Folklife Resources for Educators

Sponsoring Organization Information

National Museum of the American Indian
Fourth Street & Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20560 (202) 633-6996

The A:shiwi (Zuni) People: A Study in Environment, Adaptation, and Agricultural Practices
by National Museum of the American Indian
http://www.nmai.si.edu/education/files/poster_zuni.pdf

Teaching poster for grades 6-8 that examines the reciprocal relationships between the land and the A:shiwi people, also known as the Zuni, including how they have adapted to the semi-arid climate of New Mexico through a centuries-old farming technique known as "waffle gardens." Lesson plan includes background on how Native peoples have used observation and experimentation to develop science-based agricultural practices and also how A:shiwi waffle gardening reflects the traditional values of their culture. Poster meets national curriculum standards for Social Studies. (10 p. PDF)

Sponsoring Organization:
National Museum of the American Indian
Fourth Street & Independence Avenue, SW
Washington DC 20560
(202) 633-6996
http://www.nmai.si.edu/

Other Organizations:
Scholastic, Inc.

(800) 724-6527
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/index.jsp

American Indian Perspectives on Thanksgiving
by National Museum of the American Indian
http://americanindian.si.edu/education/files/thanksgiving_poster.pdf

Teaching poster, designed for educators and students in grades 4-8, examines the deeper meaning of the Thanksgiving holiday for American Indians through the themes of environment, community, encounters, and innovation. Appropriate for use at any time of the year, the poster includes information on teaching about American Indians and ideas for classroom activities. (10 p. PDF)

Sponsoring Organization:
National Museum of the American Indian
Fourth Street & Independence Avenue, SW
Washington DC 20560
(202) 633-6996
http://www.nmai.si.edu/

Harvest Ceremony: Beyond the Thanksgiving Myth
by National Museum of the American Indian
http://americanindian.si.edu/education/files/NMAI_Harvest_Study_Guide.pdf

Study guide that assists teachers in preparing lessons about the first Thanksgiving, from the Native American perspective. It includes information about the Wampanoag Indians, their initial encounters with the "pilgrims," the importance of corn, instructions on how to make johnny cakes, and information about the Wampanoag today, with suggested classroom discussion topics. (5 p. PDF)

Sponsoring Organization:
National Museum of the American Indian
Fourth Street & Independence Avenue, SW
Washington DC 20560
(202) 633-6996
http://www.nmai.si.edu/

Haudenosaunee Guide for Educators
by National Museum of the American Indian
http://www.nmai.si.edu/education/files/HaudenosauneeGuide.pdf

Teaching guide that provides background and activities on the Haudenosaunee, a confederation of six Native American nations commonly known as the Iroquois Confederacy. The nations include the Mohawk, the Oneida, the Onondaga, the Cayuga, the Seneca, and the Tuscarora. The Teaching Guide was created by staff from the Museum of the American Indian in collaboration with Haudenosaunee scholars and community members. It includes background information about the history, traditions, cultural life, arts, and patterns of social and civic interaction of the Haudenosaunee peoples, with suggestions for classroom discussion questions and activities, such as the making of cornhusk dolls. (24 p. PDF)

Sponsoring Organization:
National Museum of the American Indian
Fourth Street & Independence Avenue, SW
Washington DC 20560
(202) 633-6996
http://www.nmai.si.edu/

The Kwakwaka'wakw: A Study of a North Pacific Coast People and the Potlatch
by National Museum of the American Indian
http://americanindian.si.edu/education/files/Kwak_Poster_TG.pdf

Teaching poster for grades 6-8 with accompanying lesson plans and activities that explore cultural traditions and values of the Kwakwaka'wakw people of British Columbia, Canada that express concepts of wealth and the importance of cultural continuity. Curriculum materials focus on this North Pacific Coast People's potlatch practice, its history, the values inherent in it, and the important role it plays in establishing and maintaining family connections to the past, to ancestors, and to the spirits of all living things. Poster meets national curriculum standards for Social Studies. (9 p. PDF)

Sponsoring Organization:
National Museum of the American Indian
Fourth Street & Independence Avenue, SW
Washington DC 20560
(202) 633-6996
http://www.nmai.si.edu/

Lakota Winter Counts - The Teachers' Guide
by National Museum of the American Indian
http://wintercounts.si.edu/html_version/html/learning_teachers.html

Teacher's guide to an online exhibit of Lakota "winter counts" for students in grades K-10. Lakota winter counts are pictographic calendars reflecting the history of a community, made by keeping track of the passage of years. Studying these creative historiographical tools offers a unique representation of the history of the Lakota Sioux people during the 18th and 19th centuries. The teacher's guide includes background information, lesson plans, resource lists, and primary sources from the Smithsonian's collections, plus instructions on navigating the online exhibit. Meets national curriculum standards for Social Studies. (33 p. PDF)

Sponsoring Organization:
National Museum of the American Indian
Fourth Street & Independence Avenue, SW
Washington DC 20560
(202) 633-6996
http://www.nmai.si.edu/

A Life in Beads: The Stories a Plains Dress Can Tell
by National Museum of the American Indian
http://americanindian.si.edu/education/files/NMAI_lifeinbeads.pdf

Teaching poster for grades 4-6 with accompanying lesson plans and activities that explore the traditional art of dressmaking and dress decoration among women of Native American tribes from the Great Plains region. Through the stories and art of contemporary women from the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes in Montana, students will learn about materials used in the past and today, as well as the cultural values and meanings behind dress decoration. Meets national curriculum standards for Social Studies. (10 p. PDF)

