Parrot Feathers to Sacred Dogs

Author: Patricia Fox
Fourth Grade
Hunter Lake ES

Portfolio Cover Sheet

Author: Patricia Fox
Title: Parrot Feathers to Sacred Dogs
Historical Topic: Westward Movement - Communities on the Move

Nevada Standards
Nevada Geography Standard G7.4.2   List examples of movements of people, goods, and ideas into and across Nevada.
Nevada Geography Standard G6.4.1   Describe the distinguishing features of historical regions in Nevada, i.e., Native American tribal territories, pioneer trails, and settlement areas.
Nevada Geography Standard G6.4.2   Identify regional changes in Nevada over time.
Nevada Geography Standard G6.4.3   Identify and describe the diversity and cultural traditions of Nevada’s people.

Nevada History Standard H1.4.4   Discuss the interactions of pioneers with the Great Basin Indians.
H3.4.1   Compare and/or contrast their daily lives with children in Nevada’s past.
H3.4.3   Define social responsibility.
H3.4.2   Recognize that communities include people who have diverse ethnic origins, customs, and traditions, and who make contributions to Nevada.
Nevada History Standard H3.4.2   Recognize that communities include people who have diverse ethnic origins, customs, and traditions, and who make contributions to Nevada.
Nevada History Standard H1.4.3   Describe the lifestyles of Nevada’s Native American cultures.
Nevada History Standard H2.4.2   Describe the experiences of pioneers moving west.
Nevada History Standard H2.4.3   Identify explorers and settlers in pre-territorial Nevada.
Nevada History Standard H2.4.4   Identify the diverse population of Nevada’s early settlers and discuss their unique experiences.
Nevada history Standard H1.4.4   Discuss the interactions of pioneers with the Great Basin Indians.
Nevada History Standard H3.4.4   Explain how advances in technologies have impacted Nevada, i.e., railroads, mining, and gaming.

BACKGROUND
The human history of the great basin began 12,000 years ago when the Native Americans who would become the Anasazi, Hopi, Zuni, Shoshoni, Washoe and Paiute came over the land bridge from Europe.  These people had a rich a varied trade with other peoples in the rest of north America.  They traded food stuffs along with more permanent items such as; obsidian, turquoise, mica, prestige points, conch shells, grizzly claws, and parrot feathers.  Scientists know this because they have found flint from Texas in Nebraska, along with parrot feathers from Mexico.

The same Native American traders who set up these trade routes also built huge cities.  One of these was called  Cahokia.  It was at the junction of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, about where modern day St. Louis stands.  All that remains of Cahokia is a huge earthen hill called the monks mound.  Cahokia at one time had almost 25,000 people living in it.  That was a huge city for 1400 AD, which was the ending of the middle ages for Europe.

The point of this is that North America had a long history of human habitation and history before Christopher Columbus and Lewis and Clark.  These lessons are designed to show this history to fourth grade and older students.

Sarah Winnemucca was a Nevada Piute who was sent to a reservation and almost died in 1853.  She went to Washington DC to talk to the Secretary of the Interior about how bad the situation was in Malheur, Washington where her people were sent.  The Piute were given a reservation at Pyramid Lake by the government in 1873.  She did not live there.

George Littlechild is a Cree.  The main Cree reservation is in Montana.  The land was given to the Cree in 1915.  There are no jobs there.  George Littlechild does not live there either.   Indian Reservations are not places for successful, artistic people like Sarah Winnemucca and George Littlechild to live.

From 1840 to 1848 18,847 immigrants moved from the east coast to the Pacific coast.  None of these groups of immigrants are remembered as well as those of the Donner Party.  Although there were only 92 of them, and 40 died, their story is remembered far better than those of the 18,755 successful people.  Frank Mullen, author of The Donner Party Chronicles , owns 40 linear feet of books on the subject.  He also has webcrawlers which research the internet for him.  These webcrawlers receive one or two hits a day on the words Donner party.  This means that people are still researching and referencing the Donner Party more than 150 years after the event!

The reintroduction of horses was a huge success story for the plains Native Americans.  The horse allowed these tribes to hunt buffalo and move with an ability that they had never had before.  Horses were incredibly important to their culture and they were unparalleled horsemen.  They depicted these sacred dogs with a beauty that captures the nobility of the animal.

