Discovering What Makes A Community: Taking a Closer Look at the “Middens”

Figure 1. Resilient wall mural, Lodge Grass, Montana. July 6, 2019.

Figure 1. Resilient wall mural, Lodge Grass, Montana. July 6, 2019.

Discovering What Makes A Community: Taking A Closer Look at the “Middens”

An Art Lesson Designed for First and/or Second Grade Students

Figure 2. “Artifacts help us to understand…” is a placard I photographed while visiting the Little Bighorn                                                Battlefield National Monument, near Hardin, Montana, on July 5, 2019.

Abstract: 

This lesson is designed to teach young artists the importance of community and the diverse styles of communities within the indigenous communities found in Montana and South Dakota. By exploring the contents of middens (“rash heaps or dumps), we will be learning how scientists use tools to document artifacts and piece together how these ancient people lived, what they ate, and how they survived. It is hoped that our exploration of middens will help us be mindful of the differences in the way various tribes gathered food, hunted, told stories, organized their communities, and the nature of their homes.  These things were not always the same in each setting or location.  Additionally, this lesson hopes to teach the importance of documenting artifacts with respect and to understand the damages wrought by treasure hunting.

Introduction:

In this lesson, designed for the First and Second Grades, we will be learning about what is a community through the lens of middens.  We are going to simulate an archaeological dig with the students.  The students will be reviewing what they have learned from their homeroom teachers regarding, “What is a community?”  As an art teacher, it may be to collaborate with your First and Second Grade homeroom teachers in order to review previous material, vocabulary words, and other concepts needed in understanding and scaffolding, and in order to gain confidence and expertise in the subject.

This lesson will delve deeper into discovering how garbage can provide clues about a community, such as what was valued, used often, thrown away, and to uncover dietary information.  Although the trash or rubbish heap might seem an unappealing and unlikely place to do research, it can indeed provide an array of clues about what life was like in a community.  In this lesson, middens, or trash heaps, will be explored through a simulated archaeological dig.

Through this faux archaeological dig, the children will be able to discuss and define what is a midden and determine how the “objects” or “artifacts” found in the simulated dig might have been used by the community. The students will then have an opportunity to compare the uncovered artifacts with slides of ancient midden findings (specifically, from real digs) and with their own modern-day trash.

It is hoped that the children will gain valuable knowledge about how a community was able to thrive so long ago without all the modern conveniences that we have—just by examining and analyzing their rubbish.  While archaeological work tends to focus on people of long ago, this lesson will also strive to teach students that Indigenous communities are still very present in the United States today.

 

An Open Letter

Dear Art Teachers,

As many of you know, not all Native Americans lived in tipis, rode horses, or wore an eagle Chieftain’s war bonnet, and yet these now generalized images are etched into our society’s historic memory.  I am extremely honored and humbled to help my students learn more about our Nation’s First Peoples, who have somehow survived against all odds. They have left an indelible imprint on our imaginations, dreams, and identity, and yet they are little known and under-appreciated today.  When I applied for the opportunity to study the Indigenous cultures and histories of Montana and North Dakota, I wanted to know more about these ancient peoples, and I wanted to be able to teach not only about the past but also how the descendants of age-old tribes are still alive today.  At the beginning of this great adventure, I had many lofty goals for designing an art lesson that would be engaging and fun for my little ones.  My imagination ran rampant like the wind over the plains that we visited.

It was while in the museums that an idea began to emerge and crystalize.  It was the mundane and everyday items that captured my imagination, and I became fascinated with how to relate these historic objects to our world today.  How are they connected?  How were those items used? Why do we, as modern consumers, put an importance on these items?  I thought how wonderfully these items were mounted with immaculate care, cleaned, sorted, and documented for everyone to see, marvel at, and hopefully derive a connection to the generations that came before us.  It was while I was examining some tools (Figure 3) that I was struck by the way these old tools from long ago were lovingly arranged.  I asked myself, why did this person arrange these musket ball mold tools in such a careful manner?  The tools were well spaced apart, the diagonal jaws were aligned in the same fashion and presented in a row.  Each handle was delightfully different from the next one, and this made me more and more curious about how they had been used, as well as the care with which they were displayed. Muskets had been used primarily by the colonizers in their hunting and probably to support their wars against the Native peoples, and a museum curator had taken great care to preserve and display them. In the many museums we would visit on our journey through Tribal lands, I began to take greater notice of the three-dimensional objects.  How were they acquired, what was their meaning, how were they displayed and described?

