Sketching Native America

As an introduction to our Native America unit, students reproduced drawings of individuals from a local variety of Indian tribes.  Each student spent time with his/her chosen person, imagining what he was like, what she was thinking, the places he lived, her personality, etc.

I asked the class to get to know their people, to notice every wrinkle and feature, what they held in their hands, the ornaments around their necks, and the feathers in their hair.

I wanted students to experience a relationship of sorts with their papers.  In doing so, they will be more prepared to face the duties, hardships, and lifestyles of real-life Native Americans who might have trekked across the Midwest in search of places to live, Indians who lived near our current location who lived quite differently than we do today.