All of these lessons, whether they are based on parrot feathers or sacred dogs; are components of the westward movement and symbols of Communities on the Move.

Table of Contents

Communities on the Move
TAHP Summer Institute 2009
Patricia Fox
Fourth Grade
Hunter Lake ES

Activity #1: Primary Source - Parrot Feathers

Students will learn some of the 12,000 years of prehistory which existed in the great basin prior to the explorations of  Jedediah Smith and Peter Ogden.  Students will learn that the Native American trade routes were used by the later European Americans. 

Activity #2: Wordle - One Hundred Years of Native American Writing

Students will analyze two different wordles.  Both are written about reservations.  One was written in 1860, one was written in 2003.

Activity #3: Literature Connection - This Land is My Land

Students will learn about the prehistory and history of a Native American tribe from an autobiography, This land is my land written by George Littlechild.  Students will learn the lyrics to “This Land is My Land, This land is your Land” by Arlo Guthrie.
Students will be able to compare and contrast the two versions of “This Land is …”

Activity #5: Technology Component - Donner Party Photo Story

Students will learn how to put together a photo story.  They will use photos and information available from Nevada online encyclopedia. 

Activity #6: Art Project - Sacred Dog

Students will draw a horse, knowing the transportation and hunting implications that the horse had for the plains tribes.

Activity #7: Student Final - Communities on the Move

Students will select, develop and present a format in which to present their learning on this unit.

Primary Source Activity #1: Parrot Feathers

AUTHOR: Patricia Fox

HISTORICAL TOPIC/ERA: Pre Columbian

GRADE LEVEL(S): Fourth and Up

TIME REQUIRED: Include the length of time it will take to cover the material you have developed. Examples: One 45- minute class period, or three 30 minute class periods.

BACKGROUND:
The human history of the great basin began 12,000 years ago when the Native Americans who would become the Anasazi, Hopi, Zuni, Shoshoni, Washoe and Paiute came over the land bridge from Europe.  These people had a rich a varied trade with other peoples in the rest of north America.  They traded food stuffs along with more permanent items such as; obsidian, turquoise, mica, prestige points, conch shells, grizzly claws, and parrot feathers.  Scientists know this because they have found flint from Texas in Nebraska, along with parrot feathers from Mexico.

The same native American traders who set up these trade routes also built huge cities.  One of these was called  Cahokia.  It was at the junction of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, about where modern day St. Louis stands.  All that remains of Cahokia is a huge earthern hill called the monks mound.  Cahokia at one time had almost 25,000 people living in it.  That was a huge city for 1400 AD, which was the ending of the middle ages for Europe.

The point of this is that North America had a long history of human habitation and history before Christopher Columbus and Lewis and Clark.  These lessons are designed to show this history to fourth grade and older students.

NEVADA STANDARDS:

Nevada Geography Standard G7.4.2   List examples of movements of people, goods, and ideas into and across Nevada.
Nevada Geography Standard G6.4.1   Describe the distinguishing features of historical regions in Nevada, i.e., Native American tribal territories, pioneer trails, and settlement areas.
Nevada Geography Standard G6.4.2   Identify regional changes in Nevada over time.
Nevada History Standard H1.4.4   Discuss the interactions of pioneers with the Great Basin Indians.
Nevada history Standard H1.4.1   Describe the lifestyles of Nevada’s Desert Archaic people.
Nevada Geography Standard G5.4.4   Utilize different types of Nevada maps, i.e., population and physical maps, to understand spatial distribution.
Nevada Geography standard G5.4.2   Identify spatial patterns on a map of Nevada, i.e., deserts, mountains, population.

 STUDENT LEARNING GOALS:
Students will learn some of the 12,000 years of prehistory which existed in the great basin prior to the explorations of  Jedediah Smith and Peter Ogden.  Students will learn that the Native American trade routes were used by the later European Americans. 

MATERIALS/SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS:
Students will need the Smithsonian map of western  Native American trade routes.
Students will need the pictures and examples of the trade items that the native Americans traded.
These primary sources are from Elliott West’s book The Last Indian War, 2009.

