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Ningo Gikinonwin: Ojibwe Four Seasons Teacher’s Guide published by the Agency for Instructional Technology ©2005. All rights reserved.

Ningo Gikinonwin: Ojibwe Four Seasons video produced by Lorraine Norrgard ©2004.

Licensed users of the Ningo Gikinonwin: Ojibwe Four Seasons video series whohave also licensed rights to use this electronic guide may print copies, as

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Table of ContentsSeries Overview .................................................................................................................................................iv

Creating a Thematic Unit of Study .....................................................................................................................iv

Create the Right Atmosphere ...................................................................................................iv

Have Students Work Together in Groups ..................................................................................v

Connect Lessons on Ojibwe to Native Americans from Your Region .........................................v

Connect the Lessons to Other Curriculum Areas.......................................................................vi

Keep a Record of the Thematic Unit .......................................................................................vii

Help Students Experience the Ojibwe Language......................................................................vii

Curriculum Standards for Social Studies ...........................................................................................................viii

Bibliography .................................................................................................................................................ix

Books for Teachers ....................................................................................................................ix

Books for Students .....................................................................................................................x

Web Sites .................................................................................................................................................xi

Glossary of Native American Terms ....................................................................................................................xi

Blackline Masters for Thematic Units ................................................................................................................xii

Individual Episode Guides .................................................................................................................................xii

Episode One—Ziigwan: Spring .................................................................................................1

Episode Two—Niibin: Summer................................................................................................11

Episode Three—Dagwaagin: Fall .............................................................................................21

Episode Four—Biboon: Winter .....................................................................................................

iv b Ningo Gikinonwin: Ojibwe Four Seasons ©2005

Series OverviewBefore contact with Europeans, the Ojibwe, like otherNative American tribes, practiced a seasonal cycle ofhunting, fishing, and gathering in order to survive.Ningo Gikinonwin: Ojibwe Four Seasons is a series offour 15-minute videos for grades K–3 that celebratesthis circle of life. These programs are narrated byyoung Ojibwe children and are told through extra-ordinary reenactments at Waswagoning, a recreated17th-century Ojibwe village located in Lac deFlambeau, Wisconsin (www.waswagoning.com).Students see how time has altered some Ojibwe cus-toms and practices while others have continued intothe present.

Each program in the series focuses on one season,demonstrating how the Ojibwe learned about theirheritage, gathered food, created crafts, and enter-tained themselves before European settlement in thenorthern Great Lakes region and today. This videoseries can serve as a springboard for lessons on aspectsof Native American cultures, including their tradi-tions, family structure, sense of community, and lan-guage—as well as provide opportunities to learn abouttime, continuity, and change as they affect culture.

Creating a Thematic Unit of StudyIn order to help your students understand the cultureand traditions of the Ojibwe people, you might wantto use these episodes as springboards for a multi-week Native American theme-based unit. Althoughthe episodes have been designed around the seasonalcycle, they lend themselves easily to other themessurrounding community, tradition, family, time andcontinuity, or cultural diversity.

A four-week unit can be created that will engageyour students in the culture and customs of NativeAmericans while also covering all your other subjectareas. With a minimum of advance planning, you cancreate a rich learning experience in your classroom.Following are suggestions that will help you create avibrant thematic unit.

Create the Right Atmosphere

Decorations, posters, and artifacts can help your stu-dents get into the right frame of mind for a thematicunit. Adding theme-related books to the reading cor-ner, playing Native music during passing periods,

etc., will help to create an atmosphere conducive tocultural awareness. Contact nearby children’s muse-ums to see if they have any Native American artifactsavailable for loan. Visit your town’s public library, ora nearby college library, to look for books and audio-tapes that may enrich your lessons, and find nearbyhistorical societies, which usually provide a wealth ofmaterials for public use and research. The state his-torical societies of Minnesota and Wisconsin espe-cially can be invaluable resources for materials on theOjibwe (see Web sites at the end of this section formore information), or contact one in your area to findresources on local Native American tribes.

