LESSON 3

WHO ARE THE MIWOK INDIANS?

COGNITIVE GOALS: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the Miwok Indian’s culture

AFFECTIVE GOALS: Students will demonstrate an appreciation of Miwok basket weaving.

FOCUSING ACTIVITY:

• These were the Indians the students studied last week who lived in Yosemite Valley before the white men came

• We will learn about what they ate, their unique homes, and listen to a few legends. Review what a legend is using vocabulary sheet

• Learn how they made their famous baskets                                         

CONTENT KNOWLEDGE:

·        Clothing- in summer wore very little, kids naked until age 10, important people wore skins and wild flowers, in winter wore animal skin robes and moccasins lined with cedar bark, used snow shoes for travel in winter

·        Food- ate greens and bulbs, seeds and fruit, acorns, used over 100 different plants for food, hunted animals, dried and stored food, traded with other tribes and eventually the European Americans

·        Hunting- men only, wore entire buck skins including antlers, mimic movement of herd until accepted as one of my own

·        Recreation- played sports similar to lacrosse called Shinny Sticks with basket/net on end

·        Ceremonies- to bring rain, animals to hunt, and to prevent natural disasters

·        Basket weaving- women only, important task of culture, most were water tight, used for self-expression of basket weaver important symbolic meanings, fibers stored 1-3 years before ready to use, used for storing food, collecting trash, hauling firewood, trapping fish, also buried with the dead