A Native American Visitor A Native American woman came to visit our classroom. She brought many handmade items and shared with us how her and her family keep their traditions alive. |
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Practicing Beadwork Our special friend told us that she learned how to do beadwork. This beadwork then helped her create a costume that is worn for special celebrations. |
Otter Pelts She also told us that otter pelts are clipped into her hair during the celebrations. |
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"Bells" "Bells" are made from metal tobacco cans and fixed to the skirt of celebration costumes. They make a nice sound when dancing. |
Pelts The children got to feel the otter pelts and enjoyed examining them. |
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Pelts Continued They commented on how soft the otter pelts felt. |
Otter Pelts Have you ever seen anything like this before? |
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Admiring the Work Time was set aside for the kids to come up and admire the crafts up close. |
So Many Nice Things Children got to see all kinds of creations made from birch bark, porcupine quills, and animal hide. |
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Porcupine Quills Porcupine quills are dyed, softened, and bent to make small boxes. |
Admiring Baskets The boys loved seeing how baskets can be made from items in nature. |
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Antlers Antlers, hooves, animal rawhide, and natural items are used to decorate celebration costumes. How do you think I would look? |
A Special Celebration of Our Own At the end of our unit, we took an afternoon to create items that replicate things used by Native Americans. We painted our faces to symbolize themes and posed for a picture in front of our tipi. |
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Bear Claw Necklaces After a bear hunt, Native Americans may have made necklaces from claws and fur. We really enjoyed how real our necklaces looked. |
Masks Volunteers came to help with our crafts. They helped cut out bird masks, tie strings, and lend a general helping hand. |
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Pictographs One activity was for the children to tell stories using pictures. |
Gorget Necklaces One special item that we tried to create was a necklace made from shell or rock. Native Americans would find a smooth hard piece of material, punch holes inside to create a design, and would then color it in some way. We created these with Styrofoam circles. |
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Punch and Paint It was fun to create our special designs. |
Tipi Friends At the end of our celebration,the children got to unwind with their friends inside the tipi. |
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