stealing livestock and crops from white settlers. Some eventually committed arson and murder in retaliation for their brutal treatment. In 1836, the Secretary of War ordered the removal of the Creeks as a military necessity. By 1837, approximately 15,000 Creeks had migrated west. They had never signed a removal treaty.

The Chickasaws had seen removal as inevitable, and had not resisted. They signed a treaty in 1832 which stated that the federal government would provide them with suitable western land and would protect them until they moved. But once again, the onslaught of white settlers proved too much for the War Department, and it backed down on its promise. The Chickasaws were forced to pay the Choctaws for the right to live on part of their western allotment. They migrated there in the winter of 1837-38.

The Cherokee, on the other hand, were tricked with an illegitimate treaty. In 1833, a small faction agreed to sign a removal agreement: the Treaty of New Echota. The

leaders of this group were not the recognized leaders of the Cherokee nation, and over 15,000 Cherokees – lead by Chief John Ross – signed a petition in protest. The Supreme Court ignored their demands and ratified the treaty in 1836. The Cherokee were given two years to migrate voluntarily, at the end of which time they would be forcibly removed. By 1838, only 2,000 had migrated; 16,000 remained on their land. The U.S. government sent in 7,000 troops, who forced the Cherokees into stockades at bayonet point. They were not allowed time to gather their belongings, and as they left, whites looted their homes. They began the march known as the Trail of Tears, in which 4,000 Cherokee people died of cold, hunger, and disease on their way to the western lands.

By 1837, the Jackson administration had removed 46,000 American Indian people from their land east of the Mississippi, and had secured treaties which led to the removal of a slightly larger number. Most members of the five southeastern nations had been relocated west, opening 25 million acres of land to white settlement and to slavery.

Source: PBS, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2959.html

Reservations

Reservations were first created by seventeenth-century English colonizers and imposed on American Indian nations to remove them from the path of white settlement. Reservations also provided a place where missionaries could show Indians how to live, work, and worship like themselves. The United States took up this practice, employing military might, fraud, and deception to create hundreds of tribal reserves established by treaty, executive order, or congressional decree. Despite the reservations’ grim origins, Indian people have been able to adapt to reservation environments while preserving many of their traditional values, beliefs, and customs. In fact, many Indians now regard reservations as homelands.

The interplay of Indian aspirations and outside interests is central to an understanding of reservations. Notwithstanding the oppression and land loss associated with their founding, reservations also represent a valiant struggle on the part of Indians for autonomy, self-sufficiency, religious freedom, and cultural identity.

Before Europeans arrived, Indians occupied all of what became the United States. They practiced self-government, lived in accordance with revered customs, and worshiped as they saw fit. The English immigrants who began to arrive in North America in the seventeenth century lacked the strength to dislodge and subjugate the more powerful Indian nations. As a consequence, the newcomers established two fundamental land policies with regard to Indians. First, they established borders between themselves and native people. After clearly delineating which areas were “Indian country,” the British allowed residents on both sides of the boundaries to maintain their own laws, customs, and institutions. Imported diseases, however soon shifted the balance of power in favor of the Europeans, giving rise to the second policy: as they pushed inland, the invaders placed remnant native groups that had been decimated by pestilence and warfare on small reservations and in settlements of Christian converts called “praying towns.”

After the founding of the United States, federal officials continued these earlier practices. Treaties established borders between “Indian country” and the new nation. During the early nineteenth century, these borders were frequently moved as government agents used bribery, coercion, and trickery to “remove” tribes from lands east of the Mississippi. And, although the removed tribes were promised new, permanent borders in lands in Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, in 1854 federal officials preparing to “open” Kansas and Nebraska to “settlement” began relocating tribes again, this time to Oklahoma. Local Plains nations such as the Pawnees, Poncas, and Otos retained, at least temporarily, small reservations in their homeland, but many new tribes were resettled nearby. After the disruption of the Civil War, this process continued. The official goal of deadly military campaigns against nations such

as the Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapahos, Navajos, Comanche, and Apaches was to confine them to permanent reservation homes.

Expected by federal officials to become Christian farmers, reservation Indians encountered policies that restricted their movement, autonomy, and religious freedom. Bureau of Indian Affairs agents called on U.S. troops and federally supported reservation police to quash native religious movements, arrest traditional religious leaders and healers, and place children in distant boarding schools. The Indian Office established the Court of Indian Offenses on many reservations in order to undermine traditional mechanisms of resolving disputes and administering justice. Missionaries also operated on reservations with federal approval, and often with federal funds.

In the last decades of the nineteenth century, the passage of the General Allotment Act and the Curtis Act began the process of dividing reservation lands into individual homesteads. These laws had a profound impact on reservations. Economically, many Indian nations - particularly those on the Great Plains, in Oklahoma, and in the Pacific Northwest - lost most of their land. After allotting reservations to tribal members, federal officials sold the “surplus tracts” to non-Indians, and Congress amended the allotment acts to facilitate the sale of allotments. As a consequence, and because reservation residents were often compelled to sell their allotments for income or to pay delinquent state taxes or mortgages, many Indians became landless. Reservation holdings shrank from 138 million acres in 1887 to 48 million acres in 1934.

Politically, the allotment policy undermined tribal sovereignty. Federal agents began dealing primarily with individual Indians rather than with their governments, with the result that outsiders assumed control over many functions once provided by traditional leaders. Socially, the policy encouraged federal agents to pressure Indians into moving from their traditional towns to isolated allotments. Thus, rather than living in tribal settings, many Indians began to reside in culturally mixed environments, where racism often heightened discrimination and antagonism. Facing a bleak future under these conditions, some Indians educated in non-Indian schools began migrating from their home areas to distant cities in search of work and other opportunities.

Tribes began to reassert their authority over reservation lands after Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) in 1934. Among other things, the new law discontinued the allotment policy, allowed reservation residents to form their own governments, provided funds for economic development, protected Indian culture, and promoted traditional arts and crafts. It also enabled Indian governments to purchase small amounts of land they had lost during the allotment era. Eventually, about half the reservations adopted IRA governments, but many of those that refused to change their existing governing bodies also became eligible for IRA benefits.

The IRA was neither a panacea for Indian problems nor an unconditional endorsement of Indian sovereignty. It did little to alleviate the problems created in the allotment era: poverty, deprivation, shoddy housing, and poor health. Nor did it prevent additional assaults on reservation life during the termination era of the 1940s and 1950s. Termination deprived thousands of people access to Indian Health Service medical care, educational assistance, and other services and led to a direct attack on several reservation governments that federal officials should be “free” of federal protection. Because their private state holdings became subject to state taxation, terminated tribes such as the Menominee and the Klamath became even more impoverished and virtually landless. Termination policies also extended state criminal and civil law to reservations under the terms of Public Law 280, passed in 1953. Under its terms, most reservation Indians in Minnesota, Nebraska, California, Oregon, and Wisconsin lost the right to police their own communities.

Termination proved to be disastrous for reservation residents. In its wake, the Kennedy and Johnson administrations began listening to American Indian calls for a return to the earliest notion of reservations: areas where self-governing tribes could live undisturbed. With reservations plagued by continuing problems of poverty and despair, Congress supported presidential initiatives by opening antipoverty programs to reservation participation. Congress also passed legislation that enabled Indian governments to contract educational programs and services formerly provided by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to determine the disposition of children in adoption and placement cases, and to compete for federal grants.

Reservation leaders responded quickly to these government initiatives and also embarked on economic-development programs ranging from tourism to attracting industry. Unfortunately, the results of these efforts have been less than successful in many instances. Strings attached to federal contracts and grants required Indian governments to spend money and administer programs in accordance with federal guidelines rather than local priorities and customs. Business partners were not always willing to make long-term investments in reservation businesses, and tribes often lacked the necessary training to fulfill their goals.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Republican and Democratic administrations alike reduced federal appropriations for reservation development, and federal opposition to Indian rights increased. At the same time, federal and state agencies often restricted Indian access to off-reservation sacred sites and opposed the extension of Indian government jurisdiction to non-Indians who commit crimes on reservation land. U.S. officials have also shown a willingness to employ force to resolve disputes on reservations. In 1992, for example, armed federal agents raided six Arizona reservations, confiscating hundreds of video gambling machines and ignoring protests of the tribal governments.

Today, Indian lands, whether called reservations, rancherias, communities, or pueblos, comprise less than 2 percent of the original area. These reservations also vary widely in size and demographic composition. Today, the federal government recognizes 325 Indian land areas as reservations. The Navajo (Diné) Reservation consists of some 16 million acres in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, while others contain less than a hundred acres. Some 950,000 Indians, slightly less than 50 percent of all Indians, lived on or near reservations. About half of the land on contemporary reservations belongs to Indians; significant portions are owned and inhabited by non-Indians. The Indian-owned land is usually held “in trust” by the federal government, meaning that this property is exempt from state and county taxes and can be sold only in accordance with federal regulations.

Although both paternalism and anti-Indian racism persist, Indian governments have reinvigorated their reservations by adopting tax codes, establishing profitable enterprises, organizing courts, drafting law-and-order codes, controlling their resources, and demanding a right to worship in customary ways. Nonetheless, many small, landless, and isolated native nations have been able to gain few benefits. As a result, economic, health, and social problems still haunt many reservations. The challenge facing Indian governments and federal policymakers continues to be to devise ways of improving reservation living conditions in ways that support tribal self-government, traditional culture, and religious freedom.

Source: The following webpage resource is no longer available. http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/naind/html/na_033000_reservations.htm

Map of American Indian Reservations in the Continental United States

Source: InfoPlease, http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0778676.html

Map of the Americas

Source: http://www.coloringpages101.com/coloring-pages/usa/thamericamap_agiuc.JPG

Maps of the Bering Strait

Map of the Bering Strait Today

Source: http://media.web.britannica.com/eb-media/52/89852-004-144B7AC1.gif

Map of the Bering Strait with Ice Land Bridge

Source: http://chinese-unicorn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/image063.jpg

American Indian Versus Native American A Once-Heated Issue Has Sorted Itself Out by Borgna Brunner

Are the terms American Indian and American Indian essentially synonyms, in the same way that the terms black and African American are often used interchangeably? Or is using the term American Indian instead of American Indian the equivalent of using Negro instead of black—offensive and anachronistic? Is the insistence on using American Indian to the exclusion of all other terms a sign of being doctrinaire?

Culture Wars

While these were once raging questions in the culture wars, they have now happily sorted themselves out. Over the years, the people whom these words are meant to represent have made their preference clear: the majority of American Indians/American Indians believe it is acceptable to use either term, or both. Many have also suggested leaving such general terms behind in favor of specific tribal designations. As the publisher and editor of The Navajo Times, the largest American Indian–owned weekly newspaper, puts it, "I . . . would rather be known as, 'Tom Arviso Jr., a member of the Navajo tribe,' instead of 'Arviso, a American Indian or American Indian.' This gives an authentic description of my heritage, rather than lumping me into a whole race of people."

A Medieval Misnomer

As we learned in grade school, Indian was the name Columbus mistakenly applied to the people he encountered when he arrived in what he believed was the "Indies," the medieval name for Asia. Introduced in the 1960s, the term American Indian offered a way of eradicating confusion between the indigenous people of the Americas and the indigenous people of India. The term American Indian also served that purpose, but raised other problems: the use of Indian in any form had begun to be seen by some as pejorative.

Doing Away with Cowboy-and-Indian Stereotypes

Particularly in academic circles, the term American Indian became the preferred term of respect, and a remedy for avoiding dehumanizing stereotypes, whether of the bloodthirsty savage or the Tonto-like Noble Savage. For a time, using American Indian signaled a progressive and enlightened consciousness, in much the same way that using Asian instead of Oriental does. Use of Indian struck some as out of touch, or worse—a mark of ignorance or bigotry.

A "Generic Government Term"

But objections to the term American Indian also arose. The term struck many as dry and bureaucratic, in much the same way that some dislike the Census Bureau's use of Hispanic as an umbrella term to cover the whole of the U.S.'s diverse Spanish-speaking population. As the Bureau of Indian Affairs elaborates:

The term, 'American Indian,' came into usage in the 1960s to denote the groups served by the Bureau of Indian Affairs: American Indians and Alaska Native (Indians, Eskimos and Aleuts of Alaska). Later the term also included Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in some Federal programs. It, therefore, came into disfavor among some Indian groups. The preferred term is American Indian.

Russell Means, the late Lakota activist and founder of the American Indian Movement (AIM), strongly rejected American Indian in favor of Indian: “I abhor the term American Indian. It is a generic government term used to describe all the indigenous prisoners of the United States. These are the American Samoans, the Micronesians, the Aleuts, the original Hawaiians, and the erroneously termed Eskimos, who are actually Upiks and Inupiats. And, of course, the American Indian. I prefer the term American Indian because I know its origins . . . As an added distinction the American Indian is the only ethnic group in the United States with the American before our ethnicity . . . We were enslaved as American Indians, we were colonized as American Indians, and we will gain our freedom as American Indians, and then we will call ourselves any damn thing we choose.” (From "I am an American Indian, Not a American Indian!," a statement by Russell Means.)

Peaceful Coexistence

As The American Heritage Book of English Usage points out, "the acceptance of American Indian has not brought about the demise of Indian. Unlike Negro, which was quickly stigmatized once black became preferred, Indian never fell out of favor with a large segment of the American population."

Now almost every style and usage guide describes these terms as synonyms that can be used interchangeably. In recent decades, other terms have also come into use, including Amerindian, indigenous people, and Native, expanding the vocabulary for referring to indigenous people of the United States rather than circumscribing it. Many people will no doubt favor one appellation over another—and will have strong reasons for doing so—but such choices are (or should be) no longer accompanied by a sense of righteousness that one term is superior to the other. This simply isn't true.

"We Will Call Ourselves Any Damn Thing We Choose"

No doubt the most significant reason that an inclusive attitude toward these terms of identity has developed is their common usage among Native peoples. A 1995 Census Bureau Survey of preferences for racial and ethnic terminology (there is no more recent survey) indicated that 49% of Native people preferred being called American Indian, 37% preferred American Indian, 3.6% preferred "some other term," and 5% had no preference. As The American Heritage Guide to English Usage points out, "the issue has never been particularly divisive between Indians and non-Indians. While generally welcoming the respectful tone of American Indian, Indian writers have continued to use the older name at least as often as the newer one."

“The criticism that Indian is hopelessly tainted by the ignorant or romantic stereotypes of popular American culture can be answered, at least in part, by pointing to the continuing use of this term among American Indians themselves. Indeed, Indian authors and those sympathetic to Indian causes often prefer it for its unpretentious familiarity as well as its emotional impact, as in this passage from the Kiowa writer N. Scott Momaday's memoir The Names (1976): 'It was about this time that [my mother] began to see herself as an Indian. That dim native heritage became a fascination and a cause for her.' (From "Names and Labels: Social, Racial, and Ethnic Terms: Indian",The American Heritage Book of English Usage. A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. 1996.)

As Christina Berry, a Cherokee writer and producer of the website All Things Cherokee, counsels: “In the end, the term you choose to use (as an Indian or non-Indian) is your own personal choice. Very few Indians that I know care either way. The recommended method is to refer to a person by their tribe, if that information is known. The reason is that the Native peoples of North America are incredibly diverse. It would be like referring both a Romanian and an Irishman as European. . . . [W]henever possible an Indian would prefer to be called a Cherokee or a Lakota or whichever tribe they belong to. This shows respect because not only are you sensitive to the fact that the terms Indian, American Indian, and American Indian are an over simplification of a diverse ethnicity, but you also show that you listened when they told what tribe they belonged to. When you don't know the specific tribe simply use the term which you are most comfortable using. The worst that can happen is that someone might correct you and open the door for a thoughtful debate on the subject of political correctness and its impact on ethnic identity. What matters in the long run is not which term is used but the intention with which it is used.” (From What's in a Name? Indians and Political Correctness by Christina Berry, All Things Cherokee.)

Source: http://www.infoplease.com/spot/aihmterms.html

Are You Teaching the True Thanksgiving Story?

by Gary Hopkins,Education World ® Editor-in-Chief

Are you teaching the True Thanksgiving story or is the version you're passing on to your students a blend of fact and myth? Are you ready to set the record straight?

"I propose that there may be a good deal that many of us do not know about our Thanksgiving holiday and also about the 'First Thanksgiving' story," says Chuck Larsen in the introduction to Teaching About Thanksgiving. "I also propose that what most of us have learned about the Pilgrims and the Indians who were at the first Thanksgiving at Plymouth Plantation is only part of the truth."

"When you build a lesson on only half of the information, then you are not teaching the whole truth," Larsen adds.

Larsen seems to know of what he speaks. As a public school teacher, a historian, and an American of Indian heritage, Larsen has always had a difficult time teaching about the Thanksgiving holiday.

"Every year I have been faced with the professional and moral dilemma of just how to be honest and informative with my children at Thanksgiving without passing on historical distortions, and racial and cultural stereotypes," Larsen says in his introduction.

"The problem is that part of what you and I learned in our childhood about the 'Pilgrims' and 'Squanto' and the 'First Thanksgiving' is a mixture of both history and myth," Larsen continues. "But the theme of Thanksgiving has truth and integrity far above and beyond what we and our forebearers have made of it. Thanksgiving is a bigger concept than just the story of the founding of Plymouth Plantation."

Larsen goes on to try to sort out the myth from the true history in his introduction to "Teaching About Thanksgiving," a project of The Fourth World Documentation Project of The Center for World Indigenous Studies. The project includes an accurate telling of "The Plymouth Thanksgiving Story" along with study and discussion questions, ideas for enrichment, art projects, and authentic recipes -- all intended to enable teachers to accurately portray the events surrounding the first Thanksgiving.

In closing his introduction, Larsen provokes with a question: "What started as an inspirational bit of New England folklore soon grew into the full-fledged American

Thanksgiving we now know... But was [that 'First Thanksgiving'] really our first Thanksgiving?"

"There really was a true Thanksgiving story of Plymouth Plantation," Larsen says. "But I strongly suggest that there has always been a Thanksgiving story of some kind or other for as long as there have been human beings. There was also a 'First' Thanksgiving in America, but it was celebrated thirty thousand years ago…Every last Thursday in November we now partake in one of the oldest and most universal of human celebrations, and there are many Thanksgiving stories to tell."

Stereotypes, For Example

"Teaching About Thanksgiving" offers a handful of the "old stereotypes" that are often reinforced in classrooms across the United States. According to the article, "If you enact the story of the first thanksgiving as a pageant or drama in your classroom, here are some things to consider:

"Indians should wear appropriate clothing. NO WARBONNETS! A blanket draped over one shoulder is accurate for a simple outfit.

"Squanto and Samoset spoke excellent English. Other Indians would have said things in the Algonkian language.

"These people were noted for their formal speaking style. "Indians in the Woodlands area did not have tipis or horses, so these should not

be part of any scenery or backdrop. "Any food served should be authentic. The following would be appropriate: corn

soup, succotash, white fish, red meat, various fowl (turkey, partridge, duck), berries (including whole cranberries), maple sugar candies, corn starch candy (believe it or not, candy corn is almost authentic except for the colored dyes), watercress, any kind of bean (red, black, green, pinto), squash…."

Larsen has detractors...

Caleb Johnson, creator of the MayflowerHistory.com Web pages, claims that Larsen's "Teaching About Thanksgiving" contains many factual errors. Among the facts above disputed by Johnson is the idea that "Squanto and Samoset spoke excellent English." They spoke broken English at best, Johnson writes.

In Thanksgiving on the Net: Roast Bull with Cranberry Sauce, Jeremy Bangs makes an effort to sift through the "more than two hundred websites that 'correct' our assumptions about Thanksgiving" and set the record straight. "Setting people straight about

Thanksgiving myths has become as much a part of the annual holiday as turkey, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie," he writes.

The American Indian Perspective

"Young children's conceptions of American Indians often develop out of media portrayals and classroom role playing of the events of the First Thanksgiving. That conception of American Indians gained from such early exposure is both inaccurate and potentially damaging to others," says Debbie Reese in "Teaching Young Children About American Indians," an ERIC Digest (May 1996).

For example, a visitor to a child care center heard a four-year-old saying, "Indians aren't people. They're all dead." "This child," Reese says, "had already acquired an inaccurate view of American Indians, even though her classmates were children of many cultures, including a American Indian child."

