Ute Community

Summary

This lesson plan is designed to teach students about various aspects of indigenous communities in the United States, mainly focused on Ute communities in Utah. This lesson attends to the language, culture, geographic location, customs, and traditions of indigenous communities.

Materials

Day One

• Wall Map of Utah
• Map One: Original Lands
• Map Two: Utah 1968
• Map Three: Utah 1938
• Map Four: Original Lands of the Ute People
• Cut-Outs for Maps
• Utah Crossword Puzzle

Day Two

• "Bands" (as an overhead)

Day Three

• Missing Stories (pg. 34-35)
• choke-cherries
• currants
• garlic

Day Four

• "Inside Canyon de Chelly"
• "The Earth on Turtle's Back"
• sunflower seeds
• pine nuts
• beach ball of earth
• chalkboard and chalk

Day Five

• gymnasium space or outside space
• chalkboard and chalk

Background for Teachers

Teacher should have prior knowledge of the history of the Ute Community in Utah as well as its relation to indigenous communities throughout the United States.
Teachers should understand the customs, traditions, and cultures of indigenous communities. Learn more about Native American communities in Utah by visiting the attached websites (Ute Nation and Utah State University--Roosevelt Campus).

Student Prior Knowledge

No prior knowledge of Ute history needed.

Intended Learning Outcomes

• Locate on a map the regional settlements of indigenous communities of the United States
• Examine how indigenous cultures change over time
• Identify the elements of culture: language, food, clothing, and identify cultural elements that emerge as communities interact; e.g. roles, traditions, changing geography

Instructional Procedures

One Week Before Unit
Send home letter to parents explaining the Unit (letter attached).

Day One
Discuss with the class the idea of Native American bands or tribes. Ask what they know of "tribes" or "bands." Who are the members? What is the purpose of a tribe? Ask the students what they know of indigenous people in Utah. Make a list of their answers on the board. Tell them we are going to discover where the Utes came from, who they were as a tribe, and the impact they have had in Utah. Explain that it is from the word "Utes" that we get the name of our state "Utah." On a large wall map show students the States of Utah and Colorado.

Read to the class:
Long ago, before the pioneers came, the Utes roamed this land. Families gathered into bands. Each band moved within its own homeland. Each band ranged from its summer homes in the mountains to its winter homes in the valleys and back again. There were six bands in Utah:

Write each band name on an overhead projector and have the children "chunk" the words in order to read them.

1. Uinta Ats
2. Cumumba
3. Tumpanawach
4. San Pitch
5. Pah Vant
6. Sheberetch
There was a seventh band who had their homeland in parts of Utah and Colorado

7. Weeminuche

There were some other bands that lived in Colorado.

• Taviwach
• Parianuche
• Yamparika

Pass out Map #1 and the cutouts. Have the students cut and paste the seven bands in their appropriate places/regions on the map.

Continue reading:
Spanish explorers came to the land and they "claimed" it even though the Native Americans were living there. In 1848, Spain ceded a large amount of land to the United States of America--including all the Ute land--ending the war with Mexico. American poured into Ute territory, fencing the land and killing the animals. Some of the Utes tried to push the Americans out of Ute territory. It didn't work.

Then the United States government made areas of land that they called "agencies" in Colorado and Utah. This is where the government said the native Americans could live. When that happened, the Tumpanawach, Cumumba, San Pitch, Pah Vant and Sheberetch bands came to live with the Unita Ats on the Unitah Agency. They are now called the Unitah Utes. The Yamparkia and Parianuche went to the White River Agency, and became known as the White River Utes. The Taviwach went to the Uncompahgre Agency, and became known as the Uncompahgre Utes. The Weeminuche, Moach and Capote went to the Ignacio Agency.

On an overhead, diagram the bands as they came together. Pass out Map 2 and cutouts. These maps will help trace the movement of the bands. Have the children cut and paste the agency pieces onto the map.

Continue reading:
The Colorado miners and farmers didn't want the Utes living in Colorado. So the United States government moved the White River Utes and the Uncomphgre Utes out of Colorado, into Utah next to the Uinta Utes. Finally the government made three reservations and made all the bands live there.

Pass out Map Three and cutouts and have the students attach the cutouts to the map.

Review Questions

1. Look at these three maps. What do you notice about the land the belonged to the Ute families? Discuss with the children how the land has shrunk
2. Do you think it was fair for the Spaniards to "claim" the land?
3. Do you think it was fair of the government to decide where the Utes could live?
4. What could they have done differently?