Figure 3. Musket ball mold, hand forged tools in Hensler, North Dakota. July 16, 2019.
                                                                        Photo by Jeanette Lage.

In a couple of museums we were allowed behind the scenes, into the collections rooms and storage areas.  Ironically, you might say, we had the extreme privilege of seeing things that had been dug up by archaeologists, some obtained from ancient trash heaps. It was in the basement of the North Dakota Heritage Center and State Museum in Bismarck that this lesson idea was born. How much fun would it be to uncover how people lived long ago as we examined their trash?  It was an amazing process to see how the back wings of the museum worked in order to put up a stunning display that was aesthetically pleasing, while at the same time balancing an educational mission with attention to the sacredness (albeit sometimes subtle) of the material culture they were preserving.

Figure 4. “Dignity” sculpture located in Chamberlain, South Dakota.                                                June 29, 2019. Photo by Jeanette Lage.

The second thing I would like to address in teaching any culture is, above all, to teach kindness when becoming aware of differences between one’s own and other cultures.  As I trekked across the states, I had a lot of time to meditate upon the lessons I wanted to impress upon my little ones.  Suddenly, while driving along the highway, a small sign said, “exit to see Dignity.”  Towering above the high plains of South Dakota stands the metal sculpture called Dignity (Figure 4). The sky envelopes her robes, catching the wind, while her feet are planted firmly on the ground.  Inscribed is the proclamation from the sculptor, Dale Claude Lamphere:

Standing at the crossroads, Dignity echoes the interaction of earth, sky, and people. She brings to light the beauty and promise of the indigenous people and cultures that still thrive on this land.  My intent is to have the sculpture stand as an enduring symbol of our shared belief that all here are sacred, and in a sacred place (September 17, 2016).

Although some of the old ways of the Tribal Nations of what is now the United States are gone, these people are still here, in some cases thriving and in all cases resilient, as the mural in Lodge Grass proclaims (Figure 1).  It is my hope that beauty can be found even in the most mundane of things, as creativity and expression can be sacred.  I hope with much sincerity that our society will treat all of its various members with the Dignity that all deserve.  I strive in encouraging my little ones to express and create that which comes from their heart through their hands.

This is an opportunity to teach tolerance and show respect. While we cannot repair past injustice, we can seek to understand with sincere intent and work to build a better society.

Below you will find my lesson design in a written format.  Please download the companion PowerPoint.  This will have everything you will need to teach, videos to watch, pictures from many sacred places, and notes meant to guide you as you teach this lesson.

My granddaughter, a second grader, who is the model in the PowerPoint and an artist herself, really enjoyed this lesson!

Much Love and Enjoyment,

Jeanette Lage

 

Materials List:

 Practice Day:

        • White drawing paper, pencil & eraser

Collage:

        • 12 x 18 white, or other colored construction paper
        • Assorted construction paper colors
        • Scissors, glue, pencil, and eraser

 Painting, Drawing or Using Markers:

        • 12 x 18 white watercolor paper
        • Pencil, eraser, watercolors, painting supplies
        • Colored pencils, assorted markers

 Assemblage:

        • Assorted cardboard sizes
        • Model magic compound, white
        • Glue, acrylic paint, and painting supplies

Technology Needed:  any device capable of accessing the internet

        • Laptops
        • iPad
        • Whiteboard
        • Other  _________________

Handouts (provided)

 

Instructional Strategies:

    • Direct instruction
    • Guided Practice
    • Socratic Seminar
    • Learning Centers
    • Lecture
    • Technology Integration
    • Other: ________
    • Peer teaching, collaboration, cooperative learning
    • Visuals, graphic organizers
    • PBL
    • Discussing or debate
    • Modeling 

 

Guided Practices and Concrete Application (meant for incorporation into this lesson):

    • Large group activity
    • Independent activity
    • Pairing/collaboration
    • Simulations/scenarios
    • Hands on activities
    • Technology integration
    • Imitation, repeat, or mimic
    • Other: ___________

 

National Standard(s): 

1st Grade:

    • VA: 1.1 Engage collaboratively in exploration and imaginative play with materials.
    • VA: Cr1.2.K Use observation and investigation in preparation for making a work of art.
    • VA: Cr2.1.1 Explore uses of materials and tools to create works of art or design.
    • VA: Cr2.2.1 Demonstrate safe and proper procedures for using materials, tools and equipment while making art.
    • VA: Cr2.3.1 Identify and classify uses of everyday objects through drawings, diagrams, sculptures, or other visual means.
    • VA: Cr3.1.1 Use art vocabulary to describe choices while creating art.
    • VA: Pr4.1.1 Explain why some objects, artifacts, and artwork are valued over others.
    • VA:Re7.2.1 Compare images that represent the same subject.
    • VA:Cn11.1.1 Understand that people from different places and times have made art for a variety of reasons.

