Native Plants, Native People

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Native Plants, Native People American Indian Tribes of North Carolina and Their

Relationship to the Land

General Notes About this Program This is an outdoor program. Participants should dress for the weather, and be

aware that, at certain times of year, mosquitoes can be bothersome.

We can serve a maximum of 60 students at a time with this program

Please divide your students into groups of 10-12 prior to your arrival at NCBG.

We can serve a maximum of 6 groups of this size at a time.

Curriculum Alignment

All of the North Carolina Botanical Garden’s educational programs are aligned with

North Carolina and/or national education standards. The pre-visit, Garden visit, and

extension activities that make up the Native Plants, Native People educational program

align with the following standards:

Essential Standards: 4th Grade Social Studies

4.H.1.1 Summarize the change in cultures, everyday life and status of indigenous

American Indian groups in NC before and after European exploration.

4.C.1.2 Explain how the artistic expression of various groups represents the cultural

heritage of North Carolina.

Native Plants, Native People

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Pre-Visit Activity: A Sense of Place In this activity, students will learn about the Cherokee Indians in North Carolina.

Materials Needed: Map of the United States which indicates major landforms and state boundaries.

Post-It Notes

Procedure: 1. Ask students if they know when North Carolina became a British colony (1729).

2. Ask the students what types of people lived in North Carolina in 1729 (European

Settlers and American Indians).

3. Ask students to describe how people lived at that time. Mention that they lived

without cars, grocery stores, and electricity.

4. Ask students if they know the names of any American Indian tribes in North

Carolina at that time. If they don’t say it, mention that in 1729, about 50,000

Cherokee lived in the Southern Appalachians, including North Carolina.

5. Inform students that the Cherokee had many villages, each with 30-60 homes.

The Cherokee primarily used farming for food, but also hunted and collected wild

plants for food. They relied heavily on “The Three Sisters”: corn, beans, and

squash. They planted those three crops together, as the corn would provide

support for the beans to grow, and the low growing squash would serve as a

mulch and help conserve water for all three plants. For many years after contact

with European settlers, the two groups lived together peacefully and traded with

each other.

6. Point out that in 1729, the Cherokee lived in the Southern Appalachian

Mountains, in what are today 7 states. Write the names of the following 7 states

on the chalkboard: North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama,

Tennessee, Kentucky.

7. Show the students the map of the United States, indicating the location of the

Appalachian Mountains. Tell them that we want to show on the map where the

Cherokee lived in 1729 (The Appalachian region of the 7 states you wrote on the

board).

8. Have students proceed to the map one-by-one. With a post-it note, ask students to

cover up an area where the Cherokee lived in 1729. Remind them that they

ONLY lived in the Appalachian regions of the states listed on the board. Once

every student has placed a post-it on the map, fill in any gaps on your own.

9. Have students look at the map again, and remind them that the area covered by

the post-its was where the Cherokee once lived. Leave the post-its on the map for

use in an extension activity after your visit to the Garden.

10. Inform students that they will visit the North Carolina Botanical Garden, and they

will learn more about the Cherokee and other American Indian tribes.


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Garden Visit: Native Plants, Native People In this activity, Docents will lead an educational program at the North Carolina Botanical

Garden. Students will be led to different areas in the Display Gardens where they will

learn about American Indian Tribes from North Carolina’s 3 different geographic

regions. Students will learn how American Indians lived with nature and will explore

how American Indians used plants in different ways.


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Extension Activities: Bringing it Home The North Carolina Botanical Garden encourages you to continue to teach students about

American Indian history and culture by engaging them in hands-on, inquiry-based

learning opportunities in the indoor and outdoor classrooms. The activities and books

listed below are a good way to follow-up your garden visit.

Classroom Activities: Follow up the pre-visit activity by researching where the Cherokee live now, placing

different colored post-it notes on those lands. Compare this area with the lands they

occupied in 1729.

Visit the Occaneechi Indian Village in Hillsborough, the Oconaluftee (Cherokee) Indian

village in Cherokee, or other American Indian cultural centers throughout North

Carolina.

Visit the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.

Have students research and create maps showing all American Indian tribes that lived in

North Carolina at particular times in history.

Have groups of students research other American Indian Tribes that live/lived in North

Carolina. Have them research their lifestyle, where they live/lived, their history, and how

they interacted with nature. Have student groups share their reports with the class.

Have students trace the “Trail of Tears” on a map, plotting out what current cities the

Cherokee would have traveled through. Students can use the map provided on the

National Park Service website: (http://www.nps.gov/archive/trte/pphtml/maps.html).