"By failing to challenge existing biases we allow children to adopt attitudes based on inaccuracies," Reese continues.

"Most of the commercially prepared teaching materials available present a generalized image of American Indian people with little or no regard for differences that exist from tribe to tribe," Reese adds. "Many popular children's authors unwittingly perpetuate stereotypes. Richard Scarry's books frequently contain illustrations of animals dressed in buckskin and feathers, while Mercer Mayer's alphabet book includes an alligator dressed as an Indian."

Teaching Suggestions: Positive Strategies

A number of positive strategies can be used in classrooms, writes Reese.

1. "Provide knowledge about contemporary American Indians to balance historical information. Teaching about American Indians exclusively from a historical perspective may perpetuate the idea that they exist only in the past.

2. "Prepare units about specific tribes rather than units about "American Indians." For example, develop a unit about the people of Nambe Pueblo, the Turtle Mountain Chippewa, the Potawotami. Ideally, choose a tribe with a historical or contemporary role in the local community. Such a unit will provide children with culturally specific knowledge (pertaining to a single group) rather than overgeneralized stereotypes.

3. "Locate and use books that show contemporary children of all colors engaged in their usual, daily activities (for example, playing basketball or riding bicycles)

as well as traditional activities. Make the books easily accessible to children throughout the school year. Three excellent titles on the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico are Pueblo Storyteller by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith; Pueblo Boy: Growing Up In Two Worlds by Marcia Keegan; and Children of Clay by Rina Swentzell.

4. "Cook ethnic foods but be careful not to imply that all members of a particular group eat a specific food.

5. "Be specific about which tribes use particular items, when discussing cultural artifacts (such as clothing or housing) and traditional foods. The Plains tribes use feathered headdresses, for example, but not all other tribes use them.

6. "Critique a Thanksgiving poster depicting the traditional, stereotyped Pilgrim and Indian figures, especially when teaching older elementary school children. Take care to select a picture that most children are familiar with, such as those shown on grocery bags or holiday greeting cards. Critically analyze the poster, noting the many tribes the artist has combined into one general image that fails to provide accurate information about any single tribe.

7. "At Thanksgiving, shift the focus away from reenacting the 'First Thanksgiving.' Instead, focus on items children can be thankful for in their own lives, and on their families' celebrations of Thanksgiving at home."

"Besides using these strategies in their classrooms, teachers need to educate themselves," Reese continues. "Stereotyping is not always obvious to people surrounded by mainstream culture. Numerous guidelines have been prepared to aid in the selection of materials that work against stereotypes."

"Much remains to be done to counter stereotypes of American Indians learned by young children in our society," writes Reese in the conclusion to her ERIC Digest. "Teachers must provide accurate instruction not only about history but also about the contemporary lives of American Indians."

Source: http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr040

Historic Florida Indians by Jerry Wilkinson

From the beginning, the human race has progressed to higher and more efficient life styles. The various Indian cultures banded together into what we now call tribes. Those that were here when Columbus made his voyage are referred to as historic Indians or pre-Columbian Indians. Therefore, with the arrival of the white man and his written language, out went the prehistoric times and in came the historic times. Fragments of written evidence, such as hand written ships logs and guides (derroteros) began to appear.

At the beginning of the historic period, in 1492 AD, it is conservatively estimated that there were about 100,000 Indians living in Florida. Some estimate as many as 350,000. Accepting the first estimate, the distribution is thought of as this: Timucuans in the northeast, 40,000; Apalachee and Pensacola in the northwest, 25,000; Tocobaga in the west-central, 8,000; Calusa in the southwest, 20,000; Tequesta in the southeast, 5,000; Jeaga, Jobe and Ais in the east-central, 2,000. There were others, as well as sub-groups; i.e., Saturiwa, Santaluces, Boca Ratones, Tocobaga, etc. By the late 1700s, it is thought that all of these indigenous Indians were gone. Also, note that there is no mention of the Seminoles, as they did not enter Florida until the early 1700s.

Please be aware that all these Indian names, and those given later, were names given by their so-called educated new world explorers, primarily Europeans. The presumed names would be recorded phonetically by each writer. Even the Seminoles, who are not indigenous Florida Indians, never did - and still do not – call themselves when speaking privately among themselves.

There exists considerable debate about which historic Indians were the early inhabitants of the Keys. Historians are relatively certain that the Florida West Coast Calusa was dominant and exercised political control over the east coast Tequesta’s. However, the two tribe’s pottery differs and fragments of pottery found in the Keys often indicate presence of the Tequesta, but the living areas (middens) were shell mounds indicating Calusa. There is also mounting evidence that the Caribbean Island Indians may have also inhabited the Keys. The present archaeological evidence is not conclusive, other than the general reference by European travelers to the Matecumbes as the Keys Indians.

Another explanation is that the Calusa was actually a confederation of other tribes including the Tequesta, Ais, Jeaga and others. All of these major tribes are thought to have been composed of sub-tribes usually named after their respective chiefs, possibly giving rise to names like Matecumbes, Bahiahondas and Biscaynos. The latter were the names prevalently used by the early European travelers to the Keys and the former names to those of the mainland. This compares with a person who could be described

as Irish, American, Floridian, Dade Countian and Miamian, but there is still only one person. Ethnology deals with not only the place of origin, but with subsequent divisions and distributions.

I recommend that the serious Florida Keys’ Indian student consult the 1991 and 1994 published books by John Hann titled Missions to the Calusa, Tacachale edited by Milanich and Proctor, and Florida’s First People by robin C. Brown. One problem that I found was when the Spanish used the word transcribed as “Cayo or Key”, how does one know if it is the Monroe County Keys or some other Florida Key such as those on Florida’s west coast. The only time I feel certain is when they refer to the Martyrs. Often the term “Keys Indians” included the Calusa, Tequesta and other south Florida Indians.

The Spanish did most of the early historic writings of the Keys and the following is presented to introduce the Indian/Spanish attitude in these early times.

When Christopher Columbus made his second voyage to Cuba in 1494 with his son Diego as second in charge, the Indians were absolutely friendly. Seventeen years later, when Diego sent Diego Velasquez to Cuba, he was greeted with a cloud of arrows. Chief Hatuey had crossed the Windward Passage from Hispaniola to Cuba and had informed the local natives how terribly the Spanish in Hispaniola were treating the Indians.

Ponce de Leon was not treated as badly by the Florida Indians on his first trip in 1513 as he was on his second voyage in 1521. It is generally assumed that Spanish slave ships had visited the Florida coast in between de Leon’s voyages and had alienated the Indians.

The slavers were visiting the Americas as early as 1502. It was reported that the Indians screamed Spanish words at Ponce de Leon on his second trip. How else could they have so quickly learned Spanish words?

Anyway, relations between the Indians and the Spanish went from bad to worse as time passed, although it was not always predictable. There were many mixed stories. In 1565, Pedro Menendez on his first trip rescued Spanish survivors who had lived with the Calusa for 20 years. They had survived the supposedly one-a-year sacrifices to the gods. Hernando de Soto, in 1539, found Juan Ortiz near Tampa. Ortiz had been allowed to live by the intercession of Tocobagan Chief Ucita’s daughter and had even been traded among tribes. (This was 68 years before the John Smith-Pocahontas even at Jamestown.) On the east coast of Florida, a silversmith was allegedly spared to fashion silver articles for his captors from salvaged shipwrecks.

It seemed that when European explorers landed on the Florida coasts in the 1500s, the very first thing they did was to kill somebody. The Spanish, French and English killed each other if no one else was available. The Indians came to expect this from the Europeans. This made it very difficult and dangerous for innocent shipwreck victims and missionaries to survive at the hands of the wary Indians.

One of the better documented accounts of the early Indians is found in the memoirs of Hernando d’Escalante Fontaneda, who was shipwrecked around 1549 when he was 13 years old. He was taken captive by the Florida Indians and lived with them for 17 years before being released and returned to Spain. Some seven years later, the mature Fonteneda wrote his memoirs, which have been translated into English.

We are not sure of the located where he was shipwrecked, how he survived and the exact extent of his travels, although they were quite extensive. However, Fontaneda does give an understandable description of the Keys (islands nearer to the mainland) and even names the two villages of Cuchiyaga and Guarugunbe. (Variations of these two names appear in many early Spanish maritime records.) He gave a few hints of where they were located. He knew the ocean channels and understood the position of the Keys in respect to Cuba and the Bahamas. References were made to the Calusas, the Tequestas and the Lake of Mayaima, et cetera, but he does not name the Keys’ group of Indians specifically.

Another account is the Jonathan Dickinson Journal first published by the Quakers in 1699. Jonathan Dickinson, his wife and infant son, and a party of about 20 in all were shipwrecked on the Florida East Coast in 1696. He recounts their harrowing journey from Indian village to village to reach St. Augustine. Copies of both are in most libraries.

For Keys history, the American Indians that were here started the wrecking industry, an industry that was continued into the late 1800s. They salvaged the crews, cargoes and flotsam of wrecked ships. About all that changed when the Bahamians and Americans become involved were the methods and means of disposal.

There is also a petition to Spain by Pedro Menendez in 1573 of an incident with the Matecumbe Indians. Eight Spanish were killed and one was spared. He was kept as a slave and fed by an Indian friend. Who were the Matecumbes? Were they Tequesta, Calusa, or a separate group? One explanation is that every time a Spanish group met a group of Indians, regardless of size, they gave them names.

By the 1600s the word was out and the Indians were smarter. For one thing, they were trading with the Spanish much more. Gonzalez de Barcia reported they were selling cardinals (the red birds) to the Spanish crews for $6 and $10 apiece. European diseases were by now taking a heavy toll on the indigenous Indians who possessed no

immunity, even to the simplest European diseases. Spanish fishermen from Cuba began to fish cooperatively with the Native Floridians. Soon a sizable trade industry existed between the two cultures.

In 1711, the Catholic Bishop in Havana sent two ships under Captain Luis Perdomo to rescue Indians of the Keys. Havana had received word that British backed Indians from North Florida were destroying South Florida villages and selling the Indians as slaves. These northern Indians were most likely portions of the Creek Confederacy, later known as the Seminoles. Captain Perdomo brought back 270 indigenous Indians, but said he would have brought more than 2,000 had he had the vessels. Of the 270 refugees, 200 died of European diseases in Cuba and 18 returned to Florida. In 1743, another attempt was made, but the priests did about as much harm as good. The priests admitted setting fire to an Indian house of worship and to committing other acts against perceived idolatry, but the Indians stood fast in their beliefs.

In 1743, Spain sent Fathers Josephs Alana and Monaco to the Florida Keys as missionaries. After stopping at Cayo de Guessos (Key West) and Cayo Frances (Indian Key), they settled at the mouth of the Miami River. In truth, Virginia Key and Key Biscayne are Florida Keys. The next year the mission was canceled. The Spanish had been bringing “Keys Indians” to Havana since 1704 and they either died of “scattered until they returned to the Keys.”

The last major exodus occurred when the Spanish traded Florida to England. Bernard Romans wrote in 1763 about 80 indigenous Florida Indian families who had fled from the Keys on a ship bound for Havana. Present documentation seems to suggest that the embarkation occurred from St. Augustine. Some of these may have returned later to form the “Spanish Indians.” Some may have hidden in the Everglades.

The Florida Indians, indigenous and immigrant (Seminole), were being annihilated in Florida by disease, by the white man or by their own kind. Over a century later in 1880, it is reported that only 208 Seminoles remained and the Seminoles themselves had been immigrants to Florida for no more than two centuries.

In summary, indigenous natives lived in the Keys until early 1700. They shared the Keys with the Creeks, later to be known as Seminoles, until around 1770. Afterwards, the Keys were primarily used by the Seminoles. NOTE: In 1771, the Florida Creeks and their associates began to be referred to as Seminoles.

Source: http://www.keyshistory.org/histindians.html

American Indian Culture Areas, Maps, Descriptions and Representative Photographs and Images

In the study of American Indians, it is common to divide the Americas into geographic regions known as culture areas. Since the environment determines many ways of life, tribes within each culture area often share a significant number of cultural characteristics (e.g., methods of obtaining food such as hunting or farming; types of housing; types of clothing).

The number of cultural areas for American Indians in North America varies from one reference to another. The culture areas often include: Eastern Woodlands (often divided by Southeast and Northeast tribes); Plains; Southwest; California Intermountain; Northwest Coast; and Arctic and Subarctic. See the maps that follow.

The following pages include background information and representative photos and images of four major culture groups: Southwest, Eastern Woodlands, Northwest Coast and Plains.

Students interested in studying other culture areas and the tribes found within them are encouraged to explore the following websites:

http://www.american-indians.net/cultures.htmhttp://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/native-american-cultures

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award98/ienhtml/tribes.html

Culture Area Map

Source: http://www.ri.net/schools/Glocester/WGES/Rsrcpgs/NA/Images/map5.jpg

Source: http://www.worldmapsonline.com/UnivHist/30014_6.gifCulture Area - Southwest Tribes

The Native Americans from the southwest region of the United States inhabited in the present-day states of New Mexico, South Colorado, Arizona, and northern Mexico. The Apache, Hopi, Navajo, Pueblo, and Zuni tribes were the predominant tribes that made up the Southwest Indians.

Although the environment in the southwest is dry, with occasional droughts, the soil is fertile. This allowed the Southwest Indians to cultivate the land using their indigenous techniques of dry farming and irrigation.

The Zuni population lived mainly in New Mexico. The tribe was renowned for its ceremonial dances. The Pueblo, on the other hand, were primarily sedentary farmers who also excelled in pottery, textiles, as well as construction of underground chambers known as 'Kivas', which they used for religious ceremonies. The Apache Indians were hunters and gatherers who were skilled in horticulture. They were famous for their fighting prowess, and presently, they have a sizable population in Arizona and New Mexico.

The Navajo Indians, or Dine, were by far the largest tribe of them all, and they were some of the first farmers who cultivated melons, beans, and corn. They lived in houses called 'Hogans', which were made of wooden barks and mud. The door of a Hogan always faced east, to welcome the rising sun.

The Hopi Indians descended from the Pueblos, but they have a unique language. Presently, they reside in Arizona's Black Mesa. Traditionally, after a baby was born, the naming responsibility would be given to the village elders. Then, the baby would be carried to a cliff and named when the light of the rising sun touched the baby. The Hopis were also expert craftsmen who were known for their exquisitely crafted 'Kachinas', which were wooden dolls dressed in masks and costumes. The basket-making techniques that they used several centuries ago are still being applied today.

The Southwest Indians used to wear dresses that were made of flowers and feathers. Besides their unique clothing, their skills in pottery, basket-making, and other crafts made them stand out from the other Native American tribes. Turquoise stones were considered sacred objects among the Southwest Indians, and they were used to promote happiness, health, and prosperity.

Source: http://tribaldirectory.com/information/southwest-indians.html

Culture Area - Southwest Tribes continued

Zuni men

Source: http://www.archives.gov/research/native-americans/pictures/

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Navajo woman and children

Source: http://www.archives.gov/research/native-americans/pictures/

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Apache bride

Source: http://www.archives.gov/research/native-americans/pictures/

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Taos Pueblo in New Mexico

Source: http://www.archives.gov/research/native-americans/pictures/

Culture Area - Southwest Tribes continued

Apache dwelling

Source: http://www.archives.gov/research/native-americans/pictures/

Culture Area - Eastern Woodlands

The Eastern Woodland Indians are Native Americans that inhabit the eastern part of the United States. In some cases, this group of Indians has been known to live in northwestern states such as Tennessee and Kentucky. The lifestyle of this tribe is similar to the life of other Indians. Traditionally, Eastern Woodland Indians live in log homes. Since Native Americans are hard-workers, they build their own homes from trees, bark, and grass. Some homes are also constructed from twigs, branches, and mud-clay. Husbands and fathers are the primary builders. Older children may assist with building, wherein fathers can train their sons. Normally, women do not participate in building homes. However, they may assist the project by gathering materials.

Eastern Woodland Indians kill and prepare their own food. Along with home construction, fathers also teach their sons how to hunt and fish. The typical diet consists of animal meat such as deer, rabbit, bison, and bear. Additionally, the Indians enjoyed a host of delicious nuts, berries, beans, and vegetables (corn and squash). Both males and females worked in the fields. With their young children attached to their back, mothers would plant seeds and harvest the fields. There was no need to water the fields. For this matter, the Eastern Woodland Indians relied on water from the sky.

This particular Indian tribe spoke several different languages and dialects. However, their cultural beliefs and way of life are the same. Some of the different languages include Iroquoian and Algonquian languages. Additionally, there were many groups such as the Cayuga, Mohawk, Onondaga, and Seneca tribes. Since the Eastern Woodland Indians reside in the forest, they have uncovered many different uses for wood. Today, the Woodland Indians take advantage of forest wood, and it is primarily used for houses, canoes, cooking utensils, hunting equipment, etc.

Source: http://www.indians.org/articles/eastern-woodland-indians.html

Culture Area - Eastern Woodlands continued

Iroquois men

Source: http://www.google.com/search?q=eastern+woodland+indians+photos&safe=active&rlz=1C1CHMI_enUS332US332&es_sm=

Culture Area - Eastern Woodlands continued

Cherokee hunter

Source: http://www.google.com/search?q=eastern+woodland+indians+photos&safe=active&rlz=1C1CHMI_enUS332US332&es_sm=

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Chippewa mother and child

Source: http://www.google.com/search?q=eastern+woodland+indians+photos&safe=active&rlz=1C1CHMI_enUS332US332&es_sm=

Culture Area – Eastern Woodlands continued

Wampanoag wigwam

Source: http://www.google.com/search?q=eastern+woodland+indians+photos&safe=active&rlz=1C1CHMI_enUS332US332&es_sm=

Culture Area – Eastern Woodlands continued

Iroquois Longhouse

Source: http://portfolio.educ.kent.edu/mcclellandr/zackthezipper/easternwoodland.htm

Longhouse Interior

Source:http://www.google.com/search?q=eastern+woodland+indians+photos&safe=active&rlz=1C1CHMI_enUS332US332&es

_sm=

Culture Area - Northwest Coast Tribes

Northwest Coast Indians were found in Oregon, Washington, and even as far north as Alaska. Some of the tribes that inhabited those states were the Bella Coola, Haida, Kwakiuts, Makah, Nez Perce, Nisqualli, Nootka, Quinault, Puyallup, Salish, Snohomish, Spokane, Shuswap, Swinomish, Tlingit, and Tsimshian.

The Northwest Coast Indians were considered rich compared to the other Indian nations. They were considered rich because they had both an abundance of food and sturdy shelter. As with most tribes, the women did chores each day. This included weaving baskets and mats, collecting berries, making clothing, and cleaning house. The men’s day consisted of hunting and fishing. The Northwest Coast Indians built canoes from cedar trees. The tribe split trees in two, which was perfect for making a canoe. The canoes were 50 feet long and could hold up to 20 warriors and 10,000 pounds of fish.

The Northwest Coast Indians did not live in teepees like other tribes, but built longhouses out of wide cedar planks. These longhouses could be very large and if it was built by the tribe, the chief was in charge of assigning who lived in each longhouse. If it was built by an individual, he and his family lived in that longhouse. However, if the owner of the house died, it was often burned to the ground for fear of the owner’s spirit haunting the family if they remained in the house.

The Northwest Coast Indians used totem poles to tell stories, but they did not create the first totem poles. Totem poles were brought to them through trade and they loved them so, they started creating their own. Because the Northwest Coast Indians had no written language, the totem poles were a very important part of their culture. The totem poles allowed them to record stories, legends, and myths through images.

