LEARN NC

3.3 Cherokee lore and traditions

By Patricia Lancaster

Provided by The North Carolina Humanities Council.

Length

9 Weeks
Class Length: 45 minutes - Meets daily

Learning outcomes

  1. Promotes life-long learning: appreciation of different cultures.
  2. Provides hands-on activities: making masks.
  3. Integrates with EOG testing: reading.
  4. A+ activities: Gourd Art.

Week 1

This week was devoted to the location of Cherokee, NC, the Cherokee Territory, and the Cherokee Tribe in North Carolina and the United States.
We used a classroom set of North Carolina maps to locate Cherokee and correlate some math skills (mileage).

Resources used

  1. Covert, Brenda B., “The Eastern Band of Cherokee People.” 11 November 2005. (Requires subscription).
  2. Cherokee Fact Sheets, Info packet pp. 2-13 from the Museum of the Cherokee Indian.

Week 2

This week was devoted to the Trail of Tears. During the week, I shared my experience of walking on a part of the trail.

Resources used

  1. Ciment, James Ph.D. and LaFrance, Ronald Ph.D., Scholastic Encyclopedia of the North American Indian. New York: Scholastic, Inc., 1996.
  2. Underwood, Thomas Bryan and John G. Burnett, Cherokee Legends and the Trail of Tears. Cherokee: Cherokee Publications, 2002.

Activities

  1. After reading “The Trail of Tears” birthday story by John Burnett, decide if you agree or disagree with the removal. Write your own letter to a friend justifying your position. Be prepared to defend your position orally.
  2. Using any medium, construct a map showing the Trail of Tears.

Week 3

This week was devoted to Sequoyah and his syllabary.

Resources used

  1. Patterson, Lillie, Sequoyah: The Cherokee Who Captured Words, a selection from the Harcourt basal reader.
  2. Robbins, Mari Lu,Interdisciplinary Unit: Native Americans #607, Teachers Created Materials, Inc. Huntington Beach, CA: 1994.
  3. Robinson, Prentice, Your Name in Cherokee. Tulsa: 1992.

We had a lot of fun trying to write Cherokee names, words, and phrases using the syllabary.

Week 4

We worked with different Cherokee legends this week.

Resources used

  1. Calloway, Mary Regina Ulmer, Aunt Mary, Tell Me A Story. Cherokee: Cherokee Publications, 2001.
  2. Brannon, Kay Thorpe, Yonder Mountain. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 2002.
  3. “The Cherokee Rose,” Scholastic Scope, November 15, 2004: pp. 14-15. (Requires subscription)
  4. Redman, Kathleen W., “Why The Possum’s Tail Is Bare (A Cherokee Legend),” 25 January 2007. (Requires subscription)

Activities

  1. Illustrate favorite part of legend.
  2. Write lessons that the author wanted you to get from the legend.
  3. Venn diagram of what is “real” and what is “magical.”

Week 5

We worked with different Cherokee tales.

Resources used

  1. Keams, Geri, Grandmother Spider Brings the Sun. Flagstaff, Arizona: Rising Moon, 1995.
  2. MacFarlan, Allan A., Native American Tales and Legends. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1968.
  3. Bradley, Ramona K., Weavers of Tales. Cherokee: Betty Dupree, 1967.

Activities

  1. Flip chart to show comprehension.
  2. Draw spider web on black tag board. Outline with glitter glue and let dry. Attach a plastic spider caught in its web.
  3. Create a “trickster” tale. Using a rabbit pattern, create a storybook for the tale. I let students make the books and then we sent them to our feeder school. Third and fourth grade classes voted on the best tales. The junior high students loved this activity.

Weeks 6 - 8

We worked these three weeks on art activities. We painted gourds and made masks with gourds.

Resources used

  1. Messina, Colleen, “Native American Masks” 8 March 2007. (Requires subscription)

Week 9

We used this week as a fill-in and catch-up week. We worked with Cherokee folklore, beliefs, and medicines.

Resources used

  1. Lossiah, Lynn, The Secrets and Mysteries of the Cherokee Little People. Cherokee: Cherokee Publications, 1998.
  2. Sharp, J. Ed. and Underwood, Thomas B. American Indian Cooking & Herb Lore. Cherokee: Cherokee Publications, 1973.

North Carolina curriculum alignment

English Language Arts (2004)

Grade 8

  • Goal 2: The learner will use and evaluate information from a variety of sources.
    • Objective 2.02: Use multiple sources of print and non-print information to explore and create research products in both written and presentational forms by:
      • determining purpose, audience, and context.
      • understnaing the focus.
      • recognizing and/or choosing a relevant topic.
      • recognizing and/or selecting presentational format (e.g., video, essay, interactive technology) appropriate to audience.
      • evaluating information for extraneous detail, inconsistencies, relevant facts, and organization.
      • researching and organizing information to achieve purpose.
      • using notes and/or memory aids to structure information.
      • supporting ideas with examples, definitions, analogies, and direct references to primary and secondary sources.
      • noting and/or citing sources used.
      • recognizing the use of and/or employing graphics such as charts, diagrams,and graphs to enhance the communication of information.
  • Goal 5: The learner will respond to various literary genres using interpretive and evaluative processes.
    • Objective 5.01: Increase fluency, comprehension, and insight through a meaningful and comprehensive literacy program by:
      • using effective reading strategies to match type of text.
      • reading self-selected literature and other materials of interest to the individual.
      • reading literature and other materials selected by the teacher.
      • assuming a leadership role in student-teacher reading conferences.
      • leading small group discussions.
      • taking an active role in whole class seminars.
      • analyzing the effects of elements such as plot, theme, charaterization, style, mood, and tone.
      • discussing the effects of such literary devices as figurative language, dialogue, flashback, allusion, irony, and symbolism.
      • analyzing and evaluating themes and central ideas in literature and other texts in relation to personal and societal issues.
      • extending understanding by creating products for different purposes, different audiences, and within various contexts.
      • analyzing and evaluating the relationships between and among characters, ideas, concepts, and/or experiences.

Social Studies (2003)

Grade 8

  • Goal 1: The learner will analyze important geographic, political, economic, and social aspects of life in the region prior to the Revolutionary Period.
    • Objective 1.07: Describe the roles and contributions of diverse groups, such as American Indians, African Americans, European immigrants, landed gentry, tradesmen, and small farmers to everyday life in colonial North Carolina, and compare them to the other colonies.
  • Goal 3: The learner will identify key events and evaluate the impact of reform and expansion in North Carolina during the first half of the 19th century.
    • Objective 3.05: Compare and contrast different perspectives among North Carolinians on the national policy of Removal and Resettlement of American Indian populations.