Native Americans Day 13: Great Plains: Sioux

Great Plains: Sioux

1. Review: We talked about the Inuit tribe in the Arctic region last time. Today we will move to the Great Plains region (show on regional map) and learn about the Sioux tribe.

2. Map Skills: Compare the regional map to the globe or map today and see what countries or states are in the Great Plains region.

3. Discuss: Fill out the Tribes Chart after reading each section. Have the child listen closely to choose what word to put on the chart. Bold type words are good suggestions.

• Habitat: Great Plains The original Lakota/Dakota homelands were in what is now Wisconsin, Minnesota, North and South Dakota. The Sioux traveled freely, however, and there was also significant Sioux presence in the modern states of Iowa, Nebraska, Montana, and northern Illinois, and in south-central Canada.
• Homes: The men would go hunting. The men would take the animal skins to the women, and the women would sew it together. They would get three poles and stick them into the ground. They would put the hide over the poles and tie them. Then they would decorate the tepee.
• Dress: The Sioux had jackets and pants made out of buffalo skins. Then when it got colder, they wore very thick gowns to keep them warm. They used the animal skins to make jackets and decorated the jackets.
• Food: They depended almost entirely on hunting for their survival. The buffalo were part of their life. It was a dangerous job to catch a buffalo. Not a single part of the buffalo was wasted after it was killed. The buffalo was used for everything including meat, clothing, tools, and objects for ceremonies. The Sioux moved from place to place hunting large game and gathered wild fruits, vegetables, and berries. The got other kinds of food through trade. They also fished and traded fish for pelts.

4. Read: The Sioux by Rachel A. Koestler-Grack

5. Comprehension questions:

• What region did the Sioux live in? Great Plains
• What kind of homes did the Sioux build? Tepee
• What kind of clothes did the Sioux wear? Buffalo skin jackets, gowns and pants
• How did the Sioux get their food? Hunted, gathered and fished

Wo-Jopee (Blackberry Dessert)

Supplies:

• 2 cups fresh or frozen blackberries
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 ½ cups water
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• whipped cream, yogurt or ice cream
• mixing bowl
• measuring cups and spoons
• 2 quart sauce pan
• colander
• wire whisk
• large spoon

Directions:

1. Let frozen berries thaw for about 30 minutes. Place berries in the sauce pan and add ½ cup water to them. Simmer for about 10 minutes.
   

   
2. Place the colander or strainer over the large bowl. Pour the berries into the colander, letting the juice empty into the bowl. Set the juice aside.
   

   
3. Put the blackberries in the sauce pan and gently stir in the sugar.
   

   
4. Add the water to the blackberry juice in the mixing bowl.
5. Whisk the flour into the juice a little at a time. Stir constantly with the whisk so that lumps don't form. Keep on stirring until the flour is completely mixed in.
   

   
6. Pour the juice mixture into the sauce pan with the berries and sugar. Boil and stir frequently. Lower heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.
   

   
7. Turn off the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Allow the mixture to cool, then chill it in the refrigerator for an hour. Serve the wo-jopee cold by itself or topped with whipped cream. Or use it as a topping for ice cream or yogurt.
   

   

   

   

Crazy Horse Biography

Read: Crazy Horse by Elaine Landau

Discuss:

Crazy Horse was born to parents from two tribes of the Lakota division of the Sioux. His father, born in 1810, was also named Crazy Horse. Crazy Horse the son acquired his name was after having a vision. His mother was Rattling Blanket Woman (born 1814).
In the summer of 1844, Crazy Horse went on a buffalo hunt. He came across a Lakota village under attack by Crow warriors. He led his small party of warriors to the village and rescued it.
On June 17, 1876, Crazy Horse led a combined group of approximately 1,500 Lakota and Cheyenne in a surprise attack against brevetted Brigadier General George Cook's force of 1,000 cavalry and infantry, and allied 300 Crow and Shoshone warriors in the Battle of the Rosebud. The battle delayed Crook's joining with the 7^th Cavalry under George A. Custer. It contributed to Custer’s defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

His personal courage was attested to by several eye-witness Indian accounts. Water Man, one of only five Arapaho warriors who fought, said that Crazy Horse "was the bravest man I ever saw. He rode closest to the soldiers, yelling to his warriors. All the soldiers were shooting at him, but he was never hit." Sioux battle participant, Little Soldier, said, "The greatest fighter in the whole battle was Crazy Horse."

Biography:

A biography is simply the story of a life. Biographies can be just a few sentences long, or they can fill an entire book—or two. They can be very short that tell the basic facts of someone's life and importance, or they can be longer that include that basic information of course, with a lot more detail, but they also tell a good story.

Biographies are usually about a famous person, but a biography of an ordinary person can tell us a lot about a particular time and place. They are often about historical figures, but they can also be about people still living today. Many biographies are written in chronological order. Others focus on specific topics or accomplishments.

Biographers use primary and secondary sources. Primary sources are things like letters, diaries, or newspaper articles; and secondary sources include other biographies, reference books, or histories that provide information about the subject of the biography.

To write a biography you should:

1. Select a person you are interested in and find out the basic facts of that person's life. Start with the encyclopedia or almanac.

2. Think about what else you would like to know about the person, and what parts of the life you want to write most about. Some questions you might want to think about include:

• What makes this person special or interesting?
• What kind of effect did he or she have on the world? other people?
• What are the adjectives you would most use to describe the person?
• Would the world be better or worse if this person hadn't lived? How and why?

3. Do additional research at your library or on the Internet to find information that helps you answer these questions and tell an interesting story.

4. Write your biography.

Picture Writing

We did the activity on page 27 of Native Americans A Complete Thematic Unit by Jill Norris and then we made our own Skin Story.

Discuss:  The Plains Indians used pictures to tell stories.  Each symbol meant something different.  They would write their stories on buffalo skins and sometimes decorate their teepees with them.

 

Materials:

• Brown Grocery Bag
• Bucket of water
• Brown Tempera Paint
• Sharpie

Directions:

1.  We cut out the bottom of the bag, then crumpled up the bag to dip in water.

2.  We squeezed out the water and uncrumpled it.  Then we did that 2 more times.

3.  Next we folded the bag in half longwise and carefully ripped out an animal shape.

4.  We painted the words side with brown paint while it is still wet.

5.  When the bag (skin) dryed we used the picture dictionary to write our own story.

Story Comparison

Read:

The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses and The Gift of the Sacred Dog by Paul Goble

Activity:

1. These books are book written and illustrated by Paul Goble. Have students compare and contrast the two books. 

• Both books start out with the Indians moving to look for buffalo.
• Both books have a child who left the camp for a day.
• Both book had a thunderstorm when the child was away.
• The Indians treat the horses like relatives.
• The illustrations of the sun and horses are very similar.

The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses The Gift of the Sacred Dog

-the girl left to a year -the boy left for a night

-the illustration of the thunderstorm is black -the illustration of the thunderstorm is in color

-the girl ended up living with the horses -the boy ended up back home with his family

2. Have students look at the sun at the beginning and end of The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses and in the middle of The Gift of the Sacred Dog. Then students can draw a sun with the narrow triangle rays similar to the ones in the books.