Then and Now Bulletin Board

Share some of your childhood memories with theclass. Describe things that were done differently backthen—what games did you play before the days ofvideo games and the Internet, and how was schooldifferent? Describe these same activities from theperspectives of people who were children during the1930s and 40s—in days before television and com-puters, fax machines and cell phones—using photo-graphs or drawings to illustrate the differences. Thenask your students to bring in photographs, memen-tos, or stories about their parents and grandparentswhen they were young. Especially point out the factthat while the activities themselves didn’t change,the way they were done changed. For example, chil-dren still must go to school, but educational tech-niques have changed dramatically. Families still

©2005 Introduction a v

spend time together in the evenings, but the thingsthey do now (e.g., watch television or play videogames) are different.

Divide a bulletin board into two areas labeled“Then” and “Now.” Display photographs and draw-ings of life during pioneer days and life today (youmay want to have students draw these for an artassignment). Leave room on the bulletin board to addphotographs and student drawings of NativeAmericans from the past and the present. (For down-loadable photo stills from the landmark PBS serieson the Ojibwe, Waasa Inaabidaa: We Look in AllDirections, visit www.ojibwe.org. Select the “AboutWaasa Inaabidaa” tab at the top right of the screenand then the “Press Room” link.)

On video days, instruct students to watch for thethings the Ojibwe did in the past, and notice howthey perform the same tasks today.

Have Students Work Together in Groups

Having students work together within cohesivegroups can promote a feeling of community involve-ment while it encourages teamwork. This can greatlyenhance the thematic experience. A unit on theNative Americans lends itself easily to grouping,because many tribes had such a system. The Ojibwegroups were called clans.

Ojibwe Clan System

All people have the same needs in order to survive:food, shelter, and protection (both from illness andfrom attack). The Ojibwe clan system was created todivide the responsibilities and duties of meetingthese needs among different groups. In the words ofEdward Benton-Benai of the Lac Courte Oreillesband of Ojibwe:

According to what we’ve been given in thelodge originally there were eight [originalclans], but seven came to the earth. And insome kind of order it was the loon clan, thecrane clan, the fish clan, the bear clan, themarten clan, the eagle and the deer clan. Eachof those animals brought some quality, somegift, some characteristic to humankind. Andthey also brought with them order, and thatthen was transferred to, given unto humankind.And so the clan system, not only did it deliverskills, characteristics, tendencies in that man-

ner, but it gave pattern, it gave reason, it gavelogic to the people.

The clans were a form of community organizationand governance. Each clan had a particular role in thecommunity. For instance, the members of the craneand loon clans were considered the leaders, and thosein the marten clan were the warriors and protectors.

Clans in the Classroom

You can help your students connect with NativeAmerican culture by creating a simple clan system inyour classroom. Divide the class into seven groups.Each group will represent one of the original Ojibweclans—loon, crane, fish, bear, marten, eagle, anddeer. Have students arrange their desks into clangroups. Make a copy of the outline drawings of theanimal totems from Blackline Masters for eachgroup. Allow students to use the drawings to designa poster of their clan’s totem. The poster shouldinclude the clan’s name, a colored picture of thetotem, and the names of the students who are mem-bers of the clan. Hang the posters over the groups’desks, or on a nearby wall. Older students canresearch at the library or the Internet to learn moreabout the roles and duties of their clans within theOjibwe community.

When group activities are assigned, allow students towork within their clans to complete them. Assigneach clan a daily classroom duty, such as end-of-daytasks like straightening the desks, gathering trashfrom the floor, caring for classroom pets, etc. Havestudents line up by clan (allowing a different clan tobe first in line each day). Keeping the clans togetherwill promote a feeling of fellowship, encourage team-work, and provide students with an ingrained under-standing of the Native American tradition ofcommunity unity.

Many activities and assessment suggestions in theindividual teaching guides will refer to clan or groupactivities.

Connect Lessons on Ojibwe to NativeAmericans from Your Region

It has been said that there is a Native Americanreservation within 300 miles of every community inNorth America. What Native American tribes arelocated in your region? Use this series as a spring-board for study of all Native Americans, not just theOjibwe. All Native Americans share aspects of cul-

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ture—and even many customs—with the Ojibwe,and your students will connect with the contentmore if you provide them with contextual links toNative Americans nearby. The following suggestionsmay help you incorporate activities in this guide tolessons on all Native Americans.

• In mapping activities, include locations of localNative American reservations.

• How does the cycle of the seasons affect NativeAmericans near you? (e.g.: Are there maple treesin your area? What customs and activities dolocal Native Americans perform every spring?)

