Native American Week

Trying to squeeze a blog in here quick before the big Pie Making Wednesday event. I had intended on doing it this morning, but then a free calendar from Shutterfly fell in my lap and I had to put that together (I am SUPER excited about it though-- since we're celebrating all the Presidents Birthdays in 2015, I added all of them to the calendar with pictures to boot! Peyton thought perhaps using the picture of him at Ford's Theater for Andrew Johnson was in poor taste, but I just thought it was a little historical humor. Anyway, for $6 shipped it'll be here in no time. Love that.) 

But, I'm going to try and warp speed catch you up to what has been going on with Native American Week the last couple days. 

We moved on to the Southeast Woodlands on Monday. The two tribes we focused on were the Seminoles and the Cherokee. We got to talk about Andrew Jackson and the Trail of Tears which Peyton had gotten to learn about on our trip to the Hermitage, and he was excited to share his knowledge. 

We talked about the Chickees that the Southeast Woodlands Indians would have lived in. At the end of the week, they'll all be taking on an added bonus project for a wrap up, so you should be seeing all these fun things again. But, in the meantime- we all worked on different part of the Chikee, the dwelling used in the southeast. A Chikee is a shelter supported by posts, with a raised floor, a thatched roof, and open sides.  

Hayden made the floor, and Peyton made the roof. 

Calib made the structure, and then I helped put it all together. 

Seminole women were very fond of their beads. It was the first thing they'd buy after groceries. They would wear many of them, every day- some women would lug 12 pounds of beads around their neck. 

We took our "beads" we made out of pasta and the boys strung all kinds of them. 

Next up, we made rattles for a pow wow. While rattles were not specific to the southwest, I did want to acknowledge how important music was to Native Americans- and how they made their instruments out of animals. 

We put beans between two plastic/paper plates, stuck a stick in the middle and then taped it all closed. After that we used glue to attach brown paper bags to make it look like animal hide. 

The boys finished them off with some drawings with special meanings. 

Southeastern Native Americans were the best with beading. They were also responsible for wampum belts. Wampum belts were sometimes used as a currency of trading with the Europeans. But they were also used as gifts, to declare peace, to tell a story or to show history. 

The wampum belts were a little tough for Hayden, so he just kept on stringing beads for another necklace. 

But Peyton and Calib did really well with them once I got them started. 

We filled out our pages and added to our books with our worksheets too. 

All added to the board, I hope it all fits! (The color coding is working wonderfully though!) 

I had a rough day Monday, with Asa in the office, so I didn't quite get to the Cherokee casserole for dinner. But, I did make the Cherokee honey cake. 

We added that to a low country boil, and I was happy to have a low maintenance dinner on the table when Asa finally got home! 

Tuesday we focused on the Great Plains. Since they got nearly everything from the Buffalo (right down to toys and kitchen utensils!), we talked about how that would effect their way of living. They had to move when the herds moved, and therefore they needed to live in portable dwellings. Cue the tepees (or tipis, or teepees). I found a template online and the boys all colored and cut them out. 

We added some poles- and tada! 

We have a whole little camp of them. 

Next Up: War shields. They were made from the neck of buffalo (and hardened with glue from the buffalo hoofs) and carried by the Great Plains Indians. They were used in battle, on horseback,  to deflect arrows. We painted our paper plates. 

Added some feathers and beads and there we had them. 

Another theme week slowly taking over my house. 

Great Plains Native Americans were also responsible for war bonnets. These are the headdresses you most commonly see on TV or in the movies. They were only given to men who were considered warriors. They were not generally used in battle though, more of a ceremonial headdress. We decided since it took so much work to make them, we would just make one. Everyone took a different part. Calib did the pipe cleaners and the feathers. Peyton designed the band part out of felt. 

Hayden beaded the string and added the feathers. 

And ta-da, we have a war bonnet! 

(Hayden was bowing down to Peyton here, because Peyton had the war bonnet) 

We're still sort of working on our peace pipes. Peace pipes were used to ensure safe passage, or smoked before battles. We took two paint stir sticks and made designs on them. 

Then we used molding clay over a straw to get the shape we wanted. 

We added two more straws, put it between the two paint stir sticks, and tied them together. We also added some feathers. I'll show you the finished product when our clay is dried! 

We filled out our worksheets (focusing on the Sioux, Pawnee, and Cheyenne tribes) and added to our book. 

I did manage to get dinner on the table on Tuesday. We had Wojapi (a thick berry dish), along with some Ghost Bread. 

I didn't get the Buffalo for the Buffalo Indian Stew, but I did substitute in some beef. 

Three down, three to go! 

Next Up: I gotta go! Time to order the pizza for Pie Making Wednesday, and everyone should be here any minute.