We Are Who We Were - Oklahoma Historical Society

“We Are Who
We Were”
Indians of Oklahoma Study Guide
From the Noble Gallery
Written and produced by the Oklahoma History Center
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1. Introduction…………………………………………………….1
a. About the gallery
b. About the study guide
2. Oklahoma Prehistory……………………………………………2
a. Spiro Mounds Archaeological Park
b. Wichita and Caddo Culture
3. European Contact and Trade……………………………………6
a. Overview
b. First Contact
c. Trade Relations
d. Trade Items
e. “Keep Your Presents”
f. The Louisiana Purchase
g. The Lewis and Clark Expedition
4. Storytelling…………………………………………………….14
a. Overview
b. Osage Creation Story
c. Pawnee Creation Story
5. Removal……………………………………………………….25
a. Overview
b. The Camp Holmes Treaty
c. The Medicine Lodge Treaty
d. The Seminole Wars
e. Cherokee Removal
f. Treaties
6. Reservation Period…………………………………………….35
a. Overview
b. Life on the reservation
c. Education
d. Overview
e. Indian Boarding Schools
f. Chilocco Indian Boarding School: 1883-1980
g. Allotment
h. Overview
i. Dawes Commission
j. Tribal Rolls
7. Language………………………………………………………46
a. Overview
b. Kiowa Language
c. Rainy Mountain Boarding School
d. N. Scott Momaday
e. Code Talkers
f. Language Preservation
i
Table of Contents
8. Stereotypes……………………………………………….……53
a. Overview
b. Who is an Indian?
9. Living Ways……………………………………………..…….57
a. Food
b. Beadwork
c. Painting
d. Pottery
e. Dwelling
10. Resources………………………………………………..……..85
a. Historical Tribes of Oklahoma
b. Tribal Headquarters
c. Bibliography
ii
Oklahoma Indians: We Are Who We Were
Introduction
About Oklahoma Indians: We Are Who We Were
Indian history is Oklahoma’s history. The Oklahoma Indians: We Are Who We Were is a
gallery exhibition of Oklahoma tribes starting with prehistory and continuing to the present as
told by the Indians of Oklahoma. The gallery is divided into seven sections: American Indian
origins, spirituality, languages, Indian lives, dwellings, living ways, and tribes including
sovereignty and self-governance.
There were 67 tribes that have called Oklahoma “home.” The Caddo, Wichita, and their
affiliated tribes are among the earliest identifiable tribes indigenous to Oklahoma. Other tribes
came here through migrations, but most came here through forced removal. Today there are 38
tribal governments located in Oklahoma. This exhibition seeks to showcase the cultural diversity
of Oklahoma’s tribes as well as share the contributions of Oklahoma Indians, both past and
present.
About This Study Guide
This study guide was created to increase students’ awareness of the Indian tribes living in
Oklahoma; their origins, trading, migrating, contact with Europeans, removal and contemporary
Indian life. This study guide will provide teachers with information and activities that they can
use in the classroom, either in the format of a multi-day unit or a single-day activity. It includes
copies of primary resources that the teacher can use in the classroom, a bibliography and a
compendium of useful websites.
The material covered in this study guide spans the period from prehistory to the present day. We
examine how we “know what we know” about these tribes. The cross-cultural encounters
between Native Americans and Europeans are also examined. The text, images and activities
relate information about all of the tribal governments in Oklahoma. Each chapter has a brief
introduction followed by suggested activities.
Note concerning student activities: Although the activities in this study guide are designed for specific
grades, we encourage teachers to adapt the materials according to the needs, interests and capabilities of
their students.
1
Oklahoma Prehistory
Oklahoma Prehistory
Spiro Mounds Archaeological Park
The Spiro Mounds Site is one of the most important archaeological discoveries in Oklahoma’s
past. It is the westernmost site of a complex cultural tradition in the Southeast called the
Southern Cult (also known as the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex, the Buzzard Cult and the
Mississippian Culture). The Mississippian Culture was a loosely organized trading, religious and
political system that included the leadership from many language groups and several million
people. The Mississippian civilization was so named because its culture spread along the
Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee Rivers and other tributaries of the Mississippi. This
confederation had trade connections stretching from the Rocky Mountains to the Virginia coast
and from the Gulf Coast of Florida to the Great Lakes. Each group was more or less independent
although tied to the four regional mound centers. These regional mound centers included
Cahokia, where East St. Louis is now, Moundville in Alabama, Etowah in Georgia and Spiro in
Eastern Oklahoma. The Spiro site, occupied from AD 850 to AD 1450, was home to powerful
leaders who oversaw the building of the nine platform and burial mounds on the site. These
leaders governed farmers in outlying villages who probably provided labor for mound-building.
Findings show the Spiro site as one of the
premier trading and religious centers of
prehistoric America. Artifacts from the
mounds show that prehistoric Spiro people
created a sophisticated culture that influenced
the entire Southeast. Situated in a narrow
valley of the Arkansas River, the Spiroans were
in a strategic position to control traffic, trade
and communications along this waterway. This
development was enhanced by Spiro’s
“gateway” position between the rolling grassy
Plains and the wooded Southeast, as well as by
the initiative of Spiro leaders.
As certain Spiro inhabitants became political and religious leaders, they also became commercial
entrepreneurs. To help identify their growing status in the community, these leaders
accumulated exotic goods which they wore as status markers or used in special ceremonies.
Among the most favored exotic goods were conch shells from western coastal Florida, copper
from the Southeast and other regions, lead from Iowa and Missouri, pottery from northeast
Arkansas and Tennessee, quartz from central Arkansas and flint from Kansas, Texas, Tennessee
and southern Illinois. Spiro artisans fashioned many of these materials into elaborately decorated
ornaments, ceremonial cups, batons and other symbols of status and authority. Elaborate
artifacts of conch and copper were more numerous at Spiro than at any other prehistoric site in
North America.
2
Oklahoma Prehistory
Many exotic religious rituals at Spiro centered upon the death and burial of elite members of the
Spiro society. Other ceremonies included the celebration of planting, harvesting and the
changing of the seasons. The rituals performed at the mound center are believed to have helped
maintain the aura of the ruling class’ power. Important among these ceremonies were smoking
rituals. Tobacco was a sacred plant and the pipes used during its smoking were elaborate.
Effigy pipes and T-shaped pipes were found almost
exclusively at the mound centers. Effigy pipes are
made in the likeness or image of a person or animal.
Large effigy pipes were not passed from person to
person rather, the individual approached the pipe and
partook of the tobacco.
The site includes the remains of a village and eleven
earthen mounds. In 1933 treasure hunters leased the
site and began excavating the largest mound. The
diggers uncovered spectacular artifacts, but
unfortunately, they were not concerned with
preserving or recording their significance but rather,
finding and selling them for the highest price. In order to prevent this sort of thing from
happening again the state’s first antiquities preservation law was passed in 1936. Between 1936
and 1941, Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers, under the supervision of
archaeologists from the University of Oklahoma, conducted a systematic excavation of the
remainder of the mounds.
Much of Spiro culture is a mystery, including the reasons for the decline and abandonment of the
site. The onset of a drier climate in A.D. 1200 may have brought about marked change. Spiro’s
descendants began to adopt ideas and tools which had long been common with the Plains Indians.
The drier climate adversely affected the villagers’ ability to produce crops, eventually causing
them to move downstream toward the Arkansas River Valley where summer rainfall remained
dependable for growing corn, beans, squash and sunflowers. However, this increase in
population placed more demand on the available soils and resources, creating ecological and
social stresses that Spiro leaders could not resolve. It is thought that this eventually brought
about the decline of these leaders’ political and religious power, thus undermining the Spiro
society’s high level of organization and cultural development. By A.D. 1450, the Spiro site was
abandoned. And, by 1719, when eastern Oklahoma was first visited by Europeans, the natives
were bison hunting, part-time farmers of a tribe now part of the Wichitas.
Wichita and Caddo Culture
The Wichitas and Caddos were southeastern Plains dwelling horticulturalists. In the fall and/or
winter they participated in occasional expeditions into the western plains to hunt bison. For both,
descent was matrilineal, that is, tracing ancestral descent through the maternal line. They had
elaborate temples, often on mounds, and important ceremonies at planting, harvest, and at times
of seasonal changes. Their material culture consisted of finely made pottery and elaborate facial
and body tattoos. The Caddos also made woven reed mats, basketry and tanned hide clothing.
3
Oklahoma Prehistory
Prehistory Activity: Archaeological Study
Suggested Grades
4-12
Overview
Archaeology is defined as the systematic study of past human life and culture by the recovery
and examination of remaining material evidence, such as graves, buildings, tools and pottery.
Objective
In this activity, students will examine objects collected from fellow classmates and make
educated guesses as to who, what, when, where and how their classmates live. They will come
to understand why analyzing and recording the significance or context of objects is important in
the study of a person, culture or group.
Time needed
One to two weeks time to gather materials and then three to four class periods for analysis,
presentation, and discussion.
Materials needed
-One large brown paper grocery bag for each student.
-Inorganic materials such as plastic and metal food containers, beverage containers, paper with
writing, paper with printing, pencils, pens, cardboard tubes/boxes, cosmetic waste, etc. Nothing
organic, as it may decompose in the bag.
Instructions
1. Give each student a large brown paper grocery bag. Begin by explaining to the
students
that they will be doing an archaeological study of their fellow
classmate’s by examining and recording each others’ garbage. Each student is to
take the bag home and fill it with inorganic refuse for the next one to two weeks
(you choose the time frame, but the longer students have to fill the bag, there
exists the potentiality of a more interesting class). Tell students before they place
empty food or drink containers in the bag to rinse them out. Be sure to instruct
students to leave out anything that may decompose in the bag.
2. After one to two weeks have the students return their filled bags to class. For this to be a
successful dig, make sure that all bags are identical on the outside. Collect the bags and them
return them randomly ensuring that none of the students get their own bag. The teacher may
want to bring a few extra filled bags just in case a student leaves theirs behind.
4
Oklahoma Prehistory
3. Instruct each student to open their bag and inventory the items found within. Each student
should classify the garbage in the following terms:
a) Number of different kinds of trash; for example, paper food containers, plastic
food containers, metal food containers, beverage containers, paper with
writing, paper with printing, writing utensils, cardboard, etc.
b) Apparent functional groupings of trash; for example, remains of food/drinks,
remains of work/chores, games, debris from cosmetics, discarded printed
matter, etc.
c) Proportional representation of each functional group. Is most of the trash
food? Drinks? Is most of it reading material? Et cetera.
4. Analyze the information from each trash bag:
a) Who used the items? A male or female? How old is the person?
b) What are the items? How do you know?
c) What does it represent in terms of activities? Does it represent more than one
activity? Which activities are most frequently represented?
d) Does the trash reflect group activities or individual activities? Was the context
of the activity the family or the society? If the society, what do you think is
the importance of these activities to the society at large?
5. Ask each student to present their findings to the class. Include a reconstruction of who they
think this person was. Can they guess what this person liked? What they did on a daily basis?
6. Now compare the results of student’s findings.
Conclusion
This exercise is designed to demonstrate what can be learned from material remains. The
remains allow us to gain knowledge that we may not otherwise be able to find. It is often in
garbage that we are able to reconstruct the life and times of a society. Often the most
concentrated archaeological remains in an area really represent the dump. In this activity, the
brown paper bags represent the information-filled dump.
5
European Contact and Trade
European Contact and Trade
Overview
The world of the Indians changed because growing contact with white traders. One of the first
tribes Europeans encountered in what is now Oklahoma was the Wichita tribe. Spanish reports
supply the first written information on indigenous tribes beginning in 1539.
The French also made their way into what is now Oklahoma. Beginning in 1719 with Bernard
de la Harpe and Claude du Tisne and ending with Fabry de la Bruyere in 1742, the French made
their mark on Oklahoma’s Indian tribes. Due to the Frenchmen’s adaptability to life in the
wilderness, they took up residence with the tribes and married native women. The Indians
became utilized French trade goods, namely guns, ammunition, knives, beads, axes, hatchets,
blankets, mirrors and paint. Indians became commercial fur hunters, making fur-trading
Oklahoma’s first industry. Other tokens of French influence include French blood lines and
names among Indian families as well as place geography; a few examples of the latter are river
names—Poteau, San Bois, Fourche Maline, Sallisaw, Verdigris, Salina, Grand, and Illinois.
Most unfortunate is the fact that Europeans brought with them more than just trade goods; they
also carried European diseases from which the Indians had no immunity. Diseased livestock that
Coronado’s company brought with them carried germs that transmitted disease among the
Indians. European diseases including influenza, measles, Typhoid fever, Bubonic plague,
Malaria, and smallpox wiped out whole tribal populations.
6
European Contact and Trade
First Contact
The Spanish, led by Francisco Vasquez de
Coronado, dreamed of finding golden cities,
while the French hoped to gain wealth in the fur
trade. During the early 1700’s, these two
European rivals changed Indian cultures on the
southern plains by introducing horses, firearms,
iron goods, and diseases. The Wichitas, living
along the river systems, prospered as middlemen
between the French and Plains tribes.
While Wichita cities were not made of gold as Coronado had hoped, they were the centers of
economic activity for many generations. Living in houses of golden prairie grass, Wichitas
traded corn, squash, beans, buffalo robes, and horses to other tribes, as well as the Spanish and
French. The large Wichita villages on the Arkansas and Red rivers provided furs and horses for
the Europeans, and in return received much sought after muskets and metal goods. During the
early 1700s, two Wichita villages were located on the Red River: San Bernardo on the north
bank and San Teodoro on the south. Both villages served as trading points for the Spanish and
French. The Old Spanish Trail connected San Bernardo with Santa Fe. Small raids ensued
between the Wichitas and the Spanish. In 1759 approximately 500 Spanish soldiers and their
Apache allies attacked 6,000 Wichitas on the Red River. The Wichitas swiftly defeated their
foes. The transfer of the Louisiana Province from France to Spain in 1763 diminished the
Wichitas’ prosperous trade.
By 1760 all the Plains tribes had acquired horses.
Horses significantly changed life among the
Plains peoples, making it easier to follow the
buffalo and to transport goods. Horse ownership
became a symbol of prestige and wealth within
tribes; it also changed the manner and
organization of warfare among the Plains Indians.
Warrior societies developed in which great
horsemanship was the decisive attribute.
Trade Relations
The impact on native people as a result of the fur trade came about in various ways. As skilled
hunters and suppliers of pelts, American Indians were sought after as trading partners and were
exposed to European culture. In exchange for their goods, Indians received European products,
both practical, such as iron tools and utensils, and decorative, such as bright-colored cloth and
beads. Indians also received firearms and liquor, both of which had an enormous impact on their
lives. The fur trade had another long-term impact on native peoples by bringing outsiders into
their lands. After the traders, trappers, and hunters came the trading and military posts followed
by settlers.
7
European Contact and Trade
Auguste and Pierre Chouteau began trading with tribes in the 1700s. They set up their
headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri and welcomed William Clark, of the Lewis and Clark
expedition, to St. Louis in 1797. Pierre launched fur-trading ventures with the Osage and other
tribes. Those ventures reached as far north as the Montana and as far west as Santa Fe. When
William Clark became superintendent of Indian affairs in the newly acquired Louisiana Territory,
Chouteay obtained the right to exclusive trade with the Osage.
Pierre’s son, Auguste Pierre, or A.P. Chouteau, pursued the fur trade along the Arkansas River.
In 1822 A.P. opened a settlement where the Grand (Neosho) River met the Arkansas River near
the site of what is now Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. A.P.was a pragmatic, tolerant businessman who
sought relationships of mutual benefit with the Indians. In pursuit of peltries, the Chouteaus
lived with the Indians, learned their language and adopted their ways. He was both a trader and
an advocate for the Indians. He defended the claims of the Osage to the hunting lands that
sustained them, and against the policies of the U.S. government that tried to turn them into
farmers.
Trade Items
A.P. brought knives, iron pots, blankets, beads and guns to trade. Some trade items were in large
part about fashion. Colorful items like blankets, list cloth, and beads were sought by the Indians
for their beauty. The wool trade blankets were used for their warmth as well as to make a
fashion statement. There are many photographs of tribal members proudly standing wrapped in
the blankets. In order to tell the size and weight of the blanket and the way for the traders to
know the price, the makers established a point
system. The points were actually stripes woven
into the blanket. Blankets ranged in size from
half a point to twelve points. Common sizes in
Indian Territory went from one and a half points
to three points.
Beads were sought after items by tribes. They
were carried by explorers, traders and
missionaries and given as gifts or used as
objects of barter. In the New World glass was
unknown and was treasured as a rare substance
when it was introduced by the Europeans.
Tribes in North America greatly expanded the
range of decorative forms and colors that could
be produced on clothing and other objects, using glass seed beads rather than traditional
porcupine quills and large pony beads. Beads came in green, a vivid red to reddish orange, blue,
white, and black. There were beads made of agate, a semi-precious crystallized quartz, glass
beads from Venice, seed beads, shell beads, and beads made from stone. Sinew was used to sew
beads on to moccasins, clothing, hats and headdresses, belts, bags, sashes, jewelry, and garters.
Beads were used to adorn cradleboards and cradleboard covers, knife sheaths, saddle blankets,
pipe bags and dolls. The size and plethora of seed beads allowed Indians to completely cover
8
European Contact and Trade
entire surfaces, especially with the introduction of thin steel needles. Large beads were strung
and pony beads were used sparingly to outline areas and edges.
Silver was another trade item admired
by Indian tribes. Plains Indians
acquired silver in trade with the English,
French and American trappers. They
traded for hair ornaments, bracelets,
earrings, rings, and pins. Some tribes
used U.S. and Mexican silver coins.
The use of U.S. coins in silversmithing
ended after 1890 due to the fact that
defacing them was outlawed.
Although many tribes adopted European
goods and some European ways, there
were others who had no interest in them.
In Native American Testimony: An
Anthology of Indian and White
Relations edited by Peter Nabokov there
are selections that offer glimpses of
various Native American responses to
white goods and frontier commerce.
The following selection was originally
published in Pawnee Hero Stories and
Folk Tales by George Bird Grinnell.
9
European Contact and Trade
“Keep Your Presents”
A Pawnee, Curly Chief, recollects here a fellow tribesman’s rejection of European wares.
Actually a federation of four central Plains peoples, the Pawnee lived in earth-lodge villages
along the Platte River in Nebraska. In the early decades of the nineteenth century, their lands lay
in the path of the pioneers whose wagons were rolling toward the Southwest. This contact with
whites brought them social dissolution and disease—in 1849 they lost a fourth of their people to
smallpox and cholera. In 1873 the tribe was moved to northern Indian Territory. There is no
record of which treaty session Curly Chief is remembering here.