• Compare and contrast Native American cultures.How are they alike, and how are they different?Include information on traditional clothing,homes, food, tools, stories, and songs.

• Invite local Native Americans to speak to yourclass about their culture.

Connect the Lessons to OtherCurriculum Areas

Besides the social studies activities expected in aseries on Native Americans, Ningo Gikinonwin: OjibweFour Seasons lends itself readily to lessons in mostother curriculum areas. Incorporating these othersubjects will ensure your students a full, rich learn-ing experience. You will find several of these“Connections” activities throughout the teacherguides for individual episodes.

Language Arts

The Ojibwe people consider their “teaching stories,”or aadisokan, sacred. Long ago it was believed that thestorytellers owned their stories—they came to themin dreams—and therefore only they could tell them.Anyone else who wanted to tell one of these storieswould offer the owner a gift. If permission was given,the story could be told. The stories passed down bythe ancestors are of vital importance as an oral recordof the culture. The stories can help people understandthe meaning of their own existence and the existenceof other things in the world. Through storytelling,young children learn how people came to be, whythings are the way they are, and how to live properly.

An important Native American cultural belief is thatof respecting the storyteller. These stories came downthrough the centuries by word of mouth—there wasno written language for many years. Without story-tellers this valuable resource would have been lost

over time. Consequently, storytellers are held in thehighest regard among Native American tribes, andwhen someone shares a story, listeners demonstraterespect by listening attentively. Be sure your studentsdemonstrate respect for storytellers in your classroomby insisting on good listening manners.

Besides the stories in each episode guide, the bibliog-raphy of suggested stories and books included herewill enhance the lessons for your students. NativeAmerican authors wrote most of these books, whichwere chosen for their relevance to Native Americanculture. The children’s book selections have all beenpublished in recent years and should be readily avail-able from local libraries or bookstores.

The Arts

Each lesson includes arts and crafts activities thatwill help students understand the culture of theOjibwe people. Each activity is tied to the video—so,for example, in “Ziigwan: Spring,” students seeOjibwe children eating maple sugar out of birch-bark cones and then later make their own cones, dec-orated to resemble birch bark. Other lessons containactivities in music, dance, and performing arts.

Science and Physical Education

Because each of the videos is tied to a season, thisseries naturally lends itself to companion lessons onseasonal changes in North America. One simple wayto incorporate these lessons is by focusing on thepaper birch tree that is so important to the cultureand livelihood of the Ojibwe people. For example, inaddition to the birch-bark cone craft idea describedin the “Ziigwan: Spring” episode, you might includethis science activity in your thematic unit: Have yourstudents study the paper, or white, birch tree. Is it anevergreen or a deciduous tree? Where can it be foundin North America? What do its leaves look like? Ifthere are any in your community and the season isright, bring in some leaves for students to study. Ifnot, what trees are indigenous to your area? Do theyhave distinctive leaves or needles? How do theychange throughout the seasons?

Students also learn about Native American gamesand sports, which can easily be incorporated into aphysical education curriculum. See individual programteacher guides for discussions of physical activities.

Mathematics

There are many opportunities to incorporate mathinto your Native American thematic unit. Among the

©2005 Introduction a vii

easiest is to create word problems based on the activi-ties in the videos, replacing two or three word prob-lems from your classroom math text with similarproblems using events from the episodes. For exam-ple: “A maple grove had 43 trees. Fourteen of thetrees were saplings and too small to tap for maple sap.From how many trees did the Native Americansgather sap?” or: “There were five canoes on the fishingtrip. Each canoe held two Ojibwe. If each Ojibwespeared three fish, how many fish were caught in all?”Other episodes may lend themselves to activities inreal-world applications of measurement, geometry,distance, ratio, or time. See individual episode guidesfor other ideas in incorporating mathematics.

Keep a Record of the Thematic Unit

Tying the activities together within a journal or sim-ilar booklet will provide students with a memento ofthe Native American unit that they can keep. In theindividual teacher guides you will discover severalactivities for using this record book.

My Ojibwe Book

Create an Ojibwe culture book that your studentsmay add to as they explore lessons accompanyingeach episode of Ningo Gikinonwin: Ojibwe Four Seasons.Provide students with a 9" x 12" sheet of coloredconstruction paper and have them carefully fold thepaper in half. Turning the folded paper so the fold ison the left, they should neatly print “My OjibweBook” (or another title of your choice), leaving roomfor an illustration on the cover. You may wish to pro-vide each student with a copy of the turtle outlinedrawing from the Blackline Masters, or have themcreate their own cover illustration (such as the totemanimal of their clan).