Source: http://www.indians.org/articles/northwest-coast-indians.html

Culture Area – Northwest Coast continued

Tlingit men in ceremonial dress

Source: http://www.sheldonmuseum.org/_images/_images_Vignettes/potlatch_sitka.jpg

Culture Area – Northwest Coast continued

Chilkat Men

Source: http://media.web.britannica.com/eb-media/25/132625-004-839524AA.jpg

Culture Area – Northwest Coast continued

Tlingit man and woman

Source: http://www.historynotes.info/the-indians-of-american-northwest-coast-1384/

Culture Area – Northwest Coast continued

Tsimshian children

Source: http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/images/firstnations/teachers_guide/northwest_coast/children_tsim.jpg

Culture Area – Northwest Coast continued

Haida house and totem poles

Source: http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Haida_Houses.jpg

Culture Area – Plains Tribes

The Plains Indians got their name because they lived among the Great Plains of the United States. This vast expansion of land extended all the way from Mississippi to the mountains of Canada. In order to survive, the Plains Indians hunted buffalo as their main source of food. They would typically surround the buffalo on horse, until the group of Indians drove it to run off of a cliff. At that point, the buffalo would be dead and ready for consumption. Not only was hunting an integral part of Plains Indians’ life, religion was as well.

The worship of the Great Spirit was key to their beliefs. A dance performed called the Sun Dance was a way to show respect and love for their God. This dance would often take place over the span of four days; much of it spent staring up at the sun.

The use of shamans was also a large part of the Plains Indians way of life. These shamans were like medicine men, which tended to the sick and made up medicinal concoctions. Many times they would simply approach the sick person and try to convince them that were not really sick. Other times, they would attempt to use natural medicines by combining fruits and vegetables into a sort of potion believed to promote healing. The Earth was considered the Plains Indians’ female God, and so all of her rich resources were utilized in some way. Usually the men would be assigned to hunt, traveling in groups wielding shields, arrows, and handmade knives and swords. The men’s shields often had various symbols on them such as animals, feathers, and stones which were used to represent protection. The women would stay back at the camp, watching the children, weaving blankets, and cooking. Overall, Plains Indians life was efficient, spiritual, and integral to Native American history.

Source: indians.org/articles/plains-indians.html

Culture Area – Plains Tribes continued

Sioux Warriors

Source: http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/images/firstnations/teachers_guide/plains/siouxwarriors.jpg

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Plains men (tribe unknown)

Source: http://www.google.com/search?q=plains+indians&rlz=1C2CHMI_enUS332&biw=1024&bih=677&source=lnms&tbm=isch&s

Culture Area – Plains Tribes continued

Sioux family in traditional dress

Source: http://www.google.com/search?q=plains+indians&rlz=1C2CHMI_enUS332&biw=1024&bih=677&source=lnms&tbm=isch&s

Culture Area – Plains Tribes continued

Plains woman and children (tribe unknown)

Source: http://www.google.com/search?q=plains+indians&rlz=1C2CHMI_enUS332&biw=1024&bih=677&source=lnms&tbm=isch&s

Culture Area – Plains Tribes continued

Crow mother and child

Source: http://www.google.com/search?q=plains+indians&rlz=1C2CHMI_enUS332&biw=1024&bih=677&source=lnms&tbm=isch&s

Culture Area – Plains Tribes continued

Plains tepee (tribe unknown)

Source: http://www.google.com/search?q=plains+indians&rlz=1C2CHMI_enUS332&biw=1024&bih=677&source=lnms&tbm=isch&s

Culture Area – Plains Tribes continued

Pawnee lodge

Source: http://www.google.com/search?q=plains+indians&rlz=1C2CHMI_enUS332&biw=1024&bih=677&source=lnms&tbm=isch&s

Culture Area – Plains Tribes continued

Plains travois (tepee poles attached to the horse and used as a way of carrying possessions)

Source: http://www.google.com/search?q=plains+indians&rlz=1C2CHMI_enUS332&biw=1024&bih=677&source=lnms&tbm=isch&s

Ideas for Teaching About American Indians

The study of American Indian people and their cultures is a challenge because of the stereotypes that exist, not only in the literature, but in our own minds and in those of the children we teach. Many studies of Indians leave students convinced that all Indians lived in tepees then and still do or that they were all wiped out, not that our ancestors didn’t try.

Displays - Get out all the Indian paraphernalia you can find: the models, the novels, the picture books, the maps, the reference materials, the clothing, the handwork. Make a bulletin board entitled: “Learning About the First Americans.” Put photographs and prints of American Indians today and yesterday on the bulletin board. Later, as the various groups get their research questions formulated, put the questions on and around the bulletin board and display areas. Leave another bulletin board blank except for the title statement, “Did You Know That …?” As the children find interesting facts in their research, they can print the fact on some appropriately decorated sentence strip and place it on the bulletin board.

Picture Book Starters - Start with a picture book at each grade level. Challenge yourself to use a different one with each group, designed to help focus their thinking on American Indians. Some suggestions include:

Where the Buffaloes Begin, Olaf Baker, Penguin ISBN 0140505601, paperback

Buffalo Woman, Paul Goble, Bradbury ISBN 0027377202, library binding

The Gift of the Sacred Dog, Macmillan ISBN 0020432801, paperback

Girl Who Loved Wild Horses,, Bradbury ISBN 0027365700, hardcover

The Desert is Theirs, Byrd Baylor, Macmillan ISBN 0689711050, paperback

Hawk I’m Your Brother, Macmillan ISBN0689711026, paperback

When Clay Sings, Macmillan ISBN 0689711069, paperback

Knots on a Counting Rope, Bill Martin, Jr., Holt ISBN 0805005714, library binding

The Goat in the Rug, Charles Blood, Alladin ISBN 0689714181, paperback

Annie and the Old One, Little ISBN 0316571172, library binding

Look at the art motifs as shown in these books, particularly those by Goble. Compare them to those in pictures and objects of handwork by American Indians. Look at prints of work by Remington and decide how they portrayed the Indian.

The Term “American Indians” - Before we go any further, what about the name, “American Indians”? I know people that prefer that reference and others who prefer the

term “Indian.” Who started each name? What do the people near you prefer? What do the various tribes call themselves? For example, the Navajo have no “v” sound in their language. What do they call themselves?

Gathering Information - What do your kids know about America’s first people? Get them listing the things they know. Write down everything they give you without comment. You’ll get lots of misconceptions as well as some facts and understandings. Display their comments on newsprint or on the overhead so that all can see. Together, categorize the facts into groups. If children point out contradictions, circle the facts in question.

Make a similar listing of things the children want to know about the subject of American Indians. Again, together with the children, organize the questions into logical groupings.

Look at your own area. What tribes lived there? Are there any of that tribe still living? What do they do? Where do they live? Make a list of the places and things in your area that have Indian names.

Nonfiction - Get on with the study by getting out all the good non-fiction on American Indians such as the series on the various tribes published by Chelsea House. Don’t neglect other great non-fiction, such as:

Only the Names Remain, Alex Bealer, Econoclad ISBN 0785790640, hardcover

Indian Chiefs, Russell Freedman, Holiday ISBN 0823406253, library binding

The Apache, Patricia McKissack, Childrens ISBN 0516419250, out of print

The Cheyenne, Dennis Fradin, Childrens ISBN 0516412116, paperback

The Choctaw, E. Lepthien, Childrens ISBN 0516012401, library binding

Sitting Bull and the Plains Indians, Watts ISBN 0531181022, out of print

The Story of Wounded Knee, R. Stein, Childrens ISBN 0516446657, paperback

Have some children write to the Council for Indian Education, 517 Rimrock Rd, Billings, Montana 59107. The group publishes books and pamphlets on American Indians by American Indians.

Look at such books as Happily May I Walk by Arlene Hirschfelder (Scribners, 1986 ISBN 0684186241. (Out of Print.), as well as Byrd Baylor’s books listed previously for a look at Indians of today to dispel prejudices and misconceptions about American Indians.

Make charts such as the following to organize the information:

TRIBE LOCATIONS TRADITIONALHOUSING

TRADITIONALCLOTHING

FAMOUSINDIVIDUALS

POPULATIONTHEN/NOW

Famous American Indians - Children can research the lives of some famous Indians and make posters on their lives and accomplishments. Some possibilities include: Maria Tallchief, Jim Thorpe, Sitting Bull, Geronimo, Sequoyah, Sacajawea, Crazy Horse, Chief Joseph, Squanto, Black Hawk and Pocahontas. Speaking of the latter, don’t miss Jean Fritz’s Double Life of Pocahontas (Penguin, 1987 ISBN 0399210164, hardcover). Look at some while people whose lives impacted on the Indians such as: Andrew Jackson, James Buchanan, Kit Carson, Buffalo Bill, Daniel Boone, William Bradford, Davy Crockett, George Catlin, Marcus Whitman, Peter Minuit, Jim Bridger, and Jeddediah Strong Smith. Debate such questions as: Did this person help the white settlers, the Indians, him or herself or a combination of people? Should today’s American Indians be proud of or grateful to this person? Why or why not? How did the railroad, the Civil War and the Pony Express affect the lives of Indians?

Indian Mythology - Get out some of the books on Indian mythology such as John Bierhorst’s The Girl Who Married a Ghost and Other Tales from the North American Indian (Macmillan, 1978 ISBN 0027097404, paperback) and Gretchen Mayo’s Star Tales: North American Indian Stories About the Stars (Walker, 1987 ISBN 0802766730, paperback) and compare some of their tales with those of the Greeks and Romans. Compare creation stories from American Indian cultures as well as others.

Poetry and Prose by American Indians - Also have some of the beautiful prose and poetry of American Indian’s such as that in John Bierhorst’s In the Trail of the Wind: American Indian Poems and Ritual Orations (Farrar, 1971 ISBN 0374336407, paperback). Children can copy some of them on to paper painted to look like birch bark.

Novels - Don’t neglect the longer works of fiction involving American Indians. There are Lynn Banks’ books The Indian in the Cupboard (Avon ISBN 0380600129, paperback), The Return of the Indian (Avon ISBN 0380702843, paperback), and Secret of the Indian (Doubleday ISBN 0385262922, paperback) of course, already wildly popular with children at many grade levels. What do some American Indians think about these books by an English author? Is there a prejudice evident in her making them into tiny plastic characters?

Some children will enjoy Jean George’s The Talking Earth (Harper, 1987 ISBN 0064402126, paperback). It’s the story of a young Seminole girl who is sent into the

Everglades as part of a rite of passage. The stay turns into an ordeal as the intended three week vigil turns into 13 weeks.

Jamake Highwater has written some wonderful books on American Indian cultures. His Legend Days (Harper, 1984 ISBN 0060223030, out of print) is about an Indian girl fleeing from an outbreak of smallpox who has a vision which fills her with power.

Contrast the nonfictional Only the Names Remain, listed previously, with Scott O’Dell’s Sing Down the Moon, the story of the Navajo’s forced Long Walk as seen through Bright Morning and her husband, Tall Boy.

A different look is given to Joyce Rockwood’s Groundhog’s Horse (Holt, 1978 ISBN 0805011730, paperback). When this eleven year old Cherokee boy’s horse is stolen by the Creeks, he resolves to get it back and does so in spite of the lack of support from his tribe.

Comparing Information - Compare the information gained in the fictional works with that of the non-fiction. Investigate any discrepancies.

Speaking of discrepancies, hand out copies of that first “report” you did at the beginning. Let children circle any misconceptions or inaccuracies in their first thoughts about American Indians to see what they have learned in the past few weeks.

Source: The original article by Carol Otis Hurst, from which this material was taken, first appeared in the Library Corner column of Teaching K-8 Magazine.

Lesson Plans and Classroom Activities for the

Elementary Classroom American Indian Stereotypes – Primary and Intermediate

Early American Indian History – Primary and Intermediate

Florida’s American Indians - Intermediate

Where Did Florida’s American Indians Live? Map and Timeline Activity – Intermediate

Compare and Contrast the Miccosukee and Seminole Indian Tribes of Florida – Intermediate

American Indian Stories - Legends and Myths – Primary and Intermediate

The Real Thanksgiving Story – Primary and Intermediate

GRADE LEVEL: Social Studies – Elementary - Primary and Intermediate Grades

TITLE: American Indian Stereotypes

OBJECTIVES:

1. The students will define “stereotype” and recognize the stereotypes that are often used to portray American Indians and their cultures.

2. The students will identify American Indian tribes and research their lifestyles.

SUGGESTED TIME: 60 minutes

DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES:

TEACHER’S NOTE: This lesson addresses the stereotypes often associated with American Indians. A stereotype is defined as an oversimplified image of a person or group. Stereotypes are often used to describe a person or group’s gender, race, national origin, culture, and other factors. However, these characteristics tend to be oversimplifications of the groups involved. For example, someone may see images of Plains Indians of the 1800s hunting buffalo and living in teepees and wrongly conclude that all tribes lived similar lifestyles. Stereotyping such as this doesn’t account for diversity within groups and may result in stigmatization and discrimination of groups if the stereotypes linked to them are largely negative. Even so-called positive stereotypes can be harmful due to their limiting nature.

1. Begin this lesson by asking students to draw a picture of an American Indian, their home, and their surroundings. The students will likely draw pictures that include many stereotypes and over generalizations about American Indians.

2. Ask several students to share their drawings and make a list on the board of some of the similarities seen in the students’ drawings; e.g., feathered war bonnets, bows and arrows, tepees, horses, buffalo.

3. Ask students where they learned to picture American Indians this way. Answers will likely include television and movies.

4. Explain that many of the images we see are not accurate or only accurate to a limited number of tribes; i.e., the Plains tribes whose nomadic cultures ended in the late 1800s.

National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month

5. Discuss the concept of stereotyping and use the students’ drawings to illustrate how we have learned to stereotype most American Indians from our television and movie experiences. Among the stereotypes and overgeneralizations students might have included in their drawings include:

Teepees -- Teepees were common to some Plains Indian tribes, but not to many other tribes.

War bonnets -- Some tribal leaders wore war bonnets, but not all. Not all war bonnets looked alike.

Bows and arrows -- Some tribes hunted and fought with bows and arrows, but most tribes used a wide variety of tools and weapons.

Headbands – Headbands were not typical of most tribes' dress.

Horses or buffaloes - Horses and buffalo hunting were common to only the Plains tribes.

6. To illustrate the wide variety of cultures that exist among American Indians, show students pictures of other American Indian culture groups,; e.g. Southwest, Eastern Woodlands, Northwest Coast.

TEACHER’S NOTE: Pictures depicting the cultural diversity of American Indians are provided in the Background section of this instructional resource guide. A brief description of the different cultural areas is also provided.

ASSESSMENT STRATEGY: Ask students to locate at least 3 pictures of American Indians that clearly show the diversity that existed among the tribes and cultures.

MATERIALS/AIDS NEEDED: Drawing material; photos/drawings of various American Indian tribes (provided in the Background section of this instructional resource guide).

GRADE LEVEL: Social Studies – Elementary - Primary and Intermediate Grades

TITLE: Early American Indian History

OBJECTIVES: Objectives from the Florida Standards are noted with FS.

1. The students will describe how and why the earliest American Indians migrated to the Americas.

2. The students will identify the main topic and retell key details of a text. (FS)

3. The students will ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers. (FS)

SUGGESTED TIME: 60 minutes

DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES:

TEACHER’S NOTE: Separate primary and secondary reading assignments and questions are provided for this lesson.

1. Ask students if they know who were the first people to come to the Americas? (North, Central and South America) Ask: Do you know where they came from and why they came? Explain that in today’s lesson, students will read about the earliest history of American Indians, the first inhabitants of the Americas.

2. Have students read the “Early American Indian History” reading assignment and answer the questions about the reading (provided).

3. Discuss the answers to the reading questions. To further clarify the reading, use available maps to identify: North, Central, and South America (i.e., the Americas), the Bering Strait, Asia, and Europe. Also use available maps to locate examples of different climates/environments in the Americas, particularly North America.

ASSESSMENT STRATEGY: Completion of the reading and questions.

MATERIALS/AIDS NEEDED: “Early American Indian History” reading passages (provided); “Questions” (provided); maps of the Americas and the Bering Strait (provided in the Background section of this instructional resource guide).

SOURCE: Adapted from the on-line edition of the World Book (Advanced), 2014

National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month

Early American Indian History (Primary)

Do you know who the first people were who came to live in the North, Central, and South America? Do you know why they came here to live? Let’s read about these people to find out.

When did the American Indians come to North, Central and South America?

The people we call American Indians were the first people to live in the Americas (North America, Central America, and South America.)

They lived in the Americas for thousands of years before any people from Europe first came to this part of the world.

Scientists think the first American Indians came to the Americas from Asia at least 15,000 years ago!

Why did the first American Indians come to the Americas?

At the time the first American Indians came to the Americas, the earth was very cold. Big sheets of ice covered much of the northern part of the earth. The water between Asia and North America called the Bering Strait froze. It was covered with thick ice. It connected Asia and North America like a bridge.

Early American Indians hunted animals for food The American Indians followed the animals that they hunted across the ice. The American Indians followed the animals as they moved south.

How did the American Indians live?

Slowly, over thousands of years, American Indians moved to all parts of the Americas. The American Indians spoke many different languages and had many different ways of life. The way people live is called their culture.

Some American Indians lived in cold places. Others lived where it was very hot and dry with little rain. Others lived near forests or rivers and lakes.

Nature and the weather helped the American Indians learn the best way to live. Some learned to farm or hunt or fish. Others simply gathered food they found in nature. Some built villages or cities. Other moved throughout the year in search of food.

How did the American Indians meet people from Europe? How did this change their way of life?

Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain to the Americas in 1492. He thought he had reached India. He was really in the Caribbean islands. He called the people he met there Indians by mistake. American Indians later met other explorers and settlers from Europe.

Most of the American Indians were friendly at first and taught the Europeans settlers many things. The American Indians showed the explorers where to find water and how to live in the wilderness. They helped the settlers try many new foods including corn, peanuts, peppers, potatoes, squash, and tomatoes.

The American Indians also learned new things from the Europeans. Metal tools, guns, cattle, and horses were all new to the American Indians.

Some Europeans settlers tried to understand the way American Indians lived and treated them fairly. Other settlers cheated the American Indians and took their land. Fighting over land happened very often.

Today, many tribes have tried to keep their language and some of their traditional ways of life.

Source: Adapted from the on-line edition of the World Book Encyclopedia (2014).

American Indian History Questions (Primary)

1. What lands are called the Americas?

2. What do we call the first people who moved to the Americas?

3. How long ago did these people move to the Americas?

4. What was the weather like when these people came to the Americas?

5. Explain why these people came to the Americas.

6. How were the early American Indians different from one another because of nature and weather?

7. Which explorer first saw the American Indians?

8. What did the early American Indians teach the European settlers?

9. What new things did the American Indians receive from the European settlers?

10. What did the early American Indians and European settlers often fight about?

American Indian History (Intermediate)

The people now known as American Indians were the first people to live in the Americas (North, Central, and South America). They had been living there for thousands of years before any Europeans arrived.

American Indians Come to the Americas

Almost every American Indian group had its own name. Many of these names reflected the pride of each group in itself and its way of life. For example, the Delaware Indians of eastern North America called themselves Lenape, which means “genuine people.” The Navajo of the southwest area of North America called themselves Diné, which simply means, “The People.”

No people lived in the Americas before the American Indians arrived. Most scientists think the first American Indians came to the Americas from Asia at least 15,000 years ago. Other scientists believe the American Indians may have arrived as early as 35,000 years ago.

At the time the American Indians came, huge ice sheets covered much of the northern half of earth. As a result, much of earth that is now underwater was frozen. One such area that was ice then, but is underwater now, is the Bering Strait. Today, the Bering Strait separates Asia and North America.

The American Indians, following the animals that they hunted, wandered across this ice covered “land bridge.” This is a distance of about 50 miles (80 kilometers). By 12,500 years ago, American Indians had spread throughout the New World and were living from the Arctic in the north all the way to southern tip of South America.

American Indians Develop Many Cultures

Over time, American Indians developed many different cultures. Culture is defined as the way of life of any group of people. The culture of a group includes language, food, housing, clothing, religion and beliefs, traditions, music, art, food, and government. The culture of a group is taught to the children and passed on to each new generation. Culture can be influenced by the natural environment.

For early American Indians, nature, the environment, and the weather greatly influenced the development of their cultures. Some American Indians lived in cold places. Others lived where it was very hot and dry with little rain. Others lived near forests or rivers and lakes. As a result of these differences, American Indians learned to live with and to adapt to their surroundings.

Some groups lived in great cities and others in small villages. Still others kept moving all year long, hunting animals and gathering wild plants.

The Aztec and the Maya of Central America built large cities. Some of the Aztec cities had as many as 100,000 people. The Maya built special buildings in which they studied the moon, the stars, and the sun. They also developed a calendar and a system of writing.

