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How Did Native American Children Learn?

admin — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

How Did Native American Children Learn?

The History of The Oral Tradition
North American Indians passed their knowledge down from generation to generation. Before European colonization occurred in America, Native Americans relied on a few basic principles to teach their children information, knowledge and wisdom. In this sense, children were taught the basics of living in a patriarchal society. On the one hand, Native American parents would teach their children the basic elements of hunting, navigation, myth, how to read nature and fighting. These educational skills were passed down through the ages without any form of written text.Confused? Here â€˜s a little help . In this style, language predated written information, which taught children to pay closer attention to their everyday experiences.

Passing Down Knowledge From Generation To Generation
In methods of teaching and education, Native Americans were like most European and other indigenous tribes. These tribes all relied on experience, oral communication and practice. However, the main difference between Native American culture and other forms of societies was the approach Indians had to learning and experiencing life. In this light, religion affected the Native American culture in a profound way. It distracted the Native American approach to living harmoniously with nature to a distorted belief system of superstitious thinking.

Was There Conflict Within the Maryland Native American Tribes?

admin — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Learning about the culture and history of Maryland’s Native-American tribes can provide you with a great deal of information and insight into this unique people. The history of American settlement and colonization is a large tale, with many bylines and footnotes that often escape notice. Educating yourself on the role that the Natives of this region played in the formation and shaping of our country can be a very rewarding subject of study. Developing a more well-rounded and effective understanding of the world in which we live can often require students to take a closer look at the past.

With plenty of ways to learn more about this subject matter, learning all you need to can often be done far more easily than you might have suspected. Those with an interest in early and contemporary American history may find a great deal of insight by exploring the past history and culture of Maryland Native-American tribes. The right books, websites and other educational opportunities could provide you with a better way to educate yourself about such matters. Exploring the cultures and historical issues that made the biggest impact on the world we live in can be a rewarding and enlightening opportunity for any student.

Identifying the Different Tribes of Maryland

admin — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

As a researcher, it’s my job to study and share what I know about the Native Americans of this country. Did you know that there are no federally recognized tribes in Maryland today? There were plenty in the beginning but most of the Native Americans were forced to leave in the 1700s.

However, just because they were displaced, doesn’t mean they are all extinct and below is a list of the original inhabitants of Maryland:

The Lenape Tribe
Said to be extinct, such is not the case and there are, in fact, 11,000 Lenape living in Oklahoma.

The Nanticoke Tribe
This tribe was notable for sheltering escaped slaves during the early days of American history.

The Powhatan Tribe
Believed to be named for Chief Powhatan, he was the father of the much-romanticized Pocahontas.

The Shawnee and Ohio Valley Tribes
There was a great special about these tribes on television recently and if you have a Cable-tv.com provider, you might have seen it. Their leader, Tecumseh was instrumental in uniting the eastern tribes.

The Susquehannock Tribe
Devastated by small pox and violence, they are unfortunately extinct.

The Tutelo and Saponi Tribes
Much of the language has been lost as the last fluent speaker died in the 90s.

What Language Did the Nanticoke Speak To Each Other?

www.marylandtribe.com — Tue, 29 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Today The Nanticoke Indians speak English. When John Smith first discovered the tribe, they spoke a dialect of the Algonquian language. The Algonquian language is the most common Indian language of tribes of the Northeast. The word Nanticoke means the tidewater people in Algonquian. Their native language is often coined as, Nanticoke, but it has not been spoken since the late 1800′s. The shared Algonquian language served the tribe with common ground when trading with other tribes. Wampum, and Algonquian word for “white strings,” was their shared medium of exchange. Wampum could either be shell beads or shells strung on strips of dried animal skin. The people used the wampum as a type of record for laws, events and transactions. Some strings of wampum were even used to carry messages. The Wampum became so important that no trade would be honored unless there was a wampum exchanged. This method of uniform communication was successful in the Nanticoke tribes widely traveled trade route. Later, after the British invaded and dispersed the tribes, the new settlements became a hub for sheltering escaped slaves. In confusion, one recording in the 18th century of what was thought to be the “Nanticoke” vocabulary actually turned out to be Mandinka, a West African language. With their diversified culture, the Nanticoke Indians of today had lost much of their language and culture. But modern day Nanticoke Indians have regained their heritage and maintained lingual roots of the past.