I heard that long ago there was a time when there were no people in this country except Indians.
After that, the people began to hear of men that had white skins; they had been seen far to the
east. Before I was born, they came out to our country and visited us. The man who came was
from the Government. He wanted to make a treaty with us, and to give us presents, blankets and
guns, and flint and steel and knives.
The Head Chief told him that we needed none of these things. He said, “We have our buffalo
and our corn. These things the Ruler gave to us, and they are all that we need. See this robe.
This keeps me warm in winter. I need no blanket.”
The whiter men had with them some cattle, and the Pawnee Chief said, “Lead out a heifer here
on the prairie.” They led her out, and the Chief, stepping up to her, shot her through behind the
shoulder with his arrow, and she fell down and died. Then the Chief said, “Will not my arrow
kill? I do not need your guns.” Then he took his stone knife and skinned the heifer, and cut off a
piece of fat meat. When he had done this, he said, “Why should I take your knives? The Ruler
has given me something to cut with.”
Then taking the fire sticks, he kindled a fire to roast the meat, and while it was cooking, he spoke
again and said, “You see, my brother, that the Ruler has given us all what we need; the buffalo
for food and clothing; the corn to eat with our dried meat; bows, arrows, knives and hoes; all the
implements which we need for killing meat, or for cultivating the ground. Now go back to the
country from whence you came. We do not want your presents, and we do not want you to come
into our country.”
Curly Chief, Pawnee
10
European Contact and Trade
The Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was one of the most notable achievements of the presidency of Thomas
Jefferson. It was the acquisition by the United States of more than 5 million acres of territory
from France in 1803 at a cost of about 3¢ per acre, or 15 million dollars. But, what was in the
land—commonly called the “Louisiana Purchase”—remained to be discovered. In 1803
President Thomas Jefferson appointed two men, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, to lead an
expedition from St. Louis on the Mississippi River, up the Missouri River, across the Continental
Divide (Rocky Mountains), and down the Columbia River to its mouth on the Pacific coast.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition
While Lewis and Clark were the first sponsored Americans to see much of what would become
the western United States, those same lands had long been occupied by native peoples. Over the
course of the expedition, the Corps of Discovery, as it came to be called, would come into
contact with nearly 50 American Indian tribes.
The first tribe with whom Lewis and Clark held a council was the Otoe-Missouria tribe of
Nebraska. The Americans began to develop a ritual that they used when meeting a tribe for the
first time. The captains would explain to the tribal leaders that their land now belonged to the
United States, and that a man far in the east—President Thomas Jefferson—was their new “great
father.” They would also give the Indians a peace medal with Jefferson on one side and two
hands clasping on the other, as well as presents, most often trade goods. The Corps would also
perform a kind of parade, marching in uniform and shooting their guns.
On August 3, 1804, the Corps of Discovery held a council with the Otoe-Missouria tribe.
Excerpts taken from the journal of William Clark give insight into the meetings, from the
Americans perspective:
August 2, 1804: “a p[ar]t of Otteau and Missourie
Nation Came to Camp,…sent them Some roasted
meat, Pork flour & meal, in return they sent us Water
millions.”
August 3, 1804: “after Brackfast we collected those
Indians under an awning of our Main Sail, in
presence of our Party paraded & Delivered a long
speech to them expressive of our journey the wishes
of our Government…We gave them a Cannister of
powder and a Bottle of Whiskey. The principal
Chief for the Nation being absent, we sent him the
speech flag, peace medal and some clothes.”
11
European Contact and Trade
Activity: Stories Behind Family Heirlooms
Suggested Grades
2-12
Overview
The Otoe-Missouria held a council with Lewis and Clark in 1804. They were small tribes and
had enemies all around them so they chose to make an agreement with the United States
government in order to secure their survival. To symbolize this agreement, Lewis and Clark, on
behalf of the United States government, presented the tribes with a peace medals and Certificates
of Friendship.
Objectives
Students will understand why the items from Lewis and Clark were so important to the OtoeMissouria. They will then research a family heirloom, one that has been passed down and
symbolizes an agreement, or relationship, of some kind. They will come to understand the
importance placed on these items.
Time Needed
One to two days research outside of class and one fifty-minute class period
Materials Needed
- video: The Otoes Meet Lewis and Clark
- heirloom of student’s choice
Instructions
1. As a class, watch the video The Otoes Meet Lewis and Clark.
2. Show the images of the peace medal and the Certificate of Friendship included in this
guide. Discuss the situation in which the Otoe-Missouria found themselves. What was
their relationship with surrounding tribes? Why did they sign an agreement with the
United States government? Why did the family keep the papers? What do the papers
symbolize?
3. Discuss heirlooms. What are they? Why are they given? Give examples.
4. Assign each student the task of locating a family heirloom that symbolizes an agreement
or relationship. Examples could include wedding rings, a marriage certificate, charm
bracelets, pocket knives and medals given for military service recognition, as well as
others. These could have been exchanged between husbands and wives, mothers and
daughters, fathers and sons, grandparents and grandchildren, etc.
5. Students will research the heirloom, through written materials, interviews or other means.
They will fill out the Stories behind Family Heirlooms: Student Instructions and present
the heirloom in show-and-tell style to their classmates. Advise students to bring the
heirloom to class, or provide a photograph if at all possible. You may choose to adapt
this activity to fit the ability of younger children.
12
European Contact and Trade
Stories behind Family Heirlooms: Student Instructions
Choose a family heirloom that symbolizes an agreement or relationship between two or more
people, or groups. Some examples may include a marriage certificate, wedding rings, a charm
bracelet, a pocket knife, or a medal given on behalf of military service.
Answer the following questions:
1. What is the name, if any, and physical description of the item? __________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
2. What is the story (history) behind the item?
a. Who originally owned it?
b. From where/whom did they get it?
c. Whom did they pass it on to?
d. Why is it important?
e. What does the item symbolize?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. How did the agreement, or relationship, affect others? For example: You may have chosen
your mothers wedding ring that was passed on to her by her mother. If your grandparents were
never married, there would be no ring to have been passed on to your mother. In fact, if your
grandparents never got together, your mother may have never been born. If your mother was
never born, you would never have been born.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
use additional pages if needed
13
Storytelling
Storytelling
“Grandpa
would say, ‘Come sit down. I am going to tell you something.’”
-Ernie Keahbone, Kiowa, 1998
Storytelling is an important part of Indian culture. It not only refers to spoken narrative, but
communication in the form of body language, food, dance, art, music, drama, crafts, literature
and religious rites. Storytelling reflects the rich cultural and religious heritage of past
generations, and it leads the listener to understand how the past has influenced the present.
Kricket Rhoads-Connywerdy, a Kiowa and Caddo traditional storyteller believes that
“storytelling is important to a lot of Native people because it is our history book. It is our history
from our perspective. We define where we came from through our stories. We don’t have to
turn to the schoolbooks written by non-Natives to find out where we came from and who we are.
We just turn to our stories for our history lessons.”
Traditional stories are based on honoring all life, especially the plants and animals we depend on,
as well as our human ancestors. There are many different types of stories: symbolic, which refer
to larger bodies of oral literature; lessons that describe how and why things are the way they are;
instructions from spirit mentors that explain how to conduct ceremonies; descriptions of natural
processes, such as water-cycles, inter-species relationships, life cycles of plants and earth
movements and soil types. Other types would include oral maps for travel that describe historic
and on-going migrations of tribes for subsistence and holy journeys, magical tales of
transformation that articulate the mystery and complexity of being human, as well as adventures
in love, romance and marriage. Above all, each story is part of a greater whole, a continuum of
stories that has neither a beginning nor an end. Each story in its own way fills in a section of the
larger narrative, giving us a fuller sense of life.
These stories are possessed with such power that they have survived for generations despite
attempts at repression and assimilation. In fact, such attempts resulted in new stories. Ancestors
made stories in the form of songs so that their children and grand-children would not forget.
One of the most important and common themes among Indian stories are creation stories, which
are universal among all cultures. Indian creation stories explain how life began on earth and how
a particular tribal nation came to be. They talk about spiritual and mythical origins within real,
physical landscapes and outline the “original instructions” or natural laws of how to live in
balance with creation.
14
Storytelling
This Osage creation story is excerpted from The Osages: Children of the Middle Waters by
John Joseph Mathews.
They came from the sky, say the Little Old Men; from among and of the stars. They
were children up there as well, of Grandfather the Sun, and as they say, noble and clean and shy
and befuddled and inquisitive, just as might be expected, and immediately they began to explore.
They were also disorganized, but there was order in the descent to earth, since they were
from the orderly sky. They said they had no organization when they first came to the Sacred
One; that they had only ga-ni-tha, which means chaos. They came to earth in three groups or
divisions, but these did not constitute the whole tribe. There was one division indigenous to
earth.
When the Children of the Middle Waters, who in their humility called themselves the
Little Ones, came down from the stars, they floated down into a red oak tree, and as they alighted
they loosened acorns which clattered down among the leaves, bounced from the limbs and
branches. They must have come down singly or in small groups, with the People of the Waters
leading. They floated down from the sky with their legs outstretched to the tree tops, and their
arms up like the wings of an alighting eagle, since it is this great bird’s landing which they later
imitated in their creation dances.
But it is not known by the modern Little Old Men when the three divisions, the People of
the Waters, the People of the Sky, and the People of the Land came upon the earthly village of
the Isolated Earth People.
So these children from the sky divided into three groups, which were to be organized and
named later after they had walked upon the Sacred One seeking. They walked in order: the
People of the Water led, then came the People of the Land, and the People of the Sky last. Much
time passed during these wanderings.
Before they left the Sky Lodge, Tzi-Sho, Grandfather the Sun, had called them to him
and had pointed out to them the thirteen rays that radiate from him in the mornings and again in
the evenings during certain atmospheric conditions. He asked them to note their straightness,
and to note that there were six of these rays on the left side and seven on the right.
The Little Ones were well armed now, and soon they had furs to keep them warm, and
plenty of meat from the generosity of the buffalo. They met him one day and he gave them four
colors of maize, and instructed them in the use of his hide, sat, sinew, and horns, and he gave
them squash. They met the crayfish, who brought up from the earth the four sacred colors: dark,
red, blue and yellow. They met the cedar and the evergreen water sedge, the symbols of life
everlasting. A panther showed them the lotus fruit which they have ever used for food, and the
roots of the water lily. So as they wandered over the Sacred One, they had plenty of food and
clothing and they had spears and slingshots and bows and arrows with which to protect
themselves.
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Storytelling
Then one day as the three groups traveled over the land, the Land People and the Sky
People were dawdling when the Water People came to a river. As the leader of the Water People
stood watching and listening, he saw a man standing in the middle of the river with the waters
wrinkling against his belly.
The Leader knew at once who he was, and he turned to his followers and said to them:
“Here stands Wah-Sha-She, whose body is the waters of the earth.” The river spoke to the Water
People through its embodiment, Wah-Sha-She, and said in the liquid tones of the cowbird: “Oh,
Little Ones, if you make your body of me it will be difficult for death to overtake you, and you
will make clean and purify all that comes to you. When you come from your home in the sky to
make the flowers grow, Grandfather will paint your face with many colors [rainbow] and smile
upon the Little Ones.” The Leader talked with the others and they henceforth called themselves
Wah-Sha-She, Name Givers. The River embodiment, Wah-Sha-She, had named the Water
People with his name, Wah-Sha-She, and they would symbolize all the waters of the earth.
The Name givers then named the Land People, Hunkah, the Sacred One, and the Sky
People, Tzi-Sho, Sky Lodge. But they were not complete; they must search for the group who
were indigenous to the Sacred One who called themselves the Isolated Earth People. On finding
them, the Children would be a tribe, a unit of men symbolizing the universe.
One day the Wah-Sha-She came to a village. The three groups were afraid to approach
the village, so they stopped at a distance and sent a messenger forward. The messenger returned
and guided the Water People, Wah-Sha-She, the Name Givers, to the village, but the Tzi-Sho,
Sky People, and Hunkah, the Land People, followed reluctantly. They looked back over their
shoulders to the clean prairie under the whispering winds.
When they came to the village, the leader of the Water People looked back at his people
and said: “We have come to the village of strange people.” This was the village which the
Children sought, the U-Tah-No’n-Dsi, the Isolated Earth People.
When the leader of the Wah-Sha-She said back over his shoulder to his people that they
had come to the village of a strange people, his followers stood waiting, but the other two groups,
the Land People, called Hunkah, and the Sky People, called Tzi-Sho, turned away in disgust,
walking away holding their noses.
Here in the village of the Isolated Earth People was death, decay, disease, and waste, and
the bones of men along with the bones of animals. This is what one might expect of earth
without the influence of the sky.
But the chief of the Isolated Earth People sent a messenger to the leader of the Wha-ShaShe, and he went into the village to smoke the pipe with the chief. When they had passed the
pipe between them, the leader of the Wah-Sha-She said to the chief, “Who are you?” and the
chief answered, “I am of the earth people and the red boulder is our symbol. It is red like the
dawn and it is everlasting. When they come to it the enemy war parties must divide and pass on
each side; all things move aside for the great red boulder.”
16
Storytelling
The leader of the Wah-Sha-She, the Water People, said: “Our bodies are of the red clay
pipe which we are smoking. We are Water People, and all things come to us for purification.”
As they smoked, the Isolated Earth People and the Water People found kinship: the one
symbolized by the red boulder, which had the color of the sacred sun and its durability and was
passed by the war parties without molestation; the other symbolized by the purifying smoke of
the pipe and the cleansing water.
The chief of the Isolated Earth People listened to the leader of the Water People, and
made his village ready to move to another country. The Isolated Earth People would leave death
and disease and ga-ni-tha, disorder, to seek homes in a new country, guided by the people in the
sky. The Wah-Sha-She led the Isolated Earth People to the Hunkah, the Land People, and to the
Tzi-Sho, the Sky People, and they all sat down in a place far away from the village of the
Isolated Earth People and smoked the pipe prayerfully, and knew with great contentment that
they were one people. Henceforth the two grand divisions of the tribe would be Tzi-Sho, the Sky
People, and Hunkah, the Earth People, but Hunkah, the Earth People, must be divided into land
and water, and the Hunkah, who had come from the sky, would symbolize the land of the earth,
and Wah-Sha-She could symbolize the waters, and these would become subdivisions of the
Grand Hunkah, the Earth People. Thus would the Ni-U-Ko’n-Ska, the Children of the Middle
Waters, symbolize the universe of sky and earth and land and water.
17
Storytelling
Activity: Tell Me a Story
Suggested Grades
4-12
Overview
Prior to European contact much of Indian history was transmitted orally. This activity introduces
students to oral tradition. It also facilitates student exploration of oral traditions in their own
cultures.
Objectives
Students will research family stories and present them in a pre-designated format. Their
objectives will include research and presentation, developing interests in family events, and
documents, and developing a sense of self, family and community. They will also interview a
family member in order to promote learning about themselves and their family and be exposed to
values, perspectives and experiences of other generations and cultures.
Time needed
Two to three fifty-minute class periods for in-class work and three to five out-of-class days for
research.
Instructions
1. The Osage story is related to the creation of the world and how things came to be. In
groups or individually, give students copies of the story. Ask them to read the story and
write a brief summary of the main ideas. What does the story explain? Is there a moral?
If so, what is it? What roles do the different characters in the story play, whether
mythical, spiritual or human? Who has special relationships in the story? How are these
relationships similar or different from their own culture? Is the tale funny or serious? In
addition to or in lieu of these questions, students could illustrate the story.
2. Indians take great pride in their oral traditions. Consider Kricket Rhoads-Connywerdy’s
belief that “storytelling is still important because it passes on [Native peoples] traditional
teachings in a traditional format. We become part of the story as it is being shared. We
learn self-discipline and respect for others when we share in the storytelling process. We
learn time-honored values and mores when we listen to the traditional stories. We
continue who we are when we continue our stories.” Discuss this with the students. Why
do they think that Indians feel so strongly about their stories? Why have stories, such as
the Osage story, been passed down from one generation to the next? How are these
stories different from the passages found in history textbooks that the students use in
school?
3. Ask students if they think the oral tradition still exists within their own cultures. Many
probably will think it has not survived. Ask students to think of family stories that they
have heard from parents, grandparents, or other relatives, or even the family stories of
another family.
4. Next focus on the concept of origin. Have students define “origin” and give examples.
What does it mean to have an origin? How does the Osage story illustrate the origin of
their people? The students’ task over the next few days is to extract an origin story from
18
Storytelling
their family, whether it be the origin of the human race, or the origin of their family
specifically. For example, their ancestors may have come over from Europe when
fleeing religious persecution in England. The origin stories could be something that
happened long ago or very recently. For example, a student from Mexico may have just
moved to the United States because his family was looking for a better, more prosperous
life for themselves.
5. Have students share their origin stories. Compare these stories to the Osage story. How
are they similar and/or different? Group the stories into categories based on
characteristics they share.
6. Students will need to decide how to preserve and present their information once it is
completed. Have students choose from one of these seven ways:
a. Portfolio (with questions and answers, pictures, etc)
b. PowerPoint Presentation
c. Creative Poster and Storytelling
d. Taped video
e. Audio tape of the interview/conversation
f. Web page
g. A combination of the above
Younger students may choose to simply draw pictures to illustrate their story, write a poem, a
story, a song or to act it out. You can use a wall in the classroom or the hall to display student
work.
7. It is important to understand that the oral tradition does have its limitations, as well. Tell
students you are going to read them the beginning of a story and then they will have to
write it down word for word. Read three or four sentences from a fairy tale or story
familiar to the students. Then have them transcribe what you’ve written as close to what
you’ve said as possible. Have students share what they’ve written. Then put the original
version on the overhead projector or write it on the blackboard. Ask students to compare
the original version with what they’ve written. How close did they get? Ask: “What if
we didn’t have an alphabet and a way to write our words? How would we remember and
pass on what we learn?” Ask the students if they feel that they would remember more
clearly if hearing the story was the only way they could learn it or if the story related to
an important facet of their culture. What if they were told the story repeatedly?
Additional Activities
Students can also interview relatives to learn of other stories, such as prayers, songs,
dances, stories about child-rearing, love and friendship, family lineage and life lessons.
Students can then compile these stories into a folder for themselves, family and friends.
As a teacher, you may prefer to turn what would otherwise be a family activity into a
community activity by involving local senior citizens. For instance, instead of
conducting oral history interviews with family members, some students, or your entire
class, may opt to interview residents at a local senior citizens center. Students could then
compile and catalog all of the interviews and resulting stories.
