All Things Beautiful: American Indians/Native Americans

Showing posts with label American Indians/Native Americans. Show all posts

Making Native American Pemmican

Pemmican is a food that was developed by North American Indians, the word coming from the Cree word pimîhkân, which itself is derived from the word pimî, “fat, grease” which refers to the fat that was added to the lean meat from large game, such as buffalo, elk, or moose, in order to keep it together in a cake. The meat that went into the pemmican was sliced and dried in the sun or in the smoke of a fire, then ground into powder using rocks. Often dried fruit such as berries were added to the mixture. The mixture then could provide most, if not all, of the foods and nutrients one needs to survive on long hunting expeditions or just as a mainstay food through the long winters. It was easy to carry, tucked an a leather pouch. Later it was eaten by European explorers to the New World. It was even eaten by the Arctic explorer Vihljamur Stefansson.

We have been studying Native American groups this fall and so we decided that it might be interesting to try our hand at making and eating pemmican, and I will share the recipe with you, so you can try it as well. We found that it was pretty tasty!

We debated a bit on which recipe to try, and ended up settling on a recipe that uses already prepared jerky as the meat ingredient. We did this mainly because we did not want to spend a lot of time on this activity and we had already made our own dried meat before when we studied pirates, so we did not have to duplicate that step this time.

This recipe calls for suet. You can find food grade suet, called Recipe Ready lard in the refrigerator section of your grocery store.

Pemmican

1/2 lb Jerky

1 Tab. Brown sugar

1 oz (2 Tab.) Raisins

2 oz (4 Tab.) Cranberries

2 1/2 oz. (1/3 cup) Suet

Run the dry jerky through a food grinder a few times (we used a blender). In a loaf pan add the cranberries, raisins and brown sugar. When the mixture is well blended, melt the suet and stir it in. Let the suet cool and harden. You can then form it into balls and enjoy!

source: Recipe Source

Food and Culture: Lesson 2: Native Americans

Lesson 2: Native Americans

Pick two regional areas of traditional Native American cuisine to research.
Recipe Source and Recipe Goldmine are good sources for such recipes.

Iroquois Soup and Bannocks

A Traditional Northeastern Indian Meal

Iroquois Soup

Bannocks

Indian Pudding

Strawberry Juice

A Traditional Southeastern Indian Meal

Huckleberry Honey Cake

Brunswick Stew

Corn Pone

Huckleberry Honey Cake

Honey Water

A Traditional Great Plains Indian Meal

Pemmican

Stuffed Pumpkin

Broiled Jerusalem Artichokes

Wojapu

Peppermint Tea

A Traditional Southwestern Indian Meal

Green Chili Stew

Blue Corn Bread

Navajo Peach Crisp

A Northwest Coast Indian Meal

Salmon

Elk Stew with Acorn Dumplings

Steamed Fiddlehead Ferns

Whipped Raspberry (soup)

Describe the similarities and differences between the two in terms of types of foods used and preparation of those foods. For these regions, you might consider making a menu of some of these dishes and or preparing and sampling them. If you choose to do this, please leave a comment with a link to a post on this for others to see.
Research Native Americans that live/lived near where you live. Have they influenced the foods that you eat today? If so, what dishes can you trace back to an American Indian dish?
In Native American culture, what is considered the cause of illness?
Research and describe the uses of corn for the traditional Native American.
What is the contemporary American Indian's diet and how has it been influenced by their history? Does this sub-culture of America have a lot of any particular illnesses that could be influenced by their diet? (diabetes, for example)

History and Geography Meme #183: American Indians, lesson 9: Native Americans, part 3: Northwest Coast Indians

American Indians, lesson 9: Native Americans, part 3: Northwest Coast Indians

Read about the Indians of this cultural area and list them on the map you have made. How did where they lived influence the homes and food of the Northwest Coast Indians?

The Northwest is an area of many trees including the giant redwoods. The Indians used the plentiful resources available to them to make many things out of wood. Read about the wood working skills of the Northwest Indians.

Write about the events of a potlatch.

Potlaches are feasts held by wealthy Indians designed to prove their wealth and social rank.

Study the totem poles of the Northwest coast. What did they symbolize? Do we have something like it in our culture?

Tell me about the villages of the Northwest Coast Indians.

Villages in the Northwest area were built near water. They depended on the lakes, rivers or ocean for fishing. The Northwest Coast Indians constructed their homes from the plentiful wood in the surrounding forests.

Sources and resources:

The World of Columbus and Sons, Genevieve Foster
The Kingfisher World History Encyclopedia
Homeschool Curriculum, Grade 6

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History and Geography Meme #181: American Indians, lesson 7: Native Americans, part 1: Northeastern Indians

American Indians, lesson 7: Native Americans, part 1: Northeastern Indians

Read about the Indians of this cultural area. List the tribes on the large map you created.
Draw pictures of artifacts, tools, clothes and houses unique to this area.
Study the houses used in this area. Observe the materials that are used in this area. You could make a model of a wigwam or longhouse out of similar materials you can gather outside.
What is the weather like in the Northeast? How did this affect what houses the Northeastern Indians lived in? What did they eat?

The Northeast Indians lived in an area of cold winters and warm summers. Their houses protected them from the cold winter weather. Long houses held many people. The long house was divided into many small living spaces for related family groups. Several long houses formed a community. Some of the Northeast Indians were farmers, while others relied on hunting, fishing and gathering. Maple sugar was plentiful in the Northeast.