Day Two
Explain to the children that Ute society emphasized everyone helping for the common good.

Each person knew they were needed and had a purpose. It was a healthy life, with plenty of exercise and good food. Balance between the spiritual and physical side of life was valued. People were expected to work and get along with one another and if they did not, they were asked to leave the band until they could get balance in their spiritual life and find value in work and get along with others. They did not punish, but excluded people who were out of balance. Everyone had to help. No one was rich and no one was poor. Everyone shared what they had. Everyone shared the work.

Introduce Vocabulary:

1. Elders
2. mild
3. compassion
4. equipment
5. condition
6. ranges
7. tipis

Prepare an overhead of the reading "Bands". Read through the story once together. Have a second overhead prepared, covering words at random. Read through the story again. As you come to the covered words, see if the children can "fill in the blank." (Check for comprehension and retention.)

Review Questions

1. What were the duties of the women? the men? the grandparents?
2. What would have happened if they had not felt like doing their part? Women? Men? Grandparents?

Explain what a "pantomime" is. Demonstrate by performing a pantomime of a person waking up in the morning and going through a morning routine. Divide the children into three groups: Women, Men, Elders. Give them 15 minutes to prepare a pantomime of the responsibilities and tasks performed by their groups.

Have each group make their presentation while the rest of the class guesses what they are doing.

Day Three
Ask the class, "Why do you write in your Journals?" (Answers may include: private thoughts and feelings, recording events, etc.) I am going to read you a story from a Native Ute whose name is Jason Cuch. The things he talks about happened to him about 60 years ago. It tells about some things he remembers when he was growing up. He tells about the Elders telling the children stories to teach them lessons. The Utes did not have a written language and they used story telling to remember things. Mr. Cuch demonstrates the power and the use of the oral tradition. Today we believe we are lucky to remember these things, because sometimes we forget a lot of the things that happen to us and how we feel about them.

Review and Discuss Question
Show the children choke-cherries, currants and garlic. Explain how the Utes had a lot of natural cures for herbs they would find growing on the land. Explain the role of medicine men and the respect the tribe members had for these revered individuals.

Ask the class, "Why it is important to write in our Journals?"

Have the students write for twenty minutes in their journals. Have them think about some memory of theirs that they would like to pass on to their children or a younger family member. How would they tell this story to someone in the future. Discuss with the students the idea of passing history through story and why this was important to Native-American communities.

Homework "Bigfoot" writing assignment.

Day Four
Have the students sit in a circle and join them. Explain that the reason we sit in a circle is so that no one person is at the head. We are all at the same height. Play CD ("Inside Canyon de Chelly") in the background. Ask the children to identify the instruments being played. Discuss with the children that the elders (or grandparents) were the members of the tribe who told most of the stories.

Telling stories was a way of teaching a lesson or of explaining how something happened. Tell the children that the Utes often passed around pine nuts and sunflower seeds while they were listening to a story. Pass the seeds.

Read (or tell, if you can) The Earth on Turtle's Back

Review Questions

1. What did this story explain to you? What are some other ways that people believe the Earth was created? Are these other beliefs any more true or less true than the Indian's beliefs? What do you believe?
2. In what ways do the animals help the Chief's wife once she falls through the hole in the Skyland? Why is the Earth brought up from beneath the water?
3. What lesson did this teach you? Why does Muskrat succeed in bringing the Earth up when the other animals fail, even though they are stronger and swifter than she is? What lesson does Muskrat bring to the people who hear this story? Can you think of a time when you were working on a hard task and you succeeded because you kept on trying?
4. What are the things that the Chief's wife will need to survive on the Earth on Turtle's back? Where do these things come from in the story? Where do all of our survival needs come from?

Have the students stand and make the circle large. Toss the Earth ball to one child and have them tell you if their right thumb is on land or water. Keep a tally on a chalkboard. Continue tossing the ball until all children have caught it. Did our thumbs land on water or land more often? What does this tell you about our Earth? What connection does this have to our story?

Homework Have the students create their own story about how the earth was created. They should write this at home and bring it to class for the next meeting (assignment attached).

Day Five
Go outside or to a gymnasium. Sit in a circle. Discuss the Utes' love of nature. Explain that they saw themselves as a PART of nature and not APART from it. Their stories use natural images to teach both about relationships between people, and between people and the Earth. To the Indians, what was done to a tree or rock was done to a brother or a sister. Animals were a part of this natural setting.