19
Storytelling
Activity: “We Come From The Stars”
Suggested Grades
6-12
Overview
All stories have a purpose and a knowledge that they are trying to convey, whether it is how to
interact with others, tell us where we came from, teach values and virtues, or entertain us.
Objective
In this activity students will consider different mythologies. Students will learn how information
is passed down using the oral tradition. In so doing, they will also learn that cultures using oral
tradition are not any less complicated or important because their history and heritage was not
traditionally written.
Materials Needed
copies of Pawnee origin story included in guide
copies of Pawnee Star Chart included in guide
Time Needed
Two fifty-minute class periods as well as time for students to complete a homework assignment
overnight
Instructions
1. Before beginning this activity, complete the Storytelling Activity with your students. The
Storytelling Activity will give them some insight into the concept of origin and the
importance of the oral tradition.
2. Students should be familiar with some Greek or Roman mythology. Most will have
heard of Zeus, Aphrodite, Pluto and Apollo. Begin by asking the students what they
know about this mythology and what stories they are familiar with. This will give them a
backing for what comes next.
3. Tell students about the myth of Callisto. From Greek mythology, Callisto was a nymph
of Artemis. She took a vow to remain a virgin, but Zeus fell in love with her and
disguised himself as Apollo in order to lure her into his embrace. Hera, Zeus’ wife, then
turned Callisto into a bear out of revenge. Later, Arcas, the son of Callisto and Zeus,
nearly killed her on a hunt. Zeus placed Arcas and Callisto in the sky as constellations in
the northern sky: Ursa Major (Big Dipper) and Ursa Minor (Little Dipper).
4. Give each student a copy of the Pawnee Creation Story that is included in this guide.
Clarify the correct pronunciation of the Pawnee words. Have students read the story
individually.
5. Hand out copies of the Pawnee Star Chart that is included in this guide. Instruct the
students that this is a part of their homework. They are to take it home and when the sky
darkens, leaving the stars and constellations visible, try to identify the stars and
constellations in the sky and their relation to the stars and constellations on the paper
chart. Ask students to try to relate what they are seeing in the night sky with either Greek
mythology or the Pawnee Creation Story.
20
Storytelling
6. During the next class period show students the image of the actual Pawnee Star Chart that
is included in this guide. Ask students to point out recognizable features either from the
creation story or from their own knowledge base.
7. Discuss from where the star chart comes and for what it is used. You may want to have
the students read the story again so that it is fresh in their minds. The story tells us how
everything in the Pawnee world fits together including the earth lodge and cradleboard.
Show students images of the both the earth lodge and the cradleboard. The Pawnee are
constantly reminded of who they are, where they came from and their place in the world.
They believe that they are not separate from the world, but part of it.
8. How does this worldview compare to their worldview? Does their origin story relate to
the construction of their home, the preparation of their meals and the care of infants?
The stars told the Pawnee how to live their lives.
21
Storytelling
Pawnee Star Chart
22
Storytelling
Pawnee Creation Story
The Pawnee Nation is composed of four bands, or groups. These are the Chaui, the Kitkehahki,
the Pitahuirata, and the Skidi. While each band had its own creation story, they all shared
common characteristics. The following creation story comes from the Skidi Band of the Pawnee
Nation.
Pronouncing words in the Pawnee language
R = rolled or pronounced as a d
I = ee
A = ah
U = oo
Ti<awa created all things. Ti<awa made the heavens and the stars.
Across the sky lies the pathway along which our ancestors walk to the afterlife. This is called
<aki <a<ootoo <oo ta (Milky Way). West of this path is everything that is female. East of this
path is everything that is male. In the east is where creation was planned. In the west is where it
was carried out.
In the west sat ]oo pitit taka (Evening Star or Venus). ]oo pitit taka had to be found and
persuaded to marry so that creation could be carried out. From the east came oo pi<i koo]oo
(Morning Star or Mars) to find and persuade ]oo pitit taka to marry him so that creation would
occur. oo pi<i koo]oo called for his younger brother to bring the sacred bundle and follow him
to the west where he would search for ]oo pitit taka.
As oo pi<i koo]oo would get close to ]oo pitit taka, she would place obstacles in his way to
slow him down. As oo pi<i koo]oo came to each obstacle, such as cactus, thorns, and evil
animals, he would draw a flaming stone out of the sacred bundle and destroy the obstacle.
Finally he came to the lodge of ]oo pitit taka. Ti<awa had given her the powers of the west to
guard herself. He also placed four beasts there to do the same. These were the koo<ooks kateet
(black bear), the mountain lion, the wild cat, and the skidi (wolf). When Ti<awa placed these
beasts in the heavens, they became stars. Ku<uks katit became oo pi<it <a<ihoo katitkoo]oo
(black star), mountain lion became ]oo pi<it tahkata (yellow star), wild cat became the white
star, and skeedee became the red star. These four stars would send animals like themselves to
earth. They would also represent autumn, spring, summer, and winter; thunder, lightning, clouds,
and winds; and cottonwood, elm, willow, and box elder trees.
When oo pi<i koo]oo conquered these four stars, he made them hold up the heavens. u pi<i
kootsoo placed the Black Star in the northeast, to represent the coming of night and autumn. He
placed the Yellow Star in the northwest to represent the setting of the sun and spring. He placed
the White Star in the south looking north to represent snow and winter. He finally placed the
Red Star in the southeast to represent summer.
23
Storytelling
Finally u pi<i koo]oo came to marry ]oo pitit taka, but she would not marry him until he
brought her a cradleboard to place their child on. The board had to be made of cottonwood with
a covering of the speckled wild cat skin to represent the heavens. Strips of otter hide would bind
the child to the board. The otter represents rain storms and the life they bring. Above the child’s
head would be a hoop of willow wood. This would also represent rain storms and the rainbow.
Oo pi<i kutsu went out and found all of these things to make the cradleboard. When he
brought it back to the ]oo pitit taka, she still would not marry him. She now demanded a
padding of buffalo hide for the child to lie upon. Oo pi<i kutsu went out a killed a buffalo and
brought back the softest part of the hide for the child to lie upon.
When he had done this, ]oo pitit taka still would not marry him until he brought back water to
bathe the child with.
Finally, after he had accomplished all these things, they married. When they did, oo pi<i
koo]oo gave her all that he had. ]oo pitit taka did the same. Oo pi<i koo]oo had the power of
flint, which manifests itself as lightning. ]oo pitit taka had the power of rain storms. This
merging of powers is demonstrated by the lightning in rainstorms that come from the west.
]oo pitit taka also gave oo pi<i koo]oo a pebble, which he let fall into a puddle. This pebble
became the earth. He also pulled another ball of fire from his bundle and threw it into the
heavens. This became the sun.
The child born to ]oo pitit taka and oo pi<i koo]oo was a girl and she came to earth as rain on a
whirlwind (tornado) from the west. ]oo pitit taka gave her seeds from her garden and told the
girl to plant these on the earth. These seeds were corn.
Soon she was joined by the son of the Pa (Moon) and the Sakoo <oo (Sun). This first girl and
boy gave birth to all of the Pawnee.
From the Chaui origin story:
After creating the first woman and first man, Ti<awa gave them instructions for building an aka
<a<a taoo (earthlodge). The poles in the center of the construction would represent the four
stars that hold up the heavens. These poles would be painted the color assigned by Ti<awa to
each star. The entrance to the aka <a<a taoo would always face east, where oo pi<i koo]oo
lives. Opposite the entrance on the west wall would be an altar. This altar belongs to ]oo pitit
taka. Above this altar hangs the sacred bundle of the home and on the altar rests a buffalo skull.
Inside each bundle would be placed an ear of corn. This ear of corn and the buffalo skull
represented the source of life, a power that belongs to ]oo pitit taka. Each day as oo pi<i
koo]oo rises in the east, his rays travel across the lodge and touch the altar and powers of ]oo
pitit taka. In this way the aka <a<a taoo replays the creation of the Pawnee people every day.
24
Removal
The Period of Removal
“I know what the misfortunes of the tribes are. Their misfortune is not…
that they are a dwindling race; nor that they are a weak race. Their
misfortune is that they hold great bodies of rich lands.”
-Senator Eugene Casserly, 1871
For European colonists coming from the feudal systems in Europe land meant wealth, freedom,
power; it defined the promise of the New World. To the Indians, land had a very different
meaning—culturally, economically and spiritually. Land belonged to everyone; it could not be
owned. “Sell a country!” thundered Tecumseh at a meeting of the representatives of the
Northwest Territory in 1810. “Why not sell the air, the clouds and the great sea, as well as the
earth? Did not the Great Spirit make them all for the use of his children?” The history of the
1800s in America is the story of how that land was taken away from its native inhabitants.
The U.S. Government wrote treaties with the Indian tribes. The treaties typically contained
provisions concerning land use and the introduction of missionaries and teachers into Indian
settlements. The Indian Commerce Clause, Article I, section 8 of the Unites States Constitution,
empowered Congress to “regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several states
and with Indian tribes”. But Congress could not be empowered under this Clause unless it was
authorized to do so by treaty. The U.S. government signed 370 treaties with Indian tribes from
1778 to 1867, beginning with the Delaware and ending with the Nez Perce. By 1900 every
treaty had been broken.
President Jefferson, after obtaining the vast acreage of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, proposed
that all the Indians east of the Mississippi be relocated to new lands west of the Mississippi. It
was a policy eventually executed by Andrew Jackson in 1830 with the Indian Removal Act.
This act forced removal of the Five Civilized Tribes—the Chickasaw, the Cherokee, the Creek,
the Choctaw and the Seminole—from the southeast to Indian Territory.
The Treaty of Camp Holmes
The 1835 Treaty of Camp Holmes was the first peace agreement negotiated between the United
States and Plains Indians tribes. In March 1835 General Matthew Arbuckle, commander Fort
Gibson, former North Carolina governor Montfort Stokes, and Superintendent of Indian Affairs
for the Western Territory, Major Francis W. Armstrong, were appointed to treat with the Plains
tribes in response to conflict between the newly removed tribes and those already living in Indian
Territory.
In May 1835 dragoons under Major Richard B. Mason marched westward from Fort Gibson to
contact the Plains tribes and propose talks. The troops encamped along Chouteau Creek near
present day Lexington in Cleveland County. The site was designated Camp Holmes.
Commissioners Arbuckle and Stokes, accompanied by military escort and Creek, Seneca, Osage
and Quapaw delegates, arrived there on August 19. Cherokee representatives soon followed.
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Removal
After two days of negotiations the Treaty of Camp Holmes was signed on August 24, 1835. It
consisted of ten articles calling for the Comanche and the Wichita to live in peace with the
United States and with the tribes that were relocating to Indian Territory. A similar agreement
was reached with the Kiowa, Plains Apache, and Tawakoni at Fort Gibson in 1837.
The Treaty of Camp Holmes was the first to bring together the increasingly diverse peoples
living in Indian Territory. The tribes presented gifts of tobacco and beads to each other. This
treaty laid the groundwork for inter-tribal councils that continue in Oklahoma today. This treaty
also had positive effects on Chouteau trade relations with the tribes. With all the tribes getting
along, it expanded with whom Chouteau could trade.
The Treaty of Medicine Lodge
In 1867 the Treaty of Medicine Lodge was made between the United States Government and five
tribes of Plains Indians: Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, Apache, and Comanche, at Medicine
Lodge Creek in southern Kansas. The government’s negotiators persuaded the Indian
assemblage to cede land to the United States in exchange for secure reservations in Indian
Territory, protection for the Indians from white hunters, to provide Indians with schools and
farming tools, and to give them allotments of food and clothing. To ensure the permanence of
the treaty’s provisions the government established that the treaty could not be altered except by a
vote of three-fourths of the adult male population of the tribes.
26
Removal
“They Driven” Digetsi llvsv’i:
A Brief History of the Cherokee Removal from Georgia
Early explorers to encounter the Cherokee were impressed by their highly advanced culture.
Adding to their own living ways, they incorporated what they learned about farming and
business from the settlers around them. In 1820, the Cherokee established among themselves a
republican form of government, similar to that of the United States. In 1809 he began working
on a written version of the Cherokee language so that his people could have a written
constitution, official records, books and newspapers like the whites around them. In 1821
Sequoyah completed his project with 85 characters representing all the different sounds in the
Cherokee language.
In 1828 the rumored gold for which De Soto relentlessly searched was discovered in the North
Georgia mountains near Dahlonega. The push to get their land came full circle when Andrew
Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The displacement of the Cherokee was fought
in two court battles: Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 1831 and Worcester v. Georgia, 1832. In 1831
the court refused to even hear the case because the Cherokee did not represent a sovereign nation,
but in 1832, the courts switched their decision. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the
Cherokee on the very same issue. Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that the Cherokee Nation
was sovereign, making the removal laws invalid. The Cherokee would have to agree to removal
in a treaty. The treaty would then have to be ratified by the Senate.
The principal chief of the Cherokee, the great orator John Ross, passionately argued and won the
case before the Supreme Court; despite the fact that Junaluska, who had saved Jackson’s life,
personally pleaded with the president for his people’s land; and that such great Americans as
Daniel Webster, Henry Clay and Davy Crockett supported the Cherokee claims; still, President
Jackson ordered the eastern Indians’ removal.
By 1835 the Cherokee Nation was divided. Most supported Principal Chief John Ross, who
fought against removal, while a minority supported Major Ridge, his son John, and Elias
Boudinot, who advocated removal. It was this minority who negotiated the Treaty of New
Echota, giving up Cherokee lands for pennies on the dollar. The leaders of this group were not
the recognized leaders of the Cherokee nation, and over 15,000 Cherokees—led by Chief John
Ross—signed a petition in protest. The treaty, ratified by the Senate, sealed the fate of the
Cherokee. In May 1838, the forcible eviction of the Cherokee began.
Soldiers, under the command of General Winfield Scott, began rounding up Cherokee families
and taking them to internment camps in preparation for the journey westward. The families were
given no time to gather their belongings, and as they left, whites looted their homes. The forts,
built especially with the Cherokee removal in mind, were little more than rat-infested prisons.
With little food and unsanitary conditions at these hastily built stockades, many Cherokee died.
27
Removal
The first forced migration began in the spring of 1838 and lasted into the summer causing many
to suffer because of the intense heat. The second mass exodus took place in the fall and winter
of 1838-39 during the rainy season; the wagons bogged down in the mud, and then came
freezing temperatures, and snow. On both journeys, many died from disease and inadequate
food and blankets.
During the period of removal nearly 4,000 Cherokee died, or almost a quarter of the total population. The
journey became an eternal memory as the “trail where they cried” for the Cherokees. Today it is
remembered as the Trail of Tears.
28
Removal
Activity: “From Many Roads”
Suggested Grades
4-12
Overview
The best known of all removal stories is the “Trail of Tears” that is associated with the Five
Civilized Tribes: Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw and Seminole. This activity introduces
removal stories and encourages student research and discussion about these removal stories as
well as the stories of other tribes removed into Indian Territory.
Objectives
Students will read the stories and make connections between tribes coming from different
regions of the United States. They will also research the stories of tribes not discussed in this
section and present the information to the class. Students will be exposed to what it meant to
tribal members to have their homes taken away from them, to be forced into a foreign
environment, to try to survive in harsh conditions, to watch their family members and friends die
and what these histories mean to contemporary tribal members.
Time needed
One to three days for research and two to three days for in-class presentations.
Instructions
1. Have the students read the Cherokee removal story included in this study guide, or
identify one from an outside source.
2. The Cherokee were only one of many tribes forced to relocate from their homes and
travel to Indian Territory. Divide the class into small groups and have each group
research the history of one of the tribes presently located in Oklahoma. Ask each group
to compare the culture of the tribe it researched, and its forced removal experiences, to
that of the Cherokee.
3. Have each group appoint a spokesperson to report its findings to the class, including a
brief update on the tribal nation in the 21st century. This activity may be expanded by
having the class work together to create an exhibit for their school or local library telling
the story of the tribes’ journeys from their traditional homelands to Indian Territory.
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Treaty Activity
Suggested Grades
7-12, but could be adapted to fit younger grades
Overview
The United States government signed 370 treaties with Indian tribes from 1778-1867 beginning
with the Delaware and ending with the Nez Perce. By 1900 every treaty had been broken. The
treaties were signed in order to relocate tribes away from expanding Anglo settlement.
Objectives
Students will come to understand the treaties and their development. They will participate in a
treaty signing and decide what they have to give and what they want in return.
Time Needed
Two fifty-minute class periods
Materials Needed
Two copies of the “Blank Treaty” page, one for each group
One copy of the Treaty Activity: Student Instructions for each student
Instructions
1. Instruct ninety percent of the class to move their desks to one side of the room. Make
sure the desks are pushed very closely together. Instruct the last ten percent of the class
to move their desks to the other side of the room. Make sure there are at least two
students in the smaller section. The students will be very curious as to what is going on.
2. While the students remain seated, write the following words on the board: allotment,
reservation, boundary, treaty, sovereignty. Begin by giving a definition of each, followed
by an example. You may find that defining these words and discussing treaties before the
students divide into two groups works best for your class.
Allotment policy: (established by the General Allotment, or Dawes Act) Federal Indian policy
initiated in 1887 to break up tribal governments, abolish Indian reservations by the allotment of
communally held reservation lands to individual Indians for private ownership, and force Indians
to assimilate into American society.
Reservation: Tract of land owned by a tribe or tribes and held in trust status by the federal
government for the Indians’ benefit. Reservations have been created by treaty, statute, executive
order, judicial decision, or order of the secretary of the interior. While many reservations were
originally viewed as enclaves where Indians would eventually learn to be “civilized,” since the
Indian Reorganization period of the 1930s they have come to be understood as the remaining
homeland of tribal nations, where tribal law prevails.
Boundary: Something that indicates a border or limit. With tribes removed into Indian Territory
reservation boundaries were defined by natural boundaries such as rivers and mountains as well
as state lines.
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Removal
Treaty: A formal agreement, compact, or contract between two or more sovereign nations that
creates legal rights and duties for the contracting parties. Treaties can be bilateral (involving two
nations) or multilateral and can deal with single or multiple issues.
Sovereignty: Sovereignty denotes legal competence: the power of a culturally and territorially
distinct group of people to develop institutional arrangements that both protect and limit personal
freedoms by social control.
3. Next explain to the class the parts of a treaty and things and people associated with the
treaty: promise, contract, consensus, compromise, representative, interpreter, historical
evidence.
4. Assign the duty of notetaker and negotiator to two students in each group. The notetaker
is responsible for writing down what each group is willing to compromise. The
negotiator, or leader, is the person who speaks for the group. This person is responsible
for getting the group’s wishes to the interpreter. So, both the smaller group and the larger
group will have a notetaker and a negotiator, or leader.
