Grades K – 3 Environmental Studies: Honoring Warm Springs

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Overview

Lesson 1: Introduction to Relationships between Humans and the Environment
Lesson 2: Berries in the Ecosystem
Lesson 3: Traditional Ecological Knowledge
Lesson 4: Historic versus Contemporary Landscapes
Lesson 5: Responsibility of Society

BASED UPON WISDOM OF THE ELDERS RADIO: SERIES 3, PROGRAM 6

Lesson plan written by Elaine LaBonte

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:
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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:
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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:
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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

Historically, as well as pre-historically, Native Americans have defined their culture largely dependent upon the natural resources that occurred within their geographic region and environmental features found within their ancestral homelands. During the five lessons that follow, students will be provided with a worldview very different from their own. They will learn about the role of berries in the ecosystem, as well as to the Native Americans who hold berries, and huckleberries in particular, in a position so revered that Huckleberry Feasts are a prominent part of native cultures and berries are a commonly found icon within their cosmologies. Students will be introduced to successional patterns of forest lands and the role that fire has on secondary plant species. Students will also look at food webs and how plants are fit into the food web. Finally, students will consider the threats that wild berries face and the role and responsibility of individuals and society, as a whole, to preserving plant species for future generations.
GUIDING QUESTIONS

PREPARING TO TEACH THIS LESSON

If at all possible, invite a tribal member from the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs to come and speak to the class during Lesson 3 below, to discuss the role of berries and humans from their cultural perspective. Contact the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs at http://www.warmsprings.com/warmsprings/Contact_Us/. Other resources for possible guests include:

Turtle Island Storytellers

Elizabeth Woody at Ecotrust

The Huckleberry Education Project

Northwest Spirit Quest email

Begin Lessons

SUBJECT AREAS

To be defined following completion of all lesson activities.

SKILLS

To be defined following completion of all lesson activities.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Identify the original tribes who are now known as the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs
Identify the ancestral homelands of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and understand the difference between homelands and Reservation lands, as well as to describe the cultural role that huckleberries have to the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs
Define key ecosystem terms and demonstrate an understanding of ecosystem components and the laws of thermodynamics
Understand forest succession and critically examine the impact that humans have had on the environment
Consider the responsibility of individuals, communities and society as a whole, to other species, other cultures and to future generations yet to come
Identify the original tribes who are now known as the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs
Identify the ancestral homelands of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and understand the difference between homelands and Reservation lands, as well as to describe the cultural role that huckleberries have to the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs
Define key ecosystem terms and demonstrate an understanding of ecosystem components and the laws of thermodynamics
Understand forest succession and critically examine the impact that humans have had on the environment
Consider the responsibility of individuals, communities and society as a whole, to other species, other cultures and to future generations yet to come