Many of the American Indians of eastern North America lived in villages. They hunted and farmed, growing such crops as maize (corn), beans, and squash. At the southern tip of South America, the American Indians lived in small bands that moved from place to place in search of food. They ate mainly fish and berries. These American Indians spent so much time searching for food that they seldom built permanent shelters, made clothes, or developed tools.

American Indians Meet the Europeans

The Vikings are believed to have explored the east coast of North America about 1,000 A.D. and probably had some contact with American Indians. Lasting contact between American Indians and Europeans began with voyages of Christopher Columbus to the Americas (also called the New World). In 1492, Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain. He was seeking a short sea route to the Indies, which then included India, China, the East Indies, and Japan. Europeans did not then know that North and South America existed. When Columbus landed on an island in the Caribbean Sea, he did not realize he had come to the New World. He thought he had reached the Indies, so he called the people he met Indians in error.

The history of the New World includes the story of relations between the American Indians and the European explorers, trappers, and settlers. Most of the American Indians were friendly at first and taught the newcomers many things.

The European explorers followed American Indian trails to sources of water and deposits of copper, gold, silver, turquoise, and other minerals. The American Indians taught them to make snowshoes and toboggans (sleds) and to travel by canoe. Food was another of the American Indians' important gifts. The American Indians grew many foods that the newcomers had never heard of, such as avocados, corn, peanuts, peppers, pineapples, potatoes, squash, and tomatoes. They also introduced the white Europeans to tobacco.

The American Indians, in turn, learned much from the white European settlers. The Europeans brought many goods that were new to the American Indians. These goods included metal tools and guns. The Europeans also brought cattle and horses, which were unknown to the American Indians.

The Europeans and the American Indians had very different ways of life. Some Europeans tried to understand the American Indians' ways and treated them fairly. But others cheated the American Indians and took their land. When the American Indians fought back, thousands of them were killed in battle. At first, they had only primitive weapons like axes, bows and arrows, and spears, but the Europeans had guns. Even more American Indians died from measles, smallpox, and other new diseases introduced by the Europeans.

As the Europeans moved westward across North America, they became a greater and greater threat to the American Indian way of life. Finally, many of the remaining American Indians were moved onto reservations. Today, most American Indians in North America still do not completely follow the ways of white people. In some areas of Central and South America, several tribes have kept their language and way of life. But most of the tribes have become part of a new way of life that is a mix of both American Indian and European. 

Source: Adapted from the on-line edition of the World Book Encyclopedia (2014).

American Indian History Questions (Intermediate)

1. What continents and areas of land are called the Americas?

2. When did the first American Indians arrive in the Americas?

3. Describe why and how the American Indians moved to North America.

4. What is the body of water called today that was frozen when the first American Indians came to North America?

5. Place the following events in the chronological order (the order in which they occurred):

_____ American Indians are found from the Artic in the north to the tip of South America.

_____ The body of water which is today called the Bering Strait freezes and is covered with ice.

_____ American Indians follow the animals they need for food.

_____ The animals the American Indians hunt for food cross the land bridge of ice.

6. Define the term “culture.” What are the characteristics of culture?

7. Explain how the environment, nature, and weather can affect how cultures develop.

8. Who was the first explorer to meet the American Indians? Why did he name them Indians?

9. What did the first European explorers and settlers learn from American Indians? What new items were introduced to American Indians by the Europeans?

10. Describe what happened between American Indians and the European settlers as more settlers moved to the Americas?

11. Explain the following quote from the reading: “But most of the tribes have become part of a new way of life that is a mix of both American Indian and European.”

GRADE LEVEL: Social Studies – Elementary - Intermediate

TITLE: Florida’s American Indians

OBJECTIVES: Objectives from the Florida Standards are noted with FS.

1. The students will identify American Indian tribes in Florida and research their history and culture.

2. The students will identify the main topic and retell key details of a text. (FS)

3. The students will ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers. (FS)

SUGGESTED TIME: 120 minutes

DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES:

1. Distribute the “Florida’s American Indians” reading assignment to students (provided). The students may read the information about the various Florida American Indian tribes individually or in groups.

2. Distribute the “Native Floridians” chart (provided). Students may work individually, in pairs or in groups to complete the chart. Each heading should include at least one example.

TEACHER’S NOTE: More writing space is probably needed by students to complete the chart. Have students re-create the chart on their own paper.

ASSESSMENT STRATEGY: Completion of the chart on the various American Indian tribes in Florida.

MATERIALS/AIDS NEEDED: “Florida’s American Indians” reading passages (provided); “Native Floridians” chart (provided).

National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month

EXTENSION ACTIVITY: Divide students into groups according to native Florida tribes and create a skit or dramatization of daily life in the tribe, reflecting their traditions and customs, how they used natural resources, and how they dealt with the incoming Europeans.

SOURCES: Readings adapted from Harcourt Horizons-Florida; Harcourt School Publishers; Harcourt Incorporated, 2005; and, http://fcit.usf.edu/florida

Florida’s American Indians

Southern and Central Tribes

The Calusa - A Fierce People

Many different groups of Native Floridians lived in southern and central Florida. The Calusa were the largest and strongest among these groups. The name Calusa means “a fierce people.”

The Calusa had lands on Florida’s southwestern coast from Charlotte Harbor to the Ten Thousand Islands. The Calusa chief and his family may have lived on Mound Key. Mound Key is a small island in Estero Bay near present-day Fort Meyers. Chief Carlos was one of the most powerful Calusa chiefs. A Spanish visitor to Florida in the 1500's described Chief Carlos as “the most handsome and the tallest Indian of the region, a great warrior and one who had many subjects [followers}....” Like all American Indians, the Calusa used natural resources to meet their needs. Because the Calusa lived along the Gulf of Mexico, fish and shellfish were their most important foods. The Calusa caught fish in large woven nets. They ate so much shellfish that the shells they threw away formed giant middens (a trash pile). This may be why Spanish explorers named the territory of the Calusa “the Coast of Shells.” The Calusa used shells mixed with soil to make mounds as tall as 30 feet (9 m). They built temples and other important buildings on top of these mounds. The Calusa were also excellent sailors. They dug long canals through marshes and across islands to create water routes. They traveled in dugouts to neighboring tribes to trade. The canals made travel faster and easier. The Calusa even traveled as far as Cuba in the dugout canoes they made from cypress trees.

Because the Calusa were so powerful, other tribes in southern Florida paid tribute to them. Tribute is payment made for protection. The tribute increased the wealth of the Calusa.

The Tocobaga - Mound Builders

The Tocobaga lived at the northern end of Tampa Bay. The salt water of Tampa Bay was full of fish and shellfish. There were also freshwater streams that held many different kinds of food. Many tribes lived in the Tampa Bay area, not just the Tocobaga. Much of the land in southern and central Florida was too wet for farming. So American Indians who lived in the area fished, gathered plants, and hunted for food.

One thing made the Tocobaga different from any other tribe in central Florida. They were not farmers, but they had corn. No one knows how they got it. Tribes north of Tampa Bay, near present-day Dade City, did grow corn, so the Tocobaga may have gotten it from them. The Tocobaga lived in small villages. They built their houses around a public square, now called a plaza. The plaza was where the villagers would meet to talk and to celebrate special events. The Tocobaga were mound builders. In each village, they built a mound next to the plaza. Often, they built the chief’s house and temples on top of mounds. Tocobaga villages also had burial mounds. These may have been in the village or outside of it nearby.

When a Tocobaga chief died, the people of the village held a ceremony for him. A ceremony is a series of actions done during a special event. The villagers put the chief’s body in the temple for four days. During those four days they fasted, or did not eat any food. The fasting was to show respect for the chief. At the end of the four days, the villagers gathered to say prayers. Then they buried the chief in one of the burial mounds.

The Tequesta - Indians of the Southeast

South of the Tocobaga and bordering the Calusa were the Tequesta. The Tequesta were one of the groups that paid tribute to the Calusa. The Tequesta lived in southeastern Florida, on the Miami River, near Biscayne Bay. The Tequesta chief lived in the largest village, which was close to the mouth of the Miami River.

Like the Calusa, the Tequesta were mainly hunters and gatherers. They ate mostly fish and shellfish but also hunted bears, deer, and other animals in the Everglades for food. They gathered palm nuts, palmetto berries, sea grapes, and coco plums. The Tequesta even ground up the roots of some plants to make flour for baking.

The Tequesta used resources from land and water to meet their other needs as well. They turned sharks’ teeth into knives, clay into pottery, and cypress logs into dugouts. The Tequesta also made drinking cups, fishhooks, arrows, and tools from shells.

The Tequesta, however, never grew as powerful as the Calusa. As a result, they paid tribute to the Calusa to avoid conflicts.

Tribes of Northern Florida

The Apalachee - A Farming People

The Apalachee lived in the western Panhandle of Florida between the Aucilla and Ochlockonee Rivers. This tribe lived north and west of the Calusa, Tequesta, and Tocobaga.

Unlike central and southern Florida, northern Florida had rich land. This made it possible for the Apalachee to grow most of their food. The Apalachee stored their food in raised buildings called garitas. The Apalachee became excellent farmers of squash, beans, and corn. In fact, these vegetables grew so well together that the Apalachee called them the “Three Sisters.”

Even though the Apalachee farmed more than other Native Floridians, they still hunted, fished, and gathered shellfish for food. They also gathered wild plants,

nuts, and berries to eat.

Every native group in Florida had its own traditions. A tradition is an idea or way of doing something that has been handed down from the past. One important Apalachee tradition was a ball game played during the summer. Players from different villages took part in the game, which could last for several days. Two equal teams - sometimes with as many as 50 players on each team - played the Apalachee ball game. The object of the game was to score points with a small ball made of deerskin and stuffed with clay. On the playing field stood a tall, thick log with an eagle’s nest on top of it. A team received points for kicking the ball against the log or into the eagle’s nest. The game was part of the Apalachee religious ceremonies, and it was also played just for sport.

Each tribe in Florida also had its own government, or system for deciding what is best for a group of people. A government has both leaders and rules. It is supposed to protect its people and settle their problems.

Leading the Apalachee government were two head chiefs. Each had a special job. One head chief ruled when the Apalachee were at peace. The other head chief was in charge during times of war.

Each Apalachee village also had its own chief. The village chiefs were watched over by a chief who ruled several villages. In turn, this chief reported to the two head chiefs.

Like other Native Floridians, the Apalachee built mounds. The earliest Apalachee mounds were built about 1,000 years ago at Lake Jackson near Tallahassee. The Apalachee mounds served many purposes. Some mounds had a temple or a chief’s home built on top. Others were used as burial sites.

The Timucua - A Forest People

The Timucua lived in central and northeastern Florida, between the Aucilla River and the Atlantic Ocean. Their lands stretched almost as far south as present-day Orlando.

The Timucua ways of life were tied to the forests. The people cut logs from the trees to use as posts and poles in the round houses that they built. They used palm leaves and branches for the roofs. They also carved tools and dugouts from wood.

The forest provided the Timucua with food, too. They gathered the nuts and fruits that grew wild there. They also hunted wild animals, such as turkeys, deer, and bears. The Timucua cooked the meat over an open flame. They made clothing from the animal skins and tools from the bones.

Rivers and streams were another important source of food - fish and shellfish. The Timucua hunted alligators. The Timucua also used the water routes to travel by dugout. They paddled to other villages to trade with the people there.

Like the Apalachee, the Timucua were farmers. They grew corn, beans, and squash. A village’s distance from the sea affected how much its people depended on farming. The Timucua who lived close to the sea may have gotten more of their food from fishing. Timucua who lived far inland may have grown most of their food.

The basic unit of Timucuan government was the village. A village was made up of several clans, or extended families. Villages agreed to help each other, especially if one of the villages was attacked.

The villagers also helped each other by providing food. Each village had a public storehouse where the clans brought their crops. This food could be shared by all the villagers during hard times. In this way, the Timucua Indians worked together for the common good of their tribes.

Like other Native Floridians, the Timucua left no written story telling of their culture. Much of what is known about them comes from artifacts and the writings of early European explorers.

One such explorer was Jacques Le Moyne, a French artist and mapmaker who visited Florida in 1564. Le Moyne drew pictures of the Timucuan people and villages. He also wrote descriptions of their daily lives. One story, for example, tells of a Timucuan family crossing a stream to have a picnic.

Le Moyne’s drawings show what the Timucua looked like. Men tied their long hair in a knot on top of their heads. Both men and women wore clothing made from plant fibers, deerskins, and Spanish moss.

European explorers also described how the Timucua worked. Timucuan men and women worked together in the fields. The men broke up the ground. They used hoes made from fish bone or stone and wood. Women followed the men and poked holes in the soil. Then more women followed, planting seeds in the holes.

The Timucua often grew more food than they could eat. They stored the extra food for times when food was scarce, or limited.

By 1562, explorers had found about 150 Timucuan villages. The villages were alike in many ways. Each had a meeting house. This was where the Timucuan leaders met to talk and to make plans. The villagers also held ceremonies in the meeting house. Some ceremonies were just for men, but there were others that everyone could attend.

Like all Native Floridians, the Timucua celebrated and worshiped nature. They held ceremonies before they hunted, fished, or harvested crops. The cacique, or chief, and the shaman, or religious leader, led some of these ceremonies. When a cacique or other village leader died, everyone attended a special ceremony.

Tribes of Middle Florida

The Seminole - “The Runaways”

By the mid-1700's, many American Indians in northern Florida had either died of disease or been enslaved by the British. Then Creek and Yuchi Indians from what is now Alabama and Georgia began to move into northern Florida. In addition, some of the Yamasee allies of the British stayed in Florida. These newcomers were called Seminoles. Some say that Seminole comes from the Spanish word cimarrones meaning “runaways.” Others believe the name comes from an American Indian word meaning “free people.”

Tallahassee was located in what became known as Middle Florida. Middle Florida was an area between the Apalachicola and the Suwannee rivers. More than 5,000 Seminoles lived there.

As settlers moved into Middle Florida, they fought with the Seminoles over land and farm animals. They also disagreed over the runaway slaves that the Seminoles welcomed. Governor Duval ordered the Seminoles to leave Middle Florida because of these conflicts. The Seminoles refused.

Governor Duval arranged a meeting between the Seminoles and the United States Army in September 1823 at Moultrie Creek, south of St. Augustine. General James Gadsden came with troops. Neamathla, the Miccosukee village chief, represented the more than 400 Seminoles who attended.

After negotiating for more than two weeks, the two sides signed the Treaty of Moultrie Creek. Finally, the Seminoles agreed to give up 24 million acres of land and promised to move south. They also agreed to stop helping runaway slaves. The Seminoles were given a reservation of 4 million acres south of what is now Ocala in Central Florida. A reservation is land the national government sets aside for use by American Indians. The Seminoles also received farm animals, tools, and other supplies, and money. The reservation was not large enough for the Seminoles to gather or plant all the food they needed.

Andrew Jackson became the seventh President of the United States in 1829. At that time, settlers in Florida and the rest of the southern United States were eager to move onto American Indian lands. They wanted the government to give it to them.

President Jackson agreed. He and Congress worked together to pass the Indian Removal Act in 1830. The act set up the Indian Territory - a huge reservation in what is now Oklahoma. All American Indians living east of the Mississippi River had to relocate to the Indian Territory. To relocate is to leave one place to live in another place.

President Jackson put General James Gadsden in charge of getting the Seminoles to leave Florida. Gadsden told the Seminoles that they had to leave Florida within three years. If they did not go, they would be forced to leave.

The Seminoles sent seven chiefs to look at the land in the Indian Territory. In March 1833, the Seminole chiefs signed a treaty agreeing to move to the Indian Territory. Later some chiefs said they had not signed the treaty. Other chiefs said they had been tricked into signing it. The United States government, however, was determined to make the Seminoles leave Florida.

Many Seminoles did not want to leave their homes in Florida. They decided that they would not leave Florida without a fight. They chose Osceola as their leader. Osceola was not a chief, but the Seminoles admired him.

On December 28, 1835, Osceola and his warriors killed General Wiley Thompson and another United States officer as they were walking outside the walls of Fort King, the U.S. Army’s headquarters. Later that same day, another group of Seminoles attacked Major Francis Dade and more than 100 soldiers as they were marching from Fort Brooke, near present-day Tampa, toward Fort King. Only three soldiers lived to tell about what became known as the Dade

Massacre. This was the beginning of what came to be called the Second Seminole War.

The Seminoles were greatly outnumbered by the thousands of American troops who came to Florida. The Seminoles fought hard but the American soldiers forced them farther south, their crops were ruined, and their farm animals were killed.

Many times during the war the Seminoles went to United States Army camps to talk of peace. General Thomas S. Jesup decided to trick the Seminoles by pretending to want to have a peace talk. In September 1837, Seminole Chief Coacoochee and other Seminoles met with Jesup at Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine. Once the Seminoles were inside, the general put them in prison. He later captured Osceola in the same way. Osceola later died in prison.

The Seminoles kept fighting after Osceola’s death, but it was a war they could not win. Many Seminoles were forced to go west. Others died from wounds or sickness. In 1841, Coacoochee finally gave up, along with 300 of his people. August 14, 1842, was the official end of the Second Seminole War. It was the longest and most expensive American Indian war in United States history. About 1,500 American soldiers were killed. An unknown number of Seminoles and settlers died. Within a few months of the war’s end, most of the 6,000 Seminoles in Florida were relocated to the Indian Territory. About 200 to 300 Seminoles remained in Florida, making their homes deep in the Everglades. The Seminoles fought the United States again in the Third Seminole War which took place between 1855 and 1858. However, this war was small compared to the Second Seminole War.

American Indians remain a part of Florida’s population today. In 1975, the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act helped American Indians to provide their own services to tribal members. And, new laws gave American Indians some special business privileges. The Seminoles and Miccosukee have used those laws to set up successful businesses. These tribes run casinos in Miami, Hollywood, Tampa, Okeechobee, and Immokalee. Tribes have also set up successful agricultural businesses.

Traditional American Indian culture has not disappeared. Seminoles celebrate the Green Corn dance in early summer. Also, some American Indians still make traditional crafts, such as palmetto dolls. On the Big Cypress Reservation, in

southern Florida, there are still chickees - traditional Seminole and Miccosukee homes.

Source: Harcourt Horizons-Florida; Harcourt School Publishers; Harcourt Incorporated, 2005; and http://fcit.usf.edu/florida

Florida’s American Indians

Complete the chart below on the six early American Indian tribes in Florida.

Name of Tribe

Location in Florida

How they got their

Customs and

How they used

What they ate

food traditions (examples)

natural resources

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

GRADE LEVEL: Social Studies – Elementary – Intermediate Grades

TITLE: Where Did Florida’s American Indians Live? Map and Timeline Activity

OBJECTIVES: Objectives from the Florida Standards are noted with FS.

1. The students will identify American Indian tribes of Florida and research their lifestyles.

2. The students will map the locations of the major American Indian tribes of Florida.

3. The students will develop a timeline of major events in the history of two of Florida’s American Indian tribes – the Seminole and Miccosukee.

4. The students will describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect. (FS)

5. The students will describe the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part of a text. (FS)

SUGGESTED TIME: 120 minutes

DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES:

TEACHER’S NOTE: Building on the content of the previous lesson, this activity provides students with further information on the early American Indian tribes of Florida, as well as providing them with the opportunity to practice map and timeline skills.

1. Distribute the reading entitled “American Indian Tribes of Florida” (provided) regarding the American Indians of Florida.

2. Have students work individually, in pairs, or small groups, focusing on the location of the various American Indian tribes in Florida and the timeline of events for the Seminole and Miccosukee.

Have students complete the map and timeline activity as follows:

National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month

a. Map Activity: Using the blank outline map of Florida, have students identify and label where each tribe lived in Florida. Students will need to create a color-coded key to differentiate between the tribes and also give their completed map a title.

b. Timeline Activity: Explain that timelines helps students organize information found in a text in chronological order. A basic time-line is created by drawing a straight line and inserting dates and events in-between.

Introduce students to the concept of a timeline by having them create a brief timeline of events in their own lives; e.g., birth year, birth year of siblings, year they began school, favorite holidays.