5. Pick one (or two) students out of the larger group and assign that student (or students) the
role of interpreter. The interpreter is responsible for going back and forth between the
two groups, relaying what each is or is not willing to compromise. Remember: The
smaller group will not speak English, so interpreters would be used to communicate
between the two groups.
6. Explain to the class that the smaller group represents an American Indian tribe, while the
larger group represents the United States government. The side represented by the
government is overcrowded and they want more land. Since the side with the American
Indian tribe is less in number and the land is spacious, the government wants to negotiate
a treaty with them so that they can have more land.
7. Instruct students that they may negotiate any personal or group resource, for example, the
government may promise to give provisions such as food, educational materials, or social
services to the tribe and in return be able to move a desk or two a foot away from the
crowded area to make more space for their people.
8. Handout the “Blank Treaty” page and instruct the notetaker to fill it out in its entirety
including boundary lines, monetary payment, non-monetary payments, rights reserved by
sellers, and the date the treaty becomes effective.
9. Advise students to decide on repercussions for breaking the treaty. What will happen to
the offending party? They may have to sit in jail (make a stockade out of desks or other
materials), lose recess or lose some of their provisions.
10. At the end of the activity advise students to return all property to the original
owners.
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Additional/Alternate Activities:
Provide students with a list of treaties and have the students break into groups of two or
three students. Ask each group to choose a treaty to research. Who was the treaty with?
What was the date of the treaty? What was included in the treaty? Were all the promises
in the treaty kept? If not, what were the repercussions, if any? Make sure each group
researches treaties signed by American Indian tribes from different regions in the United
States.
Discuss treaties, the reasons behind them, and their outcomes. You may choose to focus
on a few tribes or many, but the outcomes were usually the same. (The Nez Perce was
the only tribe allowed to return to their original homelands.)
You may also choose to turn this into a more in-depth research project by bringing into
consideration the present-day state of tribes. How have the things that were promised
them and not delivered, (money, land, social services, educational services), affected
their families and communities?
Many students do not understand why there are services such as Indian Health, Education and
other social services for Indian people. The focus of this activity is for students to come away
with an understanding that tribes do not get free services from the government. When signing
the treaties, the federal government promised these services in exchange for tribes lands.
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Treaty Activity: Student Instructions
AMERICAN INDIAN GROUP (smaller group)
You are an American Indian group. You do not speak English. Since you are one of the early
inhabitants of this classroom, you are at an advantage in having more class space. This space is
yours to sell, make agreements, or enter into a treaty with the larger group.
You have something the government group may want: more space. They may have something of
value to trade with you. Decide what you want and what you are willing to give up to get it. For
example, you may want or need food or educational materials, and in exchange, you will give the
group an extra square foot of space. As a group make decisions about what you need, then have
your negotiator, or leader speak with the interpreter.
*reminder* You do not speak the government’s language: English. How will you communicate
what you wish to negotiate? What creative ways could you come up with to tell him/her that you
want to trade a foot of space for a packet of pencils, for example?
It is then the interpreter’s responsibility to go to the Immigrant group and relay your wishes.
GOVERNMENT GROUP (larger group)
You are the government group. You speak English. Your group is very large but the space you
inhabit is very small and crowded. You need more classroom space for your group. You will
decide as a group what you want or need and begin negotiating with the American Indian group
to get it. For example, you may want or need an extra four square foot area of classroom space
in order to have more room for your group. In exchange for this, you may have extra notebooks,
pencils, paints, recess time to trade. After this you may find that you still need more space, so
you begin negotiations again.
Your negotiator, or leader will speak with the interpreter. The interpreter will go to the
American Indian group and present your offer.
INTERPRETER
As the interpreter you must be creative. You are able to communicate between both groups,
however, they will depend on what you say as truthful. It is up to you to represent the two
groups to each other. How will you measure your success?
TREATY CONSIDERATIONS (for both Government and American Indian groups)
In your negotiations, you must consider the possibility that the agreement, or treaty, will be
broken. If it is broken, what will be the repercussions for the offending group? Will they lose
classroom space, educational materials, etc.?
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Treaty Activity: Blank Treaty
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Insert Title of Treaty
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Insert Date and Place of Treaty
ARTICLE I
(Insert boundary lines)
ARTICLE II
(Insert monetary payment to sellers)
ARTICLE III
(Insert non-monetary payments)
ARTICLE IV
(Insert rights reserved by sellers)
ARTICLE V
(Insert date treaty becomes effective)
List of Signers:
Sellers:
Buyers:
Witnesses:
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Reservation Period
The Reservation Period
Overview
Indians were systematically removed from their lands. By the 1880s all eastern Indian nations
had been moved to reservations. Segregated within reservations, they were excluded from the
American economy and political system. Consequently, Indians developed a unique relationship
with the federal government. They couldn’t vote; they had no elected representatives; they had
no voice in the American political system. Yet they had a complicated series of treaties which
had status in law.
Life on the Reservations
Tribes in western Indian Territory were assigned lands drawn out by government appointed
surveyors. It was these men who defined the reservations by geographic features and boundary
surveys. An Indian Agent was assigned to each tribe to act as a go-between for the tribe and the
government. This agent would be responsible for handing out rations and disbursing annuities.
Some agents were friendly to tribes and worked towards their best interest while some of the
agents were unscrupulous in their dealings with the tribes. Sometimes the rations they handed
out were often inadequate in the least and at most, spoiled. The policy of removing the tribes
into Indian Territory and placing them on reservations was implemented but was never truly
implemented. The government had fulfilled its directive of disbursing farm goods, seed, and
food. Many of the tribes sent to the reservations in western Indian Territory were nomadic tribes
who followed the buffalo herds and who suddenly found themselves confined. They were given
seeds and told to plant them and grow food, but they were not farmers and were not educated by
the government in order to do so leading many to poverty.
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Reservation Period
Education
Overview
All tribes have long held education in high esteem. Prior to the period of removal many of the
eastern tribes had schools. Literacy was made a priority and school systems were supported by
national funds. These tribes also wanted to show the encroaching whites that they too were
educating their children, had governments, lived in houses and
practiced farming techniques. Although, in the end, their
methods to prove they were civilized did not work and the
United States government removed them from their homelands
to Indian Territory.
For many tribes, traditional education began early and
included learning the necessary skills by both girls and boys.
Usually farming and childcare were taught to girls while boys
were taught skills associated with warfare and hunting.
However, these were not strict gender roles. Rather, an
individual’s identity was connected to their family, band, clan,
society, or tribe to which they belonged. All children learned
tribal culture and traditions, not only from their elders but the
tribe as a whole. A kinship system developed in which
children referred to adults as “aunt” or “uncle.” This was also
how the children showed respect for their elders.
Indian Boarding Schools
“Kill the Indian and Save the Man”
-Captain Richard Pratt, Headmaster of
Carlisle Indian School, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 1879
By the 1880s white settlement of the western interior, the building of the transcontinental
railroads, and the discovery of rich mineral resources resulted in increasing administrative
controls over Indian Territory. One of the results of the reservation policy of the United States
government was the creation of the boarding school. Indian children were compelled to attend
white-run boarding schools, cut their hair, wear Anglo clothing, learn English, and adopt
Christianity. It was not until 1978, with the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, that the
inherent freedom to believe, express, and exercise traditional religions was given back to
American Indians.
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Reservation Period
Policymakers viewed the solution to the
“Indian problem” as educational rather
than military. However, these
educational facilities were run like
military operations. With education
Indians would assimilate into American
society and become good “citizens”.
Reformers and politicians who favored
the policy of reservation allotment also
advanced the concept of placing Indian
children in residential schools where they
would speak English, learn a vocation,
and practice farming. Advocates of
boarding schools argued that industrial
training, in combination with several
years of isolation from family, would diminish the influence of tribalism on a new generation of
American Indians. The 1902 annual report for the superintendent of Indian schools summarized
the government’s goals:
“Teach the boys a trade of some kind, and teach them farming, which
is, of course, the most important of all. Teach the girls the ordinary
industries for which they are fitted…and I believe it will do much more
for the elevation of the race than teaching boys. Let the spirit of the
home be what it should be, and the father and son will be all right.
Teach the girls to take care of their homes and make them attractive.
Teach them cooking, teach them neatness, teach them responsibility.
Teach the girls to milk and take care of poultry; and teach them how
to serve a nice appetizing meal for the family; do this and I tell you
you have solved the whole question of Indian civilization.”
Some schools were set up as day schools with the students living in nearby communities. The
schools were placed on and off reservations and run by religious organizations and/or the federal
government. The first off-reservation, exclusively Indian boarding school was Carlisle Indian
School housed in an old army barracks in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Its first headmaster was
Richard Pratt, an Army Captain, not an educator. He had been put in charge of 72 Apache
prisoners from Fort Marion, Florida. The prisoners had been accused of murdering white
settlers. Captain Pratt started a school for the men in his charge. When they were released he
talked 22 of them into remaining at the school. The next group of students were recruited by
missionaries in Dakota Territory following the hostilities on the northern Plains. Carlisle’s
opening allowed Pratt to resign his Army commission and practice his ideas about education
Indians.
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Reservation Period
The transition to boarding-school life
seldom came smoothly for Indian
children. The experience was punctuated
by the trauma of separation from family
and community, severe bouts of
homesickness and a difficult period of
adjustment to a new environment. The
loneliness students experienced was
compounded by harsh policies that
strictly regulated visits home. Officials
limited the frequency and duration of
children’s visits to their families,
contending that relatives and other
community members would hinder the
work of assimilation, or that newly
reformed and educated students would
lapse into their former “degraded”
lifestyles. For the children this often
meant an extended stay of four or more years.
The boarding school setting also proved conducive to the spread of disease. Influenza,
diphtheria, and tuberculosis outbreaks took many young lives. When the children were sick,
little or no effort was made to provide them with special care or enriched diets. Graveyards sat
on boarding school property as a reminder of the children’s mortality and the school’s ineptitude.
The Meriam Report, a major investigation into Indian affairs that was published in 1928,
confirmed the complaints Indian students and families had been making for years. It asserted
that government boarding schools needlessly separated families and that children were often
malnourished, sick, insufficiently clothed, overworked, harshly punished, and poorly trained.
The boarding school concept had many shortcomings, but the institutions are credited with
bringing together members of many tribes who would otherwise have never come into contact
with one another. People formerly separated by language, culture and geography lived and
worked together in residential schools. Students formed close bonds and enjoyed a rich crosscultural exchange. Graduates of government schools often married former classmates, found
employment in the Indian Service, migrated to urban areas, or returned to their reservations and
entered tribal politics. Countless new alliances, both personal and political, were forged in
government boarding schools.
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Reservation Period
Chilocco Indian Boarding School: 1883-1980
Chilocco Indian Agricultural School was one of four government-run boarding schools based on
Carlisle School in Pennsylvania. The site was selected because of its proximity to a city
(Arkansas City) and near a stream of good water (Chilocco Creek). Some government officials
felt the site was too close to some of the reservations and the children might still be influenced
by their tribe. The whole reason for the boarding school was to get the children away from their
parents and tribal influence and assimilate them into Anglo-American culture. Federal educators
assumed they could erase tribal identity by separating Indian children from Indian adults.
The school began under strict militaristic discipline and required that the students cut their hair,
change their dress, their diets, and their names. Chilocco began with an agricultural and
vocational direction which lasted until the 1940’s. After which the method of education evolved
to suit the times and needs of the students. The focus shifted to include academics and prepare
students for college. There was no other school like it that taught as many and had as varied the
vocational and academic course offerings. The school was open to members of all tribes.
Chilocco was a completely self-sufficient community for many years. It began as an 8,000 acre
site which included a hospital, student dormitories, staff houses and apartments, classrooms, and
a cemetery. The buildings were constructed of limestone, quarried on Chilocco grounds.
Students raised cattle and farmed and almost everything they consumed while living at the
school was a result of their labor. They also offered mechanic services to fix automobiles from
surrounding communities and served as one of the printing sites for the US Department of the
Interior.
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Reservation Period
The diversity among students at Chilocco in terms of age, personality, family situation, and
cultural background created a range of experiences, attitudes and responses. Chilocco embodied
both victimization and agency for Native people, serving as a site of both cultural loss and
cultural persistence.
This is a poem found at the beginning of the 1968 Chiloccoan, the annual for Chilocco Indian
School:
“The Old and the New” by Bea Johnson
Our ancestors lived in wigwams made of animal skin,
They had a hard way of life, the people then.
And yet, they had the blessing of the earth and the sun,
Making them happy when the day’s work was done.
Then the white man came and took our land away;
Our freedom and peace vanished with the coming day.
We taught the white man the laws of nature and earth,
And they in turn, taught us the laws of ambition and mirth.
With this new knowledge we learned to build and progress.
We felt the infinite joy and glory of success.
We discovered it takes courage and ambition to build a city,
And that a civilization can’t be built on self-pity.
So, that is how it came to be,
That Chilocco was founded in 1883.
Yesterday, it was only a building or two,
On the Oklahoma prairies under skies of blue.
Today, it has expanded and is a busy place.
It houses and teaches 92 tribes of the Indian race.
Yesterday, its teachers and materials were small,
But today, hundreds of people will answer the call.
But neither do the students neglect their fun,
In the evening they meet at the new Student Union.
It has been a beloved part of Chilocco since 1965,
And to conserve its safety and neatness, the students strive.
But apart from their work and their socializing,
The students of Chilocco are busy realizin’,
That soon they will hear fate and destiny beckoning,
And it will be time to stand tall and hear the world’s reckoning.
They will soon go forth and meet the world’s demands.
Perhaps cross the oceans and visit many lands.
Yes, Chilocco is striving to build a nation of strong women and men,
So that they may work and progress and face the world with a grin.
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Reservation Period
Chilocco School Seal
When it was decided that Chilocco was to have a school seal, students were allowed to submit
original seals which typified their ideas of their school in design. The one chosen combines the
ideas of three of the seals submitted.
The center of the seal is a plow and a sheaf of wheat indicating that Chilocco is primarily an
agricultural school. Surrounding this motif are the words “Chilocco Indian Agricultural School.”
Surmounting this is a book, symbolic of the academic department, while at the base of the design
appears the date of the school’s founding, 1884. Surrounding this are emblems representing the
school’s various activities; the brush for painting; a cog wheel for mechanics; scissors for
domestic art; a horse for animal husbandry; a roller for printing; a shoe last for shoe and harness
making; a football for athletics; Indians clubs for physical education; an anvil for blacksmithing;
a nurse’s cap for nursing; a cow for dairying; a rolling pin for domestic science; a trowel for
masonry; a square for carpentry.
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Reservation Period
Activity: Designing a School Seal
Suggested Grades
4-12
Overview
Symbols have been around for ages, used to represent anything and everything from events in
cave drawings to a modern-day symbol representing a product or business such as a red target
symbol for Target stores or the golden arches fro McDonalds. The Chilocco School seal is a
pictoral representation of Chilocco curriculum and activities. This activity asks students to think
creatively and come up with designs symbolic of their own school.
Objectives
Students will come to understand what symbols are and why we use them. Students will
research all of their school’s offerings, whether they are courses, sports, clubs and/or after-school
activities. Their objectives will include research, creative endeavors and a presentation. This is
their opportunity to understand how and why certain symbols are chosen.
Time needed
One to two class periods for research, design, and presentation.
Instructions
1. First, open with a discussion about symbols. What are they, what are they used for and
why do we use them? Ask students to name some symbols and tell what they stand for.
Are symbols always appropriate, or are some upsetting to us? Give examples and ask
students for examples.
2. You may begin this activity by presenting something with which the students are
familiar, such as the Oklahoma State flag. Review what the symbols stand for and why
they were chosen for the flag.
3. Divide the students into groups and give them a copy of the Chilocco School seal. Ask
them to identify the symbols and guess what they might be symbolic of. What sort of
school might Chilocco have been? What were the students learning?
4. Copy and hand out the explanation of the symbols, words and date. Discuss what their
observations were and if they correspond with the intended meaning. You may skip this
step if the students guessed correctly in step three.
5. Once students have a grasp on symbols and symbolic meaning, explain the activity.
Within their groups, they will decide what their school offers its students in the areas of
academics, sports, clubs, special events and off-campus service. Once they have
identified what their school has to offer, have them choose the most important or
prevalent of the lot. What aspects of their school would they want others to see (or not
see)? Is there something special for which their school is known?
6. Explain that they must come up with a symbol for each thing they would like to have
represent their school. They may use words and dates as well, but keep those to a
minimum. Seals are most often contained within a circle. Students may choose to use
pencils, crayons, or paint. It is up to the teacher.
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Reservation Period
7. The student groups will then present their school seals. Have each group answer the
following questions: What are the symbols? Why were they chosen? What do they
stand for? If they use colors, ask why they chose the ones they did. Ask students to
observe the similarities or differences between the seals. Did everyone choose the same
symbols to represent something at the school?
8. Symbols are not permanent. Explain that they change over time due to various factors.
Things symbolic of their school now might be different in the years to come, as the
curriculum and the needs of the students change. Symbols at any given time are telling
of the time in which they are used. Students can look at the seals the students designed in
this lesson for years to come and see what they felt was important at the time.
This activity may be expanded to the design of a personal or family seal, a seal for a school
organization, or a seal representing their, town, city, state, or country.
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Reservation Period
The Allotment Period
“Government is trying to protect you, if you will only let it—it is trying to protect you and all
other Indians”
Senator Henry Teller
Senate Committee hearing at Vinita, Indian Territory
November 13, 1906
Overview
In 1887 the two strains of American Indian policy—assimilation and removal—converged in the
Dawes Act, or the Indian Allotment Act. The act provided for the dissolution of the reservation
system and the end of tribal landholding. It broke up the remaining reservation lands into 160acre parcels to heads of families, 80 acres to unmarried adults, and 40 acres to children and sold
off the rest as “surplus lands.” After land was allotted to individual Indians and the “surplus
lands” were sold off, the proceeds were to be held in trust by the government for the benefit of
the tribe. These allotted lands were to be held in trust for 25 years and were to be free from
taxation.
Intended to make Indians individual landowners, it was justified as the only way Indians would
assimilate into white society. “It is doubtful,” the commissioner of Indian affairs wrote in 1876,
“whether any high degree of civilization is possible without individual ownership of land.” In
1881 Indians still held 155 million acres. By 1900 they held only 77 million acres. Land was
wealth, power, and freedom. Allotment was a means to satisfy powerful groups seeking
opportunities for economic development and profit, especially the eastern railroad interests who
wanted access to larger landholdings in the West.
