Native American Encyclopedia Cumulative Index & Projects
4 project Design Your Own Flag Like other nations around the world Native American tribes have their own flags These flags represent tribal sovereignty meaning the right of a tribe to rule its own government Tribal sovereignty is recognized by the U S Constitution and the Supreme Court Tribal flags also represent special meanings related to each tribe The colors and symbols of a flag tell a story about that tribe's unique history and culture 0 0400 Volume 1 page 4 Volume 5 page 7 Volume 8 page 20 Volume 9 page 52 What You Will Need Paper crayons or colored pencils Stickers scissors colored paper and glue are optional DIRECTIONS If you wish to divide your flag into two equal parts fold your paper in half For four equal parts fold it half again Now you can decorate each section differently For a shield place a cup or bowl upside down in the center of the paper and trace around it Rather than decorate equal sections you can decorate your flag any way you choose Draw wavy lines circles squares and even pictures of yourself and people important to you You can make colored stripes by cutting out pieces of construction paper or wrapping paper Choose symbols and colors that mean something special to you your history and your plans for the future
project 5 Make Your Own Coded Messages During wartime enemies eavesdrop on language Try as they might German each other's radio and telephone soldiers could not decipher these messages messages to learn their enemy's plans Equally successful were the Navajo code During World War I the United States used talkers who relayed messages during World Choctaw soldiers called code talkers to War II deliver messages in their Choctaw Volume 2 page 48 How to Make Navajo Code Navajo code talkers used their language to make a code First the code talker would say a string of Navajo words Next the Navajo listener translated each word into English Then he took the first letter of the English words and strung them together to make other English words For example to say the word Navy the code talker would say tsah Needle wol la chee Ant ah keh di glini Victor tsah as zih Yucca DIRECTIONS Use the following list of words to write your name in Navajo code 1 Find the English word that begins with the first letter of your name 2 Write the Navajo version of that word Do this for each letter of your name For example the name Sam in Navajo code would be dibeh SHEEP be la sana APPLE and na as tso si MOUSE Navajo English APPLE BEAR CAT DOG EAR FOX GIRL HORSE ICE JAW KID LION MOUSE Navajo BE LA SANA SHUSH MOASI LHA CHA EH АН ЈАН MA E AH TAD LIN TKIN AH YA TSINNE KLIZZIE YAZZIE NASH DOIE TSO NA AS TSO SI English NOSE OWL PIG QUIVER RABBIT SHEEP TURKEY UNCLE VICTOR WEASEL X MARK YUCCA A CHIN NE AHS JAH BI SO DIH CA YEILTH GAH DIBEH THAN ZIE SHI DA A KEH DI GLINI GLOE IH AL NA AS DZOH TSAH AS ZIH BESH DO TLIZ ZINC Now that you know how to write in Navajo code you can send a coded message to a friend to see if he or she can solve it
6 project Find Your Animal Totem Animals have always been an important Native Americans of the Northwest part of Native American cultures Native Pacific Coast give animal names to their Americans feature certain animals in their clans and represent these animals in their stories beliefs and traditions They also totem poles Also they believe that each attach special meanings to various animals person is connected to a certain animal based upon the animals qualities For and that the spirit of this animal will guide example Native Americans of the Great his or her life Plains honor the eagle for its wisdom and its ability to fly close to the Great Spirit What Is Your Special Animal Below is a short sample of the many animals honored by Native Americans Read the descriptions and choose an animal with which you feel a special connection Perhaps this animal reminds you of yourself or maybe it has qualities that you think could help you in your life Draw a picture and write a short explanation about the characteristics of the animal you chose and why you feel that special connection bear powerful hard working and protective Volume 1 page 36 eagle free creative and willing to take risks Volume 3 page 37 bison very strong generous and grateful Volume 1 page 46 moose determined and sometimes stubborn Volume 1 page 45 cougar loyal brave and willing to lead Volume 3 page 36 porcupine innocent trustworthy and friendly Volume 7 page 38 coyote smart mischievous and likes to clown around Volume 3 page 15 rabbit humble and shy Volume 7 page 39 deer peaceful gentle kind and caring Volume 3 page 28 wolf loyal cooperative and willing to share Volume 9 page 40
project 7 Learn How to Make Bannock Bannock is a type of flat bread commonly made by Native Americans Traditionally its simple ingredients are just flour salt a bit of fat such as bacon grease and water Bannock was first made long ago by Europeans In Scotland it was called bonnach Settlers brought the recipe for bonnach to North America hundreds of years ago Settlers also brought wheat flour one of the bread's major ingredients The Cree Nation of Northern Quebec learned to make bonnach from Scottish settlers The bread also became popular with the Métis buffalo hunters of western Canada In the United States this bread came to be called bannock for the Bannock tribe of the Great Plains region The Bannock and Shoshone tribes carried this flat bread with them as they followed buffalo herds Volume 1 page 31 What You Will Need 3 cups all purpose flour 1 1 4 teaspoons baking powder 3 inches vegetable oil for frying •1 1 3 cups warm water 1 2 teaspoon salt DIRECTIONS 1 In a large bowl combine all dry ingredients and mix together 2 Add the water to turn the mixture into dough 3 Knead the dough on a floured surface until soft adding enough flour to keep it from becoming sticky 4 Cover the dough with plastic wrap for one hour 5 Divide the dough into four equal pieces 6 Divide each of the four pieces in half Now you should have eight pieces of dough 7 Roll each piece of dough into a ball Using a rolling pin flatten the ball into a circle about 1 4 inch thick 8 With the help of an adult heat the vegetable oil in the frying pan 9 Ask an adult to lay one circle of dough in the hot oil and cook for two minutes then flip over the bread and cook for an additional two minutes or until it is golden brown 10 Repeat frying procedure until all the pieces are cooked Then drain the cooked bread on paper towels II Serve the bread plain or with honey jam or taco toppings