Using the reading material provided on the Seminole and Miccosukee tribes as a reference, have students create a timeline for both tribes using the dates and information outlined in the reading. Drawing paper and rulers will be needed. The students may wish to add illustrations to the timeline

TEACHER’S NOTE: You may choose to have students work on the timeline activity with any/all of the tribes included in the reading. However, the Seminole and Miccosukee reading passages contain greater detail on historical dates/events, making these readings easier to track on a timeline.

ASSESSMENT STRATEGY: Completion of the map and timeline activities.

MATERIALS/AIDS NEEDED: Reading assignment entitled “American Indian Tribes of Florida” (provided); Blank Outline Map of Florida (provided); and, drawing paper and rulers.

EXTENSION ACTIVITY: Have students create a “Cause and Effect Tree.” This activity helps students identify cause and effect relationships. It is important to stress that sometimes one cause may have several effects, or several causes may lead to one effect.

a. After reading an informational/historical text (e.g., “American Indian Tribes of Florida”) have students brainstorm in small groups the cause and effect relationships found in the text.

b. Introduce a visual aid of a tree with many branches either on the board or chart paper, as well as on worksheets for each student.

c. Have students write the cause on the trunk of the tree.

d. On each branch, have the students write the effects of the cause. If there is more than one cause and effect relationship in the text, use another tree.

e. Students may share their cause and effect trees and/or extend them into paragraph form.

SOURCE: Readings adapted from Harcourt Horizons-Florida; Harcourt School Publishers; Harcourt, Incorporated, 2005; http://fcit.usf.edu; http://www.miccosukee.com/tribe.htm; and, http://www.geocities.com/bigorrin/miccosukee_kids.htm

American Indian Tribes of Florida

The Timucua

The Timucua (tee-MOO-qua) settled in central and northeastern Florida. It is believed that the Timucua may have been the first American Indians to see the Spanish explorers when they landed in Florida. Early explorers often used the language of the Timucua to communicate with other tribes.

Life in the Villages

In Timucuan villages, there were usually two kinds of houses. One type of home, referred to as a long house, was built using poles for the frame, bark for the walls, and branches from palmetto palm trees for the roof. The other type of home was round and covered with leaves of palm trees.

The Timucua were known to have more permanent villages than the other tribes. Each family had their own home but the cooking took place in the village and meals were held daily in a central location. They wore clothing made from deerskin and woven cloth. The men wore their hair long with a topknot.

Timucua liked to hold ceremonies for planting, harvesting, and honoring leaders who died. A shaman, the religious leader of the tribe, conducted the ceremonies.

Hunting and Fishing

The Timucua, like other American Indians, were skilled hunters and fishermen. The men made tools for hunting and fishing. They used spears, clubs, bows and arrows, and blowguns, to kill their game. Some of the game that they used for food included bears, deer, wild turkey, and alligators. They smoked the meat over open fires. The women would clean and prepare the animal hides and use them for clothing.

The men also caught fish, clams, and oysters for food. They used a fishing trap called a weir. This trap was a wood fence that stretched across a stream or river to catch fish. Once the fish swam over the fence in high tide, the weir caught them as the tide went out.

Farming was another important means of obtaining food for the Timucua. The main crops that they harvested were maize (corn), beans, gathered roots, nuts, and wild berries to eat. The women also made pottery to use for cooking.

Fighting War and Disease

During the time period from 1649 through 1656, the population of the Timucuan tribe began to diminish. Although the Timucua were one of the more peaceful tribes, they would fight back when pushed. The war with the English and other Indians decreased their numbers. In addition, a series of epidemics struck them, the major one being smallpox. As the tribe died out, it is believed that those who survived the disease may have later joined the Seminole Tribe.

The Timucua – Map

The Timucua

The Tequesta of Biscayne Bay

The Tequesta (tuh-KES-tuh) were a small, peaceful American Indian tribe. They were one of the first tribes in South Florida and they settled near Biscayne Bay in the present-day Miami area. They built many villages at the mouth of the Miami River and along the coastal islands. The chief lived in the main village at the mouth of the Miami River.

Like other tribes in South Florida, the Tequesta were hunters and gatherers. They relied mainly on fish, shellfish, nuts, and berries for food. The men caught sharks, sailfish, sea cows, and porpoises in the waters of Biscayne Bay and the Miami River, while the women and children collected clams, conchs, oysters, and turtle eggs in the shallow waters. The manatee was considered a delicacy and was served mainly to the chiefs and other prominent leaders. The Tequesta also gathered palmetto berries, coco plums, sea grapes, and palm nuts to eat. In the Everglades, they hunted bear, deer, wild boar (pig), and small mammals. The Tequesta made flour by grinding up the roots of certain plants. Unfortunately, these food sources were not very plentiful along the southern coast, so the Tequesta never became a large or powerful tribe compared t their western neighbors, the Calusa.

The Tequesta used shells and sharks’ teeth for a variety of tools. These included hammers, chisels, fishhooks, drinking cups, and spearheads. Sharks’ teeth were used to carve out logs to make canoes.

During the 1500s, Europeans began arriving in Florida. At first, the Tequesta did not welcome these new visitors. But before long, the Europeans won their friendship by bringing gifts of colored cloth, knives, and rum.

The Tequesta numbered about 800, but they started to die out as a result of settlement battles, slavery, and disease. By the 1800s, the Tequesta tribe had only a few survivors.

The Tequesta – Map

The Calusa: “The Shell Indians”

The Calusa (kah-LOOS-ah) lived on the sandy shores of the southwest coast of Florida. These Indians controlled most of south Florida. The population of this tribe may have reached as many as 50,000 people. The Calusa men were tall and well-built with long hair. Calusa means “fierce people,” and they were described as a fierce, war-like people. Many smaller tribes were constantly watching for these marauding warriors. The first Spanish explorers found that these Indians were not very friendly. The explorers soon became the targets of the Calusa attacks. This tribe was the first one that the Spanish explorers wrote home about in 1513.

How the Calusa Lived

The Calusa lived on the coast and along the inner waterways. They built their homes on stilts and wove Palmetto leaves to fashion roofs, but they didn’t construct any walls.

The Calusa Indians did not farm like other Indian tribes in Florida. Instead, they fished for food on the coast, bays, rivers, and waterways. The men and boys of the tribe made nets from palm tree webbing to catch mullet, pinfish, pigfish, and catfish. They used spears to catch eels and turtles. They made fishbone arrowheads to hunt for animals such as deer. The women and children learned to catch shellfish like conchs, crabs, clams, lobsters, and oysters.

The Calusa as Shell Indians

The Calusa are considered to be the first “shell collectors.” Shells were discarded into huge heaps. Unlike other Indian tribes, the Calusa did not make many pottery items. They used the shells for tools, utensils, jewelry, and ornaments for their shrines. Shell spears were made for fishing and hunting.

Shell mounds can still be found today in many parts of southern Florida. Environmentalists and conservation groups protect many of these remaining shell mounds. One shell mound site is Mound Key at Estero Bay in Lee County. Its construction is made entirely of shells and clay. This site is believed to be the chief town of the Calusa, where the leader of the tribe, Chief Carlos lived.

Archaeologists have excavated many of these mounds to learn more about these extinct people. Artifacts such as shell tools, weapons, and ornaments are on display in many Florida history museums.

The Calusa as Sailors

Living and surviving on the coast caused the tribesmen to become great sailors. They defended their land against other smaller tribes and European explorers that were traveling by water. The Caloosahatchee River, which means “River of the Calusa,” was their main waterway.

They traveled by dugout canoes, which were made from hollowed-out cypress logs approximately 15 feet long. They used these canoes to travel as far as Cuba. Explorers reported that the Calusa attacked their ships that were anchored close to shore. The Calusa were also known to sail up and down the west coast salvaging the wealth from shipwrecks.

What Happened to the Calusa?

What happened to these fierce sailing Indians? The Calusa tribe died out in the late 1700s. Enemy Indian tribes from Georgia and South Carolina began raiding the Calusa territory. Many Calusa were captured and sold as slaves.

In addition, diseases such as smallpox and measles were brought into the area from the Spanish and French explorers and these diseases wiped out entire villages. It is believed that the few remaining Calusa Indians left for Cuba when the Spanish turned Florida over to the British in 1763.

The Calusa - Map

Tocobaga Indians of Tampa Bay

Where and How They Lived

The Tocobaga Indians lived in small villages at the northern end of Tampa Bay from 900 to the 1500s. Each village was situated around a public area that was used as a meeting place. The houses were generally round and built with wooden poles holding up a roof of palm thatches.

The Tocobaga Indians built mounds within their villages. A mound is a large pile of earth, shells, or stones. The chief’s home and the tribe’s temple were each built on a mound. The Tocobaga also built burial mounds outside the main village area as a place for burying the dead.

The women of the Tocobaga tribes had a garbage heap called a midden, which was located next to their kitchen. Middens were created by the Tocobagas’ use of shellfish for food. The midden consisted of a mound of shells that had grown and become packed together throughout the years as shells were discarded after every meal.

What They Ate

Because of their proximity to both the bay and freshwater streams, the Tocobaga fished and gathered shellfish as their primary source of food. They also ate manatees, which were abundant in the nearby waters.

During this time, the Tampa Bay area was rich with animals such as deer, rabbits, armadillo, and squirrels. As a result, the Tocobaga became great hunters. They also gathered a variety of berries, nuts, and fruit to supplement their diet. Interestingly, the Tocobaga Indians had corn, an unusual find in the Tampa Bay area. It is not clear how they got the corn, but it is speculated that they may have traded with a northern tribe for it.

The Tools They Made

The Tocobaga developed many tools for hunting, cooking, and eating. One such tool was the adz. The adz was made of a shell or pointed stone tied to the end of a curved branch. It was used for digging.

The Tocobaga also constructed a tool by placing a living tree branch through a shell with a hole in it. Over a period of time the branch would grow into the shell. The branch would then be cut off the tree. This produced a sturdy tool used for digging clams.

For hunting, the Tocobaga Indians used a throwing stick called an atlati. It looked and functioned much like a spear. It was used to kill animals for food and clothing. While hunting, the Tocobaga would wear deerskin, or sometimes deer heads over themselves, to get close enough to the animals to kill them.

What Happened to Them?

In approximately 1528, Panfilo de Narvaez, a Spanish explorer, arrived in the Tampa Bay area. He and his men found the Tocobaga and brought disease and violence to the tribe’s peaceful existence. As a result, the Tocobaga Indians became extinct within the next 100 years.

Archaeological digs in the Safety Harbor area of Florida have uncovered many artifacts, or man-made objects from the Tocobaga. Items such as plates and pots have been found indicating that the Tocobaga Indians were expert potters.

The Apalachee of Northwest Florida

From at least A.D. 1000, a group of farming Indians was living in northwest Florida. They were called the Apalachee. Other Florida Indians regarded them as being wealthy and fierce.

Where They Lived

The Apalachee territory extended from the Aucilla River in the east to the Ochlockonee River in the west. Its northern boundary extended to what is now the Georgia state line, and its southern border was the Gulf of Mexico.

How They Lived

Before the first Europeans arrived in Florida, there were probably at least 50,000-60,000 Apalachee. They were a strong and powerful chiefdom living in widely dispersed villages. Their leaders organized their work, and much of their social, cultural, and political life as well. Other tribes respected the Apalachee because they belonged to an advanced Indian civilization, they were prosperous, and they were fierce warriors. As with other American Indians, they attacked their enemies in small raids and ambushes, and scalped their enemies.

For food, they grew corn, beans, and squash. Men prepared the fields and women tended the crops. Men also hunted bear, deer, and small game, while women gathered nuts and berries.

Traditionally, the men wore deerskin loincloths and women wore Spanish moss skirts. When preparing for battle, the men painted their bodies with red ochre and put feathers in their hair.

The Apalachee played a ball game that was both a sport and part of their religion. One village would challenge another to a match, and the two teams would have up to 100 players each. They used a hard clay ball (about the size of a golf ball) covered with buckskin. Players kicked the ball with their feet toward the goal post, which was a pole topped with a stuffed eagle in a nest. They played the ball game in the spring and summer, and dedicated it to the gods of rain and thunder to ensure rain for their crops.

One interesting characteristic of Apalachee society was their large ceremonial mounds. Some of the mounds had structures on top, and it is generally believed that the largest mound within a complex was the site of the chief’s house.

The Spanish Explorers Arrive

An expedition led by Panfilo de Narvaez in 1528 was the first group of European explorers to make contact with the Apalachee. Narvaez came to the Tallahassee area searching for gold on the advice of Indians in the Tampa Bay area where he landed.

More than a decade later, in 1539, Henando de Soto wintered in Apalachee territory. Both groups of Spanish intruders received a hostile reception and were under an almost constant attack from the Apalachee. The Apalachee population decreased after continual skirmishes and, eventually, contagious diseases that were introduced by the European explorers.

Apalachee rulers requested help from the Spanish friars as early as 1607 when epidemics and the threat of foreign attacks brought about a loss of faith in the traditional customs and leadership. Between 1633 and 1635, at least 5,000 Apalachee converted to Catholicism.

What Happened To Them?

Following a series of devastating attacks on Spanish Florida by the British and their Creek Indian allies, some Apalachee, who were not killed or enslaved, migrated north into Creek territory. In 1763, most of these Apalachee relocated to Louisiana. Today, 250-300 of their descendants still live there. They are the only documented descendants of any of Florida’s prehistoric native populations.

Spanish Missions in Northern Florida

The Seminole

The Seminoles of Florida call themselves the "Unconquered People.” They are the descendants of only 300 American Indians who were able to avoid capture by the U.S. army in the 19th century. Today, more than 2,000 Seminoles live on six reservations in Florida – located in Hollywood, Big Cypress, Brighton, Immokalee, Ft. Pierce, and Tampa.

The Seminole were originally part of the Creek Confederation of tribes. In the 1700's, they moved into Florida to escape from slavery in the 13 British colonies to the north. They came to Florida because it was controlled by the Spanish, who had no interest in returning slaves to the British. They shared land with a group of American Indians that spoke a different language - the Mikasuki language. The two groups banded together and became known as the Seminoles, meaning "runaways". Later, the second group of American Indians would become the Miccosukee Tribe.

Originally, the Seminoles were hunters who used muskets (guns) to hunt deer, turkey, and other game and who fished. They gathered fruits, nuts, and berries. Later, however, they settled down and became excellent farmers. They grew corn, sugarcane, guava and bananas. They also were successful in raising stock, including horses and cattle. Joining the Seminole in Florida were runaway black Africans escaping from slavery in North and South Carolina and Georgia. They came to Florida and built settlements near the Seminoles. They formed a union with the Seminoles because both groups feared slavery.

The struggle by several nations to take control of Florida would have a great effect on the Seminole Tribe. In the 1700s and 1800s, Florida was first controlled by Spain, then by Great Britain, then by Spain again, and finally by the United States! A brief summary of the struggle to gain control of Florida is outlined below.

In 1763, Florida was taken from the Spanish by Britain. In 1784, the treaty ending the American Revolution forced Britain to give Florida

back to Spain. (The American Revolution was won by the 13 American colonies creating the United States of America.)

When the United States defeated the British in the War of 1812, the British were forced to leave North America.

How did the struggle to control Florida affect the Seminole Tribe?

Following the War of 1812, American slave owners came to Spanish Florida in search of runaway African slaves and Seminole Indians. The Seminole, and the runaway slaves had been trading weapons with the British throughout the early1800s and supported Britain during the War of 1812.

From 1817-1818, the United States Army invaded Spanish Florida and fought against the Seminole and their African American allies. Collectively, these battles came to be known as the First Seminole War. Future U.S. President Andrew Jackson invaded then-Spanish Florida and defeated the Seminoles.

The Second Seminole War was one of the most costly of the United States-Indian wars. After defeating the U.S. in early battles of the Second Seminole War, Seminole leader Osceola was captured by the United States in Oct. 20, 1837, when U.S. troops said they wanted a truce to talk peace. The majority of the tribe surrendered and moved to Oklahoma. They settled on the western area of the Creek reservation.

The Third Seminole War started from renewed efforts to find the Seminole remnant remaining in Florida. This war caused little bloodshed. However, it ended with the United States paying a troublesome band of refugees to go west. After the wars ended, over 3,000 Natives had been forced into the western territories of Arkansas and Oklahoma. As few as 300 remained in Florida.

The Seminole Wars

The First Seminole War

Following the War of 1812 between the United States and Britain, American slave owners came to Florida in search of runaway African slaves and Indians. These Indians, known as the Seminoles, and the runaway slaves had been trading weapons with the British throughout the early 1800s and supported Britain during the War of 1812. From 1817-1818, the United States Army invaded Spanish Florida and fought against the Seminole and their African American allies. Collectively, these battles came to be known as the First Seminole War.

Florida Becomes a United States Territory

Americans reacted to these confrontations by sending Andrew Jackson to Florida with an army of about 3,000 men. Jackson was successful in his attacks and left many dead and dying Seminole behind in their destroyed villages. He went on to attack Spanish settlements and captured Spanish forts at St. Marks and Pensacola. Spaniards began to realize that they could no longer keep their territory. Spain negotiated a treaty with the United States in 1819. The agreement was signed by John Quincy Adams (Secretary of State) and Luis de Onis (Spain’s Minister) and was called the Adams-Onis Treaty. The Adams-Onis Treaty gave Florida to the United States and nullified the $5,000,000 debt Spain owed to the United States. Florida now belonged to the United States.

The Second Seminole War

Andrew Jackson had the responsibility of setting up Florida’s government, and he had a government up and running within weeks. He quickly divided Florida into two parts called counties. Jackson established county courts and mayors in the cities of St. Augustine (East Florida) and Pensacola (West Florida). Afterwards, Jackson left Florida, and empowered William Pope DuVal to lead Florida as governor. Florida became an official territory on March 30, 1822.

Northern settlers were invading Tallahassee, a Seminole settlement. These settlers often clashed with the Seminole. In an effort to end these conflicts, the governor asked the Seminole to move. The Seminole refused. In 1823, it became necessary for the governor to offer the Seminole a treaty, which was called the Treaty of Moultrie Creek. This treaty required the Seminole to give up their land and move south. It also

made them agree to discontinue hiding runaway slaves. The Seminole were given four million acres of land in the area south of present-day Ocala. This area was called a reservation. This reservation, however, did not suit the needs of the Seminole. Meanwhile, their former home in Tallahassee became the new capital of the territory.

In 1829, Andrew Jackson became President of the United States. He worked to have the Indian Removal Act passed by Congress. It became law in 1830. The purpose of this act was to move all Indians to land west of the Mississippi River. The Seminole did not want to leave their Florida home, but agreed to send some chiefs to look at the new land where they would be relocated. While they were viewing the land, the chiefs were persuaded to sign a treaty agreeing to move. When they returned back to Florida, however, they claimed they had been tricked. They refused to leave.

A warrior named Osceola led the Seminole in surprise attacks against the Americans. The first battle of the war was known as the Dade Massacre. It occurred when Major Dade was leading a combined army from Fort Brooke (Tampa) and Fort King (Ocala). In an attack by Osceola and his men, over a hundred soldiers were killed near what is now Bushnell.

The United States sent many troops into Florida to defeat the Seminole. They were successful in pushing the Seminole further south into the wilderness. Several agreements were made by Seminole chiefs to leave the area, but the agreements continually fell through. Finally, Osceola was captured and he died in prison in 1838. Following his death, the Seminole began to decline. Many were killed; others were captured and relocated out west. On August 14, 1842, The Second Seminole War officially ended. As a result, many Seminole were sent to reservations in the west.

Florida Becomes the 27th State

Floridians had continued to take steps toward statehood throughout the confrontations with the Indians. In December 1838, the year Osceola died, Florida held a convention to write a constitution. The constitution contained the laws that the citizens of Florida had agreed on to rule the territory. A council voted on and approved the constitution in 1839. At that time, the United States Congress would not approve Florida as a new state because it wanted to join as a slave state. Florida was eventually admitted to the United States as a slave state on March 3, 1845.

The Seminole Withdraw to the Everglades

The few Seminole that remained, after most were sent to the reservations in the west, periodically fought the Americans again, from 1855 to 1858. After this final confrontation, the handful of Seminole that were still in Florida withdrew into the Everglades rather than surrender. Some Seminole Indians still live in the Everglades.