The Dawes Commission
In 1893 Congress authorized the establishment of an organization that became known as the
Dawes Commission. The hope was that the commission could persuade the governments of the
Five Civilized Tribes to negotiate themselves out of existence—an essential first step in
implementing a policy of allotting land to each individual Indian. After appointment to the
Commission, the members traveled to Indian Territory to try to get the tribes to negotiate. The
members ran into resistance and their impatience led them to advise Congress to disregard the
earlier treaties and abolish tribal status without waiting for the Indians’ consent.
During the entire period, the Commission published annual reports and made speeches
describing the conditions they found in Indian Territory and pointing toward the necessity for
change. Congress accepted the statements as true, as did much of the rest of the country. The
main theme was that the tribal governments were corrupt and had failed to protect the rights of
their citizens by allowing a few persons, generally mixed-bloods or adopted whites, to control
huge areas of land for their own personal gain. Another common theme was the rampant crime
in Indian Territory. Commission members held that lawlessness and violence were out of
control and the tribes were unable to preserve law and order.
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Reservation Period
Undeniably, the quest for land on the part of non-Indians was the real motive behind the
reservation system, allotment, termination of tribal governments, and “manifest destiny,” the
belief that the United States was pre-ordained to expand its territory across the North American
continent.
Tribal Rolls
In 1896 Congress directed the Dawes Commission to make a complete roll of the citizens of each
tribe. Immediately after the mandate was set in place, employees of the Commission traveled to
the homes of the Five Tribes and began the process of counting the members. Each nation
appointed a citizenship commission whose knowledge of the neighborhood and family history
was of great assistance to the Dawes Commission.
Reports by the Dawes Commission prompted Congress to pass the Curtis Act in 1898. Under
this act Indian lands were allotted, tribal courts were abolished and Indian laws were declared
unenforceable in federal courts. People residing in Indian Territory were then under the
jurisdiction of the laws of the United States. In that same year, all tribes except the Cherokee
and Creek signed agreements to allow their reservations to be allotted. In 1900, the Cherokee
and Creek agreements were signed. Many Indians objected to the whole proceedings and
refused to enter their names on the tribal rolls, while others with doubtful or non-existent claims
to Indian heritage finagled their names onto tribal rolls.
45
Language
Language
Overview
Language is the nucleus of Indian cultures and traditions. Languages have evolved with new
words and phrases that keep up with current times. Today, tribal languages are still spoken when
conducting traditional and religious ceremonies. Many consider the retention of Native
languages a vital part of contemporary Indian life. Unfortunately, disuse and the passing of
elders who are fluent speakers threaten many Indian languages.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, federal policy required that all Indian children learn English to
prepare them for future American citizenship. The government removed many Indian children
from their homes and placed them in boarding schools to learn English and Anglo-American
culture. As a result, these children often lost their native languages. As of 2005, eight
Oklahoma tribes have no remaining fluent language speakers among their membership. Eleven
tribes are one generation away from losing their last fluent speakers.
Kiowa Language
Parker McKenzie attended Rainy Mountain School, on the plains of western Oklahoma, from
1904 until 1914. He remembers the loss he experienced when he no longer could speak his
native language at school. "We were prohibited from speaking Kiowa at school; they were
geared to stopping that wrong language. So, whenever they caught us talking Kiowa, we'd get
punished in various ways. In cases of severe infractions of the rules, you got a good
strapping."At age fourteen, Parker McKenzie began to develop a system for writing his native
Kiowa language. Parker's work has been compared in importance to that of the famous creator
of the Cherokee syllabary, Sequoyah.
Language Retention at Rainy Mountain Boarding School
The government’s campaign to remove students’ native language and replace it with English was
not always successful. At Rainy Mountain Boarding School (1893-1920) in the KiowaComanche-Apache reservation in western Oklahoma, Kiowa students spoke in their native
tongue when their teachers were not around. Kiowa remained the language used in the majority
of Indian homes where children went for holiday visits or during summer vacation. Many
students became bilingual and never relinquished their traditional language. The survival of the
Kiowa language meant that an important barrier to assimilation remained in place. The students
who attended Rainy Mountain have played a central role in transmitting crucial knowledge and
traditions in the twentieth century.
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Language
N. Scott Momaday: Pulitzer Prize-winning
Indian author
“The first word gives origin to the second, the first and second to the
third, the first, second, and third to the fourth, and so on. You cannot
begin with the second word and tell the story, for the telling of the
story is the cumulative process, a chain of becoming, at last of being.”
-N. Scott Momaday, Names, 1976
Momaday, of Kiowa-Cherokee descent, was the first Indian to
receive the Pultizer Prize for Literature. He was awarded the prize in
1969 for his book House Made of Dawn (1968). Momaday received
his doctorate in literature from Stanford University. He taught at
Berkeley, Stanford, and the University of Arizona. Momaday’s work
is based on Kiowa and other Indian oral literatures. It reflects the
multicultural world of Indians and all Americans. As Momaday
reminds us in many of his writings, the Native American experience is a complex multiethnic,
multicultural one.
Momaday attended Rainy Mountain Boarding School. He looks to the mountain on which the
school sits as an enduring landmark representing “a landscape that is incomparable, a time that is
gone forever, and the human spirit, which endures.”
47
Language
Code Talkers
During WWI and WWII, the United States
military needed a code that their enemies
could not break. Since Indian languages
were traditionally not written, they were
ideal codes. Oklahoma Choctaws in
Company E, 142nd Infantry, 36th Division
were instrumental in WWI. The Comanche
Code Talkers who served as
communications operators in the European
Theater of WWII were the first organized
native code-talking unit in WWII. These
men enlisted in the Army and were selected
to carry out highly specialized
communications service for the government.
Language Preservation Initiatives
To combat the loss of language, Oklahoma tribes are currently conducting organized language
preservation initiatives. These initiatives include preschool immersion, elementary education
curriculum, high school classes, internet programs and university accredited courses. Rural and
urban community classes, standardizing dictionaries, and speaking tribal languages at home are
also ways the tribes are trying to preserve their languages.
“We’re going to go ahead and start our own class and it’s going to be a community project” Forrest Kassanavoid, Comanche Code Talker.
48
Language
Activity: Reading and Comprehension Questions
Suggested Grades
5-12
Sequoyah: Cherokee Scholar
Sequoyah was a Cherokee Indian born in Tennessee about 1770. He never encountered a book
until he was about thirty years old. When he finally learned of books, he realized they were tools
for education that his people needed. Up to that time, none of the Indian tribes in America had
developed a written language. Sequoyah made up his mind to find a way to put the spoken
words of the Cherokees on paper.
His own people did not understand what he was trying to
do. Once, his wife burned work that had taken
Sequoyah years to develop. He left his tribe to live
alone in the woods so that he could work unhindered.
This too was misunderstood by the other Indians. They
thought he was practicing witchcraft and that he would
bring great trouble to the tribe. One day a group of
Indians burned Sequoyah’s cabin to the ground.
Sequoyah’s work was once more destroyed causing him
to start over again.
At first, Sequoyah set out to make a separate symbol for
every Cherokee word. He gave up this method because
he realized that a person would have to remember
thousands of symbols. This would be too difficult.
Even he could not remember all the symbols he had
made. He then came up with the idea of making a
symbol for each of the eighty-six sounds in the Cherokee language. Every Cherokee word is
made up of one or more of these sounds. After twelve years of work, Sequoyah developed an
alphabet. He was then able to put every Cherokee word into written form.
The chiefs saw that he had done a wonderful thing. They encouraged their people to learn to
read. Cherokees of all ages learned Sequoyah’s alphabet. Soon newspapers and books were
being printed in the Cherokee language.
Sequoyah went on to become a great leader of his people. In Washington he ably represented
their claims to the lands in Arkansas and Oklahoma to which the Cherokees had been removed
from the East. Later he helped other Cherokee tribes make the move to Oklahoma. It was his
hope that all the Cherokees, who had been separated into many groups scattered over many parts
of the country, would come together once more into one great tribe. It was while looking for
some Cherokees rumored to be in northern Mexico that he died, at about the age of seventy-three.
His statue represents Oklahoma Cherokees in Statuary Hall in the Capitol Building in
Washington, D.C.
49
Language
Sequoyah: Cherokee Scholar
Reading Comprehension Questions
1.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Some Facts about Sequoyah
His tribe:_______________________________________________________
His place of birth:________________________________________________
His place of death:_______________________________________________
His age at death:_________________________________________________
Two ways his earlier efforts at making an alphabet were destroyed:
(1)____________________________________________________________
(2)____________________________________________________________
f. Length of time it took for him to develop the alphabet:___________________
g. Two ways he is honored today:
(1)____________________________________________________________
(2)____________________________________________________________
2. Underline the sentence that tells why he did not make a separate symbol for every word in the
Cherokee language.
3. Sequoyah used some English letters in his Cherokee alphabet. What are some of the letters as
shown in the picture?________________________________________
50
Language
Activity: “Do You Speak My Language?”
Parts of
the body:
Ear
Head
Eye
Mouth
Hand
Foot
Leg
Nose
Finger
Pawnee
Cherokee
Osage
Kiowa
Uk a hah doo
Puk soo
Kee dee koo
Uk uh oo
Eek soo
Uh soo
Kuh soo
Tsoo soo
K skeet soo
Tsi le ni
A s go li
Di tsi ga to li
A ho li
A quo ye na
A la s de na
Tsi nuh s ge ni
A yuh so li
A gi ye sa duh
Na da
Weh lee
Eshtah
E ha
Sha keh
Cee
Sheh ka
Pa
Sha keh O pa tseh
Thau day
Awl taim
Jah day
Sau audl
Maun
Aunsoi
To day
Mauqaun
Maun shan
Suggested Grades
K-12
Overview
There are great variations in the languages of Oklahoma tribes. Historically these languages
were based on oral traditions.
Objectives
The object of the game is to get the most matching sets. In so doing, students will get practice
pronouncing the words. Students will also get a feeling for the vast differences in tribal
languages.
Materials Needed
∙ 2x2 inch pieces of paper with the names of body parts listed.
∙ Copies of outlines of the human body, one per student.
∙ crayons (optional)
Instructions
Before the activity, copy (preferably on cardstock) and cut out the body parts. Each group of
two students will get a set.
1. Listed here are the names for various body parts in four Indian languages: Pawnee,
Cherokee, Osage, and Kiowa. They are all spelled out phonetically. Try to say ear in
each language. Notice how different the word sounds in the different languages.
2. Go through the list of body parts in each language. Have students repeat after you until
they are comfortable saying the words. In order to help the students remember the words,
you may draw an outline of a person on the board and write the words next to the
appropriate body part.
3. Once the class is comfortable saying the words, divide the students into groups of two.
Give each group a set of the words and a copy of the outline of a human body.
51
Language
4. Instruct each group to spread the words out in front of them on the table, face down.
Taking turns, each student will draw two words, flip them over and see if they are
matching body parts. If they are, place the matching set on the appropriate body part on
the body outline. They may draw until they draw a mismatched set. At that time, it is the
other players’ turn. Remember: each word the student turns over should be pronounced
before moving on. This gives the student practice in saying the words.
5. Each body part will have two matching sets of words. The student with the most
matching sets wins the game.
Modification of the game for younger children:
1. After practicing saying the words and showing the students to which body part the words
correspond, either split the students into groups or leave them as individuals. On four
different pieces of paper, draw four human body outlines. Label each body either
Pawnee, Cherokee, Osage or Kiowa. On the Pawnee body, label each body part in
Pawnee (ex. Label the ear “uk a hah doo,” the head “puk soo,” etc.)
2. Cut out all of the words and place them in a hat, or other container. Draw a word and say
it out loud. For example, you may draw the Pawnee word for ear, so you would say “uk a
hah doo.” It is then the student’s task to decide which language it is and find it listed on
the appropriate body. You may make it easier by telling them the language if you need to.
3. Continue drawing words until a student or group of students has all of their body parts
called out. When they think their teacher has called out all their body parts, it is the
student’s responsibility to raise their hand(s), or make some other motion to alert you that
they have completed their body.
4. Students may choose to color their body.
Further Considerations:
Loss of language plagues many Indian communities. Often tribes in Oklahoma have no native
speakers left among their citizenship. In compiling the list of body parts for this exercise, we
had some difficulty and made some interesting observations:
For the Pawnee words, we looked them up in a book put out by the tribe. We had to go directly
to the tribe.
For the Cherokee words, we could go to any chain bookstore and pick up a copy of a Cherokee
Dictionary, as it is widely available.
For the Osage words, we went to a staff member who is fluent in Osage as a result of immersing
herself in community language classes taught by tribal members.
For the Kiowa words, we went to five different people. Most of the words had several different
ways to say them and no one had the same spelling. This is partly due to language differences
within the tribe; different dialects and bands.
Because we had to go about finding the words in different ways, we learned that language
retention, language ability, and language loss presents itself differently for and within tribes.
52
Stereotypes: Who is an Indian?
8. Stereotypes: Who is an Indian?
Overview
Stereotypes about Indians have been around since the
first contact with Europeans. In 1883, Buffalo Bill Cody
formed Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, a traveling
entertainment show. The act included a mock battle
with Indians, played, for the most part, by members of
the Lakota Sioux tribe. Because Buffalo Bill’s Wild
West was as close as most Americans got to “real”
Indians, Sioux traditions became, in the public mind,
synonymous with all Indian customs.
One would not have to look any further than the 20th century western genre television shows and
films as a means of perpetuating stereotypes. More often than not the “Indian” was played by a
Caucasian person. They would have their hair dyed black, or wear a wig, their skin painted
“brown” and their characteristic speech patterns would be peppered with sentence fragments,
“I…go…big…river; we…go….now.” The Indians were portrayed as living in tipis, wearing war
bonnets, riding horses and brandishing war lances. They were savage, uncaring and brutal. It
was never taken into account that each tribe is different culturally and linguistically and that
they, like their Anglo neighbors, have families and a home life.
Who is an Indian?
The term “Indian” is the actual legal term used in federal
law. In modern usage, the legal term “Indian” usually
means an enrolled member of a federally recognized tribe
(or one who is eligible to be enrolled in a federally
recognized tribe). Each tribe has the sovereign authority
to define who their members are and who is eligible to be
enrolled. Some tribes have blood quantum requirements
(to be enrolled, a person must have at least a certain
degree of tribal ancestry, such as one-fourth) while other
tribes’ laws state that a person is eligible for enrollment if
one of their ancestors appears on a particular historical list
of tribal members. Ultimately, the question of “Who is an
Indian?” is determined by tribal law.
53
Stereotypes: Who is an Indian?
Consequently, many people outside the blood
quantum and tribal membership definitions of
“Indian” continue to identify themselves as
“Indian.” They understand themselves to be
evidence of the resistance and survival of their
ancestors. They continue to recognize historic,
cultural, psychological and emotional kinship
with Native people, sometimes knowing their
specific tribal origins and sometimes not. What
is important about these individuals is that they
continue the struggle of Indian people, working
to preserve Indian cultures and to strengthen
Indian communities.
54
Stereotypes: Who is an Indian?
Activity: American Indian Stereotypes
Suggested Grades
K-12
Overview
Many students will have stereotypical notions of what American Indians look like and how they
live. This activity which should be used at the beginning of the study of American Indians, seeks
to correct misconceptions and enrich understanding.
Objectives
Students will expand their understanding of the variations of American Indian cultures and
correct their misconceptions.
Time Needed
One to two fifty-minute class periods
Materials Needed
Books, magazines, and newspaper images of Indians
Images of Indians taken from the study guide
Instructions
1. Provide each student with paper and ask them to draw what they think an Indian looks
like. On another piece of paper ask them to draw what they think American Indians live
in. Most students will draw tipis and Indians wearing war bonnets and holding bows and
arrows or war shields. Students should do this activity individually without sharing ideas
with classmates. If you would like, you may ask each student to bring a picture of what
they believe an Indian looks like.
2. Collect these drawings and show some of them to the class. Ask students to identify
what the drawings have in common. Ask students to assume these drawings accurately
represent American Indians. What characteristics can they infer about the people
depicted in the students’ drawings? Then share the drawings of American Indian
dwellings. What do these drawings imply about their way of life?
3. Ask students if they think their drawings are accurate representations of American
Indians. Have students do research using encyclopedias and web sites listed in this
guide’s Resources section, or books on Oklahoma Indians. Assign each student one or
more American Indian groups in Oklahoma. They should draw a picture of their
eighteenth-century dress and dwelling and then list at least five facts about their way of
life. Then have the class compare and contrast this new information with their first
drawings and use the pictures of dress and dwellings to make inferences about these
groups.
4. Have each group or individual share what they learned. Compare and contrast the
drawings.
55
Stereotypes: Who is an Indian?
5. Ask students for a definition of “stereotype.” Ask for some examples of stereotypes
commonly held about groups other than Indians (“women drivers,” “dumb athletes,” etc.)
What are stereotypes, “positive” or negative about American Indians?
6. Ask students to think about where they have gotten their ideas about Indians. Ask
whether or not stereotypes are a problem. How far back in history do they think these
stereotypes go? (Many actually began with the first European contact in the 1500s. The
term “savage” was widespread before Removal.) Why do students think we’ve
perpetuated these stereotypes?
7. Close by showing students the images from this guide. Ask students to describe how
these depictions are similar to and different from their own drawings. Ask students to
write down one stereotypical idea they had about American Indians when they entered
class today and what they’ve learned about the accuracy of that idea. While students are
looking at the images, read the following quote by Jerry C. Elliott, Osage-Cherokee,
1976, writer, musician, Indian activist, “These days an Indian doesn’t need to dress or act
like an Indian because he is one. Today we exist everywhere and are making notable
contributions in education, law, medicine, art, business, science and literature. This
represents the greatest growth in the two hundred years of this country’s existence.”
56
Living Ways
Living Ways
Living Ways—Food
Overview
Prior to European contact, Native Americans farmed for thousands of years. Their techniques
differed from European farming styles. Traditional agriculture was uniquely adapted to the
North American environment. Additives to the soil were often accomplished through natural
flooding or burning underbrush to replenish the soil. At intermittent periods the cultivated lands
were often re-located to new areas. Usually raised mounds were planted with corn, beans, and
squash together. The beans added nitrogen that helped the corn. The corn served as poles for the
beans to climb. The squash leaves in turn provided shade and reduced the growth of weeds
while distracting insects. While tribal customs varied, gardens and fields were the women’s
domain. Women were the principal farmers in native North America.
By 1860, native farmers in Indian Territory grew apples, cherries, corn, peaches, sweet potatoes,
Irish potatoes, melons, oats, peas, plums, and rice. They also raised cattle, ducks, geese, hogs,
horses, and turkeys. In 1847, Creek farmers exported one hundred thousand bushels of corn,
mostly to Ireland to ease the effects of the potato famine.
