First Americans

In celebration of the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian on the National Mall, and in honor of Native American History Month, we have gathered our favorite lessons and resources on the arts and culture of the First Americans. Through dance and sculpture, poetry and storytelling, your students can explore the rich symbolism of many traditional and contemporary Native American art forms, engage in sensitive interpretation of Native cultures and increase their understanding of the many peoples of our diverse nation.

Lessons:

Students discuss the process of storytelling and listening, and create a listening doll.

Students read a Native American myth, analyze it, and relate it to other myths and their own experience.

This lesson challenges students to create expressive movements inspired by Native American chants and poetry.

Students explore patterns of Navajo weavings and create and perform a traveling pattern based on them.

Tomie DePaola's Native American legends lend themselves to the study of Native American dance movements.

Meet the Artist:

Joseph Bruchac, on Sharing Stories

A Native American storyteller speaks about the process and practice of storytelling.

Descended from Chief John Ross, this preeminent Cherokee storyteller speaks about how storytelling has changed, and how she chooses stories.