SETTING THE STAGE:
I have an activboard and I use it a lot to set the stage for lessons.  For this unit I’ll use the activboard lesson from promethean planet by Arline Gray called Native Americans, first people.  The website is www.prometheanplanet.com.

ACTIVITIES/STRATEGIES:

1.  Students will chose their favorite trade item from the list/examples of trade items. Students will find the original location of the trade item.  For instance if they choose turquoise, they will locate an area in the southwest where turquoise is produced.
2. Students will pretend to be a trader who will take their turquoise to another trade center.  Students will try to figure out the direction, mileage and “state” of the Native American trading center that they go to.
3. Students will find other students in that trading center and see what they have to trade.

EVALUATION OF STUDENT LEARNING:
Students will complete the Parrot Feathers in Nebraska worksheet.  I will give a prize if any trader gets parrot feathers to Nebraska.

Figure 1: Smithsonian map of Western Native American trade routes prior to European Explorers.  Square indicate permanent trade settlements.  Stars are rendezvous or seasonal areas, circles are temporary trade centers.

Figure 2 Turquoise from Southwest used in Native American Trade

Figure 3 Obsidian from Northwest used in Native American trade.

Figure 4 Mica from Northwest used in Native American trade.

Figure 5 Prestige Points used in Native American Trade

Figure 6 Parrot feathers from Mexico used in Native American trade.

Parrot Feathers in Nebraska Worksheet

Name ________________________________

Trade Article ___________________________

Origin ________________________________

First Trading Site ________________________

Distance ______________________________

Direction _____________________________

Other Traders __________________________

Other Trade Articles  _____________________

Second Trading Site  ______________________

Distance ______________________________

Direction ______________________________

Other Traders __________________________

Other Trade Articles ______________________

Wordle Activity #2: A Century of Native American Writing

AUTHOR: Patricia Fox

HISTORICAL TOPIC/ERA: The Reservation System

GRADE LEVEL(S): Fourth and up

TIME REQUIRED: One 45 Minute Class Session

BACKGROUND:
Sarah Winnemucca was a Nevada Piute who was sent to a reservation and almost died in 1853.  She went to Washington DC to talk to the Secretary of the Interior about how bad the situation was in Malheur, Washington where her people were sent.  The Piute were given a reservation at Pyramid Lake by the government in 1873.  She did not live there.

George Littlechild is a Cree.  The main Cree reservation is in Montana.  The land was given to the Cree in 1915.  There are no jobs there.  George Littlechild does not live there either.   Indian Reservations are not places for successful, artistic people like Sarah Winnemucca and George Littlechild to live.  Here are wordles that they wrote about their reservations.

NEVADA STANDARDS

H3.4.1   Compare and/or contrast their daily lives with children in Nevada’s past.
H3.4.3   Define social responsibility.
H3.4.2   Recognize that communities include people who have diverse ethnic origins, customs, and traditions, and who make contributions to Nevada.

STUDENT LEARNING GOALS:
Students will analyze two different wordles.  Both are written about reservations.  One was written in 1860, one was written in 2003.

MATERIALS/SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS:
Life Among the Piutes, Sarah Winnemucca
This Land is My Land, George Littlechild
Wordle site www.wordle.net
Wordle worksheet

SETTING THE STAGE:
I would ask the students how they would feel if the government told them that they had to live in one special place, and they didn’t get to chose it.

ACTIVITIES/STRATEGIES:

1. Students will read a wordle based on writing of Sarah Winnemucca.
2. Students will read a world based on writing of George Littlechild.
3. Students will compare the wordles.

EVALUATION OF STUDENT LEARNING:
Students will read the wordless and complete the worksheet.

Wordle Compare and Contrast

Literature Connection Activity #3: This Land is My Land

AUTHOR: Patricia Fox

HISTORICAL TOPIC/ERA: 1955 to 2009

GRADE LEVEL(S): Fourth and Up

TIME REQUIRED: One 50 minute period.

BACKGROUND:
The best Native American books are written by Native Americans.  One of the finest of these writers is George Littlechild.  He is a writer and artist from Canada.  His tribe is the Cree.  They were major traders both before and after the Europeans came to America.  This land is my land is a story of his life and that of his ancestors.  It is told and illustrated beautifully and with feeling.

The book is also a satire of the song, “This Land is my land, this land is your land”, written in 1955 by Arlo Guthrie.

