Education

A Resource Guide for Teachers Readings, Activities and Sources for Grades 9 — 12

In the summer of 1991, seventy representatives of thirteen Native American communities participated in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival program Land in Native American Cultures. The program was a celebration of the diversity and persistence of America’s First People, featuring art, music, dance, storytelling, healing traditions, and foodways.

The above set of twenty slides were produced for the education kit “Land and Native American Cultures.” Many of the photos are color versions of black and white photos included in the chapters of the kit. Click on the photos for captions and credits.

Following the program, an education kit was developed using much of the research and documentation from the Festival as well as new research. The kit introduces students to the use of land in Native American communities through three case studies: the Hopi of Arizona; the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian of Alaska; and the Aymara and Quechua of Bolivia and Peru. Units address subsistence, crafts, mythology, and ritual. The kit includes an extensive teacher/student guide with narrative, photographs, resource listing, and activity questions.

The Land and Native American Cultures resource guide was made possible with the support of the National Museum of the American Indian, the Smithsonian Educational Outreach Fund, and the Smithsonian Women’s Committee.