Sponsoring Organization:
National Museum of the American Indian
Fourth Street & Independence Avenue, SW
Washington DC 20560
(202) 633-6996
http://www.nmai.si.edu/

Lone Dog's Winter Count: Keeping History Alive
by National Museum of the American Indian
http://www.nmai.si.edu/education/files/poster_lone_dog_final.pdf

Teaching poster developed for 4th through 8th grades to explore the oral culture and history-keeping techniques of the Nakota people who made the Lone Dog Winter Count. Originally, languages of the Northern Great Plains Indians were not written, but spoken. Using oral tradition, Native communities developed creative tools to help them remember their complex histories. A "winter count" was one way that Nakota storytellers recorded their histories and kept track of the passage of years. Poster includes lesson plan on the Native American practice of making winter counts and activities for creating pictograph calendars as mnemonic devices. Meets national curriculum standards for Social Studies. (10 p. PDF)

Sponsoring Organization:
National Museum of the American Indian
Fourth Street & Independence Avenue, SW
Washington DC 20560
(202) 633-6996
http://www.nmai.si.edu/

Native American Dolls
by National Museum of the American Indian
http://smithsonianeducation.org/images/educators/lesson_plan/native_dolls/native_dolls.pdf

Teaching guide for K-12 education with lesson plan and activities on diverse traditions of Native American dolls and dollmaking. Native doll makers describe how their work keeps old traditions alive and helps in developing new traditions. Includes examples of Navajo, Inupiat, Ojibwe, Seneca, and Seminole dolls exhibited in the National Museum of the American Indian and transcripts of interviews with their makers. The lesson is useful for teaching about cultural differences where students are encouraged to compare and contrast Native dolls with those from their own background. It meets national curriculum standards for History and Geography. Lesson plan originally published in the fall 2004 issue of "Smithsonian In Your Classroom." (28 p. PDF)

Sponsoring Organization:
National Museum of the American Indian
Fourth Street & Independence Avenue, SW
Washington DC 20560
(202) 633-6996
http://www.nmai.si.edu/

Other Organizations:
Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies
600 Maryland Avenue, Suite 1005
Washington DC 20024
(202) 633-5330
http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/

A Native Place
by National Museum of the American Indian
http://www.nmai.si.edu/education/files/NMAI-TGDweb.pdf

Teaching Guide for grades 4-8 that celebrates the establishment of the Museum of the American Indian on the National Mall in Washington, DC and the cultures and achievements of American Indian peoples. Included in this guide are three lesson plans with activities: "A Place of Pride," "A Welcoming Spirit," and "The Peoples' Knowledge." Curriculum materials focus on issues of Native history, museums, cultural representation, worldview, beliefs, philosophy, and material culture. They also encourage an understanding of, and respect for the strength, richness, and diversity of Native cultures. The Teaching Guide meets national curriculum standards for Language Arts, U.S. History, Social Studies, Geography, Science Literacy, and Fine Arts/Visual Arts. (5 p. PDF)

Sponsoring Organization:
National Museum of the American Indian
Fourth Street & Independence Avenue, SW
Washington DC 20560
(202) 633-6996
http://www.nmai.si.edu/

Other Organizations:
Scholastic, Inc.

(800) 724-6527
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/home.jsp

Native Words, Native Warriors
by National Museum of the American Indian
http://www.nmai.si.edu/education/codetalkers/

Interactive curriculum website for grades 6-12 that explores the lives and experiences of American Indian Code Talkers, the servicemen who used their traditional tribal languages to transmit secret messages for the US military during World War I and World War II. Includes lesson plans, correlated to National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies and National Standards for History, captioned photographs, maps and documents, discussion questions, activities, and audio recordings of spoken word and Native American music.

Sponsoring Organization:
National Museum of the American Indian
Fourth Street & Independence Avenue, SW
Washington DC 20560
(202) 633-6996
http://www.nmai.si.edu/

To Honor and Comfort: Native Quilting Traditions
by National Museum of the American Indian
http://www.nmai.si.edu/education/files/quilts.pdf

Study guide developed by the National Museum of the American Indian to accompany a 1997 exhibition of the same name. It can also be used as an independent resource for educators. Includes four lesson plans that correspond to the exhibition sections: Origins, Honoring, Design, and Community. Curriculum focuses on quilters from eight Native American communities and has accompanying study questions, handouts, and activities. (36 p. PDF)

Sponsoring Organization:
National Museum of the American Indian
Fourth Street & Independence Avenue, SW
Washington DC 20560
(202) 633-6996
http://www.nmai.si.edu

We Have a Story to Tell: Native Peoples of the Chesapeake Region
by National Museum of the American Indian
http://americanindian.si.edu/education/files/chesapeake.pdf

Teacher guide for use with students in grades 9-12 that provides information and primary resource materials related to key periods and events in the history of the Algonquian communities of the Chesapeake Bay Region, especially the Powhatan, Nanticoke, and Piscataway peoples. Curriculum materials cover the period from the 1600s to the present and focus on how colonial settlement and the establishment of the United States have affected Chesapeake Bay Native Americans. With lesson plans, small group projects, and activities, the guide also introduces contemporary issues that are critical for these communities' survival, such as civil rights and the importance of legal recognition. Meets national curriculum standards for U.S. History and Social Studies. (28 p. PDF)

Sponsoring Organization:
National Museum of the American Indian
Fourth Street & Independence Avenue, SW
Washington DC 20560
(202) 633-6996
http://www.nmai.si.edu/