Provide each student with five or six sheets ofunlined white paper and have them fold this stack inhalf and insert the sheets into the cover. Staple thebook together or have students punch holes along thefold and tie pieces of brown yarn or rawhide to holdthe pages together. The books are ready to recordyour students’ thematic experiences.

Help Students Experience the Ojibwe Language

The Ojibwe language (known as Ojibwemowin) isthousands of years old and is an integral part of theculture. A full course in this rich language is beyond

the scope of this guide, but allowing your students tohear and speak just a bit of it will add another layerto the cultural experience of your lessons.Ojibwemowin is an oral language, so many variationsin spelling occurred when Europeans attempted torecord it in English. The written form used in thisguide, called the “double vowel system,” wasdesigned by John Nichols and Earl Nyholm (in AConcise Dictionary of Minnesota Ojibwe—see theBibliography). Only a few words will be taught inthese guides, just enough to allow your students toget a feel for the language. You may want to havestudents in second or third grades use a page of theirOjibwe culture books to create their own glossary ofthese words.

Pronunciation of Ojibwe Words

The following vowel-sound associations are providedhere solely for teachers’ use, to help in pronouncingOjibwe words that may appear in the lessons. It isnot recommended that these vowel-sound associa-tions be taught directly to students in kindergartenor first grade. They are different from English vowelsounds, so they may interfere with phonics lessons forbeginning readers. Teachers of older students shoulddecide if teaching these vowel sounds is appropriatefor their students.

In the English spellings of Ojibwe words, the follow-ing vowel-sound relationships are used.

Written as Sound

a schwa—as in away

aa ah—as in father

e long a—as in make

i short i—as in it

ii long e—as in seem

o long o—as in note (sometimes short oo—as in took)

oo long o, stretched—as in moan (sometimes long oo—as in boot)

NOTE: An apostrophe (') dividing two vowels in aword signals a glottal stop (a quick closing of theback of the throat) between the two vowel sounds—similar to the way we say “uh-oh;” therefore, the wordma'iingan (wolf) would be pronounced muh–eengun,with the first syllable stopping abruptly before begin-ning the vowel sound of the second.

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Animate and Inanimate

Ojibwe nouns are given grammatical gender, in thiscase not feminine and masculine but “animate” and“inanimate.” Inanimate nouns are considered to haveno life, whereas animates are believed to have life or aspirit. This division is usually based on a commonsense (e.g., dog is animate, fork is inanimate), butthere are also some things, which we usually defineas non-living in English, but which are considered tobe alive in Ojibwe language. The sun, moon, andstars, for example, are animate, or living to theOjibwe. This is based on traditional beliefs thatmany natural and cultural items (such as a drum or afeather) can house spirit, and thus they are alive.

Serious students of Ojibwemowin learn these distinc-tions, since they affect agreement of nouns and verbs.Depending on the level of your students, you maywant to present this information or ignore it at thistime.

Listen to the Language

Another way to help your students experience the lan-guage is to provide them with opportunities to hear itspoken by native Ojibwe speakers. You can find audiorecordings of Ojibwe stories told in the native lan-guage at the official Web site of the PBS series WaasaInaabidaa: We Look in All Directions. Each story isillustrated and includes English subtitles. Found atwww.ojibwe.org/home/wigwam_story_main.html.

NOTE: For more information about this invaluableInternet resource, see the Web Sites section at theend of this section of the guide.

Curriculum Standards for Social StudiesWhen used with the activities in this teacher’s guide,this program correlates to the following NationalSocial Studies Standards, from NCSS Bulletin 89,©1994 National Council for the Social Studies.

I. Culture

Social studies programs should include experi-ences that provide for the study of culture and cul-tural diversity, so that the learner can:

a. explore and describe similarities and differ-ences in the ways groups, societies, and cul-tures address similar human needs andconcerns;

b. give examples of how experiences may beinterpreted differently by people fromdiverse cultural perspectives and frames ofreference;

c. describe ways in which language, stories,folktales, music, and artistic creations serveas expressions of culture and influencebehavior of people living in a particular cul-ture;

d. compare ways in which people from differentcultures think about and deal with theirphysical environment and social conditions;

e. give examples and describe the importanceof cultural unity and diversity within andacross groups.

