American Indian Unit

November is National American Indian Heritage Month. I am going to help my son make an American Indian book as he works his way through this fifth-grade unit. I will use a three-ring binder, and each Indian tribe will be a separate chapter. I am going to use some of the pages for his book from Easy File Folder Reports (Evan-Moor Publishing).

For each group of Indians, my son will research and note their language, religion, diet, dwelling, clothing, transportation, and areas they lived. He will also list the sources for his information.

Below are the Indians and Indian-related facts that my son will be learning about (due to time limitations, we won’t cover every Indian tribe in the US):

Indians of the Southwest
- Acoma
  - TheWildWest.org: Acoma
  - Dwelling: Multi-family adobe houses
  - Clothing: Skins/cloth
  - Transportation: Horses
- Apache
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Apache
  - Dwelling: Wickiups/tipis
  - Clothing: Skins/cloth
  - Transportation: Horses
- Hopi
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Hopi
  - Dwelling: Multi-family adobe houses
  - Clothing: Skins/cloth
  - Transportation: Unknown
- Navajo
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Navajo
  - Dwelling: Wickiups
  - Clothing: Cloth
  - Transportation: Horses
- Zuni
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Zuni
  - Dwelling: Multi-family adobe houses
  - Clothing: Skins/cloth
  - Transportation: Unknown
Indians of the Southeast
- Cherokee
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Cherokee
  - Dwelling: Mat-covered houses
  - Clothing: Skins
  - Transportation: Dugout canoes
- Chickasaw
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Chickasaw
  - Dwelling: Earth lodges
  - Clothing: Skins
  - Transportation: Dugout canoes
- Choctaw
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Choctaw
  - Dwelling: Thatched houses
  - Clothing: Skins
  - Transportation: Dugout canoes
- Creek
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Creek
  - Dwelling: Thatched houses
  - Clothing: Skins
  - Transportation: Dugout canoes
- Natchez
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Natchez
  - Dwelling: Rectangular thatched houses
  - Clothing: Cloth
  - Transportation: Canoes
- Seminole
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Seminole
  - Dwelling: Thatched-roof houses
  - Clothing: Cloth
  - Transportation: Dugout canoes
Indians of the Northeast
- Cayuga
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Cayuga
  - Dwelling: Longhouses
  - Clothing: Skins
  - Transportation: Bark canoes
- Chippewa
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Chippewa
  - Dwelling: Bark/mat-covered wigwams
  - Clothing: Skins
  - Transportation: Snowshoes and bark canoes
- Lenape (Delaware)
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Lenape
  - Dwelling: Barrel-shaped longhouses
  - Clothing: Skins
  - Transportation: Dugout canoes
- Kickapoo
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Kickapoo
  - Dwelling: Longhouses/brush shelters
  - Clothing: Skins
  - Transportation: Horses
- Micmac
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Micmac
  - Dwelling: Wigwams
  - Clothing: Skins
  - Transportation: Snowshoes and bark canoes
- Mohawk
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Mohawk
  - Dwelling: Longhouses
  - Clothing: Skins
  - Transportation: Bark canoes
- Oneida
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Oneida
  - Dwelling: Longhouses
  - Clothing: Skins
  - Transportation: Bark canoes
- Seneca
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Seneca
  - Dwelling: Longhouses
  - Clothing: Skins
  - Transportation: Snowshoes and bark canoes
- Wampanoag
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Wampanoag
  - Dwelling: Wigwams
  - Clothing: Skins
  - Transportation: Dugout canoes
- Winnebago
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Winnebago
  - Dwelling: Wigwams
  - Clothing: Skins
  - Transportation: Snowshoes and bark canoes
Indians of the Pacific Northwest
- Kwakiutl
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Kwakiutl
  - Dwelling: Plank houses
  - Clothing: Bark and skins
  - Transportation: Dugout canoes
- Quinault
  - Quinault Indian Nation
  - Plank houses
  - Clothing: Skins/cloth
  - Transportation: Dugout canoes
Indians of the Plains
- Arapaho
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Arapaho
  - Dwelling: Tipis
  - Clothing: Skins
  - Transportation: Horses
- Blackfoot
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Blackfoot
  - Dwelling: Tipis
  - Clothing: Skins
  - Transportation: Horses
- Cheyenne
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Cheyenne
  - Dwelling: Tipis
  - Clothing: Skins
  - Transportation: Horses
- Comanche
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Comanche
  - Dwelling: Tipis
  - Clothing: Skins
  - Transportation: Horses
- Crow
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Crow
  - Dwelling: Tipis
  - Clothing: Skins
  - Transportation: Skin boats and horses
- Kiowa
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Kiowa
  - Dwelling: Tipis
  - Clothing: Skins
  - Transportation: Horses
- Mandan
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Mandan
  - Dwelling: Earth lodges and tipis
  - Clothing: Skins
  - Transportation: Horses and bullboats
- Omaha
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Omaha
  - Dwelling: Earth lodges and tipis
  - Clothing: Skins
  - Transportation: Skin bullboats
- Pawnee
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Pawnee
  - Dwelling: Earth lodges
  - Clothing: Skins
  - Transportation: Horses
Indians of the Great Basin and the Plateau
- Nez Perce (Plateau)
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Nez Perce
  - Dwelling: A-shaped houses/tipis
  - Clothing: Fiber skins
  - Transportation: Snowshoes and dugout canoes
- Ute (Great Basin)
  - Orrin Lewis: Facts for Kids – Ute
  - Dwelling: Round houses/tipis
  - Clothing: Fiber, bark, and skins
  - Transportation: Unknown

I will be using the book What Your Fifth Grader Needs to Know (edited by E. D. Hirsch, Jr. / Delta Education), which has the following topics (additional information is available at the listed Web sites):

Natives and Settlers
Indians of the Southwest
Indians of the Pacific Northwest
Indians of the Great Basin and the Plateau
Indians of the Plains
- MrDonn.org: Plains Indians in Olden Times for Kids
The Buffalo Disappear
- Texas Beyond History: How Many Ways Can You Use a Buffalo?
  This Web site shows kids how the Indians used every part of the buffalo. Cool site!
- Canadian Geographic: CG Kids Animal Facts – Bison (buffalo)
Reservations
- Wikipedia: Indian Reservation
The Sand Creek Massacre
- Wikipedia: Sand Creek Massacre
Little Big Horn
- Wikipedia: Battle of the Little Bighorn
“I Will fight no more forever.”
- Mary Lou McCloskey: Chief Joseph
The Ghost Dance
- Wikipedia: Ghost Dance
Attempts to Assimilate the Indians
- American Indian Civic Project: An Introductory and Curricular Guide for Educators – Sovereignty or Dependency?
Splitting Up Reservations

If you liked this post, please share it:

*** Related posts and pages ***

September Calendars and Links You’ll Love September calendars: This site offers many September celebrations with great...
September Story Starters I met a new friend this year at school! This...
Writing for Kids 1st through 8th grade writing styles kidskonnect How to write...

Liked this page? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!

Blog Archives

Misc Resources

Lijit Search

Over 1500 products from Teacher Created Resources

Students and teachers save up to 80% on software!

American Indian Unit

Tags

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Blog Archives

Misc Resources