NEVADA STANDARDS:
Nevada Geography Standard G6.4.3   Identify and describe the diversity and cultural traditions of Nevada’s people.

Nevada History Standard H3.4.2   Recognize that communities include people who have diverse ethnic origins, customs, and traditions, and who make contributions to Nevada.

Nevada History Standard H1.4.3   Describe the lifestyles of Nevada’s Native American cultures.

Nevada Geography Standard G6.4.3   Identify and describe the diversity and cultural traditions of Nevada’s people, i.e., Native Americans, Basque communities.

STUDENT LEARNING GOALS:
Students will learn about the prehistory and history of a Native American tribe from an autobiography, This land is my land written by George Littlechild.

Students will learn the lyrics to “This Land is My Land, This land is your Land” by Arlo Guthrie.

Students will be able to compare and contrast the two versions of “This Land is …”

MATERIALS/SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS:
This Land is My Land, George Littlechild
“This Land is My Land” Arlo Guthrie,1955 Song and Lyrics.

SETTING THE STAGE:
Play the song, “This Land is My Land. This Land is Your Land.’.  Ask the students if they have ever heard that song before.  Tell them that the song was written by a famous songwriter named Arlo Guthrie who wanted people to get along and look at things in a different way than they had before.  Ask them what they would think of that song if they were Native Americans.  Tell them that you are going to read them a book called This Land is My Land. 

ACTIVITIES/STRATEGIES:

1.  Students will listen to This Land is My Land, Students will look for clues in the pictures.
2. Students will compare and contrast the book and the song.
3. How are they different?
4. How are they the same?

EVALUATION OF STUDENT LEARNING:
Students will complete the Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the book and the song.

This Land Is Your Land

This land is your land This land is my land
From California to the New York island;
From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and Me.

As I was walking that ribbon of highway,
I saw above me that endless skyway:
I saw below me that golden valley:
This land was made for you and me.

I've roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts;
And all around me a voice was sounding:
This land was made for you and me.

When the sun came shining, and I was strolling,
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling,
As the fog was lifting a voice was chanting:
This land was made for you and me.

As I went walking I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said "No Trespassing."
But on the other side it didn't say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.

In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?

Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.

Technology Activity # 5: Donner Photo Story

AUTHOR: Patricia Fox

HISTORICAL TOPIC/ERA: Westward Movement

GRADE LEVEL(S): Second and up

TIME REQUIRED: Three 45 minute class periods, 2 in the  computer lab.

BACKGROUND:
From 1840 to 1848 18,847 immigrants moved from the east coast to the Pacific coast.  None of these groups of immigrants are remembered as well as those of the Donner Party.  Although there were only 92 of them, and 40 died, their story is remembered far better than those of the 18,755 successful people.

Many, many educators focus on the trials and exploits of the Donner Party in explaining the Westward Movement.  They are not alone in their teaching and writing.   Frank Mullen, author of The Donner Party Chronicles , owns 40 linear feet of books on the subject.  This works out to be more than 200 pretty thick (2.5 “)  books.  He also has webcrawlers which research the internet for him.  These webcrawlers receive one or two new hits a day on the words Donner Party.  This means that people are still researching and referencing the Donner Party more than 150 years after the event!

NEVADA STANDARDS
Nevada History Standard H2.4.2   Describe the experiences of pioneers moving west.

Nevada History Standard H2.4.3   Identify explorers and settlers in pre-territorial Nevada.

Nevada History Standard H2.4.4   Identify the diverse population of Nevada’s early settlers and discuss their unique experiences.

STUDENT LEARNING GOALS:
Students will learn how to put together a photostory.  They will use photos and information available from Nevada online encyclopedia. 

MATERIALS/SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS:
Photo story software available at www.microsoft.com
Nevada Online Encyclopedia www.nevadaonline.org

SETTING THE STAGE:
Students will watch my Donner Party photo story that I made with photos I took from the field trip I took this summer.

ACTIVITIES/STRATEGIES:

1. Students will choose a Nevada history subject for their photo story.
2. Students will select five photos for that photo story from www.nevadaonline.org
3. Students will put those photos into photo story. 
4. Students will write captions for those photos.
5. Students will record those captions.
6. Students will share their photo stories on the activboard.

