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Gaining A 'Native' Understanding At The Reed School

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Gaining A ‘Native’ Understanding At The Reed School

By Larissa Lytwyn

A program to increase appreciation of Native American life has led local students far beyond the stereotypes that abounded in mid-20th Century pop culture.

Reed Intermediate School fifth grade classes taught by Georgia Smith and Lara Mace recently culminated their Native American unit with an open house featuring extensive research on tribal culture, geography, housing, foods, and more.

The time period studied spanned from Land Barrier crossers to present-day inhabitants of reservations the world over.

“Students got to choose which Native American groups they wanted to study based on tribes’ geographic location,” explained Ms Mace.

Students were then separated into groups of five or six according to their interest.

Tribes represented included groups from the American southwest, far north and northeastern woodlands.

Each class group had to present a topography map, three-dimensional model of their tribes’ environment and culture and a report on various aspects of that regional group’s life, from spiritual beliefs to dietary habits.

During the mid-18th to early 19th Century, explained Krysta Gate, a student in Ms Mace’s northeastern woodlands group, squirrels were able to travel from Maine to the Mississippi River on treetops.

“That’s how thick the trees were!” she exclaimed.

Students learned about the different forms of housing each group had, such as tee-pees in the south, log lean-tos in the east, and igloos in the far north.

“The types of housing materials was based on what they had around them,” explained Krysta.

Classes also studied how each part of the animal, whether it was whale or buffalo, was utilized in eating, clothing, and weapon making.

“Nothing was wasted,” noted one of Krysta’s group partners, Gunnar Cedergren. “There was a lot of respect [for animals].”

“It was interesting to see [the differences] in the way the world was back then compared to now,” added Krysta. “It makes me appreciate the kind of [advancements] we have more.”

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