Government policy believed
that if individual Indian men
were given plots of land to
cultivate, their families would
prosper and become
assimilated into the
mainstream American culture.
This policy switched gender
roles traditionally connected
with men and women in tribal
communities. It
disenfranchised Indian women
from their traditional political
roles. This policy also
assumed that European
farming methods were
superior to Indian farming
methods.
57
Living Ways
Activity: Corn Grinding
Suggested Grades
3-8
Overview
Corn was an important crop to American Indians. After corn was domesticated in South
America, it spread northward to many tribes where is served as a vital food source. It was also
more than merely food. It represented many things such as life, regeneration, and prosperity. It
also played a role in some tribes’ spiritual beliefs and practices.
Objective
Students will participate in a corn grinding demonstration using a corn grinder and a base. In so
doing, they will be able to relate to the resourcefulness of Native peoples in utilizing things in
their natural environment. They will gain an appreciation for the abilities and skills required to
live.
Time Needed
One class period for tool preparation and one period for grinding.
Materials Needed
sandstone or cement slab
grinding stone
dried corn
Instructions
1. Find a large, flat chunk of sandstone. This may be purchased from a landscape supplier,
or you can use a cement slab. It should be at least eighteen inches by ten inches and five
inches thick. (Danger! Do not let students eat corn that is ground.)
2. Using stones or a chisel, carefully make a depression in the top. The depression should
be at least five inches in diameter and about three inches deep in the center.
3. Instruct students to find a grinding stone. It should be a fist-sized rock made of some
material harder than sandstone.
4. Purchase dried corn at any feed and seed store. Place a small handful of dried corn in the
milling basin. Tap kernels gently in order to break the kernel open. Grind in a circular or
up and down motion until the meal is fine.
5. Students will notice the meal is very gritty due to the sandstone content. This may lead to
some interesting discussions about prehistoric dental problems.
58
Living Ways
Recipes
Banaha Indian Bread
2 C. Cornmeal
1 ½ C. Boiling water
1 tsp. Soda
1 tsp. Salt
Corn shucks (boil about 10 minutes before using)
Mix dry ingredients (cornmeal, soda, salt). Mixture should be stiff enough to handle easily. Form into
oblong balls. Wrap in corn shucks. Tie in the middle with corn shuck string. Drop into a deep pot of
boiling water. Cover and cook for 40 minutes. Serve hot.
Source: www.choctawnation.com (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma © 2000-2005).
Fry Bread
5 lbs. Self-Rising Flour
1 ½ qts. Water (approx.)
2 T. Shortening (optional)
1 T. Sugar
Add water to other ingredients to attain a consistency like biscuit dough. When well stirred, allow to sit
or 1 hour. Stir well and put on floured board. Roll out ½" thick. Cut into size pieces desired. Melt
enough shortening in pan to permit bread to float. Heat to 400 degrees. Drop bread into hot grease.
When bottom side becomes brown, turn and allow other side to brown. Let grease drip off of piece
before placing in container. Line container with foil to keep bread hot. Styrofoam ice chests work well.
Makes five pounds.
Source: Hominy Friends Meeting: Favorite Recipes. (G & R Publishing Co.) p. 9.
Osage Meatpies
3 lbs. Chuck Roast, ground course
1 lb. Suet, cut in small pieces
1 tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Black Pepper
1 C. Cold Water
Mix together.
2 c. Flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. Salt
1 C. buttermilk
Blend dry ingredients, add liquids to make dough. Divide into patties. Roll out on dough board, put meat
mixture in half of circle, lap over and seal. Bake in greased pan, brush top with melted compound. Bake
at 450 degrees for twenty minutes, then put in broiler to brown tops.
Source: Hominy Friends Meeting: Favorite Recipes. (Waverly, IA: G & R Publishing Co.) p. 2.
59
Living Ways
Grape Dumplings
Sauce:
48 oz. Grape Juice
1 ¼ c. Sugar
Dumplings:
3 c. All Purpose Flour
1/3 c. Shortening
(approximate)(Butter Flavored is best)
1 ¼ to 1 ½ c. Juice reserved
Save 1 ½ c. of juice for dumplings. In a large pot, mix remaining grape juice and sugar. Stir and set
aside. Prepare dumplings – Cut shortening into flour until soft. Stir in enough grape juice to make it
about the consistency of biscuit dough. Roll into desired thickness (generally 1/8 to ¼”) and cut into bitesized pieces. Boil juice and sugar mixture. Add dumplings a few at a time, careful not to allow the
mixture to stop boiling. After the last dumpling is added, continue to boil approximately 15-20 minutes.
Source: Feasting With All Tribes & Friends: A Collection of Recipes by All Tribes Community Church.
(Kearney, NE: Morris Press, 2000) p. 5.
Indian Corn Soup
1 qt. Dried Indian Corn-Copes or
regular dried
4 qt. Water
4 Pork Hocks
6 slices Salt Pork –optional
1 tsp. Salt
Dash of Pepper
Wash, then soak corn in large container with just enough water to cover for 2 hours or overnight. Corn
will swell. Keep cool. When ready to cook add corn to 4 qts. water and cook over medium heat for 1
hour. Add pork hocks, salt and pepper. Cook for 2 more hours or until corn is cooked. Substitute beef if
desired.
Source: Feasting With All Tribes and Friends: A Collection of Recipes by All Tribes Community
Church. (Kearney, NE: Morris Press, 2000) p. 6.
Indian Tacos
Meat Sauce:
1 lb. Hamburger Meat
1 ½ chopped onions
1 ½ to 3 tsp. Chili Powder
1 tsp. Pepper
1 small can Tomato Sauce
1 c. leftover Brown Beans
Toppings:
1 c. Tomatoes, chopped
1 c. Onion, chopped
1 c. Cheese, grated
1 bowl Lettuce, shredded
Brown meat, onions and add chili powder, salt, pepper, tomato sauce and beans. Make your fry bread
making pieces almost to the size of a dinner plate. Spread meat sauce over the fried fry bread. Top with
tomatoes, onion, cheese and lettuce.
Source: Feasting With All Tribes & Friends: A Collection of Recipes by All Tribes Community Church.
(Kearney, NE: Morris Press, 2000) p. 6.
60
Living Ways
Creek Sofke
8 c. Pearl Corn Grits
¾ c. Ash Lye
3 gal. Water
Combine the grits, lye and part of the water and simmer slowly 6 to 8 hours. Add remaining water
shortly before cooking time is completed. Traditionally, this unseasoned drink was served from a large
bowl.
Source: Feasting With All Tribes and Friends: A Collection of Recipes by All Tribes Community
Church. (Kearney, NE: Morris Press, 2000) p. 3.
Wild Onions and Eggs
1 wrap around handful of Wild
Onions
1 c. Shortening
1 c. Water
6 to 8 Eggs
Salt and Pepper to taste
Chop the wild onions in about 2 inch lengths, using tops also. Drop in hot fat and brown lightly. Add 1
cup of water, cover and simmer until liquid has cooked down. Beat eggs and add to mixture. Stir until
eggs are cooked. Salt, pepper and serve.
Source: Feasting With All Tribes and Friends: A Collection of Recipes by All Tribes Community
Church. (Kearney, NE: Morris Press, 2000) p. 9.
Fried Hominy
6 strips Bacon cut into pieces
1/8 tsp. Pepper
½ tsp. Salt
2 lbs. drained Hominy
2 Scallions slice thin, include
tops
Fry the bacon in a large, heavy skillet until brown and crisp. Stir in hominy and salt, stirring for 5
minutes. Add pepper and scallions, stirring for 5 minutes more.
Source: Feasting With All Tribes and Friends: A Collection of Recipes by All Tribes Community
Church. (Kearney, NE: Morris Press, 2000) p. 4.
61
Living Ways
Pawnee Stew
2 lbs. Beef Short Ribs
1 c. Dried Corn
6 c. Water
4 c. White Beans – cooked
Cook meat and dried corn in water until tender. Add cooked beans and additional water as needed.
Simmer 30 to 45 minutes more. May substitute chuck roast, cut up; or when available may substitute
bison (buffalo) meat.
Source: Feasting With All Tribes and Friends: A Collection of Recipes by All Tribes Community
Church. (Kearney, NE: Morris Press, 2000) p. 7.
Cherokee Indian Pudding
2 medium-sized Sweet Potatoes
3 Eggs
1 ¼ c. Brown Sugar
1/8 tsp. Cinnamon
¼ tsp. Nutmeg
Pinch Salt
3 T. Butter
Buttered Bread Crumbs
Wash and peel potatoes and grate them coarsely. Beat the eggs lightly and mix them into the potatoes.
Add the sugar, seasonings and butter and turn into a buttered baking dish. Sprinkle with buttered
breadcrumbs and bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.
Source: Feasting With All Tribes and Friends: A Collection of Recipes by All Tribes Community
Church. (Kearney, NE: Morris Press, 2000) p. 1.
Candied Squash
Cut Hubbard squash in 3” or 4” squares and lay the first ones rind down – next ones put rind up and put
in:
1 c. Water
½ c. Shortening
1 c. White or Brown Sugar
Cover and cook until tender.
Source: Hominy Friends Meeting: Favorite Recipes. (Waverly, IA: G & R Publishing Co.) p.9.
62
Living Ways
Activity: Discovering Native and European Farming Methods
Suggested Grades
1-12
Overview
Native and European farming methods differed in their belief of the most efficient way to plant
seeds and yield crops.
Objective
Students will learn the different farming techniques of Europeans and American Indians by
participating in the planting and monitoring the growth of three vegetables: corn, beans and
squash.
Time Needed
One to two class periods to prepare the soil, planting containers, and plant the seeds. This
activity, including the growing time and measurement, could last for several months.
Materials Needed
For indoor plantings:
corn and bean seeds
planting containers
water
trowel and spading fork
For outdoor plantings:
•edible corn, squash or melon, and climbing bean see
• patch of dirt for planting
•water
• trowel, spading fork and hoe
Instructions
Prior to class have ready all materials (seed, gardening tools, planting containers).
1. Native farming techniques differed from European techniques in that while the Europeans used
soil additives and worked the soil, Native farmers relied on natural additives like rain water and
minerals in the soil. There are other differences that we will discuss along the way.
2. Begin by splitting the class in half. Then split the students into smaller groups within each large
group. Assign each of these smaller groups duties. One group will be responsible for measuring
height, another will monitor temperature, and the last will measure watering, or rainfall.
3. For indoor plantings: One group will be assigned the European farming technique and the other
group will carry out the Native farming technique. The first group will follow the European
method and will have two planting containers (a paper cup or pot). They will follow the
instructions on the back of the seed packets. In the first pot, they will plant corn seed. In the
second pot they will plant bean seeds and stake the plant so that the beans will have something up
which to climb.
4. The group using the Native method will plant the corn and the beans in the same pot. They will
not follow the instructions on the back of the seed packet. Instead they will make a mound of soil
in their pot and in the center of each mound, place five or six corn seeds in a small circle.
5. After a week or two, when the corn has grown to be five inches or so, plant seven or eight
climbing beans in a circle about six inches away from the corn seed.
63
Living Ways
6. For outdoor plantings: As with the indoor plantings, students will be split into two groups and
assigned the European and Native farming techniques. The European farmers will plant corn
and bean seed in different locations. Follow the instructions on the back of the seed packet. The
instructions may prompt students to spray the plant and soil with growth enhancers, such as
Miracle Grow, and pesticides. Students will need to work the earth with a hoe really well.
7. The second group using the Native farming method will begin by turning the soil and heaping
the earth into piles about a foot high. The centers of the mounds should be about four feet apart
and should have flattened tops. In the center of each mound place five or six corn seeds in a
circle.
8. After a week or two, when the corn has grown to be five inches or so, plant seven or eight
climbing beans seeds in a circle about six inches away from the corn seeds.
9. A week later, at the edge of the mound about a foot away from the beans, plant seven or eight
squash or pumpkin seeds.
10. When the plants begin to grow, you will need to weed out all but a few of the sturdiest corn plants
from each mound. Also keep the sturdiest of the bean and squash plants and weed out the weaker
ones.
11. As the corn and beans grow up, you want to make sure that the beans are supported by cornstalks,
wrapping around the corn. The squash will crawl out between the mounds, around the corn and
beans. Make note how the Native technique makes use of the corn stalk as a pole up which the
beans can climb. There is no need to stake the beans. In the Native farming method corn, beans
and squash all work together. Pests will find it harder to invade the garden by inter-planting the
corn, beans and squash. The corn stalk serves as a pole for the beans, the beans help to add the
nitrogen to the soil that the corn needs and the squash provides a ground cover of shade that helps
the soil retain moisture.
12. During this entire process students will monitor several factors. You will have split the two main
groups into smaller groups and assigned tasks to each of these smaller groups. They will monitor
height, temperature and water. The group monitoring height will measure the plants once a week.
The group monitoring temperature will record temperature everyday. The group monitoring
water will make note of how much water they give it and how often. For outdoor plantings,
students will also measure rainfall. Students will record all measurements on the worksheet
provided.
13. You may wish to conclude the taking of measurements at any time, as the growing season will
continue after school has been let out for the summer. Ask each of the smaller groups within the
larger groups to compile their findings. Have each of the larger groups meet and present their
findings to the class as a whole.
14. Ask students to discuss the differences they have witnessed in European and Native farming
techniques. Talk about how the seeds are planted and nurtured, the growth rates of the plants and
the end result (if they have seen this). If the activity is continued through the end of the growing
season have students measure the length of the ears of corn, count how many fully-developed
kernels are on each ear and how many ears are fully-developed on each plant. For the beans,
count the number of fully-developed pods on each plant, and for the squash count the number of
fully-developed vegetables on each plant and measure the diameter and length of each.
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Living Ways
Activity: Making Corn Husk Dolls
Suggested Grades
K-6
Overview
Corn was an important crop for Oklahoma Indians as a food source and in ceremonial ways.
Children also made use of the husks of the corn in doll-making.
Objectives
Students will learn that food can be used in more ways that just as nutrition. It can be used in art.
This activity is designed to engage students in a creative way.
Materials Needed
• string
• buckets of water
• scissors
•bags of cornhusks
•copies of instructions
Time Needed
One fifty-minute class period
Instructions
Corn husks can be purchased in bags of sixty or more at any craft or grocery store.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Before beginning, soak cornhusks in a bucket of water until they are soft and pliable.
Take four cornhusks and arrange them as shown.
Using a small piece of string, tie the straight ends together tightly.
Trim the round edges with scissors.
Turn the husks upside down and pull the long ends of the husks down over the trimmed
edges.
6. Tie it with string to form the head.
7. Take another husk, flatten it and roll it into a tight cylinder.
8. Tie each end with string. This forms the doll’s arms.
9. Fit the arms inside of the long husks, just below the neck.
10. Tie with string, as shown, to form a waist.
11. Drape a husk around the arms and upper body in a criss-cross pattern to form shoulders.
12. Take four or five husks, straight edges together, and arrange them around the waist.
These form a skirt for the doll. Tie the husks to the doll’s waist with a short string.
13. If desired, follow the diagram to form legs for the doll. Tie the legs with small strips of
husks as indicated. Finish off the doll by tying small strips of husk around the neck and
waist to hide the string. Small scraps of cloth may be used to dress the doll.
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Living Ways
66
Living Ways
Living Ways—Beadwork
Overview
Beadwork is an art form typically associated with
American Indians. Prior to intricate beadwork, Indians
did quillwork, stitching the dyed hollow quills of
porcupine onto animal hides in patterns. Along with
quillwork, beadwork co-existed; however early beads
did not allow for detailed intricate patterns. These early
beads were made of shell, stone, seeds, and bone.
European contact with Indian tribes in North America
introduced refined manufactured glass beads. Artisans
sometimes used these smaller beads in lieu of quillwork
for several reasons including size, range of color,
availability, and ease with which to work. Technique,
patterns, colors, and size were sometimes tribally
specific.
Beads are manufactured from glass in a variety of colors. Traders and natives often developed
unique names for many including greasy yellow, Cheyenne pink, pony trader blue, Sioux green,
red white hearts, and blue Russians to name a few. Today, the number of colors is limited only
by the imagination. In addition to colors, beads come in a range of sizes often determined by
commercially available needles. Size varies from as big as 3/0 (pronounced three ought) to the
very small 18/0 (eighteen ought). The bigger the bead, the lower the number and the smaller the
bead, the higher the number.
Styles of beadwork include lazy stitch, edge beading, two-needle
appliqué, gourd stitch, and loom beadwork. Within each style, there
are variations such as Cheyenne lazy stitch and Sioux lazy stitch. In
lazy stitch, the needle is passed just under the surface of the leather
or hide with the thread containing anywhere from five to ten beads.
The number of beads on the thread determines the length of the
stitch. It is then passed back through the leather or hide, and then the
same number of beads is threaded and sewn in the opposite
direction.
Edge beading is the finishing touch to a piece. In basic edge
beading, the first stitch contains three beads. This stitch is only as
wide as two beads in length. The needle is then stitched back into
the material and passed back through the third bead. Two more
beads are then stitched on in a like manner with the needle passing
through the material and the last bead.
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Living Ways
In two-needle appliqué, a floral pattern is marked
out on the material before any beading is begun.
One needle holds enough beads to outline the
pattern; most often white beads are used. This
particular thread lies on the viewed surface of the
material. The second needle is passed through the
material from the underside. It tacks down the
bead thread and passes back through the underside
of the material. This technique is repeated every
two beads.
Gourd stitch is a modern technique developed by
the southern plains tribes. Gourd stitch is also
referred to as peyote stitch because of its
association with items made for the Native
American Church. The smallest beads from size
13/0 to 18/0 are used in gourd stitch. In this
technique the beads must be absolute in size for the
finished work to be even. Gourd stitch is usually
associated with fan handles, rattle handles, staffs,
and round objects. When gourd stitching, enough
beads are placed on the thread to wrap completely
around the object one time. Then exactly half of
the beads are removed from the thread. This
should always be an even number. The needle goes
around the object and through the first bead, then a bead is picked up and the needle is passed
through the second bead, then through the third bead, and so on. Gourd stitch is similar to bead
netting, as compared to the aforementioned techniques.
Loom Beadwork is done on either a base of yarn or string. The string of beads is placed
perpendicular across the top of the base. The needle is then passed back under the base and
through each bead. This is done until the desired pattern is completed.
Pre-reservation beadwork often had
symbolism and meaning important to
individual tribes. While elements of
this still exist in contemporary
beadwork, some of the meaning has
been lost. The reservation era brought
sharing of ideas, patterns, and symbols
among tribes. Contemporary beadwork
has evolved out of this process.
