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Exploring Indigenous Cultures and Creation Stories

 

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Curriculum Level: K-5

By Sheila Singh, Ephesus Elementary, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

OVERVIEW OF LESSON:
Students will gain an understanding and appreciation of Indigenous cultures by exploring a variety of creation stories. They will recognize the diversity and significance of these narratives and how they reflect cultural identity. It is important that students understand that all creation stories should be respected as an important aspect of a group’s culture.

This lesson is intended as practice for students who have already learned how to identify the theme of a story.

SUGGESTED GRADE LEVEL: Grade 4

SUBJECTS: English Language Arts, Social Studies

 CORRESPONDING NATIONAL AND/OR STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA STANDARDS:

North Carolina English Language Arts:
4.9 Compare and contrast the use of similar themes and topics and patterns of events in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures.
4.3 Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text.

North Carolina Social Studies:
B.1 Understand ways in which values and beliefs have influenced the development of North Carolina’s identity as a state.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION:

  • How do creation stories reflect Native Americans’ cultural beliefs and values?

LESSON OBJECTIVES:

Students will be able to:

  • recognize different elements of culture
  • explore a variety of creation stories from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and other indigenous groups
  • compare and contrast events and themes in creation stories

BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR THE EDUCATOR or RESOURCES TO EXPLORE FURTHER:
Members of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) descended from the same people. Two hundred years ago, the Cherokee Indians were still one tribe that lived in the southeastern United States (of course, they had been on that land for much longer. See NCPedia for a more complete history). Once Europeans discovered there was gold on Cherokee land in Georgia, the US government forcibly removed indigenous tribes, including the Cherokee, from the southeast to modern-day Oklahoma on the infamous Trail of Tears. Some members of the EBCI living in western North Carolina today are descendants of Trail of Tears survivors who returned home. Others descended from the Cherokee who successfully resisted removal. Eventually, this group of descendants reorganized and gained federal recognition as a tribe known as the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. The EBCI has a long tradition of oral storytelling. Below please find additional resources to extend your own learning about the Cherokee people through their stories. These would be excellent resources for an extension (or to meet the 3rd grade standard RL.3.2):

Myths of the Cherokee (James Mooney)
The author provides some history as context for the retelling of these traditional stories. This eBook is free for use—You may copy it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License (www.gutenberg.org)

Eastern Cherokee Stories (Sandra Muse Isaacs)
A good companion for learning more about Cherokee culture and stories. From the website:

“These traditional stories embody the Cherokee concepts of Gadugi, working together for the good of all, and Duyvkta, walking the right path, and teach listeners how to understand and live in the world with reverence for all living things. In Eastern Cherokee Stories, Sandra Muse Isaacs uses the concepts of Gadugi and Duyvkta to explore the Eastern Cherokee oral tradition, and to explain how storytelling in this tradition—as both an ancient and a contemporary literary form—is instrumental in the perpetuation of Cherokee identity and culture.”

Other Resources: These are suggested indigenous creation stories. You may choose other stories from these resources to match the demographics of students in your class, extend this plan to add other cultures, or to focus on Indigenous peoples from a specific region.

Creation stories from around the world This website includes origin stories from a variety of cultures. It is a good resource for teachers if you are interested in including origin stories from other cultures. Be sure to read the stories in advance as not all of them are suitable for 4th grade.

A dictionary of creation myths This link is to the “Internet Archive” through which you can check out electronic access to this book. It is a comprehensive resource for teachers to find creation myths from around the world. As you might expect, it is in alphabetical order (the Cherokee myth is on pages 44-45). The authors provide insight and connections in addition to retelling the myths. This is a good resource if you are looking for something in particular to add to the selected myths.

Native Languages of the Americas This page has an extensive list of North American Indian tribes and their stories. It also has links to other resources including Central and South American Indian legends.

Williams College – Creation Stories This collection is a good alternative to printing stories. Any of these stories would be good for students to use and they could access them directly from this website.

SPECIFIC STUDENT STRATEGIES & ACTIVITIES:

Day 1 What is culture? (40 minutes)

“We” (in our community) are a diverse group of people with unique histories. Our “culture” depends on our background, environment, and experiences.

Students will be able to:

  • Define culture and identify some elements of their own culture.
  • Understand that people from different cultures have different traditions, foods, and languages.

