Indigenous Dwellings Inquiry Kit Rebecca Thompson Fall 2010
Indigenous Dwellings Inquiry Kit
Created and Written by Rebecca Thompson
Fall 2010
This resource is freely shared by the author whose only request is that she receive acknowledgement during all quotations from and/or use of the resource
Table of Contents
Rationale
Outcome Map
Annotated Bibliography
Book Reviews
§ The Tipi: Traditional Native American Shelter by A. Hungrywolf
§ Houses of snow, skin and bones: Native dwellings: The far north by B. Shemie
§ Houses of bark:Tipi, wigwam and longhouse:Native dwellings: Woodland indians by B. Shemie
§ Houses of hide and earth: Native dwellings: Plains indians by B. Shemie
§ Houses of wood: Native dwellings: The northwest coast by B. Shemie
§ Mounds of earth and shell:Native sites:the southeast by B. Shemie
§ Houses of adobe:Native dwellings:the southwest by B. Shemie
§ Storm Maker’s Tipi by P. Goble
Lesson Plans
§ Plan 1: Indigenous Dwellings Project Using Bonnie Shemie book series
§ Plan 2: Focus on Tipis: Dwellings of the Plains
§ Plan 3: Focus on Tipis: Tipi Art
§ Plan 4: Sharing Learning: Indigenous Dwellings in Math
Tipi Book Lesson and Instructions
Rationale
The following Indigenous Inquiry Kit is on Indigenous Dwellings. The kit can be used in a grade 5 classroom, with one lesson that is designed with a shared learning component with the grade 8 class. The kit is designed to be taught as a mini unit but could easily be expanded to make a full unit or be integrated throughout the year.
The kit is composed of four lessons and incorporates ELA, Social Studies, Art, and Math. The first lesson is an overview of all the different regions of dwellings and gives the students a chance to focus on one area that interests them. The students then have to create a way to present the knowledge they have gained about their region. The second lesson focuses in on the Plains region, where we currently reside. Students in this lesson will look at tipi construction and tipi life. They will also use math skills to measure and construct a scale model. The third lesson focuses on the art found on tipis and students will have the opportunity to recreate a tipi design on canvas. The final lesson involves the grade 5 students teaching the grade 8 students about indigenous dwellings. The grade 8s, using their math knowledge of Pythagorean Theorem, nets and volume, would create a net for a tipi and then use that to create a tipi.
The resources I chose for my kit includes a variety of books on tipis and other indigenous dwellings. I found a book series by Bonnie Shemie that are excellent for a grade 5 level social studies class and other curricula areas. Throughout this mini-unit students will be able to use them. The other books are more so focused on tipi design and life.
The reason I choose this particular topic for my IIK was because for my student teaching placement I was aware that I would be required to teach grade 5 social studies, in particular the section dealing with early indigenous dwellings and way of life. So from there, even though I was not sure if I could use my kit in other subjects, I expanded the kit to fit in other curricula areas. By doing this I had a mini unit I could use in the future as a cross-curricula unit or integrated lessons throughout the school year. When out student teaching I had the opportunity to have the students do research on the indigenous dwellings using the Bonnie Shemie book series and then in groups create a model for their region.
In the future I would like to expand my kit to focus more on Indigenous life, especially art. I really enjoy Indigenous artwork and I would like to incorporate it into the curriculum where possible!
Indigenous Dwellings Inquiry Kit Rebecca Thompson Fall 2010
Indigenous Dwellings Inquiry Kit Rebecca Thompson Fall 2010
Annotated Bibliography
Literary Resources
Cavendish, M. (1991). The north american indians: Homes, food and clothing. Bellmore: Marshall Cavendish Corporation.
This is an easy to read research book that could be used anywhere from Grade 4-8. It looks at different types of indigenous dwellings including tepees, wigwams, long houses, buildings of the canyons, and earth lodges. It also has information on furniture, clothing, and other everyday items. The book includes a section at the back that has a table of tribes, maps of tribal areas, and a map of major linguistic areas.