What Type Of Clothing Did The Nanticoke Wear?

www.marylandtribe.com — Fri, 25 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

The Nanticoke Indians would hunt large game animals for their food, tools and clothing. The large animal skins provided enough materials to make clothing for the whole tribe. The skins were softened and cut into an apron-like garment for both men and women to wear. Often the garments would later be decorated with shells, polished bone, feathers or beads for added style. The men’s clothing was usually more elaborately decorated than the women’s clothing. In harsh winter months, for warmth, the women would either fashion clothes made of fur scraped of the animal skins or wear unscraped skins of deer and bear, with the fur worn on the inside, close to the skin to ward off the cold. Moccasins made of deerskin and wooden bark provided protection and comfort for their feet. The Nanticoke Indians enjoyed adorning themselves in necklaces made of animal bones, beads, and shells. Later, after trading was established, the Nanticoke would add colorful swaths of fabric to their clothing. Trading from the Great Lakes regions would later bring copper that was hand-beaten to add to their ornamental decorations. The Chief ware a special ornament around his neck to distinguish himself from the other members of the tribe.

What Did The Lenape Tribe Grow, Fish And Hunt?

admin — Wed, 23 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Hailing from the Northeastern Woodlands, the Lenape Tribe are part of the larger Algonquin group of Native Americans. When Europeans first came in contact with the Lenape, the tribe had become more or less sedentary.

No longer nomadic, the Lenape traveled between permanent camps on a seasonal basis. This gave them the opportunity to become farmers. Maize, beans and squash were planted together in a technique known as companion planting. Companion planting increases crop yield by placing crops together to benefit each other. The grouping of beans, squash and corn is also known as “Three Sisters” and constituted the main crops of many Native Americans.

To supplement their diet, the Lenape tribe also harvested seafood and hunted. While hunting, they usually opted for small game such as deer and birds. Fish and shellfish were important to their diet. Clans living in the area that would later become New Jersey gathered clams the entire year.

Much of the Lenape’s success can be attributed to the utilization of slash and burn techniques when clearing their fields. The richer soil, combined with the benefits of companion planting and using rotting fish as fertilizer led to a more bountiful crop yield than was normal. It is thought that there were once close to 15,000 Lenape, mostly due to their steady food supply.

What Language Did Lenape Indians Speak To Each Other?

www.marylandtribe.com — Sat, 19 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

At the time of European arrival in North America, the Lenape Indians lived in what is now the Delaware Bay area, including the northeast corner of Maryland, the Schuylkill, Delaware and lower Hudson River valleys, and western Long Island. The Lenape were decimated by European diseases and caught in the middle of European wars, so they were forced to move further west and north. There are still communities of the Lenape in Ontario, Wisconsin and Oklahoma, where they were grouped with the Cherokee for decades.
The Lenape language had three distinct dialects: Munsee to the north, and northern and southern Unami (or Nanticoke) further south. The three dialects of Lenapi are branches of the Eastern Algonquian family of languages. Munsee and Unami are very similar to the Mahican dialect of the Hudson River Valley. Unami is a polysynthetic language, meaning that the words, especially the verbs, often have many morphemes, or units of meaning. Nouns are either animate or inanimate, and either present or absent, and verbs are conjugated accordingly.
There are no more fluent speakers of the language, though the younger generations are trying to preserve it as a second language. A version of the southern Unami dialect is taught in some Lenape communities in Oklahoma, and a Lenape “Talking Dictionary” is available online.