The Seminole – Map

The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida

The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida has a proud history which dates back prior to the arrival of Columbus to the New World. The Miccosukee Indians were originally part of the Creek Nation, which was a group of clan villages that inhabited the areas now known as Alabama and Georgia.

The Miccosukee have had centuries of relations with the Seminole tribe, but maintain a separate identity today, mostly due to language. Unlike the Creek-speaking Seminole, they speak the Mikasuki language.

The original home of the Miccosukee was in the Tennessee Valley. They later migrated to North and South Carolina and northern Alabama. They moved to North Florida during the 18th and 19th centuries, forming a major part of the Seminole tribe. They moved again to the Everglades after the Seminole Wars (1817-1818 and 1835-1842). During this time, they mixed heavily with the Seminoles, but many of them kept their Mikasuki language.

The tribe separated from the Seminole in the 1950s to become the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida. On January 11, 1962, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior approved the Miccosukee Constitution and the Tribe was officially recognized as the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida. This legally established the Miccosukee’s tribal existence with the United States Government. The tribe today occupies several reservations in Southern Florida.

Source: Adapted from the official site of the Miccosukee nation at http://www.miccosukee.com/tribe.htm

Miccosukee Culture - Questions and Answers

How do you pronounce the word "Miccosukee"? What does it mean?

It's pronounced "mick-uh-SOO-kee." It comes from the Miccosukee word for "chief." Sometimes it is spelled Mikasuki instead.

How is the Miccosukee Indian nation organized?

The Miccosukee tribe has four reservation areas in Southern Florida. This land belongs to them and is legally under their control. Not all Miccosukee people live on these reservations, however.

The Miccosukee Indian tribe has its own government, laws, police, and services, just like a small country. However, the Miccosukee are also United States citizens and must obey U.S. law.

What language do the Miccosukee speak?

Most Miccosukee people speak English today, but some people, especially elders, also speak their native Mikasuki language. A few easy Mikasuki words include: chehuntamo (pronounced chee-hun-tah-moh) is a friendly greeting and shonabish (pronounced shoh-nah-bish) means "thank you."

Today Mikasuki is an endangered language. However, some Miccosukee people are working to keep their language alive. How do Miccosukee Indian children live and what did they do in the past?

They do the same things all children do including play with each other, go to school, and help around the house. Many Miccosukee children like to go hunting and fishing with their fathers. In the past, American Indian children had more chores and less time to play, just like colonial children. But they did have beaded dolls, toys and games. Lacrosse was a popular sport among teenage boys as it was among adult men. Miccosukee mothers, like many American Indians, traditionally carried their babies in cradleboards on their backs--a custom which many American parents have adopted now.

What were Miccosukee homes like in the past?

The Miccosukee people lived in settled villages of houses called chickees. Chickees

were made of wood and plaster, and the roofs were thatched with palmetto fiber. As the Miccosukee tribe moved south into the Everglades, they began building their houses on wooden stilts. This raised the floor two or three feet off the ground and protected their homes from flooding and swamp animals. Today, most Miccosukees live in modern houses and apartment buildings, just like you.

What was Miccosukee clothing like? Did they wear feather headdresses and face paint?

Miccosukee men wore breechcloths. Miccosukee women wore wraparound skirts woven from palmetto fiber. Shirts were not necessary in Miccosukee culture, but the Miccosukee did wear mantles in cool weather. Miccosukee Indians also wore moccasins on their feet. In colonial times, the Miccosukees adapted European costume into their own characteristic styles, including turbans, long tunics, and patchwork skirts.

The Miccosukee didn't wear long headdresses like the Plains Tribes. Miccosukee men usually shaved their heads except for a single scalplock, and sometimes they would also wear a porcupine roach. (These headdresses were made of porcupine hair, not their sharp quills!) Miccosukee women usually wore their long hair in topknots or buns. The Miccosukees wore elaborate tribal tattoos, but rarely painted their faces.

Today, some Miccosukee people still wear moccasins or a patchwork skirt, but they wear modern clothes like jeans instead of breechcloths.

What was Miccosukee transportation like in the days before cars? Did they paddle canoes?

Yes--the Miccosukee Indians made flat dugout canoes from hollowed-out cypress logs. They usually steered these boats with poles rather than paddles. Over land, the Miccosukee used dogs as pack animals. Today, of course, Miccosukee people also use cars and other forms of modern transportation.

What was Miccosukee food like in the days before supermarkets?

The Miccosukee were farming people. Miccosukee women did most of the farming - harvesting crops of corn, beans, and squash. Miccosukee men did most of the hunting

and fishing, catching game such as deer, wild turkeys, rabbits, turtles, and alligators. Miccosukee dishes included cornbread, soups, and stews.

What were Miccosukee weapons and tools like in the past?

Miccosukee hunters primarily used bows and arrows. Fishermen generally used fishing spears. In war, Miccosukee men fired their bows or fought with tomahawks and lances.

What are Miccosukee arts and crafts like?

The Miccosukee were known for their baskets, woodcarvings, beadwork, and patchwork designs.

What other American Indians did the Miccosukee tribe interact with?

The Miccosukee traded regularly with all the other Southeast American Indians, especially the Choctaw and the Cherokee. These tribes communicated using a simplified trade language called Mobilian Jargon. But the most important Miccosukee neighbors were the Creeks. Many Creek and Miccosukee people, along with some individuals from other southeastern tribes, joined together to create the powerful Seminole tribe. The Creeks and Miccosukee formed this alliance to fight against Europeans who were taking their land.

What kinds of stories do the Miccosukee tell?

There are lots of traditional Miccosukee legends and fairy tales. Storytelling is very important to the Miccosukee Indian culture.

Can you recommend a good book for me to read?

You may enjoy The Wonderful Sky Boat, which is a collection of traditional tales from several Southeasten tribes including the Miccosukee. Patchwork: Seminole and Miccosukee Art and Activities is a good book with craft activities as well as cultural information. There are also several good stories for children about the Seminole tribe (which many Miccosukees belonged to.) One is Indian Shoes, a charming collection of short stories about a contemporary Cherokee-Seminole boy and his grandfather. Another is Night Bird, which is historical fiction about the relocation of many

Seminoles to Oklahoma. A third is Seminole Diary, which is the compelling story of two escaped slaves who join the Seminole tribe.

Source: Questions and answers originally adapted from http://www.geocities.com/bigorrin/miccosukee_kids.htm; a new site is available at http://www.bigorrin.org/miccosukee_kids.htm

National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month

GRADE LEVEL: Social Studies – Elementary - Intermediate Grades

TITLE: Compare and Contrast the Miccosukee and Seminole Indian Tribes of Florida

OBJECTIVES: Objectives from the Florida Standards are noted with FS.

1. The students will compare and contrast the history and cultures of the Miccosukee and Seminole Indian tribes of Florida.

2. The students will describe the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part of a text. (FS)

SUGGESTED TIME: 60 minutes

DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES:

1. Discuss the concepts of comparing (finding similarities) and contrasting (finding differences). To illustrate the concepts, have students compare and contrast basketball and soccer as a whole group activity. Record responses using the Venn Diagram graphic organizer (provided).

2. Explain that students will be using the same Venn Diagram graphic organizer to compare/contrast the histories and cultures of the two tribes located in South Florida – the Miccosukee and Seminole Indian tribes.

TEACHER’S NOTE: These tribes are often incorrectly identified to be one and the same. The primary cultural difference between the two tribes is language.

3. Using the readings on the Miccosukee and Seminole provided with the previous lesson, have students work in pairs to develop the Venn Diagram.

4. Following the activity, debrief by having students share the results of their work. Develop a master Venn Diagram on the board for students to see. Correct student inaccuracies during the discussion.

ASSESSMENT STRATEGY: Completion of the Venn Diagram compare/contrast activity.

MATERIALS/AIDS NEEDED: Reading Passages about the Miccosukee and Seminole tribes (provided in the previous lesson); blank Venn diagram (provided)

EXTENSION ACTIVITY: Complete a compare/contrast Venn Diagram for two other tribes found in Florida or tribes from two other culture groups. (See the previous lesson for the readings on American Indians in Florida.)

Venn Diagram

GRADE LEVEL: Social Studies – Elementary – Primary and Intermediate

TITLE: American Indian Stories - Legends and Myths

OBJECTIVES: Objectives from the Florida Standards are noted with FS.

1. The students will define and differentiate between a legend and myth.

2. The students will read legends and myths from various American Indian cultures.

3. The students will recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text. (FS)

SUGGESTED TIME : 120 minutes

DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES:

TEACHER’S NOTE: Separate strategies are provided in this lesson for primary and intermediate students. Select the myths and legends to use with students that are appropriate for the age and maturity of the students.

For Primary Students:

1. Explain that most American Indian tribes have a long tradition of telling stories about their history and beliefs. These stories are usually passed down orally from generation to generation. A lot of their stories deal with nature and how certain things came to be. Most tribes tell stories that are either myths or legends.

2. Introduce primary students to the stories (myths) of American Indian cultures by reading aloud “The Creation Story” (Powhatan) and “How People Got Different Languages” (Blackfoot). Both myths are provided. Discuss the stories.

3. After reading, discuss the stories. Ask:a. What is the main idea of the story?b. Who are the main characters in the story?c. What are the important events in the story?

4. Print copies of the stories and have students illustrate them.

National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month

For intermediate students:

1. Explain that most American Indian tribes have a long tradition of telling stories about their history and beliefs. These stories are usually passed down orally from generation to generation. A lot of their stories deal with nature and how certain things came to be. Most tribes tell stories that are either myths or legends.

A myth is a traditional story about the early history of the people. Myths explain a belief or something that occurred in nature. For example, most tribes have a myth that explains how the world and people were created. Myths usually involved gods, heroes and supernatural beings. They cannot be proven as true.

American Indians also tell traditional stories about real people, heroes and events from the past. These are called legends. Tribes may have legends about how they came to live in a certain part of the country, how they won an important battle, or how an individual chief or warrior became important. Legends, even those based on actual events, are often exaggerated.

2. Introduce intermediate students to the stories (myths) of American Indian cultures by reading aloud the Lakota creation myth and the Cheyenne legend on the origins of the buffalo (provided).

Further discuss the meanings and differences between the terms legend and myth.

Lakota Sioux Creation Myth

This story is a myth because it deals with creation. Myths usually involved gods, heroes and supernatural beings. In this case, the supernatural being is the Creating Power. They cannot be proven as true.

Questions for Discussion:

a. What is the main idea of the myth? (to explain how the Dakota Sioux came to be a people.)

b. Explain how the Creating Power worked with animals to create a new world. (He had various animals that knew could remain under water for long periods of time attempt to dive to the bottom of the water. Only the turtle was able to retrieve mud from the bottom.)

c. What did the Creating Power do with the mud brought to him by the turtle? (He spread the mud around making the land.)

d. Explain how the rivers and streams were created. (Creating Power cried tears.)

e. Explain how animals and birds were placed on earth. (Creating Power took them from his pipe bag and spread them across the earth.)

f. What did Creating Power use to make men and women? (He used the red, white, black, and yellow earth.

g. How did the Creating Power ask all people to live? (in harmony)

Origin of the Buffalo – Cheyenne Legend

This story is a legend because it deals with actual events - the dependence of the Cheyenne people on the buffalo as a primary food source. Legends, even those based on actual events, are often exaggerated.

Questions for Discussion:

a. What is the main idea of the legend? (to explain how the Cheyenne found the buffalo as a new source of food.)

b. What did the Chief ask First Brave and the two other braves to explore? (a cave)

c. Who did the braves meet in the cave? (an old grandmother)

d. What did the braves receive as a gift from the old grandmother (buffalo meat)

e. What did the grandmother promise the braves and did her promise come true? (She promised to send the Cheyenne live buffalo. The next day, buffalo surrounded the village. Her promise was kept.)

3. Read and discuss the handout entitled, “American Indian Myths and Legends” (provided). This may be done individually or with the teacher reading and the students following along.

TEACHER’S NOTE: The reading introduces students to the differences between myths and legends. Two examples of myths and two examples of legends are included. Additional myths and legends are provided as optional reading.

4. Following the reading, divide the class into small groups. Assign one myth or legend from the readings to each group. OPTIONAL: Also assign the myths and legends included in the optional reading so that more myths and legends are introduced.

5. Have each group re-read the assigned myth or legend and then work together to create a short play or skit illustrating the content of the myth or legend.

Ask students to think about and discuss the answers to these questions as they plan their skits:a. What is the main idea of the story?b. Who are the main characters in the story?c. What are the important events in the story?d. How does the story end?

6. Have students present their skits or plays to the class.

ASSESSMENT STRATEGY: Completion of reading assignments and discussion; also, completion of skits for intermediate students.

MATERIALS/AIDS NEEDED: Copies of myths and legends (provided); copies of the reading entitled, “American Indian Myths and Legends” (provided)

SOURCES : Lesson adapted from Education World, http://www.educationworld.com/; Websites with numerous myths and legends include:

http://www.ducksters.com/history/native_americans/mythology_legends.phphttp://www.crystalinks.com/nativeamcreation.htmlhttp://www.warpaths2peacepipes.com/native-american-stories/http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/native-american-myths/http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-legends.htmlhttp://nativeamericans.mrdonn.org/stories/ http://www.warpaths2peacepipes.com/native- american-culture/native-american-mythology.htmhttp://www.firstpeople.us/

Creation Story (Powhatan tribe in Massachusetts) - Primary

Long ago, there were five main gods in the world. The leader of the gods was the Great Hare (Rabbit). The other four gods were the winds from each corner of the earth.

One day the Great Hare created people. He made a number of people and animals. He wasn't sure what to do with them so he put them into a large bag. He wanted to make a place for them to live, so he made the forests, rivers, and lakes. He created deer to live in the forests.

The other four gods, however, weren't happy with what the Great Hare had made. They went into the forests and killed the deer. When the Great Hare found the dead deer, he was sad. He tossed the skins of the deer throughout the forest and many more deer sprang to life. He then let the people out of the bag and spread them around the forest to live together with the deer.

Draw a picture to illustrate the story:

How People Got Different Languages

(Blackfoot tribe of the Northern Plains) - Primary

One day a great flood moved through the land of the Blackfoot covering everything. All the people gathered at the top of the tallest mountain. The Great Spirit, or "Old Man", appeared on the mountain and turned the water into different colors. He had each group of people drink a different color of water. They all began to speak different languages. The Blackfoot drank the black water and spoke the Blackfoot language.

Draw a picture to illustrate the story.

A Lakota Sioux Creation Myth - Intermediate

There was another world before this one. But the people of that world did not behave themselves. Displeased, the Creating Power set out to make a new world. He sang several songs to bring rain, which poured stronger with each song.

As he sang the fourth song, the earth split apart and water gushed up through the many cracks, causing a flood. By the time the rain stopped, all of the people and nearly all of the animals had drowned. Only Kangi the crow survived.

Kangi pleaded with the Creating Power to make him a new place to rest. So the Creating Power decided the time had come to make his new world. From his huge pipe bag, which contained all types of animals and birds, the Creating Power selected four animals known for their ability to remain under water for a long time. He sent each in turn to retrieve a lump of mud from beneath the flood waters. First the loon dove deep into the dark waters, but it was unable to reach the bottom. The otter, even with its strong webbed feet, also failed. Next, the beaver used its large flat tail to propel itself deep under the water, but it too brought nothing back. Finally, the Creating Power took the turtle from his pipe bag and urged it to bring back some mud.

Turtle stayed under the water for so long that everyone was sure it had drowned. Then, with a splash, the turtle broke the water's surface! Mud filled its feet and claws and the cracks between its upper and lower shells. Singing, the Creating Power shaped the mud in his hands and spread it on the water, where it was just big enough for himself and the crow. He then shook two long eagle wing feathers over the mud until earth spread wide and varied, overcoming the waters. Feeling sadness for the dry land, the Creating Power cried tears that became oceans, streams, and lakes. He named the new land Turtle Continent in honor of the turtle who provided the mud from which it was formed.

The Creating Power then took many animals and birds from his great pipe bag and spread them across the earth. From red, white, black, and yellow earth, he made men and women. The Creating Power gave the people his sacred pipe and told them to live by it. He warned them about the fate of the people who came before them. He promised all would be well if all living things learned to live in harmony. But the world would be destroyed again if they made it bad and ugly. Source: firstpeople.us

Origin of the Buffalo - A Cheyenne Legend - Intermediate

Long ago, a tribe of Cheyenne hunters lived at the head of a rushing stream, which eventually emptied into a large cave.

Because of the great need for a new food supply for his people, the Chief called a council meeting.

"We should explore the large cave," he told his people. "How many brave hunters will offer to go on this venture? Of course, it may be very dangerous, but we have brave hunters." No one responded to the Chief's request.

Finally, one young brave painted himself for hunting and stepped forth, replying to the Chief, "I will go and sacrifice myself for our people." He arrived at the cave, and to his surprise, First Brave found two other Cheyenne hunters near the opening, where the stream rushed underground.

"Are they here to taunt me," First Brave wondered? "Will they only pretend to jump when I do?"

But the other two braves assured him they would go.

"No, you are mistaken about us. We really do want to enter the cave with you," they said.

First Brave then joined hands with them and together they jumped into the huge opening of the cave. Because of the darkness, it took some time for their eyes to adjust. They then discovered what looked like a door.

First Brave knocked, but there was no response. He knocked again, louder.

"What do you want, my brave ones?" asked an old Indian grandmother as she opened her door.

"Grandmother, we are searching for a new food supply for our tribe," First Brave replied. "Our people never seem to have enough food to eat."

"Are you hungry now?" she asked.

"Oh, yes, kind Grandmother, we are very hungry," all three braves answered.

The old grandmother opened her door wide, inviting the young braves to enter.

"Look out there!" she pointed for them to look through her window.

A beautiful wide prairie stretched before their eyes. Great herds of buffalo were grazing contentedly. The young hunters could hardly believe what they saw!

The old grandmother brought each of them a stone pan full of buffalo meat. How good it tasted, as they ate and ate until they were filled. To their surprise, more buffalo meat remained in their stone pans!

"I want you to take your stone pans of buffalo meat back to your people at your camp," said the old grandmother. "Tell them that soon I will send some live buffalo."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, kind Grandmother," said the three young Cheyenne braves.

When the young hunters returned to their tribe with the gifts of buffalo meat, their people rejoiced over the new, good food. Their entire tribe ate heartily from the old grandmother's three magic pans, and were grateful.

When the Cheyenne waked at dawn the next day, herds of buffalo had mysteriously appeared, surrounding their village! They were truly thankful to the old Indian grandmother and to the Sky Spirits for their good fortune.

Source: firstpeople.us

American Indian Myths and Legends - Intermediate

Most American Indian tribes have a long tradition of telling stories about their history and beliefs. These stories weren't written down, but were passed down orally from generation to generation. A lot of their stories had to do with nature and how certain things came to be. Most tribes tell stories that are either myths or legends.

A myth is a traditional story about the early history of the people. Myths explain a belief or something that happened in nature. For example, a tribe may have a myth that explains how the world was created. Myths usually involved gods, heroes and supernatural beings. Myths cannot be proven as true. The Powhatan myth below is an example of a myth about the creation of the earth.

Creation Myth (Powhatan tribe from Virginia) 

There were five main gods in the world. The leader of the gods was the Great Hare (rabbit). The other four gods were the winds from each corner of the earth. 

One day the Great Hare created people. He made a number of people and animals. He wasn't sure what to do with them so he put them into a large bag. He wanted to make a place for them to live, so he made the forests, rivers, and lakes. He created deer to live in the forests. 

The other four gods, however, weren't happy with what the Great Hare had made. They went into the forests and killed the deer. When the Great Hare found the dead deer, he was saddened. He tossed the skins of the deer throughout the forest and many more deer sprang to life. He then let the people out of the bag and spread them around the forest to live together with the deer. 

The Inuit of Alaska tell a creation myth that offers a different story about the creation of the earth. It speaks of the Raven as the creator of earth.

Myth - Raven as the Creator of the World (Inuit Tribe from Alaska)

Raven made the world and the waters with beats of his wings.

He had the powers of both a man and bird, and could change from one to the other simply by pulling his bead above his head as one lifts up a mask.