Materials:

  • Construction paper cut into 9×9 squares (or bulletin board paper as an alternative backing)
  • White paper cut into 8×8 squares
  • Art supplies (markers, crayons, colored pencils)
  • Glue (for student use)
  • Masking tape (optional, for teacher use)

Warm-Up (10 minutes):

  1. Introduce the term “culture” – ask students if they have any ideas about what it means.
  2. Explain that culture is the way of life shared by a group of people, including their traditions (beyond just holidays), customs, beliefs, language, and art.
  3. Explain that each country has its own unique culture.
  4. Focusing on North America, point out that Canadian culture is different from American culture. Different regions of the United States, and even within a state, also have different cultures. For example, people in the Southeastern United States are distinctly different from people in the Northeast in terms of politics, religion, music, sport, and language. Invite students who have recently moved to the area to share differences they have noticed in “the way things are” here — that’s culture!

Learning Activities (20 minutes):

  1. Cultural Exploration (optional): Show students pictures or illustrations representing different cultures from around the world. Discuss the differences and similarities they notice in terms of clothing, values, landmarks, and traditions.
    Note: cultural anthropologists roughly define culture as all the beliefs, practices, symbols, and rules of groups of people. This culture is written, passed down verbally, spread through practice, or never even mentioned (but followed nonetheless).
  2. Culture Quilt: Give each student a square piece of white paper. Ask them to draw pictures or write words representing elements of their own culture on the white paper. For example, it might include foods they eat, holidays they celebrate, and activities they enjoy. Create a classroom display of culture!

    option 1: Have students glue their white square centered onto a piece of construction paper, and then tape them all together (using masking tape on the back of the construction paper squares).

    option 2: Make a grid of the white square on a piece of bulletin board paper, leaving a boarder of bulletin board paper as a frame between each square.

  3. Share Out: Invite students to share their culture squares– this could be in a whole group or within small groups. Encourage students to explain at least 1 or 2 things that represent their culture.

Wrap-Up (10 minutes):
Lead a class discussion about the diversity of cultures (could be in the class or in the world). Discuss how learning about other cultures can help us understand and appreciate people who are different from us.

Day 2 Introduction to Indigenous Creation Stories (40 minutes)

Indigenous people are part of our communities today. Each tribe’s unique history, environment, and culture has an effect on how they view the world.

Students will be able to:

  • Define creation stories
  • Explain who are the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and where they live today
  • Record the story elements of the Cherokee creation story

Materials:

Warm-Up (5 minutes):
Begin by discussing the term Indigenous. If you Google a definition for Indigenous, you’ll find it means “originating or occurring naturally in a particular place; native.” When we talk about Indigenous Peoples, we mean people who are native to a place, who were in that place before colonists, and have a distinct culture. Just like there is a great deal of diversity in the culture of people in North America, there are thousands of unique Indigenous communities with their own traditions and cultures.

Learning Activities (25 minutes)

  1. Introduction to Creation Stories
    1. Define creation stories: Creation stories are narratives that explain how the world and everything in it came to be according to a particular culture’s beliefs; they typically involve supernatural beings or events. While we sometimes find stories from other cultures strange, it is important to understand that all creation stories should be respected as an important aspect of a group’s culture.
    2. Emphasize that creation stories of Indigenous cultures provide insights into how they see the world, their relationship with the land, and their spiritual beliefs.
    3. Introduce the concept of oral tradition and that many Indigenous creation stories have been passed down orally from one generation to the next.
  1. Read aloud and discussion of Cherokee creation story:
    1. Share background about the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina (see background section above).
    2. Read aloud The Story of Corn and Medicine (Cherokee creation story)
    1. Students refer back to their printed copy of the story to pull out details to complete the first column of the graphic organizer.
    2. Review the elements of this story that should be on the graphic organizer as a class (alternatively, this could be completed as a guided practice for students who need more support)

Wrap-Up (10 minutes):
Class discussion making inferences about the beliefs and values of the Cherokee people based on details of the creation story.

Day 3 Exploration of Creation Stories (40 minutes)

Students will be able to:

  • Summarize key elements of a story
  • Notice similarities and differences when comparing two creation stories

Materials:

  • Indigenous Creation Stories Graphic Organizer used in prior lesson
  • pencils/pens for note-taking
  • Various creation stories from different Indigenous cultures (accessible through books and online resources). Here are some suggestions in various formats for differentiation:

Other resources for stories (optional)

Warm-Up (5 minutes):

  1. Review the concept of creation stories. The Indigenous Knowledge Institute of Melbourne, Australia says, “Creation stories tell people about their history, cultures and beliefs, and the environment in which they live or have come from…. These stories often blend science and historical events, such as how things came to be, with cultural norms and important lessons for living.”
  2. People often refer to “Native Americans” as if they were a singular group, but they never were just one group of people. Each tribe has its own culture. As a result, there is a great variety in Indigenous creation stories. We might find some elements of their stories are similar, and some will be different. Today you will explore these cultures by reading several creation stories. You will track the story elements on the same chart we used yesterday for the Cherokee story.

