Committee Activitie

Special Thanks to our committee members:

Mitzi, Hannah and James Cooper

The Dubay family, Ali, Arial, Dianna, Halie, Little Freddy

Jimmi Keefauver our Vice President

Ken Keith

Without the help of these the Powwow would not be a success. THANKS!

 

 

Thursday, April 13, 2006

 

 

Reprinted with permission of Taylorville Breeze-Courier, Taylorville, Illinois

 

South School students study life of Native Americans

By Jane Long, Breeze Courier Writer

 

TAYLORVILLE – Students at South Elementary School learned about the history and culture of Native Americans who first inhabited this land thousands of years ago during an assembly held earlier this week. 

 

   Fred “Black Horse” Dubay, his granddaughter Allie “Little Princess”, “Hawk” Hoffman, and Danny “Crazy Coyote” Wells presented information about the lives of Indians. 

 

   Serving as spokesman, Hawk, a retired Sangamon County Sheriff Deputy, explained their dress, their weapons, and other important facts about Indians.

 

   He talked about the nomadic lives of the Plains Indians, who followed the buffalo across the country’s mid-section.  He explained all the uses of the animal, its meat for food, its hide used for clothing and housing, the grease to keep the insects away, and bones used to make jewelry, breast plates, tools and needles.  Students were able to participate in authentic, inter-tribal dances with them, learning that men and women perform different steps in the ceremonial dances.

 

   At the conclusion of the assembly, students were able to view a display of clothing, bead work, war bonnets, maps of Indian territories and other items brought to the school by the Native Americans.

 

   “This assembly provides information that leaves a greater impression than just reading about a subject.” Explained fourth grade teacher Eunice DeCourcy.

 

   The assembly was the culmination of a social studies unit in which the students designed and then created a replica of the seasonal living environments for the earlier hunters and farmers of Illinois. 

 

   For the last several weeks, fourth grade students worked under the instruction of DeCourcy to create the four cycles of communal living for the early residents who roamed the rolling plains of central Illinois many years ago. 

 

   The four models of Indian villages depict the people and their animals, lodging and habitat – all made by the students to create realistic portrayals of life on the prairie for the Native Americans as they hunted, farmed and worked in different seasons of the year.

 

   During the spring, summer and fall, Native Americans lived in large, rectangular lodges called longhouses, with as many as nine families living and working in one building, according to student Tori Marron.

 

  “I learned that Indians had to build their own buildings, they couldn’t go out and buy one like we do today,” added Caleb Hadley.

 

In the winter the Indians lived in hunting camps of wigwams.  These homes were made from hides of bison and other animals that they killed for food and for their skins, added Blake Carmichael.  “The women stayed at home and did all the inside work.  The men did all the hunting.”

 

   “Only one family lived in each of the wigwams,” said Deni Smith.  “They moved into them because they were not as cold and drafty as the longhouses.”

 

   In their studies, pupils soon learned that life for Native Americans was very primitive as compared to their lives today.

 

   “There wasn’t a lot of good medicine back then,” said Mickayla Cook.  “They didn’t travel a lot either, because they didn’t have cars.  They had to walk or use horses or canoes.”

 

   “They had no electricity,” continued Brad Bail.  “They ate deer and buffalo that they hunted, along with corn, wheat and other things they grew in their gardens.”

 

   Life for young Native Americans involved a great deal more work and chores than kids have today according to Evan Peters.  His favorite sport of baseball was not one the young Indians played, he added.  “They played their own kind of games when they could.”

 

The children from both fourth grade classes worked in smaller groups of three or four to make the longhouses at home, using various materials such as sticks or wood and bark.

 

   They also created people and animals, including deer, bison and dogs, along with trees, vegetables, pottery and other working tools to make the settings as authentic as possible. 

 

   In the summer season, there are fields of corn and patches of vegetables growing.  A bountiful harvest of maize, wheat and other crops as found in the fall scene.

 

   Working on the four scenes really brought the life of the Native Americans from the 1600s and 1700s alive, continued Gabe Boston.  “We learned a lot about the different kinds of Indians and their different homes,” said Boston who worked on the spring setting.

 

   “Working on a project like this also encourages students in their decision-making and teamwork,” added DeCourcy.

 

   The four-season display showcasing the life of Native Americans will be exhibited at South School for a few more weeks.

 

 

 

 

 

**Note - Allie’s Indian name is ‘Shadow’ and not ‘Little Princess’ as noted in this article.