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Living Ways
Activity: “Whitehearts and Pony Traders”
Suggested Grades
4-12
Overview
Many tribes used beadwork in their material culture, in some form or fashion. Beads were made
of many things including shell, bone, and seeds. With the Europeans came beads made out of
glass. Glass beads were highly sought after as trade items. At one time, designs were specific
and identifiable by tribe. During the reservation period there was a cultural interchange of
patterns and designs due to the geographic location of tribes.
Objectives
Through research, students will recognize Oklahoma regional styles and the incorporation of
different styles into one piece of beadwork. They will use what they learned in their research to
design their own beadwork sample. In so doing, students will actively participate in what
happened historically: looking at various styles and choosing what they like to include in their
own design.
Time Needed
One to Three fifty-minute class periods for research, design, and analysis.
Materials Needed
photos of beadwork included in this guide
internet access
Instructions
1. Begin with a discussion of beadwork and its importance to American Indian tribes. Talk
about the regional breakdown of tribes in Oklahoma (see list). Discuss styles that were
specific to certain tribes and how, over time, these styles and designs were reflected in
beadwork by tribes who did not originally use them (cross-cultural exchange).
2. Show photos of beadwork included in this guide or on the internet.
3. Have students research a tribe from each of the five regions in Oklahoma. They will
notice attributes of beadwork of each tribe.
Web sites that are searchable by tribe are the following:
American Museum of Natural History
Smithsonian Institution Museum of Natural History
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Living Ways
4. They will next design their own beadwork on a piece of graph paper. Students will pull
together patterns from tribes in different regions to form a cohesive piece. They may use
any color in their design and size it to about four inches long by two inches wide.
5. Students will then exchange their designs with other students and try to distinguish from
what region or tribe elements of the design originate. The important part of this activity
is that students do not look at the design and generalize the style as stereotypical of one
tribe. The point is for them to look at aspects of the piece as a whole and differentiate
qualities. Many tribes shared an exchange of ideas.
6. Students may display their design on a bulletin board or wall so that everyone in the class
gets a chance to look at their fellow classmates designs.
Additional Activity:
Students may go into more detail in their research by not only looking at design, but
how the beading was done. Was it loom work, gourd-stitched, edge-beaded, lazystitched or two needle appliquéd?
You may choose to have students stay true to the design and history by actually
completing their beadwork three-dimensionally. They could display their finished
product.
You may have the students write an essay or research paper about what they learned
through their research.
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Living Ways
There are thirty-eight tribal governments in Oklahoma. They are listed below according to the
regions of the state in which they live:
Northeast
Central
Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma
Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma
Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma
Eastern Shawnee Tribe
Shawnee Tribe
Wyandotte Nation
Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma
Ottawa Tribe
Miami Nation
Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma
Citizen Potawatomi Nation
Sac and Fax Nation
Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma
Absentee Shawnee Tribe
West
Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes
Kiowa Tribe
Comanche Nation
Wichita and Affiliated Tribes
Caddo Nation
Delaware Nation
Apache Tribe
Fort Sill Apache Tribe
Eastern
Cherokee Nation
United Keetowah Band of Cherokees
Choctaw Nation
Chickasaw Nation
Muscogee Creek Nation
Seminole Nation
Euchee (Yuchi) Tribe of Indians
Kialegee Tribal Town
Thlopthlocco Tribal Town
Alabama Quassarte Tribal Town
North
Osage Nation
Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma
Kaw Nation
Ponca Nation
Tonkawa Tribe
Otoe-Missouria Tribe
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Living Ways
Living Ways—Beadwork
Rock art produced by American Indians both before and after European contact can be found
throughout the state of Oklahoma, from the Panhandle to the eastern parts of the state.
Tribes removed into Indian Territory came from all regions of the United States. Due to these
historical circumstances, there is great diversity among these tribes. It is within each of these
groups that individuals hold different political and religious views, as well as uniquely individual
preferences. Clothes, pottery, wood, and animal hide were decorated with berries, fruit, earth,
and after European contact, colored pencils, ink, crayons, and paint. Many of the painted images
communicate messages or tell stories. Those messages may be narratives of events, mnemonic
signs relating to religious beliefs or past events, or prayers.
Pictoral record-keeping represented in calendars is also recognized as an art form. The calendars
would show events in pictures representing each year. Rather than referring to years by number
as in the modern western calendar, each year was named for a commonly remembered event.
Kiowa calendars were the most elaborate on the Plains, with two names and associated pictures
for each year, one for summer and one for winter.
The lack of compositional concerns in
pictographic art, in which figures were often
superimposed over earlier designs, may be in
part because it was the message, not the
“art,” that was of primary interest. It is this
focus on communication that may have
stimulated the kind of stick figures depicted.
This pictographic art form was the source of
American Indian painting on the Plains.
Over time stylistic changes occurred. Artists
drew from the old ways and defined new
methods to depict their subject matter.
American Indians have worked during many
changes in the world of painting: naturalism,
contemporary art, art deco, postImpressionism, expressionism and pop art,
among others. The artists have ranged from
self-taught to student artists, from young to
old.
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Living Ways
Ledger Art of the Reservation Period
Buffalo Meat, or Hoiewotah, a Cheyenne used
colored pencils and paper to draw. With about 70
other Plains Indian warriors imprisoned at Fort
Marion, Florida in the late 1870s, he learned to read
and write. They also created “ledger art” by adapting
the style traditionally used on pictographic hide
paintings to document war honors and significant
events. It was in the 1860s, due to widening trade
networks, that paper and pencils became increasingly
accessible to Plains Indians. Most of the paper was in
the form of ledger books, bound volumes of ruled
paper intended for the entry of financial accounts.
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Living Ways
The Kiowa Five
In the 1920s and later ledger art was revived in the art of the Kiowa Five. A group of young
artists assembled by Susie Peters, an Indian Service field matron. This group included Jack
Hokeah, Spencer Asah, Monroe Tsatoke, James Auchiah, Stephen Mopope and a woman, Lois
Smoky. They were all students of Saint Patrick’s Mission School, near Anadarko.
The studio styles of these artists echoed ledger drawing in the placement of figures against plain,
monochrome grounds with only the hint of settings through simple ground lines; in the emphasis
on clearly defined outlines that are used to separate discrete areas of color; and in the absence of
modeling. In contrast to ledger art, some of the artists portrayed a sense of movement and
frontal views of the head, torso and legs.
Susie Peters provided an avenue for ongoing
involvement of young Kiowa men with traditional
Kiowa culture that was the basis for their art.
Painting was a vital part of Kiowa culture and
artists such as Silver Horn were important models
for the students. Some had contact with Silver
Horn, who served as a mentor to them. Silver
Horn believed that art should be an illustration of
specific events and of men’s individual
achievements.
Peters also introduced the work of the Kiowa Five
and Lois Smoky to Oscar Jacobson, then director
of the University of Oklahoma Art Department.
Jacobson arranged for some of the students to take
classes at the university and then directed sales and
promotion of the students’ paintings. Traveling
exhibitions made their way to New York, Prague
and France.
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Living Ways
Activity: American Indian Leather Painting
Suggested Grades
4-6
Overview
Pictorial storytelling has been around as long as mankind. Images have been found on rock,
leather, paper, textiles, pottery, bone and shell. The very essence of storytelling is reflected in all
forms of material culture.
Objectives
Students will use paper bags to create stories that resemble old Indian leather paintings. They
will think of how to tell a story using only pictures. In the process the students will think about
how tribe members communicated their stories on to their children.
Time needed
Two class periods.
Materials needed
brown paper bag
paint brush
crayons or markers
newspaper
brown paint
tub of water or sink
Instructions
1. Soak paper bag in water and carefully open in into one piece.
2. Crush the bag into a tight ball and wring out the water.
3. Carefully smooth out the bag and place it on newspaper to dry fully.
4. Have students decide on the story they want to tell. Think of what pictures would
accurately portray the story.
5. When the bag is completely dry, draw the pictures on the bag with crayons or markers.
6. If the students wish to add a decorative touch, rip the sides of the bag to resemble fringe.
7. If desired, paint over the crayoned picture with thinned brown paint (one half paint, one
half water).
8. Write up a paragraph telling the story and attach it to the back of the leather painting.
Others can try to figure out the story and then check to see if they guessed correctly.
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Living Ways
Living Ways—Pottery
Broken fragments of pottery, or pot sherds, are found on many archaeological sites throughout
all parts of Oklahoma. The first appearance of pottery making in Oklahoma is unknown but the
pottery was probably being made for roughly the past 2000 years and is most plentiful on the late
prehistoric sites.
In order to provide a rough chronological framework, listed below are archaeological time
periods or phases to indicate general dates of pottery and other artifacts:
Woodland: The Woodland period is
believed to range from around the birth
of Christ up to about AD 800. It is
commonly subdivided into Early,
Middle, and Late phases.
Fourche Maline: An early pottery
period in eastern Oklahoma dating
approximately from around the birth of
Christ up to around AD 800.
Plains Village: This includes the Custer
focus, Washita River focus, Antelope
Creek aspect, and Henrietta focus and
dates around AD 900 to AD 1400.
Caddoan: This includes the Harlan phase from approximately AD 800 or AD 900 to AD 1200;
the Spiro phase from AD 1200 to AD 1350 or AD 1400; and the Fort Coffee phase from AD
1400 to AD 1600. Fourche Maline appears to be a developmental Caddoan occupation.
Proto-historic Wichita: This refers
to early Wichita 1ndian
occupations found in Kay County,
Oklahoma and along the Red river
in Jefferson County. It dates from
the 18th century.
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Living Ways
Historic: This refers to historically known groups dating from the 19th century.
The Woodland and Fourche Maline periods
were when groups were moving seasonally,
while the subsequent periods were
characterized by more established villages
and agriculture. Each of the periods have
grouped the pottery, and other artifacts, by
where they were found, how they were
made and what materials were used to
make them.
Pottery found in Oklahoma and made
during the historic period had utilitarian
and decorative uses. The pots were made
to carry water, food and to serve as vessels
for ceremonial purposes and storage. Clay
drums were made by some tribes and then
used to make music during special
ceremonies. Techniques used in
construction were coil and slab. Potterymaking that began thousands of years ago
continues today. Potters employ some of
the same techniques as their forebearers.
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Living Ways
Caddo Pottery Techniques
By Jeri Redcorn, Caddo Potter
Homeland of the Caddo Indians was along the Arkansas and Red Rivers and many more rivers in
Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana. From these rivers clay was gathered from river
banks. Women made many pots for use in cooking and storing their corn, pumpkin, and squash
seeds. Caddos were very good farmers. Many of these vessels were highly decorated and used
in ceremonies. Caddos had great respect for the clay, because the clay is “mother earth”.
Teachers for the young Caddo children were their mothers and grandmothers, and all the older
people of the village. Young Caddo girls learned how to make pottery by assisting in gathering
the clay and by watching the older potters at work. And then they imitated the older women and
asked questions.
One way the women and young girls made these pots by first making round balls of the clay.
Then by placing their thumb inside the ball until a small pot was formed by turning the clay
around and around until the walls grow thinner and thinner. These pots are called “pinch pots”,
because no more clay was added.
Another method Caddos used to make pots was by flattening a ball of clay to form a circular
base. Then coils were made by rolling a piece of clay either on a flat surface or between the
palms of the hands to make a snakelike rope. These coils were then added to the base and the
walls to make larger vessels. The first added coil must be carefully worked into the base adding
a little water. Each additional coil must be worked just as carefully, until there is no “seam”.
The potter continues adding coils, making the sides taller and taller, until the desired height is
reached.
Animals were very much a part of Caddo life. Many dances were from animals such as the Duck
Dance, the Bear Dance, the Alligator Dance, and the Fish Dance. And many of the Caddo pots
were of these animals. While the clay pots were still hardening, animal heads or other parts
could be added to represent the animals of the forest.
Another way to make an animal is to shape a clay animal figure out of a ball of clay. These clay
animals are called effigies. Potters call this method “sculpting”.
Decorations were made by using sticks, bones or flint, while the clay was still drying but fairly
hard. “Leather hard” is the word potters use. After the pot is dry designs can still be etched into
the hardened clay surface.
After the pots and effigies are dry, Caddos then fire the pots in a pit. A pit is dug in the ground
and a fire built in the pit. The clay pieces are set around the fire to warm until the fire burns
down to coals. Then the clay pots are placed directly on the coals and the fire is built up again
until it burn hot for about 30 to 45 minutes. After the fire burns down the pots are left to cool
and then removed from the blackened ashes.
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Living Ways
Activity: Making a Pot
Suggested Grades
K-12
Overview
Pottery is one of the oldest and most widespread technologies. Some of the most abundant
artifacts found in North America are potsherds. Wide variations in the use and style of pottery
reflect the diversity of culture across North America throughout time.
Objective
Students will learn a little of the history of Caddo pottery-making and use clay to make a pot
following Caddo tradition.
Materials Needed
Clay, ¼ lb for each student. This will make 3 to 5 pots or figures.
Bones, Sticks or flint to make designs. (Or anything at hand, pencils, pens, straws,
interesting shapes)
Tables, enough to keep the pots over night to dry.
Small boxes for students to carry their pots home
Water for each table.
Newspapers and paper towels or rags, for cleanup.
Time Needed
The pots can be made in two 1 hour class sessions and left to dry overnight.
Assuming there is no firing, the hardened vessels can be taken home the second day.
Instructions
Coiling Technique:
1. Make a base for the pot by forming a level disk three or more inches in diameter.
2. Roll the clay in your hand to form long coils. Make them as long or as short as you wish, but
the length should measure to at least a foot.
3. Attach the first coil to the base using a little water and gently pressing the coil to the base.
You may use a shell or other flattened or curved object to smooth out the seam. Be careful not to
deform the coil shape.
4. Continue stacking coils atop one another and connecting them by using water and an object to
smooth the seams until you have reached the desired height.
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Living Ways
Pinching Technique:
1. Begin with a ball of clay. Place your thumb in the center of the ball and begin pressing
outward until you have made an indention.
2. Continue pressing outward with your thumb while pulling up the sides with your other fingers
until the desired height is reached.
Adding Effigies and other designs:
1. When the clay is “leather-hard” students may take sticks or other carving implements to draw
free-form designs on the outside of the pots.
2. Animal effigies may be added by forming the figure from a ball of clay and adding it to the
pot using water and a smoothing tool for the seams.
For all techniques, as well as the effigies, place the finished pots on a table to dry and harden
overnight.
Additional Activities:
Pass out copies of “Caddo Pottery techniques” by Jeri Redcorn. Ask students to read the essay
and define the following vocabulary words: Effigy, Sculpt, Caddo, leather hard, ceremony.
The following questions could be assigned and brought up for discussion:
Discussion Questions:
Where was the Caddo Homeland?
Why was pottery important to the Caddo people?
Why do you think animals were important to the Caddos?
Why were seeds important to keep in special pots?
What crops did Caddos grow?
Name some Caddo dances.
In what states did the Caddos live?
Other activities could be developed through research on the internet or in books that show the
homelands of the Caddos and where they live today.
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Living Ways
Living Ways—Dwellings
Dwellings of Oklahoma tribes are as diverse as the
tribes themselves. The style and materials used in
construction are dependent upon the environment and
what was available. Plains tribes like the Wichita and
Apache, used grasses and sticks, while woodland tribes
like the Sac and Fox, used logs and tree bark. The
Chickasaw and Choctaw built log homes. Tipis were
another type of dwelling built by Plains tribes. Some
tribes had both summer and winter houses that were
built to withstand varying degrees of temperature and
other weather-related factors. As times and conditions
changed, the construction of Indian dwellings also
changed.
Tipis were built by nomadic people living on the Plains
and were designed and constructed to be functional and
comfortable shelters. Early plains Indians used the dog
to transport the folded tipi and poles. This limited the
size of the tipi. With the coming of the horse, longer
poles and larger coverings could be transported. The
conical shape enabled the tipi to withstand high winds,
rain and snow. A smoke hole with flaps at the top of the
tipi vented a fire in the center of the floor. The shape of
the flaps differed from tribe to tribe and could be used to
identify tribal affiliation.
Grass houses built by tribes such as
the Apaches and Wichitas, varied in
size but were similar in construction.
The semi-permanent structures could
hold as little as a few people or
upwards of fifty. The Wichitas wove
cattail or sawgrass into tight
waterproof shingles. Cattail is a
marsh plant with water resistant
qualities. This was ideal for building
material. These kept the interior
warm in the winter and cool in the
summer. The Apaches traditionally
built houses out of brush, but when
they came to Indian Territory, they
began to build frame houses.
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Living Ways
The Sac and Fox built bark homes. Bark
covered the roof and served as shingles to
keep the interior dry when it rained. The
sides of the bark house could be left open to
allow wind to cool the living quarters.
Another sort of structure that was open to
the breeze was the brush arbor. The brush
arbor is a functional, renewable warm
weather structure used by many tribes in
Oklahoma. It has a roof of branches, often
made of willow, resting on pole supports. It
could add extra living space to a home or
serve as a meeting place.
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Living Ways
Activity: Can You Make a House?
Suggested Grades
5-12
Overview
Indian tribes made use of what was available to them in their particular environment whether
they were in a wooded area or on the Plains. Building materials ranged from brush, grasses, sod,
animal hide, and tree bark.
Objective
Students will be provided with building materials. They will see what they can do with those
materials; can they build a house or structure of some sort? They will see what sorts of difficult
and ingenious dwellings Indian tribes would build out of similar materials.
Time Needed
One to two fifty minute class periods
Materials Needed
bamboo skewers or unsharpened pencils
peat moss
clay
•
•
raffia
naugahyde, butcher block paper, or
chamois
Instructions
Prior to this class, have ready all materials for this activity.
1. Discuss with students their ideas of what Indians’ homes look like. It is recommended
that students complete the activity entitled “American Indian Stereotypes” that is
included in the Stereotypes section of this study guide prior to beginning this activity.
2. Provide each individual student with the following amounts of building materials: 8
skewers, 3 yards raffia, ½ yard naugahyde, a large handful of peat moss and 1 pound of
clay. These amounts are only meant to be a starting point. They may or may not be
enough. Students may not need all of what you have given them, or they may run out and
need more. Give out more materials at your discretion.
3. Instruct students to build a shelter with some or all of the materials. It is okay if not all
materials are used. For instance, a student may wish to only use bamboo skewers, raffia
and naugahyde in constructing their dwelling, leaving the rest untouched.
