Grades K – 4 Traditional Arts: Honoring Grand Ronde

admin — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 17:33:50 +0000

Connie Graves photo courtesy of the Oregon Historical Society

Overview

This lesson will explore the traditional cone-shaped burden basket and why it was made and the three types of plant fibers that were used in the past as well as in present-day for traditional basket making. (See HYPERLINK http://americanindian.si.edu/exhibitions/baskets/subpage.cfm?subpage=burden http://americanindian.si.edu/exhibitions/baskets/subpage.cfm?subpage=burden.)

The lesson will provide students K to 4^th grades with art activities, such as constructing a traditional cone-shaped burden basket and decorating it with the student’s personal designs and embellishments. Also, students will create a deck of plant identification playing cards of the three types of Oregon basket-making materials (juncus, cedar, and willow).

Lesson 1: Introduction to the Grand Ronde Nations Traditional Burden Basket
Lesson 2: Design and Create a Burden Basket with a Strap
Lesson 3: Research and Make a Poster of the Three Types of Basket Materials
Extending the lesson/References

GUIDING QUESTIONS

Before presenting the lessons the teacher will create a KWL learning poster (K is for what we know, W is for what we want to learn and L is for what we have learned) for the classroom:

K—What does homeland mean? Where was the Kalapuya and Umpqua Nation’s original homeland?

K—What is a reservation? Where do these tribes live today?

K—What do we know about baskets used in the past by the Grand Ronde people?

KWL questions and answers are generated daily by students and are recorded by student and/or teacher scribe.

More questions after listening to the radio segment:

Connie Graves mentions another country besides the United States (the Northwest and the Appalachian Mountain area) that also makes baskets. What country is it? (China)

For an extension for older students: bring from home baskets made in China and compare and contrast shapes, materials, designs and construction to Native baskets. Use photographs and/ or visit a local museum with Northwest and Appalachian baskets. The optimum experience is to invite a local basket weaver into the classroom by contacting the educational department of an historical museum or a local tribe, and/or searching the internet for basket weaving associations in your state.

W—is for what the students want to learn about the Grand Ronde Tribes and basket making of the past and present. What is a designer? How are inspiration, knowledge and materials important to a basket maker?

L—is for what the students have learned about the people of the Grand Ronde Tribes, their basketry, history and the answers to the questions listed above. Make a list of how Connie Graves is keeping a tradition of tribal basketry alive.

Revisit these questions after the lessons and use a different colored pen to answer the original questions. Allow students to write down second go-around answers to the questions posed in class.

If time permits, conclude each lesson with a “Talking Circle” (see glossary for definition).

PREPARING TO TEACH THIS LESSON

Have available a CD player and Wisdom of the Elders Series 3, Program 7.

Collect writing and drawing paper, drawing and colored pencils, erasers, stapler, tape, scissors, rulers, craft glue, hole punch, small paper cutter, brown postal wrapping paper and/or any other stiff paper that can be folded into a cone shape cut into approximately 2’x 3’ size (can vary if student wants to make a smaller or larger basket), and poster board and colored markers for KWL board.

Ask students to bring items to decorate a basket: pony beads, old jewelry, small bells, and strips of leather, old belts, raffia, and yarn to tie objects and make a basket carrying strap called a tumpline.

Bring in traditional flute music (i.e. a CD by Jan Reibach, Grand Ronde tribal member).

BASED UPON WISDOM OF THE ELDERS RADIO: SERIES 3, PROGRAM 7

Lesson plan written by Wren Christopher, Eastern-Band Cherokee Heritage

Historical Introduction:
Read the transcript…
Arlie Neskahi discusses the history of this Columbia River tribe and how tribes from the region and beyond all converged on the villages of the Wishram and the Wasco to trade, socialize and do ceremony.

Elder Wisdom:
Read the transcript…
Brian Bull shares the story of Adeline Miller who was “born up in the mountains during huckleberry time.” Now a tribal elder, she reminds her children and grandchildren of their origins through song, dance, and laughter.

Speaking Native:
Read the transcript…
Don Addison tell us that three native languages survive on this reservation today: Northern Paiute (also called Numu), Sahaptin (or Eecheeshkeen), and Wasco, known as Kiksht.

Sacred Landscape:
Read the transcript…
Judy Bluehorse Skelton talks about berries, including huckleberries, blackberries and raspberries, which burst with nutrition, and what the tribe is doing to ensure there will be plenty to pick in the future.

Tribal Rhythms:
Read the transcript…
Nico Wind introduces us to the music of the Warm Springs tribe presented by traditional singer, Carlos Calica, who is the keeper of the Art Mitchell drum. This drum belonged to his grandfather and is a drum Carlos sang on as a child.

Health and Healing:
Read the transcript…
Rose High Bear introduces us to Faye Waheneka who warns us to stay away from unhealthy food, including fry bread. Raised by her grandparents, she believes in using healthy traditional foods, such as edible roots, berries, deer meat, grouse, and salmon to manage her diabetes.

Artists Circle:
Read the transcript…
Bruce Crespin highlights the rediscovery of Wasco basketweaving by tribal artist, Pat Courtney Gold who is internationally recognized for the art of full-turn twining. She shares her travels across the country to visit museums with Wasco baskets in their collections and how she reconnected with a basket purchased by Lewis and Clark in 1805.

Turtle Island Storytellers:
Read the transcript…
Darlene Foster shares first contact stories she learned from her mother, who learned them from her grandmother. “They always told stories about how my ancestors knew before the pioneers came that they would come in. They would flow in like a river.”

INTRODUCTION

“In any culture, art may be described as the intersection of materials, knowledge and inspiration. The materials of the traditional basket maker are often easy to find. Inspiration comes to a select few and knowledge – obtained over generations of experimentation – must be learned.”

Arlie Neskahi (Dine)

This lesson provides information about the Kalapuya and Umpqua Nations of the Willamette Valley and Southwest Oregon. Both groups were relocated to what is known as the Grand Ronde Reservation located in northwestern Oregon. ( HYPERLINK “http://www.grandronde.org” http://www.grandronde.org)

Students will be introduced through listening to Kalapuya and Umpqua traditional basket weaver, Connie Graves.

Students with computer internet access will research the history of the geographic areas of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde and the importance of different plant materials used in their basketry.

SUBJECT AREAS

Arts and culture
Plant fibers and basketry

SKILLS

National Standards for Arts Education – Visual Arts Standards

Choosing and evaluating a range of subject matter, symbols and ideas

Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and culture

Oregon Common Curriculum Goals – Benchmark 2 for the Arts

Aesthetics and art criticism

Historical and cultural perspectives

Student will create, present and/or perform

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After completing the lessons in this unit, students will be able to:

Identify and list the different names and locations of the original homeland of the Kalapuya and Umpqua Nation and what reservation they live on today

List and research the three different plant materials that Connie Graves gathers and uses in her baskets and design a poster

Identify what a designer does and how materials, knowledge and inspiration are important to this person

Design a traditional cone-shaped burden basket and name the importance of the shape and how it is worn using a tumpline

List how Connie Graves is keeping a tribal tradition alive, such as: Teaching others, recording and sharing her stories of basket making, etc.

Wisdom of the Elders » Grades K – 4

Grades K – 4 Traditional Arts: Honoring Grand Ronde

Overview

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