Goble, P. (2007). Tipi: Home of the nomadic buffalo hunters. Bloomington: World Wisdom, Inc.
This book is full of wonderful information and drawings of tipis. It also has stories of the origins of certain tipi designs. It also includes photocopy pages of tipi activities and has detailed instruction on how to construct a tipi. Good teacher and student resource.
Goble, P. (2001). Storm maker's tipi . New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
See Review
Hungrywolf, A. (2006). The tipi: Traditional native american shelter. Summertown: Native Voices.
See Review
Shemie, B. (1989). Houses of snow, skin and bones: Native dwellings: The far north. Toronto : Tundra
Books.
See Review
Shemie, B. (1990). Houses of bark:Tipi, wigwam and longhouse:Native dwellings:Woodland indians.
Toronto: Tundra Books.
See Review
Shemie, B. (1991). Houses of hide and earth: Native dwellings: Plains indians. Toronto: Tundra Books.
See Review
Shemie, B. (1992). Houses of wood: Native dwellings: The northwest coast. Montreal: Tundra Books.
See Review
Shemie, B. (1993). Mounds of earth and shell:Native sites:the southeast. Montreal: Tundra Books.
See Review
Shemie, B. (1995). Houses of adobe:Native dwellings:the southwest. Montreal: Tundra Books.
See Review
Yue, D., & Yue, C. (1984). The tipi: A center of native american life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
This is a short non-fiction book that reads like a story. It has lots of good information pertaining to tipi life. The book is full of excellent pencil drawn diagrams.
Non-Literary Resources
Acrylic Paint (Blue, yellow, red, green, black, brown)
These are the most common colors found on tipis. Students can use the paint to complete a tipi art project (lesson 3) and also use them in an indigenous dwelling project (lesson 1).
Coloured Gravel
The gravel can be used in the indigenous dwellings project also (lesson 1) and also in tipi construction. Stones were used to hold down tipi sometimes and also to make things like campfires.
Modelling Clay (variety of colors)
The modelling clay could be used in creating their indigenous dwellings to create support for the structure or to be modelled in to objects or inhabitants (lesson 1).
Sticks
Sticks can be used to make indigenous dwellings such as tipi, wigwam, and longhouses. They can also be used for the math lesson (lesson 2) demonstrating different lengths and how to measure in mm and convert to cm and m.
Wooden Shapes (squares)
The wooden squares could be used to make furniture and boxes for the indigenous dwellings project. They could also be used in the tipi design art project and templates for shapes for tipi covers or stuck on cover depending on the artist design.
Internet Resources
http://www.native-languages.org/houses.htm
This website gives brief explanations of different indigenous dwellings as well as providing photographs and picture of each. Some of the photographs are of reconstructed dwellings or dwellings that still exist today. This website also has lots of links to other websites with more information and pictures. REALLY GOOD RESOURCE for students and teacher.
http://www.kstrom.net/isk/maps/houses/housingmap.html#buttons
This website is a little denser with information and would make an excellent teacher resource but may be a little too much for younger students depending on reading level. This site is good because it includes maps of indigenous tribe settlement and types of dwellings.
http://www.wonderville.ca/v1/activities/tipi/tipi.html
This website has an interactive video where students can help build a tipi. It is geared to about a grade 4-5 level but it is a lot of fun and gives lots of information in a different way than just reading a book.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=983JxTJMXV8
This short video show a family putting up a three pole style tipi. The video has been sped up but is slow enough to see the process.
Review/Critique: The Tipi: Traditional Native American Shelter by Adolf Hungrywolf
1. Book details
Hungrywolf, A. (2006). The tipi: Traditional Native American shelter. Summertown : Native Voices.
2. Why book was chosen
I chose this book because I liked the layout. The book is split into different sections but the information is presented through primary sources and photographs. A source like this is great for a classroom because it is good to have examples of primary sources and hear the words from those that were part of the history.