Hunting was an important part of the lives of the Native Americans. It was never done for sport but only for survival. Before the hunt, the people would pray to the animal spirits asking for permission to hunt. They also expressed the people's respect and appreciation for the lives of the animals they would soon hunt and offer thanksgiving for the food, clothing and other gifts the animals would give the people.

Explain to the class that people and other animals share some basic needs. Every animal needs a place in which to live. The environment in which an animal lives is call "habitat." An animal's habitat included food, water, shelter and space in an arrangement that fits the animal's needs. (Although an animal also needs air, we assume that it is always available). If any of these parts of the habitat is missing--something will happen.

1. Have the students stay in their circle and stand shoulder to shoulder. Students should then name the components of habitat, with the first student saying "food," the next student saying "water," the next saying "shelter," and the fourth saying "space." Continue going around the circle like this until each student has called out a habitat component.
2. Ask the students to turn toward their right, at the same time taking one step toward the center of the circle. They should be standing close together, "heel to toe," with each student looking at the back of the head of the student in from of them.
3. Students should place their hands on the shoulder of the person in front of them. Students slowly sit down as you count to three. At the count of three, you want the students to sit down--on the knees of the person behind them, keeping their own knees together to support the person in front of them. You then say "food, water, shelter, and space--in the proper arrangement (represented by the students circle) are what is needed to have a good habitat.
4. The students at this point may either fall or sit down. Now talk to them about the necessary components for people and wildlife.
5. Now have the students try the activity again. This time point to two "water" children and say, "It's a drought year." They must move out of the circle. Have the children sit. The circle will collapse. Try this several times, removing certain elements. Pollution of water, urban sprawl, soil erosion causing food and water supplies to diminish, etc.

Ask the students to summarize the main ideas they have learned.

Responses may include:

1. food, water, shelter, and space, in the right arrangement, can be called habitat
2. humans and other animals depend upon habitat
3. loss of any of these elements of habitat will have an impact on the animals living there.
4. the components of habitat must be in a suitable arrangement in order for the animals to survive

Now play a game of, Oh, Deer!
Materials: chalkboard and chalk

1. Tell the children we are going to focus on three of the habitat components--food, water and shelter--but the students should not forget about the importance of the animals having sufficient space in which to live, and that all the components have to be in a suitable arrangement or the animals will die.
2. Ask the students to count off in fours. Have all the ones go to one area; all the twos, threes and fours go together to another area. Mark two parallel lines on the ground or floor ten to 20 yards apart. Have the "ones" line up behind one line and all the other students line up behind the other.
3. The ones become "deer." all deer need good habitat in order to survive. Ask the students again what the essential components of habitat are. Tell them we assume that the deer have enough space but they need to find water, food and shelter in order to survive. When a deer is looking for food, it should place its hands over its stomach. When it is looking for water, it puts its hands over its mouth. When it is looking for shelter, it holds its hands together over its head. A deer can choose to look for any one of its needs during each round. The deer CANNOT, however, change what it is looking for during the round.
4. The twos, threes and fours are food, water and shelter. Each students chooses at the beginning of each round which component he or she will be during that round. The students show which component they are in the same way the deer show what they are looking for
5. The activity starts with all players lined up on their respective lines and with their backs to the students in the other line.
6. Tell all the students to decide and make their signs. Then count "one...two...three." At the count of three, each deer and each habitat component turn to face their opposite group, continuing to hold their signs clearly.
7. When the deer sees the component they need, they are to run to it. Each deer must hold the sign of what it is looking for until getting to the habitat component person with the same sign. The habitat component child returns with the deer to the other line and they become a deer. If a habitat component child is not chosen, they stay on the habitat side and can choose a different component for the next round. If the deer can't find what it needs, it dies and becomes part of the habitat.
8. Keep track of how many deer there are at the beginning and end of a round. Play approximately 15 rounds.

Extensions

This component can be added to the last day's activity. Adding the math component to the lesson plan is a way to make this lesson more challenging/complex for advanced students.

As a math graphing activity, graph (or have the children graph) the fluctuation of the deer and discuss why it happened. What kinds of things might have influenced the availability of certain habitat components? Discuss if there is ever really a "balance of nature" or are things always in a state of change?

Bibliography

Caduto, M., & Bruchac, J. (1998). The Earth on Turtle's Back: Keepers of the Earth. Fulcrum, Inc. Golden Colorado.

Inside Canyon de Chelly (CD)

Kelen, L.G. & Hallet Stone, E. (2000). Missing Stories. Utah State University Press.

Utah State Office of Education. (1991). Bands.