Concept Weeks #21 & 22: Native Americans and Native American Mythology

These two Concept Weeks went hand-in-hand. Ideally, we were supposed to do Native Americans the first week followed by Native American Mythology the second week however the two units actually overlapped so we did them together spread out over the two weeks.

We learned about some of the many tribes out there, and how they all lived differently as well as had (and still have) different customs. We read about the "three sisters" of their diet - corn, beans, and squash. We learned how different tribes hunted different animals, and about the introduction of horses into their culture.

We also talked about some of the more negative things, such as the constant warfare with the Europeans, the superior weapons of the Europeans, and introduction of European diseases to the tribes. We also covered some sad historical events - specifically the Trail of Tears and the Wounded Knee Massacre.

We also took a closer look at both Pocahontas and Sacajawea - their early lives, their interaction with the white settlers, etc.

Throughout all of this we read a bunch of myths of many of the different tribes. Some of the myths we greatly enjoyed, some we did not.

We had a few books. DK Eyewitness North American Indian gave an overview of the many tribes and regions of North America before and during the white settlers coming. This book was VERY over my kids heads! I loved it, but they didn't really care for it. Deciding that since they didn't get much out of the DK book I figured we should take a closer look at one tribe in particular. We read a book in the American Indians series called The Cherokee: A Proud People by Suzanne Cloud Trapper. This book was much better. It talked about the different aspects of Cherokee life before, during, and after the coming of the white settlers, as well as talking about how they live today versus then. Lastly, we had the book American Indian Mythology by Evelyn Wolfson. It had nine different myths from nine different tribes within it. Like I said, some we liked, some we didn't.

Overall, I think the information was a bit above Optimus Prime and Bumblebee's heads, however they did enjoy some parts of the unit. I think we'll do it again in a year or two - hopefully by then they will be ready to learn more.