His earth was dark and silent. He had created water and mountains, and had filled the land with growing pea-pod plants.

After five days, one of the pea-pods burst open; out popped a fully-grown man, the first to walk on Raven’s new earth.

At first the man was dizzy and confused. He drank from a pool of water at his feet, which made him feel a little better.

Raven had been soaring above his earth when he caught sight of the movement below.

For a long time Raven and the man stared at each other without saying a word.

Finally Raven spoke:

“Who are you and where did you come from?”

“I was born from that pea-pod” replied the man, pointing to the plant.

Raven was astonished. He had made the pea plant himself without any idea that something like this would happen. However, he was pleased that his earth would now have inhabitants.

“Have you eaten?” asked Raven.

“I have had a drink of water...” replied the man.

“Wait here for me,” said Raven, who lowered his beak and took the form of a bird. With a flurry of dark feathers, he flew off into the night sky.

The man waited for Raven for four days.Raven returned carrying two raspberries and two heathberries.

“These are for you. They shall grow all over the earth to feed you.”

Man devoured the berries in one gulp; Raven realized that berries alone wouldn’t be enough to feed his hungry creation.

Raven then began working clay to form two fat mountain sheep. When he waved his black wings over them, the sheep sprang into life and bounded into the hills.

He made more and more sheep. Man looked at them so hungrily that Raven carefully placed them far up in the mountains so that Man wouldn’t eat all of them at once.

Raven went on making fish, birds and other animals, and waved his wings over each one to bring it to life.

Each one he put someplace out of Man’s reach so that he wouldn’t kill them all – the fish in the rivers and the birds in the air. Already Raven could see other men growing in pea-pods, and they were soon going to emerge hungry too.

Raven created a huge bear from the same clay, to make sure Man had something to fear.

After a few days, Raven noticed that Man was lonely.

Raven went off to a quiet corner of the earth where Man couldn’t see what he was doing.

He started building a figure out of clay. It looked like Man but was smaller and softer. Raven brushed his wings over the new figure, and the lovely being sat up and looked at Man.

“This is Woman, your helper and companion,” said Raven.

Man was very pleased. Together they filled the earth with their children and before long Raven’s earth filled with the sound of many voices, and overflowing with many forms of life.

American Indians also tell traditional stories about real events and heroes from the past. These are called legends. For example, tribes may have legends about how they came to live in a certain part of the country, how they won an important battle, or how an individual chief or warrior became important. Legends are often exaggerated. The following legend is about a famous Sioux warrior known as Roman Nose. This legend explains why Chief Roman Nose lost his medicine or power.

Chief Roman Nose Loses His Medicine (Sioux Tribe from the Plains)

The Lakota and the Shahiyela -- the Sioux and the Cheyenne -- have been good friends for a long time. Often they have fought shoulder to shoulder. They fought the white soldiers on the Bozeman Road, which we Indians called the Thieves' Road because it was built to steal our land. They fought together on the Rosebud River, and the two tribes united to defeat Custer in the big battle of the Little Bighorn. Even now in a barroom brawl, a Sioux will always come to the aid of a Cheyenne and vice versa. We Sioux will never forget what brave fighters the Cheyenne used to be.

Over a hundred years ago the Cheyenne had a famous war chief whom the whites called Roman Nose. He had the fierce, proud face of a hawk, and his deeds were legendary. He always rode into battle with a long war bonnet trailing behind him. It was thick with eagle feathers, and each stood for a brave deed, a coup counted on the enemy.

Roman Nose had a powerful war medicine, a magic stone he carried tied to his hair on the back of his head. Before a fight he sprinkled his war shirt with sacred gopher dust and painted his horse with hailstone patterns. All these things, especially the magic stone, made him bullet proof. Of course he could be slain by a lance, a knife, or a tomahawk, but not with a gun. And nobody ever got the better of Roman Nose in hand-to-hand combat.

There was one thing about Roman Nose's medicine: he was not allowed to touch anything made of metal when eating. He had to use horn or wooden spoons and eat from wooden or earthenware bowls. His meat had to be cooked in a buffalo's pouch or in a clay pot, not in a white man's iron kettle.

One day Roman Nose received word of a battle going on between white soldiers and Cheyenne warriors. The fight had been swaying back and forth for over a day. "Come and help us; we need you" was the message. Roman Nose called his warriors together. They had a hasty meal, and Roman Nose forgot about the laws of his medicine. Using a metal spoon and a white man's steel knife, he ate buffalo meat cooked in an iron kettle.

The white soldiers had made a fort on a sand-spit island in the middle of a river. They were shooting from behind and they had a new type of rifle which was better and could shoot faster and further than the Indians' arrows and old muzzle-loaders.

The Cheyenne were hurling themselves against the soldiers in attack after attack, but the water in some spots came up to the saddles of their horses and the river bottom

was slippery. They could not ride up quickly on the enemy, and they faced murderous fire. Their attacks were repulsed, their losses heavy.

Roman Nose prepared for the fight by putting on his finest clothes, war shirt, and leggings. He painted his best horse, with hailstone designs, and he tied the pebble which made him bulletproof into his hair at the back of his head.

But an old warrior stepped up to him and said: "You have eaten from a iron kettle with a metal spoon and a steel knife. Your medicine is powerless; you must not fight today. Purify yourself for four days so that your medicine will be good again."

"But the fight is today, not in four days," said Roman Nose. "I must lead my warriors. I will die, but only the mountains and the rocks are forever." He put on his great warbonnet, sang his death song, and then charged. As he rode up to the whites' cottonwood breastwork, a bullet hit him in the chest. He fell from his horse; his body was immediately lifted by is warriors, and the Cheyenne retreated with their dead chief. To honour him in death, to give him a fitting burial, was more important than to continue the battle.

All night the soldiers in their fort could hear the Cheyenne's mourning songs, the keening of the women. They too knew that the great chief Roman Nose was dead. He had died as he had lived. He had shown that sometimes it is more important to act like a chief than to live to a great old age.

Natsilane – How the Orca (Killer Whale) Came to Be (Tlingit tribe from the Pacific Northwest)

In a time before there were any killer whales there lived a very able sea lion hunter and a highly skilled carver named Natsilane. He was from Kake and when he took as his wife the daughter of a chief on Duke Island, he decided to live among her people. He was accepted into her family and because he tried hard to prove himself, he soon had a place of honor as an accomplished hunter and spear carver.

His desire to please won him the admiration of the youngest of his brothers- in-law but the oldest ones misunderstood his intentions and became jealous and so began to plot against him. The men decided to get even with Natsilane on the day of the big seal hunt.

After much preparation, the day of the big hunt arrived and Natsilane along with his four new brothers paddled their canoe toward West Devil Rock, out in the open straits. The wind was blowing fiercely and the waves were high but Natsilane was determined

that the hunt would be successful. When the canoe neared the rocks, he leaped toward shore and plunged his spear into the nearest sea lion before it could escape. Unfortunately, the point broke off and the lion slipped into the water. Worse yet, Natsilane saw that his brothers, over the fierce objections of the youngest, were paddling away- abandoning him on the deserted island with no food or weapons. Their betrayal stung him deeply and after a time, he pulled his cloak up over his head and fell asleep.

Natsilane awoke the next morning to the sound of his name. He saw a sea lion that looked like a man beckoning to him to go with him down beneath the waves into the Sea Lion's House. At the great house he met the chief of the sea lions who asked him if he could help his injured son. Natsilane saw that the young lion had his spear point embedded in his body and with some effort was able to remove it and the son was healed. The chief was very grateful and after granting Natsilane even greater skills, arranged for his safe return to the village.

Natsilane met with his wife and after telling her his story, he made her promise to keep his return a secret. He took with him his carving tools and went into the woods to carry out a plan of revenge on the older brothers-in- law who had betrayed him. Remembering the Sea-Lion Chief's promise, he asked him for help and began carving a large black fish, a killer whale of spruce the likes of which had never been seen before. After three tries and much improvement in his carving skills, he fashioned a whale of yellow cedar and when launched, came to life and swam out to sea.

He called the black fish to him and ordered it to find his brothers-in-law when they returned from their hunting, destroy them and their boat but spare the youngest boy. The black fish set out and found them late that afternoon. black fish capsized the boat breaking it in two and drowned the older three brothers by keeping them from shore. The youngest made it back safely along with his story of the great black fish and his brothers' treachery.

The villagers now came to wonder if Natsilane had carved the great black fish and given it life. Not long afterward, a strange black fish with teeth was seen near the shore and at times would leave a freshly killed seal or halibut there for the villagers. Natsilane had instructed it never again to harm humans but instead, to help them. As he continued to help the villagers, they realized that the "Killer Whale" was a gift from Natsilane and so they took it for their crest. Natsilane became a legend to their village and some have claimed to have seen him riding the seas on the backs of two great black fish. Source: This legend is from Firstpeople.us

American Indian myths and legends are very important to the culture and traditions of the people they represent.

Can you now explain the difference between a myth and legend?

Additional Myths - Intermediate

Cherokee Creation (Cherokee Tribe from the Southeast)

Long ago, before there were any people, the world was young and water covered everything. The earth was a great island floating above the seas, suspended by four rawhide ropes representing the four sacred directions. It hung down from the crystal sky. There were no people, but the animals lived in a home above the rainbow. Needing space, they sent Water Beetle to search for room under the seas. Water Beetle dove deep and brought up mud that spread quickly, turning into land that was flat and too soft and wet for the animals to live on.

Grandfather Buzzard was sent to see if the land had hardened. When he flew over the earth, he found the mud had become solid; he flapped in for a closer look. The wind from his wings created valleys and mountains, and that is why the Cherokee territory has so many mountains today.

As the earth stiffened, the animals came down from the rainbow. It was still dark. They needed light, so they pulled the sun out from behind the rainbow, but it was too bright and hot. A solution was urgently needed. The shamans were told to place the sun higher in the sky. A path was made for it to travel--from east to west--so that all inhabitants could share in the light.

The plants were placed upon the earth. The Creator told the plants and animals to stay awake for seven days and seven nights. Only a few animals managed to do so, including the owls and mountain lions, and they were rewarded with the power to see in the dark. Among the plants, only the cedars, spruces, and pines remained awake. The Creator told these plants that they would keep their hair during the winter, while the other plants would lose theirs.

People were created last. The women were able to have babies every seven days. They reproduced so quickly that the Creator feared the world would soon become too crowded. So after that the women could have only one child per year, and it has been that way ever since.

How the Rainbow Was Made - A Creation Tale

(The Ojibwe or Chippewa   tribe near the Great Lakes)

One day when the earth was new, Nanabozho looked out the window of his house beside the wide waterfall and realized that all of the flowers in his meadow were exactly the same off-white color. How boring! He decided to make a change, so he gathered up his paints and his paintbrushes and went out to the meadow.

Nanabozho sat down in the tall grass and arranged his red and orange and yellow and green and blue and violet paint pots next to him. Then he began to paint the flowers in his meadow in many different colors. He painted the violets dark blue and the tiger lilies orange with brown dots. He made the roses red and pink and purple. He painted the pansies in every color combination he could think of. Then he painted every single daffodil bright yellow. Nanabozho hummed happily to himself as he worked in the brilliant daylight provided by Brother Sun.

Overhead, two little bluebirds were playing games with each other. The first little bluebird would chase his friend across the meadow one way. Then they would turn around and the second bluebird would chase him back the other way. Zippity-zip went the first bluebird as he raced across the sky. Zappity-zing went the second bluebird as he chased him in the brilliant sunshine.

Occasionally, Nanabozho would shade his eyes and look up…up into the endless blue sky to watch the two little birds playing. Then he went back to work, painting yellow centers in the white daisies. Above him, the two birds decided to see how fast they could dive down to the green fields below them. The first bluebird sailed down and down, and then pulled himself up sharply just before he touched the ground. As he soared passed Nanabozho, his right wing dipped into the red paint pot. When the second bluebird dove toward the grass, his left wing grazed the orange paint pot.

Nanabozho scolded the two birds, but they kept up their game, diving down toward the grass where he sat painting and then flying back up into the sky. Soon their feet and feathers were covered with paint of all colors. Finally Nanabozho stood up and waved his arms to shoo the birds away.

Reluctantly, the bluebirds flew away from Nanabozho and his paint pots, looking for another game to play. They started chasing each other again, sailing this way and that over top of the giant waterfall that stood next to Nanabozho's house. Zippity-zip, the first bluebird flew through the misty spray of the waterfall. The first bluebird left a long red paint streak against the sky. Zappity-zing, the second bluebird chased his friend

through the mist, leaving an orange paint streak. Then the birds turned to go back the other way. This time, the first bluebird left a yellow paint streak and the second left a pretty blue-violet paint streak. As they raced back and forth, the colors grew more vivid. When Brother Sun shone on the colors, they sparkled radiantly through the mist of the waterfall.

Below them, Nanabozho looked up in delight when the brilliant colors spilled over his meadow. A gorgeous arch of red and orange and yellow and green and blue and violet shimmered in the sky above the waterfall. Nanabozho smiled at the funny little bluebirds and said: "You have made a rainbow!"

Nanabozho was so pleased that he left the rainbow permanently floating above his waterfall, its colors shimmering in the sunshine and the misting water. From that day to this, whenever Brother Sun shines his light on the rain or the mist, a beautiful rainbow forms. It is a reflection of the mighty rainbow that still stands over the waterfall at Nanabozho's house.

Additional Legends

How People Got Different Languages (The Blackfoot tribe from the Plains)  

One day a great flood moved through the land of the Blackfoot covering everything. All the people gathered at the top of the tallest mountain. The Great Spirit, or "Old Man", appeared on the mountain and turned the water into different colors. He had each group of people drink a different color of water. They all began to speak different languages. The Blackfoot drank the black water and spoke the Blackfoot language.

The First Ship (The Chinook tribe from the Pacific Northwest)

An old woman in a Clatsop village near the mouth of Big River mourned the death of her son. For a year she grieved. One day she stopped her crying and took a walk along the beach where she had often gone in happier days. As she was returning to the village, she saw a strange something out in the water not far from shore. At first she thought it was a whale. When she came nearer, she saw two spruce trees standing upright on it. "It's not a whale," she said to herself, "It's a monster."

When she came near the strange thing that lay at the edge of the water, she saw that its outside was covered with copper and that ropes were tied to the spruce trees. Then

a bear came out of the strange thing and stood on it. It looked like a bear, but the face was the face of a human being.

"Oh, my son is dead," she wailed, "and now the thing we have heard about is on our shore."

Weeping, the old woman returned to her village. People who heard her called to others, "An old woman is crying. Someone must have struck her." The men picked up their bows and arrows and rushed out to see what was the matter.

"Listen!" an old man said.

They heard the women wailing, "Oh, my son is dead, and the thing we have heard about is on our shore."

All the people ran to meet her. "What is it? Where is it?" they asked.

"Ah, the thing we have heard about in tales is lying over there." She pointed toward the south shore of the village. "There are two bears on it, or maybe they are people."

Then the Indians ran toward the thing that lay near the edge of the water. The two creatures on it held copper kettles in their hands. When the Clatsop arrived at the beach, the creatures put their hands to their mouths and asked for water. Two of the Indians ran inland, hid behind a log awhile, and then ran back to the beach. One of them climbed up on the strange thing, entered it, and looked around inside. It was full of boxes, and he found long strings of brass buttons. When he went outside to call his relatives to see the inside of the thing, he found that they had already set fire to it. He jumped down and joined the two creatures and the Indians on shore.

The strange thing burned just like fat. Everything burned except the iron, the copper, and the brass. Then the Clatsop took the two strange looking men to their chief.

"I want to keep one of the men with me," said the chief.

Soon the people north of the river heard about the strange men and the strange thing, and they came to the Clatsop village. The Willapa came from across the river, the Chehalis and the Cowlitz from farther north, and even the Quinault from up the coast. And people from up the river came also -- the Klickitat and others farther up. The Clatsop sold the iron, brass, and copper. They traded one nail for a good deerskin.

For a long necklace of shells they gave several nails. One man traded a piece of brass two fingers wide for a slave. None of the Indians had ever seen iron or brass before. The Clatsop became rich selling the metal to other tribes. The two Clatsop chiefs kept the two men who came on the ship. One stayed at the village called Clatsop, and the other stayed at the village on the cape. 

Websites for Additional Myths and Legends - The following websites are good sites to find more American Indian myths and legends

http://www.ducksters.com/history/native_americans/mythology_legends.php

http://www.crystalinks.com/nativeamcreation.html

http://www.warpaths2peacepipes.com/native-american-stories/

http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/native-american-myths/

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-legends.html

http://nativeamericans.mrdonn.org/stories/

http://www.warpaths2peacepipes.com/native-american-culture/native-american-mythology.htm

GRADE LEVEL: Social Studies – Elementary – Primary and Intermediate Grades

TITLE: The Real Thanksgiving Story!

OBJECTIVES: Objectives from the Florida Standards are noted with FS.

1. The students will describe the events of the first Plymouth Colony harvest celebration (Thanksgiving) in 1621.

2. The students will identify several myths surrounding the first Thanksgiving celebration.

3. The students will identify the main topic and retell key details of a text. (FS)

4. The students will ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers. (FS)

SUGGESTED TIME: 60 minutes

DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES:

TEACHER’S NOTE: Given that Thanksgiving is celebrated during National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month, the opportunity exists to provide students with a fact-based lesson on the harvest feast (Thanksgiving) that took place in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621. This lesson also helps dispel several myths that have developed over the years regarding the event.

Separate primary and secondary reading assignments and questions are provided for this lesson.

1. Ask students to orally share some things that they and their family do on Thanksgiving Day (e.g., gather as a family, share a large meal, celebrate religious customs and traditions, share things for which they are grateful, eat a large family meal with traditional foods such a turkey, watch football).

2. Ask students why they think we celebrate Thanksgiving (e.g., to give thanks for our family and the many things we enjoy as Americans)

3. Explain to students that Thanksgiving has been celebrated for many years in our country and that we are going to be reading and learning about the very first Thanksgiving or harvest feast. We are also going to learn some surprising facts about what really happened, as related to the Pilgrims and American Indians.

National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month

4. Ask students to orally share what think they already know about the original Thanksgiving celebrated over 400 years ago (1621).

Have each student share one question or thing that they would like to find out about the first Thanksgiving. 

Write the students' questions on a large piece of chart paper (e.g., “How did the Pilgrims and American Indians get along?” "What food did they eat at the first Thanksgiving?").  Explain to students that they will be trying to find the answers to their questions.

5. Read and discuss the reading entitled “The First Thanksgiving” (provided) and answer the “Questions – The First Thanksgiving” (provided)

TEACHER’S NOTE: The reading can be done aloud for primary students. The reading and questions can also be completed over several days - stopping to go more in depth with the companion stories at key points; e.g., voyage to America, Pilgrim life at Plymouth Plantation, help from the Native Americans, the first harvest celebration (Thanksgiving).

6. To help students visualize life at the time in Plymouth for the Pilgrims and American Indians, share the “Images of Pilgrim and Wampanoag Life from Plimouth Plantation” (provided).

As students examine the images (historical reproductions based on research), have students identify and discuss things they notice about life in thecolony (e.g., dress, housing, food).

7. As closure, explain that over time, stories have developed about the first Thanksgiving that are not totally accurate. As age and student maturity dictate, discuss and help dispel the following Thanksgiving myths or stories:

The First Thanksgiving was held in Plymouth in 1621 - The first celebration in Plymouth was really a harvest celebration and was not even called Thanksgiving by the settlers. Other settlers claimed to have held the first Thanksgiving. For example, in Texas, Spanish explorer Juan de Onate is said to have held a big Thanksgiving festival near what is now El Paso after leading hundreds of settlers on a 350-mile long trek across the Mexican desert. In Virginia, settlers at the Berkeley Plantation on the James River are said to have held first Thanksgiving in America on December 4th, 1619.

The Pilgrims shared a big meal of turkey and cranberries with the Wampanoag. The three-day harvest meal likely consisted of deer and roasted meat. They may or may not have eaten turkey, but the Pilgrims did have turkey in their diet. The feasters likely supplemented their venison and birds with fish, lobster, clams, nuts, and wheat flour, as well as vegetables, such as corn, pumpkins, squash, carrots, and peas. Much of what we consider traditional Thanksgiving fare was unknown at the harvest festival. Potatoes and sweet potatoes hadn't yet become staples of the English diet, for example. And cranberry sauce requires sugar - an expensive delicacy in the 1600s. Likewise, pumpkin pie went missing due to a lack of crust ingredients.