Learning Activities: Explore a variety of creation stories (15 minutes)

  1. Divide students into small groups and provide each group with a different Indigenous creation story to read or watch (alternatively, you could provide several stories from which students could choose).
  2. Encourage students to pay attention to key elements of the story to be recorded on the graphic organizer.

Note: There is plenty of space on the graphic organizer for students to complete the process for more than just one more story as a way of differentiating. If time allows, you could do an additional story as a group before sending students to do this on their own.

Wrap-Up:
Have each group summarize their story to the class, highlighting key themes and symbols.

Discussion and Reflection (10 minutes):

  1. Lead a class discussion on common themes and differences among the creation stories shared.
  2. Encourage students to reflect on what they learned about Indigenous cultures through these stories. Prompt questions such as:
    • How do these creation stories reflect the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the natural world?
    • What values or beliefs do these stories convey?
    • How do these stories contribute to the cultural identity of Indigenous communities?
  3. Invite students to share their personal reflections or connections they made with the stories.

Conclusion (5 minutes):

  • Summarize findings from the stories selected, emphasizing the point that all of these Indigenous cultures may have some common themes, but are also unique.
  • Encourage students to continue exploring and learning about Indigenous cultures and stories from their own culture.

ASSESSMENTS:

Formative: Monitor students’ understanding through their participation in group discussions and the quality of their reflections.

Summative Assessment: Native Americans have a tradition of passing down cultural knowledge from one generation to the next through oral storytelling. Creation stories are one type of story shared in this way.

  1. Choose two creation stories from your exploration. Describe how these sequences of events (beginning, middle, end) in these stories are similar and how they are different.
  2. How do animals often play a role in Native American creation stories? Provide examples from two different cultures.
  3. How do Native American creation stories reflect the cultural values of respect and harmony with nature? Provide examples from at least two stories from your exploration.

LEARNING EXTENSIONS:

  • Invite a guest speaker from a local Indigenous community to share their knowledge and perspectives on creation stories and Indigenous culture.
  • Students conduct an inquiry into their personal family history and traditional stories from their own culture.
  • If time allows (or adapting for 3rd grade), students could focus on a variety of Cherokee traditional stories prior to focusing on origin stories from a variety of cultures. This would better lend itself to drawing conclusions about the values of a cultural group than just looking at one origin story.
    (CCSS.RL.3.2: Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.)
  • Have students try planning and writing an origin story that explains a natural phenomenon. They should consider:
    • What beliefs or values do you want to reflect in your story?
    • Who are the main characters?
    • What is the setting?
    • What is the problem and solution in your story?
    • What elements of our world are explained?

MATERIALS:

Day 1: What is culture?

  • Construction paper cut into 9×9 squares (or bulletin board paper as an alternative backing)
  • White paper cut into 8×8 squares
  • Art supplies (markers, crayons, colored pencils)
  • Glue (for student use)
  • Masking tape (optional, for teacher use)

Day 2: What are creation stories?

Day 3: Exploration of Creation Stories

REFERENCES:

Anderson, William L., & Wetmore, Ruth Y., Bell, John L. (2021, December). Cherokee Indians. NCPedia. https://www.ncpedia.org/cherokee/overview

Eastern Band of Cherokee. (n.d.). The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Cherokee, NC. https://visitcherokeenc.com/eastern-band-of-the-cherokee/

National Park Service. (2022, December 23). Great Smoky Mountains. National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/grsm/learn/historyculture/cherokee.htm

Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. (2018). A Trail of 4,000 Tears. Teaching History.org. https://teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/25652#:~:text=about%204%2C000%20perished.-,It%20is%20estimated%20that%20of%20the%20approximately%2016%2C000%20Cherokee%20who,River%20south%20into%20east%20Tennessee

The University of Melbourne. (n.d.). Understanding and respecting creation stories. The University of Melbourne.  https://indigenousknowledge.unimelb.edu.au/curriculum/resources/understanding-and-respecting-creation-stories#:~:text=These%20stories%20often%20blend%20science,scientific%20understanding%20of%20historical%20events.

World View, a public service program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, equips K-12 and community college educators with global knowledge, best practices and resources to prepare students to engage in our interconnected and diverse world.

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