3. Summary/Overview of book
Hungrywolf’s book talks about Tipi life, from the construction of the tipi to the dwellers living in the tipis. He has decided to split his book in to sections including an introduction, different cultural areas that had tipis and how to build a tipi. The book is set up using primary information from Indigenous people that lived in tipis, to explorers who interacted with the Indigenous people, and accounts from Hungrywolf himself. Some of the information is given in story-like form while some is more diary-like. The book is also filled with photographs of tipis and their inhabitants. It illustrates all the different types of tipis. Finally to conclude, in the book, Hungrywolf has included a section on the specific instructions to set up a tipi the traditional way.
4. Specific quotes from text
“The buffalo skin tent used by our family during this hunt was of my own construction. The hide obtained during a summer hunt were used for tent skins, for parfleches, bags, and rawhide ropes, but never for robes; while those obtained on the winter hunt were tanned for use as robes, bed coverlets, bedding, and winter moccasins. This was our old-time custom. I never knew of any who used winter hides for a tent cover.”(p.34)
“‘Tipi creeping’ was probably known by the young plainsman in the foreground, though unmarried girls in most tribes were carefully guarded. Sneaking into someone else’s tipi at night was a common, though dangerous, venture back when lodge owners kept weapons hardy to defend against marauding enemies. These small lodges with their short poles look like part of a hunting camp, rather than a powwow or ceremonial gathering. Although the man has on a coat and hat, the weather much have been warm since all the lodges have their covers raised at the bottom.”(p.45)
5. Grade(s) & subject area(s) recommended (a list). Include details of how this resource might be knit into the various curricular areas to achieve stated curricular outcomes
Grade 5: ELA GLO 2 SLO 2.2.1 Experience various texts: experience texts from a variety of forms and genres (such as historical fiction, myths, biographies…) and cultural traditions; explain preferences for particular types of oral, literary, and media texts. This is a different style of book because it is presenting information but it is purely done using first-hand accounts. This book would be a good example of primary information in the form of written and visual contexts. Some examples of how it could be used are for a research project maybe on tipis or used for a comprehension task.
Grade 5: Social Studies: Cluster 2
This book could be used for inquiry on Plains Aboriginals way of life or on tipi life. Sections of it or pictures from the book could be used to activate learning. I am going to use this book as a resource for students to use on an inquiry project on an aspect of tipi life.
Grade 8: Math: Shape and Space cluster
The section of this book that talks about how to construct a tipi and could be used to aid students in constructing to scale models that they could use in math class to study angles, volumes, and areas. Tipis are a really good example of the geometric shape of a cone (3D) and a triangle (2D).
6. My questions, inferences, visual images, thoughts, reactions, feelings, opinions
A lot of the accounts in the book were from a woman named Buffalo-Bird-Woman. I would now like to look into her history a little more and see if there is more information on her. It could be a good project for a classroom too! I really liked this book because of the way it was set up. It was a really delightful way to read a non-fiction book and because it was first-hand accounts it was more personal and you could really connect to the individuals in the accounts.
7. My transformed thoughts: What is not written in the story but now I am thinking about…
I am now wondering if there any tribes or communities now that will still use tipis or are they just made for ceremonial purposes. It is interesting how so many modern Indigenous buildings have some architectural design that mimics the tipi. It would be interesting to do a study on modern Indigenous architecture and how it relates to traditional dwellings.
8. Would you use/recommend this book for your school and/or classroom? (Underline one)
Highly recommend Recommend Maybe for additional reading Do not recommend
9. Any additional comments?
I think that students need to experience more books like this one that is so primary source based. So often students look at reproduced information, which is okay, but I think books like this are treasures. Book like this one have so much more emotion and information in them.
Outline Adapted from: Gear, A. (2006). Reading power. Markham, ON: Pembroke Publishers.
Review/Critique: Houses of snow, skin and bones by Bonnie Shemie
1. Book details
Shemie, B. (1989). Houses of snow, skin and bones: Native dwellings: The far north. Toronto : Tundra
Books.
2. Why book was chosen
I chose this book because I am reading the series of books by Bonnie Shemie called Native dwellings. I plan on using the books in an Aboriginal dwellings project. Like her other books, I like the layout and the content she provide, as well as the beautiful illustrations.