II. Time, Continuity, & Change

Social studies programs should include experi-ences that provide for the study of the wayshuman beings view themselves in and over time, sothat the learner can:

b. demonstrate an ability to use correctlyvocabulary associated with time, such aspast, present, future, and long ago; read andconstruct simple timelines; identify exam-ples of change; and recognize examples ofcause and effect relationships;

c. compare and contrast different stories oraccounts about past events, people, places, orsituations, identifying how they contributeto our understanding of the past;

d. identify and use various sources for recon-structing the past, such as documents, let-ters, diaries, maps, textbooks, photos, andothers;

e. demonstrate an understanding that people indifferent times and places view the worlddifferently.

III. People, Places, & Environments

Social studies programs should include experi-ences that provide for the study of people, places,and environments so that the learner can:

b. interpret, use, and distinguish various repre-sentations of the earth, such as maps, globes,and photographs;

©2005 Introduction a ix

c. use appropriate resources, data sources, andgeographic tools such as atlases, databases,grid systems, charts, graphs, and maps togenerate, manipulate, and interpretinformation;

e. describe and speculate about physical systemchanges, such as seasons, climate andweather, and the water cycle;

g. examine the interaction of human beingsand their physical environment, the use ofland, building of cities, and ecosystemchanges in selected locales and regions.

IV. Individual Development & Identity

Social studies programs should include experi-ences that provide for the study of individualdevelopment and identity, so that the learner can:

b. describe personal connections to place—especially place as associated with immediatesurroundings;

e. identify and describe ways family, groups,and community influence the individual’sdaily life and personal choices;

h. work independently and cooperatively toaccomplish goals.

V. Individuals, Groups, & Institutions

Social studies programs should include experi-ences that provide for the study of instructionsamong individuals, groups, and institutions, so thatthe learner can:

a. identify roles as learned behavior patterns ingroup situations such as student, familymember, peer play group member, or clubmember;

b. give examples of and explain group andinstitutional influences such as religiousbeliefs, laws, and peer pressure, on people,events, and elements of culture;

f. give examples of the role of institutions infurthering both continuity and change;

g. show how groups and institutions work tomeet individual needs and promote the com-mon good, and identify examples of wherethey fail to do so.

VIII. Science, Technology, & Society

Social studies programs should include experi-ences that provide for the study of relationshipsamong science, technology, and society, so that thelearner can:

a. identify and describe examples in which sci-ence and technology have changed the livesof people, such as in homemaking, childcare,work, transportation, and communication.

Bibliography

Books for Teachers

Benton-Benai, Edward. The Mishomis Book: The Voiceof the Ojibway. St. Paul, MN: Indian Country Press,1979.

From Nocbay.com: Recognized as an accurate andundistorted account of the culture, history, andphilosophy of the Ojibway Nation as receivedfrom oral traditions. The Mishomis Book is consid-ered the classic book about Ojibway traditionalteachings. Throughout the book, the authorincludes the use of Ojibway words and theirmeanings, as well as helpful maps and illustrations.

Broker, Ignatia, and Steven Primo, illus. Night FlyingWoman: An Ojibway Narrative (Native Voices). St. Paul,MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1983.

NOTE: This book is part of the series NativeVoices, from the Minnesota Historical Society.

MHS book description: With the art of a practicedstoryteller, Ignatia Broker recounts the life of hergreat-great-grandmother, Night Flying Woman,who was born in the mid-19th century and livedduring a chaotic time of enormous change,uprooting, and loss for the Minnesota Ojibway.But this story also tells of her people’s greatstrength and continuity.

Densmore, Frances. Chippewa Customs. St. Paul, MN:Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1979.

From Amazon.com: Frances Densmore, born in1867, was one of the first ethnologists to special-ize in the study of American Indian music andculture. Her book, first published in 1929,remains an authoritative source for the tribal his-tory, customs, legends, traditions, art, music,

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economy, and leisure activities of the ChippewaIndians of the United States and Canada.

Nichols, John D., and Earl Nyholm. A ConciseDictionary of Minnesota Ojibwe. Minneapolis:University of Minnesota Press, 1995.