Haves students complete the activity The Cherokee Response to Removal, found in the

Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian’s pre-visit Teacher Guide:

http://www.nmai.si.edu/education/files/PreVisitTG_Fina2.pdf

Have the students research the true events of “The First Thanksgiving”. A good online

resource is the Oyate website (http://www.oyate.org/). Another good source on this topic

is the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian:

(http://www.nmai.si.edu/education/files/harvest.pdf)

Use the book Native America: Arts, Traditions, and Celebrations (citation below) to have

students research the art of American Indians and create their own artwork inspired by

what they saw.

Use the book Myth, Music and Dance of the American Indian (citation below) to learn

more about the music and dance of American Indians. Then use music and dance to

celebrate American Indians in your classroom. You can gather natural materials to use in

this celebration as well.


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Suggested Resources: It is important when teaching students about the history and culture of American Indians,

that it is done accurately and in a way that does not perpetuate stereotypes.

Unfortunately, many popular books about American Indians are inaccurate. The

following resources are meant to help you teach your students more accurately about the

American Indian. It should be noted, though, that the best sources for studying American

Indian tribes are the tribes themselves, and we encourage you to contact them directly.

Activity Guides for Teachers:

Caduto, Michael J, and Joseph Bruchac. Keepers of the Earth: Native American Stories

and Environmental Activities for Children. Golden, Colorado: Fulcrum Inc. 1988.

Caduto, Michael J, and Joseph Bruchac. Keepers of Life: Discovering Plants Through

Native American Stories and Earth Activities for Children. Golden, Colorado: Fulcrum

Publishing. 1994.

Caduto, Michael J, and Joseph Bruchac. Keepers of the Night: Native American Stories

and Nocturnal Activities for Children. Golden, Colorado: Fulcrum Inc. 1994.

DeCesare, Ruth. Myth, Music and Dance of the American Indian. Van Nuys, CA: Alfred

Publishing Co., Inc. 1988.

Websites for Teachers Containing Recommended Books:

American Indian Library Association.:“I” is Not For Indian.

http://aila.library.sd.gov/publications/inotindian.htm

Oyate: Resources. http://www.oyate.org/resources.html

Rutgers University: A Resource List for Teaching to or About Native Americans.

http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~kvander/ChildrenLit/nalist.html

Smithsonian Institution: A Critical Bibliography on North American Indians, For K-12.

http://www.nmnh.si.edu/anthro/outreach/Indbibl/bibintro.html

Other Websites:

American Indian Library Association: http://aila.library.sd.gov/

Eastern Band of the Cherokee: http://www.cherokee-nc.com/

Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation: http://www.occaneechi-saponi.org/

Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian: http://www.nmai.si.edu/

University of Michigan-Dearborn: Native American Ethnobotany Database.

http://herb.umd.umich.edu/


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Suggested Resources (continued): Videos:

Plants and the Cherokee (Take a Closer Look Video Series). Laurel Hill Press, 2001.

Books for Students:

Connolly, James E., and Andrea Adams. Why the Possum's Tail is Bare and Other North

American Indian Nature Tales. Owings Mills, MD: Stemmer House. 1985.

Hill, Bruce, Ian Fillen and Glenda MacNaughton. Six Nations Reserve. Markham,

Ontario: Fitzhenry & Whiteside. 1987.

Hoyt-Goldsmith, Diane. Cherokee Summer. New York, NY: Holiday House. 1993.

Liptak, Karen. North American Indian Survival Skills. New York, NY: Franklin Watts.

1990.

Mather, Christine. Native America: Arts, Traditions, and Celebrations. New York, NY:

Clarkson Potter Publishers. 1990.

Rockwood, Joyce. To Spoil the Sun. New York, NY: Holt, Reinhart, and Winston. 1976.

Stein, R. Conrad. Story of the Trail of Tears. Chicago, IL: Children's Press. 1985.

References: In creating Native Plants, Native People, a variety of different sources were used,

including those listed in the “Suggested Resources” section above. In addition, the

following books were used:

Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey. Cherokee Plants: Their Uses – A 400 Year

History. Sylva, NC: Herald Publishing Company. 1975

Hudson, Charles. The Southeastern Indians. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee

Press. 1982.

South, Stanley A. Indians in North Carolina. Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Division of

Archives and History. 1980.

Swanton, John R. The Indians of the Southeastern United States. Washington, D.C.:

Smithsonian Institution Press. 1979.

Wetmore, Ruth Y. First on the Land: The North Carolina Indians. Winston Salem, NC:

Green Printing Company, Inc. 1975.

Documents

Native Plants, Native People