Native American Tribes

Tlingit Tribe discovered by: Me, Amanda & Kristen

History:

• Tlingit means "People of the Tides"
• Their origins are speculated to be dated around 11,000 years ago
• Some believe that these people migrated from Polynesia by island-hopping
• They settled along Southeast Alaska thousands of years ago

Geography (5 themes):

• Location: the Tlingit tribe lives in southeastern Alaska and in British Columbia and the Yukon in Canada
• Movement: People believe that Tlingit people may have migrated from Polynesia by island-hopping.
• Region: Southeastern Alaska and in British Columbia
• Human Interaction/Environmental Interaction: The Tlingit people shared relations with the neighboring Haida and Tsimshian tribes, as they do in the modern era
• Place: The greatest territory historically occupied by the Tlingit extended from the Portland Canal along the present border between Alaska and British Columbia, north to the coast just southeast of the Copper River delta in Alaska.

Culture:

• To the Tlingit people, the world is filled with spirits, or yéiks, who could manifest their powers through anything. 
• They were taught to respect everything that existed around them; the punishment for disrespect was loss of food. 
• Each person also had a guardian spirit, known as a tu-na-jek.
• Tlingit women gathered plants & herbs and did most of the child care and cooking. 
• Men were fishermen & hunters and sometimes went to war to protect their families. 
• Both genders took part in storytelling, artwork, music, & traditional medicine. 
• Tlingit language is spoken by the Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska and Western Canada
• Language is well known for its complex grammar, sound system, and use of certain phonemes unheard in almost any other language. 
• Most forms are defined by features such as eyes, joints, fins, and feathers being fragmented with bold black lines, and filled in with red and blue hues.
• Totem poles are the most notable art form. 

Clothes:

• Clothes were made through a weaving technique
• Men wore moccasin shoes to hunt during the winter
• Tlingits wore basketry hats made of finely woven spruce root and bear grass
• Designs and patterns of these hats displayed a person’s status and family connections

Food:

• The Tlingit Indians were fishing people!
• Fish, wapato (Indian Potato) greens, seeds and berries
• Oil would be extracted from candlefish to be used as a dip for food!
• Tlingit men caught fish and sea mammals from their canoes.
• Hunted deer, mountain goats, and birds
• Tlingit women gathered shellfish, seaweed, berries, and roots.

Homes/Habitats:

• The Tlingits lived in rectangular cedar-plank houses with bark roofs.
• Today, people live in modern houses and apartment buildings, just like you.
• These houses were large (up to 100 feet long) and each one housed several families from the same clan (as many as 50 people.) 

Famous People:

• Nathan Jackson is one of the most famous living Tlingit artists. His totem poles have been placed in the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC.

Check out this video of traditional Tlingit art/songs/dances

Generalizations:

• Without this geographical influence, the Native Americans would have no place for resources for their unique culture, food, clothing, or homes!
• Geography influences the Native Americans heavily! Without geography, there would be no unique tribe such as the Tlingits!

Learning about the Tlingit tribe was very interesting and we got the opportunity to teach a lesson about it in an engaging way! It is important to incorporate Geography into the lesson in order for students to be more aware of what life was like back then and how Geography influenced many people's decisions and lifestyles, like the Tlingit tribe. There are 5 Themes of Geography: Movement, Region, Human/Environmental Interaction, Location & Place. "The themes of location and place provide opportunities for students to observe, describe, and learn factual information about places and the characteristics that distinguish places from each other. The themes of interaction, movement, and regions offer opportunities for student problem solving and critical thinking" (Lyman et.al). 

A handful of ways that allows teachers to creatively and effectively teach Geography can be found at this link. 

A few examples that I took note of include: 

Landscape in a Box
Adopt a Webcam
Science Songs
5 W's
Send and Receive Postcards

Model your Place on a Paper Plate

Throw a Globe

To sum it all up, "Understanding geography is an essential part of students’ preparation to become citizens and consumers in an interconnected world. As students learn about geography, they build their knowledge of the way human and physical systems interact and how humans impact the world in which they live." (Lyman et.al). 

Muscogee Tribe discovered by: Aimee, Cierra & Angelina

Information I learned:

• Forced from homes into reservations
• Were forced to move to Oklahoma in the 1800's
• Many passed away due to diseases brought from Europeans
• Made finger woven sashes, belts and cloth
• Protestant Religion
• Men wore breech cloths and women wore knee length skirts made from deer skin
• Clothes were influenced by the Europeans
• Natural resources: fruits, seeds, pumpkins and nuts
• Habitat/Homes: Mound Grass House, Wattle & Daub House, and American-style log cabins
• Famous People: Ernest Childers, Acee Blue Eagle, Suzan Shown Harjo, etc.

Three Pluses
1. All of the images on your power points were great! They really made the slides come alive!
2. I loved the videos you incorporated, they were very interesting and informative to watch.
3. I loved how knowledgeable you were about the information you were presenting.
One Wish
1. I wish you incorporated an interactive activity for the class to do.

Navajo Tribe, discovered by: Ganny, Marie, Lexi, & Michaela

Information I learned:

• One of the largest tribes in the US
• Nation's second largest Native American Tribe
• Also known the "Dine Tribe"
• Earth Mother-Sacred Gods
• Believed in Gods that they called the holy people
• They worship the sun, winds and watercourses
• Very cautious about death and choose not to talk about it
• Located throughout northeast Arizona, New Mexico and Utah--compared to the size of west Virginia
• Navajo region is in the southwest region of the U.S.
• Movement: Known to have inhabited the U.S. since before Columbus
• Culture: geared towards family life and events that follow their lifestyle
• Language: Athabaskan 
• Religion: Believed in many Gods, good and evil, and that everything had a purpose
• Customs: Celebrate more than 50 different ceremonies
• Traditions: Running in the morning, bury umbilical cord, medicine man, etc.
• Clothes: men wore breech cloths and women wore skirts, wore high boots like mocassins
• Food: Goat and corn
• Famous people: Manuelito

Three Pluses:

1. I loved your power point! Very detailed and the pictures were engaging and bright!

2. You all seemed very knowledgeable about the information you were teaching us, which is very important and shows that you dedicated a lot of time and effort to your lesson.

3. I loved how you incorporated a food bag into the lesson--very cute idea!

One Wish

1. I wish for the food bag, you had us, the students, pick out the food like we did for the artifact bags.

Working on these projects has really enhanced my knowledge on cooperative learning. This project alone made me realize how important it is to collaborate with peers. Without my group members input, our presentation probably wouldn't have went as well as it did. We all brought ideas to the table, yet incorporated our own strategies and methods that we thought of on our own. If we had more time we definitely could have made the presentation a little lengthier and engaging but with the time given, I thought we did pretty well. Cooperative learning is such an important teaching method and as a group, we did very well portraying the information we researched into a presentation and lesson as a whole!