From back cover: An up-to-date resource for thoseinterested in the linguistic and cultural heritage ofthe Anishinaabe, this dictionary contains over7,000 of the most frequently used Ojibwe words.Features include: Ojibwe-English and English-Ojibwe sections; and words spelled to reflect theiractual pronunciation.

Peacock, Thomas D. Ojibwe Waasa Inaabidaa: We LookIn All Directions. Afton, MN: Afton HistoricalSociety Press, 2002.

From Amazon.com: Ojibwe: Waasa Inaabidaa is auniquely personal history of the Ojibwe culture byOjibwe educator Thomas Peacock. Illustrated withcolor and historic black-and-white photographs,artwork, and maps, it is the story of how theOjibwe people and their ways have continued tosurvive, and even thrive, from pre-contact times tothe present.

NOTE: This book is the companion to the PBSseries Waasa Inaabidaa: We Look In All Directions.For more information about this series, see theWeb Sites section below.

Treuer, Anton, Ed. Living Our Language: Ojibwe Talesand Oral Histories (Native Voices). St. Paul, MN:Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2001.

NOTE: This book is part of the series NativeVoices, from the Minnesota Historical Society.

MHS book description: This substantial volumepresents a rich and varied collection of tales fromthe Ojibwe (Chippewa) tradition while also inte-grating material from associated Algonquiantribes who migrated westward for centuries beforeEuropean contact. Ten Indian elders from thenorthwestern United States and Canada providenarratives in their native language, with Englishtranslations appearing on the facing pages.

Books for Students

Esbensen, Barbara Juster. The Star Maiden: AnOjibway Tale. New York: Little Brown & Company,1991.

From School Library Journal: Grades 2–4. In thisAmerican Ojibway Indian legend about the originof the water lilies, simple, relatively short sen-tences suffice to describe the events of how somemagical sky maidens came to Earth to find restand relaxation on the peaceful ponds as whitewater lilies. The watercolor paintings show clearevidence of anthropological research in the detailsof costumes and utensils. Each is heavily framedon three sides by patterned borders apparentlyderived from Ojibway textiles and beadwork.

Jaakola, Lyz, and Karen Savage-Blue (Ill.). OurJourney. Cloquet, MN: Fond du Lac Band of LakeSuperior Chippewa, 2002.

From Minnesotahumanities.org: This is a boardbook that portrays two young Ojibwe childrenliving a traditional life. At its simplest level, it isa poetic, repetitive, and reassuring book for veryyoung children. For older children, the rich art-work provides a guide to introducing the stories ofthe Ojibwe.

NOTE: Check your local library, or order fromwww.oyate.org or Fond du Lac Head StartProgram, 1720 Big Lake Rd., Cloquet, MN,55620, 218-878-8100.

Johnston, Basil. The Manitous: The Spiritual World ofthe Ojibway. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota HistoricalSociety Press, 2001.

From Amazon.com: Ethnologist Johnston bridgesseveral worlds in this book that is both exemplaryoriginal scholarship and a delightfully, evencharmingly, written set of stories that, althoughwritten for adults, can be appreciated by those ofany age, for, based in oral tradition, they read as ifthey have voices.

McCain, Becky Ray. Grandmother’s Dreamcatcher.Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman & Company,2001.

From School Library Journal: Kimmy is taken tostay with her Chippewa grandmother while herparents find a new place to live. Bad dreams andfear for her mother and father constantly disturbthe child’s sleep until Grandmother tells her thelegend of the dreamcatcher, which is intended tocapture bad dreams and allow good ones to maketheir way back to the dreamer.

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Peacock, Thomas D. The Good Path: Ojibwe Learningand Activity Book for Kids. Afton, MN: AftonHistorical Society Press, 2002.

From Amazon.com: Kids of all cultures journeythrough time with the Ojibwe people as theirguide to the Good Path and its nine universal les-sons of courage, cooperation, and honor. Throughtraditional native tales, hear about GrandmotherMoon, the mysterious Megis shell, and the souls ofplants and animals. Through Ojibwe history, learnhow trading posts, treaties, and warfare affectedNative Americans. Through activities designedespecially for kids, discover fun ways to follow theGood Path’s timeless wisdom every day.

Wittstock, Linda Waterman. Ininatig’s Gift of Sugar:Traditional Native Sugar Making. Minneapolis, MN:Lerner Publications Company, 1993.