4. The objective of this activity is not to have a complete, perfect dwelling, but to evaluate
the building materials and go through the process of making those materials work for
them. Some students may get frustrated, but continue to urge their problem-solving skills
in figuring out how they can make the materials work together. The ultimate aim is for
students to gain an appreciation in the diversity of solutions to the common question:
What can I make with these materials?
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Living Ways
5. After the students have put together or begun to put together the materials in the shape of
some sort of dwelling, begin a discussion about the difficulty in building the structures
and the ingenuity of Indian tribes. Ask for the student’s opinions about their own
experiences in trying to construct something with the materials that were provided to
them.
6. Show the pictures of the different dwellings that are included in this guide. Ask students
to look at each of the dwellings and guess what materials were used in their construction.
Initiate a discussion about what the students have done in comparison to what has been
done.
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Historic Tribes of Oklahoma
Indian tribes historically documented as living in Oklahoma:
Alabama
Anadarko
Apache
Apalachicola
Arapaho
Caddo
Cahokia
Catawba
Cayuga
Cherokee
Cheyenne
Chickasaw
Chippewa
Choctaw
Comanche
Conestoga
Creek
Delaware
Eel River
Erie
Fox
Hainai
Hitchiti
Illinois
Iowa
Kansa
Kaskaskia
Kichai
Kickapoo
Kiowa
Koasati
Lipan
Miami
Michigamea
Missouria
Modoc
Mohawk
Moingwena
Munsee
Natchez
Nez Perce
Osage
Otoe
Ottawa
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Pawnee
Peoria
Painkashaw
Plains Apache
Ponca
Potawatomi
Quapaw
Sauk
Seminole
Seneca
Shawnee
Skidi
Stockbridge
Tamaroa
Tawakoni
Tonkawa
Tuscarora
Tuskegee
Waco
Wea
Wichita
Wyandotte
Resources
Resources
Resources--Tribal Headquarters
ABSENTEE SHAWNEE TRIBE
2025 S. Gordon Cooper Dr.
Shawnee OK 74801
(405) 275 4030
(405) 275 5637 fax
www.astribe.com
CHICKASAW NATION
P.O. Box 1548
Ada Ok 74821
(580) 436 2603
(580) 436 4287 fax
www.chickasaw.net
ALABAMA QUASSARTE TRIBAL TOWN
P.O. Box 187
Wetumka OK 74883
(405) 452 3987
(405) 452 3968 fax
www.alabama-quassarte.org
CHOCTAW NATION
P.O. Drawer 1210
Durant Ok 74702
(580) 924 8280
(580) 924 1150 fax
www.choctawnation.com
APACHE TRIBE
P.O. Box 1220
Anadarko OK 73005
(405) 247 9493
(405) 247 2686 fax
CITIZEN POTAWATOMI NATION
1601 S. Gordon Cooper Dr.
Shawnee OK 74801
(405) 275 3121
(405) 275 0198 fax
www.potawatomi.org
CADDO TRIBE
P.O. Box 487
Binger OK 73009
(405) 656 2344
(405) 656 2892 fax
www.caddonation-nsn.gov
COMANCHE NATION
P.O. Box 908
Lawton OK 73502
(580) 492 3751
(580) 492 3796 fax
www.comanchenation.com
CHEROKEE NATION
P.O. Box 948
Tahlequah OK 74464
(918) 456 0671
(918) 458 5580 fax
www.cherokee.org
DELAWARE NATION
P.O. Box 825
Anadarko OK 73005
(405) 247 2448
(405) 247 9393 fax
www.delawarenation.com
CHEYENNE-ARAPAHO TRIBES
P.O. Box 38
Concho OK 73022
(405) 262 0345
(405) 262 6872 fax
www.c-a-tribes.org
DELAWARE TRIBE OF INDIANS
220 NW Virginia Ave.
Bartlesville OK 74003
(918) 336 5272
(918) 336 5513 fax
www.delawaretribeofindians.nsn.us
86
Resources
EASTERN SHAWNEE TRIBE
P.O. Box 350
Seneca MO 64865
(918) 666 2435
(918) 666 2186 fax
www.easternshawnee.org
MIAMI NATION
P.O. Box 1326
Miami OK 74355
(918) 542 1445
(918) 542 7260 fax
www.miamination.com
EUCHEE (YUCHI) TRIBE OF INDIANS
P.O. Box 10
Sapulpa OK 74067
(918) 224 3065
(918) 224 3065 fax
www.euchee.org
MODOC TRIBE
515 G Street, SE
Miami OK 74354-8224
(918) 542 1190
(918) 542 5415 fax
www.modoctribe.net
FORT SILL APACHE TRIBE
Rt. 2 Box 121
Apache OK 73006
(580) 588 2298
(580) 588 3133 fax
MUSCOGEE (CREEK) NATION
P.O. Box 580
Okmulgee OK 74447
(918) 756 8700
(918) 758 1434 fax
www.muscogeenation-nsn.gov
IOWA TRIBE OF OKLAHOMA
R.R. 1 Box 721
Perkins OK 74059
(405) 547 2402
(405) 547 5294 fax
www.iowanation.org
OSAGE NATION
813 Grandview
Pawhuska OK 74056
(918) 287 5432
(918) 287 2257 fax
www.osagetribe.com
KAW NATION OF OKLAHOMA
P.O. Drawer 50
Kaw City OK 74641
(580) 269 2552
(580) 269 2301 fax
www.kawnation.com
OTOE-MISSOURIA TRIBE
8151 Hwy 177
Red Rock OK 74651
(580) 723 4466
(580) 723 4273 fax
www.omtribe.org
KIALEGEE TRIBAL TOWN
P.O. Box 332
Wetumka OK 74883
(405) 452 3262
(405) 452 3413 fax
OTTAWA TRIBE
P.O. Box 110
Miami OK 74355
(918) 540 1536
(918) 542 3214 fax
KICKAPOO TRIBE OF OKLAHOMA
P.O. Box 70
McLoud OK 74851
(405) 964 7053
(405) 964 2745 fax
PAWNEE NATION OF OKLAHOMA
P.O. Box 470
Pawnee OK 74058
(918) 762 3621
(918) 762 6446 fax
www.pawneenation.org
KIOWA TRIBE
P.O. Box 369
Carnegie Ok 73015
(580) 654 2300
(580) 654 2188 fax
87
Resources
PEORIA TRIBE OF INDIANS OF
OKLAHOMA
P.O. Box 1527
Miami OK 74355
(918) 540 2535
(918) 540 2538 fax
www.peoriatribe.com
SHAWNEE TRIBE
P.O. Box 189
Miami OK 74355
(918) 542 2441
(918) 542 2922 fax
www.shawnee-tribe.org
THLOPTHLOCCO TRIBAL TOWN
P.O. Box 188
Okemah OK 74859-0188
(918) 623 2620
(918) 623 1810 fax
PONCA NATION
20 White Eagle Drive
Ponca City OK 74601
(580) 762 8104
(580) 762 2743 fax
TONKAWA TRIBE
P.O. Box 70
Tonkawa OK 74653
(580) 628 2561
(580) 628 3375 fax
www.tonkawatribe.com
QUAPAW TRIBE OF OKLAHOMA
P.O. Box 765
Quapaw OK 74363
(918) 542 1853
(918) 542 4694 fax
http://geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/1388/
SAC AND FOX NATION
RT 2 Box 246
Stroud OK 74079
(918) 968 3526
(918) 968 1142 fax
www.sacandfoxnation-nsn.gov
UNITED KEETOOWAH BAND OF
CHEROKEES
P.O. Box 746
Park Hill OK 74465
(918) 431 1818
(918) 431 1873 fax
www.unitedkeetoowahband.org
SEMINOLE NATION
P.O. Box 1498
Wewoka OK 74884
(405) 257 6287
(405) 257 6205 fax
www.seminolenation.com
WICHITA AND AFFILIATED TRIBES
P.O. Box 729
Anadarko OK 73005
(405) 247 2425
(405) 247 2430 fax
www.wichita.nsn.us
SENECA-CAYUGA TRIBE OF
OKLAHOMA
P.O. Box 1283
Miami OK 74355
(918) 542 6609
(918) 542 3684 fax
www.sctribe.com
WYANDOTTE NATION
P.O. Box 250
Wyandotte OK 74370
(918) 678 2297
(918) 678 2944 fax
www.wyandotte-nation.org
88
Bibliography
Resources--Bibliography
Oklahoma Prehistory: Spiro Mounds
Spiro Mounds: Prehistoric Gateway…Present-Day Enigma, A traveling exhibition by the
Oklahoma Museum of History and the Oklahoma Archaeological Survey.
European Contact and Trade
DeVoto, Bernard. Journals of Lewis and Clark (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1953).
Gibson, Arrell M. Oklahoma: A History of Five Centuries (Harlow Publishing Corporation,
1965).
Waldman, Carl. Atlas of the North American Indian (New York: Checkmark Books, 2000).
Kapoun, Robert W. Language of the Robe: American Indian Trade Blankets (Salt Lake City:
Peregrine Smith Books, 1992).
Nabokov, Peter, Ed. Native American Testimony: An Anthology of Indian and White Relations
(Toronto: Fitzhenry & Whiteside Limited, 1978).
Grinnell, George Bird. Pawnee Hero Stories and Folk Tales (New York, 1889).
Dubin, Lois Sherr. The History of Beads: From 30,000 B.C. to the Present (New York: Harry
N. Abrams, Inc., 1987).
The Period of Removal
Nies, Judith. Native American History (Ballantine Books, 1996).
Waldman, Carl, Ed. Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes (New York: Checkmark Books,
1999).
Wilkins, David E. American Indian Politics and the American Political System (Oxford:
Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2002).
The Allotment Period
Carter, Kent. The Dawes Commission and the Allotment of the Five Civilized Tribes, 1893-1914
(Utah: Ancestry.com Incorporated, 1999).
Debo, Angie. And Still the Waters Run: The Betrayal of the Five Civilized Tribes (Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1968).
89
Bibliography
Storytelling
Blackburn, Thomas C. Ed. When Stars Came Down to Earth: Cosmology of the Skidi Pawnee
Indians of North America, Von Del Chamberlain, Ballena Press Anthropological Papers No. 26,
ED., (Ballena Press/Center for Archaeoastronomy Cooperative Publication, 1982).
Mathews, John Joseph. The Osages: Children of the Middle Waters, Volume 60 in The
Civilization of the American Indian Series (The University of Oklahoma Press, 1961).
Education
Lomawaima, K. Tsainina. They Called It Prairie Light: The Story of Chilocco Indian School
(University of Nebraska Press, 1994).
Ellis, Clyde. To Change Them Forever: Indian Education at the Rainy Mountain Boarding
School, 1893-1920 (University of Oklahoma Press, 1996).
Superintendent of Indian Education. Annual Report, 1902
McBeth, Sally J. Ethnic Identity and the Boarding School Experience of West-Central
Oklahoma American Indians (University Press of America, 1983).
Reyhner, Jon and Jeanne Eder. American Indian Education: A History (Norman: University of
Oklahoma Press, 2004).
Language
Momaday, N. Scott. The Way to Rainy Mountain (University of New Mexico Press, 1969).
Meadows, William C. The Comanche Code Talkers of WWII (University of Texas Press, 2003).
Living Ways: Painting
Neel, Charles D. Prehistoric Rock Art of the Cross Timbers Management Unit, East Central
Oklahoma: An Introductory Study (The University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Archeological
Survey, ARSR 27. 1986).
Wyckoff, Lydia L. Visions and Voices: Native American Painting From The Philbrook Museum
of Art (University of New Mexico Press, 1996).
Donnelley, Robert G. Transforming Images: The Art of Silver Horn and His Successors
(University of Chicago Press, 2000).
Libhart, Myles, ed. Contemporary Southern Plains Indian Painting (Southern Plains Indian
Museum and Crafts Center, 1972).
90
Bibliography
Living Ways: Beadwork
Monture, Joel. The Complete Guide to Traditional Native American Beadwork: A Definitive
Study of Authentic Tools, Materials, Techniques and Styles (New York: Macmillan Publishing
Company, 1993).
Living Ways: Pottery
Dockstader, Frederick J. Naked Clay: 3000 Years of Unadorned Pottery of the American Indian
(New York: The Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation)
Resources-- General
Books
Allen, Paula Gunn. Voice of the Turtle (Ballantine Books, 1994).
Bailey, Garrick and Swan, Daniel. Art of the Osage (University of Washington Press, 2004).
Callahan, Alice. The Osage Ceremonial Dance I’n-Lon-Schka (University of Oklahoma Press,
1990).
Conley, Robert. The Way of the Priest (University of Oklahoma Press, 1992).
Conley, Robert. The Dark Way (University of Oklahoma Press, 1993).
Conley, Robert. The White Path (University of Oklahoma Press, 1993).
Conley, Robert. The Way South (University of Oklahoma Press, 1994).
Conley, Robert. The Long Way Home (University of Oklahoma Press, 1994).
Conley, Robert. The Dark Island (University of Oklahoma Press, 1995).
Conley, Robert. The War Trail North (University of Oklahoma Press, 1995).
Conley, Robert. Mountain Windsong (University of Oklahoma Press, 1992).
Crabtree, Caroline and Stallebrass, Pam. Beadwork: A World Guide (2002).
Harvey, K. and Harjo, L. and Jackson, J. Teaching About Native Americans (National Council
for the Social Studies, 1997).
Hogan, Lawrence. The Osage Indian Murders (Amilex, Inc., 1998).
Hogan, Linda. Mean Spirit (Ballantine Books, 1992).
McAuliffe, Dennis Jr. Bloodland (Council Oak Books, 1999).
Momaday, N. Scott. House Made of Dawn (Harper and Row, 1968).
Momaday, N. Scott. The Names: A Memoir (The University of Arizona Press, 1999).
Red Corn, Charles. A Pipe for February (University of Oklahoma Press, 2002).
Riley, Patricia. Growing Up Native American (Avon Books, 1993).
Tingle, Tim. Walking the Choctaw Road (Cinco Puntos Press, 2003).
Trout, Lawanna. Native American Literature, An Anthology (NTC Contemporary Publishing,
1999).
91
Bibliography
Juvenile Books
Ancona, George. Earth Daughter (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1995).
Brown, Tricia and Corral, Roy. Children of the Midnight Sun: Young Native Voices of Alaska
(Alaska Northwest Books, 1998).
Bruchac, Joseph. Navajo Long Walk (National Geographic Society, 2002).
Bruchac, Joseph and Goetzl, Robert. Seasons of the Circle (Bridge Water Books, 2002).
Dennis, Yvonne Wakim and Hirschfelder, Arlene. Children of Native America Today
(Charlesbridge, 2003).
Fitzpatrick, Marie-Louise. The Long March (Beyond Words Publishing, Inc., 1998).
Frye, Mary. Choctaw Jacks (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, 2001).
Frye, Mary. The Boy Who Almost Lost His Name (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, 2001).
Frye, Mary. The Pashofa Pole (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, 2000).
Grace, Catherine and Bruchas, Margaret. 1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving (National
geographic Society, 2001).
Hoagland-Hunter, Sara. The Unbreakable Code (Rising Moo from Northland Publishing,
1996).
Hoyt-Goldsmith, Diane. Cherokee Summer (Holiday House, 1993).
Hoyt-Goldsmith, Diane. Lacrosse (Holiday House, 1998).
Hunter, Sally. Four Seasons of Corn (Lerner Publications Co., 1997).
King, Sandra. Shannon: An Ojibway Dancer (Lerner Publications Co., 1993).
Larrabec, Lisa. Grandmother Five Baskets (Harbinger House, Inc., 1993).
Merculieff, Larry. Children of the Midnight Sun: Young Native Voices of Alaska Alaska
Northwest Books).
Morningstar, Mercredi. Fort Chipewyan Homecoming (Lerner Publications Co., 1997).
Pennington, Daniel. Itse Selu (Charlesbridge Publishing, 1994).
Peters, Russell. Clambake (Lerner Publications Co., 1992).
Regguinti, Gordon. The Sacred Harvest (Lerner Publications Co., 1992).
Secakuku, Susan. Meet Mindy, A Native Girl From the Southwest (Beyond Words Publishing,
Inc., 2003).
Smith, Cynthia. Jingle Dancer (Morrow Junior Books, 2000).
Swentzeli, Rina. The Children of Clay (Lerner Publications, 1992).
Tapahonso, Luci and Schick, Eleanor. Navajo ABC (Simon and Schuster Books for Young
Readers, 1995).
Tayac, Gabrielle. Meet Naiche, A Native Boy From Chesapeake Bay Area (Beyond Words
Publishing, 2002).
Wittstock, Laura Waterman. Ininatig’s Gift of Sugar Lerner Publications Co., 1993).
Wood, Ted and Wanbli Numpa Afraid of Hawk. A Boy Becomes a Man at Wounded Knee
(Walker Publishing Company, Inc., 1992).
92
Bibliography
Videos
Ella Mae Blackbear: Cherokee Basketmaker. Full Circle Communications 1.800.940.8849.
How to Bead: Native American Style, Volume I. Full Circle Videos, 1994.
Indians, Outlaws and Angie Debo. Oklahoma School Video Consortium.
In the White Man’s Image. PBS Video, 1991.
Into the Circle. Full Circle Communications, 1992.
Kiowa Cradleboard Maker. Full Circle Communications, 1999.
Music From a Painted Cave. PBS Video, 2001 (www.mirabal.com).
Native American Dance Styles, Vol. I, II. Full Circle Communications, 1993 and 1995.
Ribbons of the Osage. Full Circle Communications, 1990.
The World of American Indian Dance. Four Directions Entertainment, 2003.
The Strength of Life. Full Circle Communications, 1990.
Songs of Indian Territory. Full Circle Communications, 1990.
A Traditional Cherokee Story: Story of Light. Lucerne Media.
500 Nations. Pathway Productions, 1994.
CD’s
Cherokee Nation. Children’s National Cherokee Choir. Cherokee Nation Gift Shop.
1.918.456.0671.
Mauchahty-Ware, Tom. Flute Songs of the Kiowa and Comanche. Indian House, Box 472,
Taos, NM 87571.
Nevaquaya, Doc Tate. Legends Are Forever. Charlotte Nevaquaya, P.O. Box 517, Apache, OK
73006.
Magazines and Newspapers
Native Peoples Magazine. Phoenix, AZ.
Oklahoma Today. Oklahoma City, OK.
Whispering Wind. Folsom, LA.
American Indian Report. Fairfax, VA.
Tribal College Journal. Mancos, CO.
Winds of Change. Boulder, CO.
Native Peoples of the Southwest. Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ.
Daybreak Star Magazine. Seattle, WA.
Native American Times. Tulsa, OK.
93