ReadWriteThink: November 2, 2009: November is National American Indian Heritage Month.

November 2, 2009

		After nearly a century of advocacy, National American Indian Heritage Month was first recognized through joint resolution by Congress in 1990. Now recognized annually, November is a time to learn more about the history and heritage of Native American peoples. image © 2009 www.clipart.com

November is National American Indian Heritage Month.

CLASSROOM ACTIVITY

Engage your students in an exploration of Native American heritage through a study of Native American pourquoi tales. Pourquoi tales explain why something or someone, usually in nature, is the way it is. Have your students read a variety of Native American pourquoi tales, explore the cultural origins and signficance of these stories, and share similar stories from their own cultures.

This First People website includes a selection of tales, including many pourquoi tales. After reading these tales and identifying pourquoi story elements, brainstorm with the class a list of animals with distinctive features or a list of natural events such as lightning, rain, or snow, and then have students write original pourquoi tales for how they came to be. When students finish, they can publish their tales using the ReadWriteThink Printing Press. The “booklet” option allows students to add additional pages to accommodate longer stories. After printing the finished product, students can add illustrations to their stories.

Lesson Plans

Pourquoi Stories: Creating Tales to Tell Why
In this lesson for grades 3–5, students are introduced to pourquoi stories, learn about their cultural origins, and work in cooperative groups to write their own stories.

Native Americans Today
This lesson uses photo essays to introduce students in grades 3–5 to present-day Native American children and their families.

Battling for Liberty: Tecumseh’s and Patrick Henry’s Language of Resistance
In this lesson, middle school students examine Native Americans’ poetic use of language, using speeches by Patrick Henry and Chief Tecumseh of the Shawnee.

Making Connections to Myth and Folktale: The Many Ways to Rainy Mountain
Modeling their work on N. Scott Momaday’s The Way to Rainy Mountain, students write three-voice narratives that focus on the interaction of folktale, heritage, and personal stories.

Web Links

Smithsonian Institution: American Indian History and Culture
This website offers an extensive list of resources related to Native American heritage and culture. Teachers and students can find links to Internet resources, selected Smithsonian online exhibits, and recommended reading.

Wisdom of the Elders
This radio series, available in audio and text, features elders, historians, storytellers, artists, and leaders from thirteen American Indian Nations along the Lewis and Clark trail. These elders share their history, stories, culture, and music in a series of hour-long radio broadcasts.

Children of the Sun
This cuesheet, a performing arts study guide from ARTSEDGE, provides information about the Kiowa, Native Americans known as the Children of the Sun. The guide provides summaries of some of the sacred stories of this nation and information about how those stories were dramatized in a Kennedy Center performance.

Texts

Bruchac, Joseph. 2003. Our Stories Remember: American Indian History, Culture, and Values Through Storytelling. Fulcrum Publishing.
This book by celebrated Abenaki Indian author and storyteller Joseph Bruchac weaves stories from a variety of American Indian traditions to explore the important values found among them all.

Bruchac, Joseph. 2000. Pushing Up the Sky: Seven Native American Plays for Children. Dial Books.
This book contains a collection of simple scripts and directions based on Native American folk tales, mostly pourquoi tales.

Dennis, Yvonne Wakim. 2003. Children of Native America Today. Charlesbridge Publishing.
This photo essay features images of Native American children from a variety of contemporary urban and rural communities.

Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. 2005. Beaver Steals Fire: A Salish Coyote Story. Bison Books.
The storytelling rhythm of the text and watercolor illustrations bring this traditional Salish tale to life.