EVALUATION OF STUDENT LEARNING:
Students will complete a Nevada History themed photo story with five photos, captions and dialogue.  They will share these photo stories with the class.

Drawing Activity #6: Sacred Dog

AUTHOR: Patricia Fox

HISTORICAL TOPIC/ERA: The Grass Revolution 1740-1840

GRADE LEVEL(S): Second and up

TIME REQUIRED: One 45 Minute Class Period

BACKGROUND:
The reintroduction of horses was a huge success story for the plains Native Americans.  The horse allowed these tribes to hunt buffalo and move with an ability that they had never had before.  Horses were incredibly important to their culture and they were unparalleled horsemen.  They depicted these sacred dogs with a beauty that captures the nobility of the animal.

NEVADA STANDARDS
Nevada History Standard H1.4.3   Describe the lifestyles of Nevada’s Native American cultures.
Nevada history Standard H1.4.4   Discuss the interactions of pioneers with the Great Basin Indians.
Nevada History Standard H3.4.4   Explain how advances in technologies have impacted Nevada, i.e., railroads, mining, and gaming.
Nevada Geography Standard G7.4.2   List examples of movements of people, goods, and ideas into and across Nevada.
Nevada Geography Standard G6.4.1   Describe the distinguishing features of historical regions in Nevada, i.e., Native American tribal territories, pioneer trails, and settlement areas.

STUDENT LEARNING GOALS:
Students will draw a horse, knowing the transportation and hunting implications that the horse had for the plains tribes.

MATERIALS/SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS:
Access to www.janbrett.com
Pencils and paper

 SETTING THE STAGE:
I will show Horse follow closely by Gawani Pony Boy. In it are many art forms of  horses drawn by Native Americans.

ACTIVITIES/STRATEGIES:

1. Students will follow Jan Brett’s video on how to draw a horse.
2. Students will draw their horses.

EVALUATION OF STUDENT LEARNING:
Students will have a completed horse drawing.

Final Project Activity #7: Parrots to Sacred Dogs

AUTHOR: Patricia Fox

HISTORICAL TOPIC/ERA: Communities on the Move 12,000 BC to 1900 AD

GRADE LEVEL(S): Fourth and up

TIME REQUIRED: One Week

BACKGROUND:
Students have been introduced to a huge spectrum of information in this unit of communities on the move.  They have learned that the Native Americans had very sophisticated trade structures in place thousands of years before Christopher Columbus came to America.  They learned that the European Americans coveted the land of the Native Americans despite their protests and moved them to out of the way reservations.  They learned that the European Americans who moved west often had challenges that no one expected (the Donner party).  They learned that that both European Americans and Native Americans created fabulous art about the west.  This is a lot of information for fourth graders to assimilate.  So for a final project I will let them have a choice of what they want to do for a final project. 

NEVADA STANDARDS
Nevada History Standard H1.4.3   Describe the lifestyles of Nevada’s Native American cultures.
Nevada history Standard H1.4.4   Discuss the interactions of pioneers with the Great Basin Indians.
Nevada History Standard H3.4.4   Explain how advances in technologies have impacted Nevada, i.e., railroads, mining, and gaming.
Nevada Geography Standard G7.4.2   List examples of movements of people, goods, and ideas into and across Nevada.
Nevada Geography Standard G6.4.1   Describe the distinguishing features of historical regions in Nevada, i.e., Native American tribal territories, pioneer trails, and settlement areas.

STUDENT LEARNING GOALS:
Students will select a métier in which to present their learning on this unit.

MATERIALS/SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS:
The Nevada Online encyclopedia.
Photostory software
Wordle software
Map sources
Activboard software

SETTING THE STAGE:
I will show the projects that I created to teach the students about this unit, Communities on the move.  They will encompass the map activity, the wordle activity, the photostory, and an activboard flipchart.  Students will be asked to select their favorite genre to reproduce for their final report on Communities on the Move.

ACTIVITIES/STRATEGIES:

1. Students will select a genre from maps, wordles (from original sources), photostories, or an activboard flipchart.
2. Students will create one of these genres to share their learning with the class.

EVALUATION OF STUDENT LEARNING:
Students will complete their flipchart and share it with the class.