It is believed that the Pilgrims set out food on long, flat tables and people helped themselves over the three-day harvest festival. The Wampanoag probably came and went as they pleased throughout the festival.

The Pilgrims were somber and serious people all the time. The Pilgrims were not somber people who only wore black clothes, tall hats, and shoes with large silver buckles. In fact, the Pilgrims generally wore bright and cheerful clothing and had no buckles on their shoes! They also enjoyed singing, dancing, and playing games.

American Indians in the area dressed like most other tribes. American Indians in the area, including the Wampanoag, did not wear woven blankets on their shoulders and large, feathered headdresses. Wampanoag women wore knee-length skirts. Wampanoag men wore breechcloths with leggings. Neither women nor men had to wear shirts in the Wampanoag culture, but they would dress in deerskin mantles during cool weather. The Wampanoag also wore moccasins on their feet.

The English settlers called themselves Pilgrims, not Englishmen. The English settlers did not call themselves Pilgrims, which means “wanderers.” The name Pilgrim was given to them because they traveled from England to Holland and then to North America to find religious freedom. If you had asked a Pilgrim to describe him or herself, they most likely would have replied that they were Englishmen or women.

ASSESSMENT STRATEGY: Completion of the reading and question activity.

MATERIALS/AIDS NEEDED: “The First Thanksgiving” (provided for both primary and intermediate); “Questions – The First Thanksgiving” (provided for both primary and

intermediate); and, “Images of Pilgrim and Wampanoag Life from Plimouth Plantation” (provided).

EXTENSION ACTIVITY: If technology is available, consider taking the virtual fieldtrips to Plymouth Plantation provided by Scholastic.com at http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/webcast.htm

SOURCES: For additional resources on Thanksgiving visit the following sites:

a) Plimoth (Plymouth) Plantation at www.Plimoth.orgb) National Geographic for Kids at http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/history/first-

thanksgiving/#first-thanksgiving-corn.jpg

The First Thanksgiving (Primary)

Introduction

When we think of Thanksgiving today, we think of a big feast with our family. We also think about the first Thanksgiving celebrated many years ago by Pilgrims from England and American Indians. What is the true Thanksgiving story? Let’s read and find out what really happened so long ago.

The Pilgrims Arrive in America

Over 400 years ago, the Pilgrims traveled from England across the Atlantic Ocean to America on a boat called the Mayflower. The Pilgrims left England because they wanted to be free to practice their religion in America.

The trip took over two months. Many people were sick during the trip. The Pilgrims landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620 and began to build a better life in a new land.

The Pilgrims were not ready for life in the new land. They had little food and did not know how to grow crops in America. The first winter was very cold. Over one-half of the Pilgrims died. The Pilgrims were going to need help to live in America.

The Pilgrims Get Help from the American Indians

American Indian tribes had been living in America for thousands of years before the Pilgrims arrived. The American Indians living near the Pilgrims were called the Wampanoag. They knew the land and waters near their home very well. They hunted, fished, and grew crops.

One day, a Wampanoag American Indian known as Samoset visited the settlers. He knew how to speak English. He helped the Pilgrims learn about their new homeland. He also introduced the Pilgrims to Squanto. Squanto helped the settlers grow corn, hunt and fish. Squanto also introduced the Pilgrims to the Wampanoag chief.

The First Thanksgiving

One day in the fall of 1621, four Pilgrim settlers were sent to hunt for food for a harvest celebration. The Wampanoag Indians thought the Pilgrims might be

getting ready for war. Chief Massasoit visited the English settlement with 90 of his men.

The Wampanoag Indians saw that the Pilgrims were only hunting for their harvest celebration. The Wampanoag joined the celebration. For three days, the Pilgrims and Wampanoag men, women, and children ate together. The meal consisted of deer, corn, shellfish, and roasted meat. They also played ball games, sang, and danced.

This harvest feast was the first thanksgiving in Plymouth Colony.

Sources: Adapted from National Geographic for Kids, http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/history/first-thanksgiving/#first-thanksgiving-corn.jpg; and http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-z0sDAEIlXlU/UorvzDzvXdI/AAAAAAAADJg/i0KWZwoY-Us/s1600/Slide02.png

The First Thanksgiving – Primary Questions

1. What boat did the Pilgrims come to America aboard? What ocean did they cross?

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2. Why did the Pilgrims leave England and come to America?

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3. What problems did the Pilgrims have when they arrived in America?

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The First Thanksgiving – Primary Questions (continued)

4. How did the Wampanoag American Indians help the Pilgrims?

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5. What happened on the First Thanksgiving?

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6. On the back of this paper, draw a picture of you and your family celebrating Thanksgiving.

The First Thanksgiving (Intermediate)

Every November, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, a national holiday honoring the harvest feast of the early settlers in Plymouth, Massachusetts held in 1621. When we think of the first Thanksgiving, we imagine a huge feast attended by American Indians in headdresses and Pilgrims in black clothes with big shiny buckles on their shoes. Let’s read and see what really happened on that first Thanksgiving over 400 years ago.

American Indians - Long before English settlers came to the east coast of North America, the land was home to many American Indian tribes. The area surrounding southeastern Massachusetts and eastern Rhode Island had been the home of the Wampanoag people for over 12,000 years before the arrival of the Pilgrims on the Mayflower. The Wampanoag people knew the land well and had fished, hunted, and harvested there for many generations.

The Pilgrims Settle in North America - The English people who settled the Plymouth colony in Massachusetts were a group of English Protestants who wanted to separate (break away) from the Church of England. We call these people Pilgrims (wanderers). The Pilgrims first moved from England to Holland. The move to Holland was not successful. The Pilgrims sought to move again, this time to North America where they could practice their religion and raise their children according to their beliefs. The Pilgrims received funding from English merchants to sail across the Atlantic Ocean to settle in North America. In 1620, the Mayflower, carrying 101 men, women, and children spent 66 days traveling the Atlantic Ocean. The Pilgrims planned to land where New York City is now located. Due to the windy conditions, the group had to cut their trip short and settle in Massachusetts in the area now called Cape Cod.

Settling and Exploring – The Pilgrims were not prepared for life in the new colony of Plymouth, Massachusetts. They arrived too late to plant enough crops before winter and they were unfamiliar with the crops that could be grown in the area. Many died during the Pilgrim’s first year in Massachusetts. More than one-half died from disease.

The first American Indian to greet the Pilgrims was Samoset, an Abenaki chief. He spoke English and helped the Pilgrims understand many things about their new homeland. He also later introduced the Pilgrims to Squanto, a messenger of

The First Thanksgiving (Intermediate) continued

the Wampanoag chief named Massasoit. Squanto helped the settlers grow corn and use fish to fertilize their fields. After several meetings, a formal agreement was made between the settlers and the Wampanoag and they joined together to protect each other from other tribes in March of 1621.

The First Thanksgiving Celebration - One day in the fall of 1621, four Pilgrim settlers were sent to hunt for food for a harvest celebration. The Wampanoag heard gunshots and alerted their leader, Massasoit, who thought the English might be preparing for war. Massasoit visited the English settlement with 90 of his men to see if the war rumor was true. 

Soon after their visit, the Native Americans realized that the Pilgrims were only hunting for their harvest celebration. Massasoit sent some of his own men to hunt deer for the feast. For three days, the English and Wampanoag men, women, and children visited and ate together. The meal consisted of deer, corn, shellfish, and roasted meat, far from today's traditional Thanksgiving feast. Much of what most modern Americans eat on Thanksgiving was not available in 1621. They also played ball games, sang, and danced.

Although prayers and thanks were probably offered at the 1621 harvest gathering, the first recorded religious Thanksgiving Day in Plymouth happened two years later in 1623. On this occasion, the colonists gave thanks to God for rain after a two-month drought.

The Myths About the First Thanksgiving - Believe it or not, the Pilgrims didn't have silver buckles on their shoes. Nor did they wear dull, black clothing. Their clothing was actually bright and cheerful. Many portrayals of this harvest celebration also show the Native Americans wearing woven blankets on their shoulders and large, feathered headdresses, which is not true. The English settlers didn’t even call themselves Pilgrims.

Modern Thanksgiving - In the 19th century (1800s), the modern Thanksgiving holiday started to take shape. In 1846, Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of a magazine called Godley’s Lady’s Book, campaigned for an annual national thanksgiving holiday.

The First Thanksgiving (Intermediate) continued

It wasn't until 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation which invited Americans to "observe the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving...” In 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt designated Thanksgiving be held each year on the fourth Thursday in November.

Native Americans and Thanksgiving Today - The peace between the American Indians and settlers lasted for only a generation. The Wampanoag people do not share in the popular respect for the traditional New England Thanksgiving. For them, the holiday is a reminder of betrayal and bloodshed. Since 1970, many native people have gathered at the statue of Massasoit in Plymouth, Massachusetts each Thanksgiving Day to remember their ancestors and the strength of the Wampanoag.

Source: Adapted from National Geographic for Kids, http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/history/first-thanksgiving/#first-thanksgiving-corn.jpg

The First Thanksgiving – Intermediate Questions

Directions: Answer the following questions about the reading on the First Thanksgiving on your own notebook paper.

1. Who lived in the area of Massachusetts and Rhode Island before the Pilgrims arrived? How long had they lived there?

2. Who were the Pilgrims and what did they think about the Church of England?

3. Why do we call the Pilgrims “wanderers?”

4. Describe the Pilgrim’s trip to America and the problems they faced when they arrived.

5. How did Samoset and Squanto help the Pilgrims?

6. Who was the Wampanoag chief?

7. Describe the first Thanksgiving or harvest celebration, including the food and other activities shared by the Pilgrims and Wampanoag American Indians.

8. List two inaccurate myths or stories about the Pilgrims and Wampanoag American Indians.

The First Thanksgiving (Intermediate) continued

9. Explain the Wampanoag American Indians current feelings about Thanksgiving. Do you agree with the feelings the Wampanoag have today?

10. Draw a Venn diagram on your paper like the one below. Complete the diagram by finding things that are similar and different between the first Thanksgiving and the Thanksgiving you now share with your family.

a) In the left circle, write down things that happened during the first Thanksgiving in 1621. For example: The Wampanoag Indians came to celebrate with the Pilgrims.

b) In the right circle, write down things you do with your family during Thanksgiving. For example: We watch the parades on TV.

c) In the center, write down things that were done during the first Thanksgiving that are still done by you and your family today. For example: Just like the Pilgrims, we eat together.

Thanksgiving Then vs. Now

Images of Pilgrim and Wampanoag Life from Plimouth Plantation

Plimoth (or Plymouth) Plantation in Plymouth, Massachusetts is a living museum offering visitors personal encounters with the history of the Wampanoag People and the Colonial English community in the 1600s. See http://www.plimoth.org/

All images are historical interpretations based on research.

Mayflower II – Reproduction of the Original Mayflower

Source: http://www.plimoth.org/what-see-do/mayflower-ii

Pilgrim Mother and Son

Source: http://www.plimoth.org/learn/just-kids/homework-help/who-were-pilgrims

Pilgrim Man and Woman

Source: http://www.plimoth.org/plan-your-visit-0

Pilgrim Children at Play

Source: http://www.plimoth.org/learn/just-kids/homework-help/playing-learning

Pilgrim Home in the 1600s (Replica)

Source: http://www.plimoth.org/learn/just-kids/homework-help/building-home

Interior of 17th Century Pilgrim Home (Replica)

Source: http://www.plimoth.org/what-see-do/17th-century-english-village

Wampanoag Family

Source: http://www.plimoth.org/learn/just-kids/homework-help/what-wear

Wampanoag Woman

Source: http://www.plimoth.org/what-see-do/wampanoag-homesite

Wampanoag Cook Site

Source: http://www.plimoth.org/learn/just-kids/homework-help/whats-dinner

Wampanoag Home

Source: http://www.plimoth.org/learn/just-kids/homework-help/building-home

Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians

Source: http://www.plimoth.org/learn/just-kids/homework-help/who-were-pilgrims

Internet Resources

Suggested Internet Resources

Organizations

Library of Congresshttp://www.loc.gov/search/?in=&q=american+indians&new=true&st=

National Congress of American Indianshttp://www.ncai.org/

National Museum of the American Indianhttp://www.nmai.si.edu/

U.S. Census Bureauwww.census.gov

U.S. Department of Interior – Indian Affairshttp://www.indianaffairs.gov/

General Background on History, Tribes, and Culture

American Indian Culture Areashttp://www.american-indians.net/cultures.htm

American Indian Tribes and Languageshttp://www.native-languages.org/languages.htm

Exploring Florida Early American Indians Web Siteshttp://fcit.usf.edu/Florida/websites/links001.htm

First People of America and Canadahttp://www.firstpeople.us/

History Channel – Native American Cultureshttp://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/native-american-culturesIndians.orghttp://www.indians.org/articles/index.html

Suggested Internet Resources continued

Photographs and Images

Images and Photos of American Indianshttps://www.google.com/search?q=American+Indians&rlz=1C1RNLG_enUS526US526&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=2lQsVJLXLsWGyAS-4YCwAw&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1920&bih=979

Native Americans in Florida Galleryhttp://fcit.usf.edu/Florida/photos/native/native.htm

Myths, Legends, and Other Folklore

Native American Myths and Legends for Kidshttp://www.ducksters.com/history/native_americans/mythology_legends.php

Native American Myths and Legends by Tribehttp://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-tribelist.html

Native American Storieshttp://www.warpaths2peacepipes.com/native-american-stories/

Elementary Character Education Activities to Support National American Indian and

Alaska Native Heritage Month

Elementary Character Education Activities to Support

National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month

Core Value: Citizenship

Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) is committed to helping all students develop the values and strength of character needed for them to become caring, responsible citizens at home, school, and in the community. To support this goal, character education has been an instructional requirement, grades K-12, since 1995.

The foundation of the District’s character education requirement is the nine core values adopted by The School Board of Miami-Dade County, Florida in 1995. The District’s nine core values are: citizenship, cooperation, fairness, honesty, integrity, kindness, pursuit of excellence, respect, and responsibility. Each month a different core value has been designated for emphasis in all classrooms throughout the District.

In November, students need to understand the importance of citizenship. Good citizenship includes obeying rules, laws, respecting others, and contributing positively to one’s school, community, and country.

In addition to the enclosed lessons for National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month, teachers may further emphasize the core value of citizenship through the following lesson ideas.

Citizenship:

What does it mean to be a good citizen? Have your class brainstorm a list of do's and don'ts for citizenship. Ask for specific examples of each behavior they identify. Compare their list with the following list:

Do you…

o help make your school, your community, and the world a better place?

o take responsibility for what goes on around you?

o participate in community service?

o help take care of the environment?

o try to be a good neighbor?

o treat other people with respect and dignity?

o follow the rules of your family, your school, and your society?

Take the rules from above and turn them into role-play situations. Working in a small group, act out examples of each of the rules of good citizenship listed above. Also,

role-play examples of poor citizenship, and then discuss with students how to turn these bad examples into examples of good citizenship.

Have older students conduct an internet search on "kids making a difference." They will find countless inspiring examples of how young people have made their communities and the world a better place. Have the students select stories they like and present them to the class and tell why they chose them. Do these stories give them any ideas about things they might like to do? If students are pre-readers, have the teacher do the Internet search and select stories to read to them.

Have students visit this website www.goodcharacter.com and click "Opportunities for Action." Examine the opportunities to become involved in community service projects and other activities relating to citizenship and civic responsibility.

Have the class identify needs in the school or community, and plan a service project to meet those needs. For help in planning a service project, visit www.goodcharacter.com and click "service learning."

Have a class discussion about heroes. Have kids select their heroes and write about them. Introduce the idea of heroes as people who do things to help others.

Discuss the meaning of good citizenship with the students (e.g. working with the community, volunteering time, protecting the environment, obeying rules and laws). Ask each young person to think of an adult they would name as a good citizen. This person may model good citizenship in their personal or professional life. Assign them the job of setting up an interview with that person. They may choose questions such as the following:

o Do you think you are a good citizen? Why?

o What do you do at work to show good citizenship?

o How do you think young people can show good citizenship?

o What kind of volunteer work do you do?

Create a bulletin board entitled “Good Citizen(s) of the Month” or ”Uncle Sam Wants YOU to be a Good Citizen.” Tell students that during the month of November, their pictures will be placed on the bulletin board as they model good citizenship. Post a picture of each student “caught in the act” of being a good citizen. Each day, ask students to vote for other class members to include on the bulletin board.

Invite a guest from your community who demonstrates good citizenship to speak to the class. Have students prepare questions to ask. After the speaker leaves, have the class list ways the speaker demonstrates good citizenship. Students could then show good citizenship and manners by writing thank you notes to the speaker.

Give students the opportunity to vote – an important responsibility of good citizens. Choose a topic, such as “What animal should we have as our class mascot?” Print out ballets that have the question and two choices. You may want to include pictures or drawings along with the words for young readers. For older students, set up an election voting area with these items: as class list of registered voters to be checked off as they receive their ballot, voting booths, a sealed ballot box for depositing ballots. After students have voted, make a bar graph using the results. Explain the concept of “majority rules” and use the election results to decide an actual action the class will take.

Identify and study national symbols and documents and their meaning; e.g., American flag, Star Spangled Banner, the bald eagle, the Statue of Liberty, the Liberty Bell, the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution. Review and discuss the duties, privileges, and responsibilities of being a United States citizen. Ask older students to research and write about the various symbols of national pride. Present these reports to other class members.

In November, we observe National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month. Ask older students to research when American Indians and Alaska Natives were granted U.S. Citizenship (1924). Discuss why the indigenous people were not granted citizenship in the U.S. earlier.

Other On-going Activities to Promote Character Education

Invite all students and teachers to an assembly/pep-rally in the school cafeteria, auditorium, or P.E. courts to kick-off character education school-wide. Ask a spirited teacher, parent, principal or guest speaker to motivate students and address character education goals and core values for the coming school year.

Create a character education steering group made up of administrators, teachers, parents and students that meets regularly to plan activities and events celebrating each monthly value.

Start a character education book club. Ask the media specialist, language arts or social studies teacher for book recommendations related to the core value of the month. Students should read books related to a particular topic, subject, or author; e.g., books written by a person striving toward a goal. Students may share, discuss and/or report their findings back to the class. Keep a class or personal log of the books read.

Make character education a regular part of the school day and curriculum. Incorporate student homework related to each designated monthly value. A school newsletter may incorporate information on character education and offer daily suggestions for how to

demonstrate each month’s value. Morning announcements may also provide an opportunity to support each month’s designated value.

Anti-Discrimination PolicyFederal and State Laws

The School Board of Miami-Dade County, Florida adheres to a policy of nondiscrimination in employment and educational programs/activities and strives affirmatively to provide equal opportunity for all as required by:

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 - prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, or national origin.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended - prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, or national origin.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 - prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender.

Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) as amended - prohibits discrimination on the basis of age with respect to individuals who are at least 40.

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 as amended - prohibits gender discrimination in payment of wages to women and men performing substantially equal work in the same establishment.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 - prohibits discrimination against the disabled.

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) - prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in employment, public service, public accommodations and telecommunications.

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) - requires covered employers to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to "eligible" employees for certain family and medical reasons.

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 - prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.

Florida Educational Equity Act (FEEA) - prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, gender, national origin, marital status, or handicap against a student or employee.

Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992 - secures for all individuals within the state freedom from discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, handicap, or marital status.

Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) - Prohibits discrimination against employees or applicants because of genetic information.

Veterans are provided re-employment rights in accordance with P.L. 93-508 (Federal Law) and Section 295.07 (Florida Statutes), which stipulate categorical preferences for employment.

In Addition: School Board Policies 1362, 3362, 4362, and 5517 - Prohibit harassment and/or discrimination against students, employees, or applicants on the basis of sex, race, color, ethnic or national origin, religion, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender, gender identification, social and family background, linguistic preference, pregnancy, and any other legally prohibited basis.  Retaliation for engaging in a protected activity is also prohibited. Rev. (05-12)