A First-Hand Look At Native American Culture

By Tanjua Damon

The close-up look at teepees and longhouses brought Native American culture to life for the fifth grades at two Newtown elementary schools last week. The students glimpsed a lifestyle they would otherwise be learning about from textbooks.

Hawley School fifth graders learned about the Eastern Woodland Indians, while Middle Gate fifth graders received a lesson about the Plains Indians during cultural arts programs at the school. The program, “Journeys into American Indian Territory,” is an in-house field trip for the students.

The fifth grade students learned about Native American culture and customs from clothing to shelter to food to the different jobs that men and women did for the tribe from Robert Vetter, creator of the in-house field trip from Eastport, N.Y.

“There are two million Indian people living in the United States today,” Mr Vetter said. “They are very much a part of the modern world.”

Eastern Woodland_Indians

Hawley students learned about the Eastern Woodland Indians from Mr Vetter and Uaian Bruno, who is part of an Eastern Woodland tribe. The Eastern Woodland tribes ranged from Canada to North Carolina and from the coast to as far as the Great Lakes. They lived in two types of houses – wigwams and longhouses. The Indians never took from the land more than they were going to use.

The Indians felt they were cleaner than the Europeans because they bathed more frequently. They participated in Sweat Lodge Ceremonies, where they would sit and pour water over hot rocks and it would steam. They would also sing songs and pray.

“It cleansed your body as well as rid all poisonous toxins that were inside your body,” Mr Vetter said.

Men and women had different roles in the tribe, but neither was better than the other.

“They had a very clear division of what men were to do and what women were to do,” Mr Vetter said. “Equal, but quite different from each other.”

Corn, beans, and squash were known as the three sisters to the Eastern Woodland Tribes.

“Because they help each other to grow,” Mr Vetter told the students. “They nourish. They bear fruit in the same way as women would bear children.”

Women collected planted, collected, and cooked in the tribe, while men hunted and fished.

“Women brought life into the world, men took it,” Mr Vetter said. “Women’s job is to bring, men is to take.”

“They played with toys that helped them with the jobs they would have as adults,” Mr Vetter added.

The Hawley students learned dances and songs of the Eastern Woodland Indians. They also made pinch pots from clay during the day-long program. The students played a simple game with beans during some of the activities.

“I like the games. They were just fun. They were from a different culture,” Alanna Gilbert said. “I like how they survive. They live in nature. They take things from nature to survive.”

“There was a lot more Indian tribes than I thought there was,” T.J. Faeth said. “[I liked] hunting because they didn’t have guns. They used spears and bow and arrows. It was harder to use than the gun like now.”

Plains Indians

The Plains Indians territory runs from Canada to the State Plains of Texas and from the edge of the Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi River. Plains Indians lived in teepees and hunted buffalo for their livelihood.

Moses Starr, a Cheyenne Indian from Oklahoma, joined Mr Vetter at Middle Gate School, where the two men showed the students how to assemble a teepee. Seventeen poles were used to construct the teepee. The poles are made of Lodge Pole Pine Tree because they grow in clusters close together, which helps them grow extremely straight. The doorway to the teepee is always facing east because that is where the sun rises.

“The mother owned the teepee. She made the cover, set it up, took it down and moved it,” Mr Vetter said. “Everything she had to do with the teepee was her world.”

Teepees were made from buffalo skins at first, but later were made from canvas. Indian cultures changed with time and different materials were used as those changes occurred.

“Cultures constantly change throughout time,” Mr Vetter said. “Indian culture has changed over time just like European culture has changed.”

Mr Starr spoke to the students about how the buffalo was the major source of material for the Plains Indians. It was used for shelter, clothes, and food. The hide was used for teepees, the fur was clothing and the meat was food for the Native Americans.

Mr Vetter had the students lie down and envision things in nature as he tapped a drum slightly. After the exercise, the students went back to the classroom to create their own shields using the things they had envisioned in their minds.

“The Plains Indians stylized the image,” Mr Vetter said. “They took something that was complicated and made it as simple as they could.”

Middle Gate students and teachers found the presentation to be educational as well as enjoyable.

“I think it was really cool,” Paige Fleming said. “I learned a lot of things. In Plains Indian Tribes a boy becomes a man when he is 12 or 13.”

“I learned that the Indians made shields out of buffalo skin,” Joseph Knapik added. “The Indians saw visions by suffering.”

Teachers Chris Breyan and Samantha Saxenmeyer felt the program was an excellent opportunity for students to learn firsthand about Native American culture.

“It’s terrific. It’s a wonderful learning opportunity,” Mr Breyan said. “Seeing and doing will help their learning.”

“It’s kicking off our unit on Native Americans,” Ms Saxenmeyer said. “It’s a hands-on learning experience.”