Learning With My Boys: Native Americans Day 7: California: Pomo

California: Pomo

1. Review: We talked about the Navajo tribe in the Southwest region last time. Today we will move to the California region (show on regional map) and learn about the Pomo tribe.

2. Map Skills: Compare the regional map to the globe or map today and see what countries or states are in the California 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. After the chart has been filled out let the child color the California region on the blank Native American Groups Map.

Habitat: The Pomo Indians lived in what is now California between the Rocky Mountians and Sierra Nevada. This area had a mild climate and an abundance of food.
Homes: The Pomo built houses shaped like an inverted circular or elliptical bowl, using the framework willow poles thrust in the ground and transverse oaken hoops. The Pomo tribe covered the tule huts with rush mats or layers of rushes or grass.
Dress: Men wore loincloths or no clothing in the summer. The women wore short skirts made of fibers from bark, grass, tule, and sometimes deerskin. In the winter capes that hung down to the skirts were wore. Both men and women went barefoot except during snow. Skin moccasins were worn during the winter. Fur and fiber blankets were also wore during the winter.
Food: The main foods included wild plants, seeds, and nuts. The Pomo also ate grasshoppers, caterpillars, and grubs. The men fished, trapped, and hunted. The women gathered food. The men caught fish with hooks and spears. The people who lived in the coastal regions ate shellfish, dolphins, porpoises, and whales.

4. Read: Pomo by Barbara A. Gray-Kanatiiosh

5. Comprehension questions:

What region did the Pomo live in? California
What kind of homes did the Pomo build? Tule Huts
What kind of clothes did the Pomo wear? Loincloths, tule, deerskin, capes, moccasins and skirts
How did the Pomo get their food? Hunted, fished, and gathered

Stick Dice

We played a game that I found on page 111 of More Than Moccasins by Laurie Carlson called Stick Dice that the Pomo Indians used to play. J used a sharpie to draw a design on one side of the 6 craft sticks. Then we took turns dropping the sticks to see how they would land. We kept score according to the book.

Indian Fry Bread

Ingredients:

4 c. flour

4 tsp baking powder

2 ½ c. water

½ c. powdered milk

2-3 c. of oil

Directions:

Mix dry ingredients in a big bowl.
Pour ½ cup of water into the dry ingredients. Mix well. Keep adding water, ½ cup at a time, until the dough is smooth and sticks together.
Put a teaspoon of oil in another large bowl. Grease the bowl by spreading the oil around. Put the dough in the oiled bowl. Leave it to rise.
In about 20 minutes, heat remaining oil in an electic fry pan. It should be about 400 degrees.
Take a section of the dough abou the size of a walnut and flatten it in your hand. Pinch a small hole through the middle using your thumb and your pointer finger. (You'll want to make the hole a little bigger than I did, and flatten the dough out a bit more so they are not so doughy when you eat them).
Put the dough in the hot oil. The dough should sizzle and float to the top.
Turn the bread over with a fork or tongs when the bottom gets brown. As soon as both sides are done, put the fry bread onto a plate covered iwh paper towels.
Put honey or powdered sugar on your fry bread.

Indian Basket

We did an activity that I found on page 18 of More Than Moccasins by Laurie Carlson called Basket. J weaved a basket with construction paper.

Directions:

1. Lay down 4 strips all in the same direction and then weave 4 mores strips over and under them. Push them all close together in their centers. Staple them in the corners.