From card catalog description: Describes howIndians have relied on the sugar maple tree forfood and tells how an Anishinaabe Indian inMinnesota continues his people’s traditions byteaching students to tap the trees and make maplesugar.

Web SitesNingo Gikinonwin: Ojibwe Four Seasons has beenadapted for young children from the landmark PBStelevision series Waasa Inaabidaa: We Look in AllDirections. The official Web site of this series can bean invaluable resource as you plan your lessons. Findlesson plans, resources (including downloadablephoto stills from the series), chat rooms, and audiofiles of members of the Ojibwe nation telling storiesin the native language, with English subtitles. Foundat www.ojibwe.org.

The goal of the Noc Bay Trading Company ofEscanaba, Michigan, is to provide craft supplies, craft kits, books, videos, and other resources to those wishing to learn about Native Americancultures. It is a well-respected resource. Found atwww.nocbay.com/store/library/index.html.

The Minnesota Historical Society is a private, non-profit educational and cultural institution establishedin 1849 to preserve and share Minnesota history. TheSociety collects, preserves, and tells the story ofMinnesota’s past through interactive and engagingmuseum exhibits, extensive libraries and collections,

25 historic sites, educational programs, and bookpublishing. Found at http://www.mnhs.org.

The Wisconsin Historical Society is both a state agencyand a private membership organization. Founded in1846, two years before statehood, and chartered in1853, it is the oldest American historical society toreceive continuous public funding. By statute, it ischarged with collecting, advancing, and disseminat-ing knowledge of Wisconsin and of the trans-Allegheny West. Found at www.wisconsinhistory.org.

NativeTech is an Internet resource for indigenousethno-technology, focusing on the arts of EasternWoodland Indian Peoples, providing historical andcontemporary background with instructional how-to’s and references. Found at www.nativetech.org.

Glossary of Native American TermsAnishinaabe

This is the name the Ojibwe people prefer, the namethey call themselves. It means “first people.”

Aadisokan

The sacred “teaching stories” of the Ojibwe people.

Biboon

The Ojibwe word for the season of winter.

Clan

A system of organization, tradition, and governmentused by the Ojibwe. Each clan was responsible forone of the basic needs of The People (food, protec-tion, medicine, leadership, and so on). In Ojibwe, theword for “clan” is dodaim.

Dagwaagin

The Ojibwe word for the season of fall (or autumn).

Native American

A descendent of any of the groups of people wholived in North or South America before Europeansettlement. May also be known as American Indians,Indigenous Nations, or Aboriginal Peoples.

Niibin

The Ojibwe word for the season of summer.

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Ojibwe

Native Americans of North America who make theirhomes in Canada and the United States around theGreat Lakes region. Although you may see variousspellings of this name (Ojibway, Ojibwa, Ojibwe),that used throughout this series and guide is gener-ally accepted as the standard spelling today. In theAlgonquian language the word Ojibwe means “puck-ered seam,” referring tothe unique way theOjibwe sew their moc-casins, with a puckeredseam. The Ojibwe arealso called Anishinaabe. NOTE: The name Chippewaresulted from the French explorers mispronouncingthe word “Ojibwe” when they first encountered thetribe. That name has continued among many Nativeand non-Native Americans.

Ojibwemowin

The Ojibwe language, an oral language thousands ofyears old.

Totem

An animal emblem that represents a clan, symboliz-ing its strength. The original seven Ojibwe totemswere the loon, crane, fish, bear, deer, marten, andeagle.

Tradition

A custom or belief handed down through a group ofpeople, both orally and by example.

Wigwam

A Native American home; a structure made of barksupported by wooden poles. The Ojibwe used thesestructures in the past because they were easy to takedown, move, and reassemble quickly as they movedtheir village throughout the seasonal cycle.

Ziigwan

The Ojibwe word for the season of spring.

Blackline Masters for ThematicUnitsTurtle

Loon

Crane

Fish

Bear

Marten

Eagle

Deer

Individual Episode GuidesEpisode One—Ziigwan: Spring

Episode Two—Niibin: Summer

Episode Three—Dagwaagin: Fall

Episode Four—Biboon: Winter

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Turtle

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Loon

©2005 Introduction a xv

Crane

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Fish

©2005 Introduction a xvii

Bear

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Marten

©2005 Introduction a xix

Eagle

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Deer