Read about the Iroquois' sachems. Women could not become sachems but they could remove a sachem if he did not perform up tho their expectations. Discuss their method of decision making.

Read about the importance of religion in the lives of the Northeastern Indians. Read about their beliefs and their practices. Compare their religions with Christianity.

The Iroquois played lacrosse. What are the similarities and differences between their form of lacrosse and our own?

The Northeastern Indians were some of the first to meet European settlers. Read about Squanto, a Patuxet Indian, who helped the settlers. Discuss what happened between the Indians and the early settlers that caused them to become hostile toward each other.

Sources and resources:

Incans, Aztecs and Mayans, John Holzmann
The World of Columbus and Sons, Genevieve Foster
The Kingfisher World History Encyclopedia
Homeschool Curriculum, Grade 6

Don't forget to link up to the Multicultural Kids Blog's Blog Hop each month.

Postcard-Geography Album: Idaho, "Gem State"

We not only received a postcard from the Neale family, but they sent us four postcards, Wild Huckleberry Licorice and Wild Huckleberry Honey!

Idaho was established as the 43rd state on July3, 1890. It has 83,557 square miles of some of America's most beautiful scenery.

"It is so beautiful here in Idaho!"

Priest River flourished as a logging and railroad town in its early days. It is now a jumping off point to some of northern Idaho's most spectacular backcountry.

" This is the city where we live -it is located up in the panhandle, close to the border of Canada."

Idaho is home to many native tribes. The history of Idaho's first citizens is rich in tradition, character and culture.

"Our state celebrates the important role of Native Americans in our history."

"One of the things Idaho is famous for! : )"

We enjoyed the Wild Huckleberry Honey in our tea one Teatime and the Rocky Mountain Wild Huckleberry Licorice as a snack. Thank you so much for a fun glimpse at Idaho!

In 1863, Congress designated the Idaho Territory with the erroneous understanding that Idaho was a Shoshone word meaning "Gem of the Mountains." In spite of the misunderstanding concerning the origin of the name the state, it continues to be known as the “Gem State” and the “Gem of the Mountains."

We noted that Idaho is bordered by Canada in the north and the states of Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and Montana surround it.

We had studied the Nez Perce Indians when we studied the Lewis and Clark Expedition, so we just reviewed what we had done as Idaho falls in the territory of the Nez Perce.

We completed the pocket for History Pockets: Native Americans,

which included this model of a decoration for horses that they used.
Much of Idaho's geography is the Rocky Mountains, with the Snake River Plain being the only level ground in the state.

Appaloosa steed, zinc mines to Mount Borah, the potato, peregrine, Union Pacific, Quinceanera, Nex Perce and all things Idaho.

Idaho Potato Gems from Layers of Learning

When I think of Idaho, I immediately think of potatoes, so we decided to have a baked potato bar for dinner to celebrate our study of this state, but these "Idaho Potato Gems" sound very interesting. (Link above is to the recipe.)

We have "visited" 47 states (94%) with our postcard-geography album.

We still need postcards for these states:

Mississippi

New Jersey

Vermont and Wyoming.

If you live in any of these states and would like to help us with this project, please leave a comment on how I can get in touch with you. Thank you!

Native Americans {a compilation of all we have done}

The Maidu of California

This seed beater craft is from History Pockets: Native Americans.

The Tlingit of the Northwest

This mask craft is from History Pockets:Native Americans...

which went along really well with Raven, A Trickster Tale from the Pacific Northwest.

We played Inuit games like blanket toss...

and made some totem pole pictures.

The Seminoles of the Southeast

from Homeschool Journey's Renaissance History Portfolio

Iroquois and the other woodland tribes of the Northeast

The Navajo of the Southwest

The Sioux of the Plains

The Cherokee and the Trail of Tears

map from Interactive 3-D Maps: American History

The boys learned how the Native Americans (mostly Cherokee, in this area) made arrowheads...

and bow strings (from bark strands) at Sycamore Shoal's Knap-In.

The Inuit of the Arctic

The Nez Perce of the Plateau

Sources:

Totem Pole Art at Sea Kettle Diaries
Inuit Games at It's a Boy's Life (other games there)

Additional Great Ideas:

Tee Pee Cupcakes at These are a Few of my Favorite Things
Tin Can Totem Pole at Family Fun
Mrs Schmelzer's First Grade
PVC Bow and Arrows at Craft, Interrupted
Southwest Native American Tribes at Squidoo
Northeast and Southeast Native Americans at Squidoo
Northwest and Plateau Native Americans at Squidoo
Plains Native American Tribes at Squidoo
Indian Corn necklaces at The Natural Child Learning Community
Mini Tee Pees at That Artist Woman
Tee Pee Craft at Silly Eagle Books
Paper Baskets at Family Fun

Indians of the Pacific Northwest

We have been studying the Native Americas of the Pacific Northwest.

We made a mask craft from History Pockets:Native Americans...

which went along really well with Raven, A Trickster Tale from the Pacific Northwest.

We played Inuit games like blanket toss...

and made some
Totem Pole pictures.

To make the Totem Pole pictures, take a piece of paper and fold it in half lengthwise.

Dab small globs of paint along the fold. You can't tell so much from this picture, but we used about four different colors in no particular order. We used acrylic paint.

Fold your paper again on the crease and run your hand down the fold to spread out the paint. You may have to use your fingers to squeeze the paint from the fold outward.

Open the paper up and let the paint dry. Once it is dry, look at the paint and see what figures you see in it. If you can, you can use markers to draw in the details...