2nd Grade:

    • VA: 1.2 Brainstorm, collaboratively, multiple approaches to an art or design problem.
    • VA: 2. K Make art or design with various materials and tools to explore personal interests, questions, and curiosity.
    • VA: 1.2 Experiment with various materials and tools to explore personal interests in a work of art or design
    • VA: Cr2.2.2 Demonstrate safe procedures for using and cleaning art tools, equipment, and studio spaces.
    • VA: Cr2.3.2 Repurpose objects to make something new.
    • VA: Cr3.1.2 Discuss and reflect with peers about choices made in creating artwork.
    • VA: Pr4.1.2Categorize artwork based on a theme or concept for an exhibit
    • VA:Re7.2.2 Categorize images based on expressive properties.
    • VA:Cn11.1.2 Compare and contrast cultural uses of artwork from different times and places.

 

Objective(s):

Students will be able to:

Guidelines for the Teacher:

  • Build background knowledge about the content of the images: who made the earth lodges, are the villages the same, do you think the dwelling places are like tipis, and what is going on in the pictures?  How do you know?  What makes you say that?  See the handout:  “VTS:  Think and Wonder.”
  • See the worksheet: “Vocabulary List”
    • Discuss what an archeology dig may consist of and explore or explain what artifacts from a dig might mean.
    • Great companion vocabulary list to the video below.
    • Teacher Resource Videos for further background knowledge.
    • Art Project: After watching and learning about an archaeological dig, the students will create an image based upon artifacts found in a community.
    • Explore and experiment using art tools and materials to create their image of choice.
      • See project examples below, look in the PowerPoint.

 

Bloom’s Taxonomy Cognitive Level:  Application

The ability to use learned material in new and concrete situations.  This may include the application of such things as rules, methods, concepts, principles, laws, and theories.  Learning outcomes in this area require a higher level of understanding than those simply under “comprehension.”

Operative verbs:  apply, choose, demonstrate, dramatize, employ illustrate, interpret, operate, practice, schedule, sketch, solve, write.

 

Differentiation and Assessment:

  • Below:  Students will be able to choose materials and experiment with their tools. They may need additional time for experimentation or exploration.
  • Approaching/Emerging Proficiency:  Students will be given time to experiment or explore different techniques after the teacher led demonstration.
  • Above Proficiency: Students will learn additional techniques or have access to other types of tools.
  • Modalities/Learning Preferences: All learning modalities will be addressed in this lesson.

 

Classroom Management: [grouping(s), movement/transitions, etc.]

  • Students will be informed of the procedures necessary to carry out their projects.
  • Students will be shown the proper way to handle and use all art materials for the lesson.
  • Students will have already been shown classroom procedures and understand the consequences of noncompliance.

 

Behavioral Expectations:

These can encompass systems, strategies, procedures specific to the lesson, rules, and expectations, etc.  But, it is important that students will be encouraged to engage freely, with control, in order to develop a creative depiction by using artifacts found from their archeology dig.

 

Day 1

Students will be shown images of two Native American villages.  Students will be encouraged to use VTS and actively talk about the two images.  Please refer to the images of Hidatsa and Mandan Villages that follow. If these must be removed due to copyright reasons, please follow the links for projecting the images in class (or, if you do not have Internet in the classroom, you might download the images elsewhere for showing in your classroom, whether in print or digitally).  Use the following questions to prompt a lively discussion.

  • How are the villages the same?
  • What can you tell about life in this place?
  • What would you pack if you moved around a lot?
  • On what (in these images) would you place importance?
  • Do you think you would be nervous and/or curious about meeting new people or traveling to see new surroundings?
  • Students will analyze pictures provided by the teacher and discuss the following questions which may arise. Who do you think made the earth lodges? Why do you think that?
  • How were they made? (Possibly compare how you imagine the construction of the earth lodges with own knowledge from watching homes being built in your community or by your own family.)
  • What is a community? What makes it a community?

Night Before Art Project:

Set up trays with an assortment of artifacts from a modern community, such as: technological gadgets, eating utensils, and other accoutrements.

  • Each table will have a tray of different artifacts that students might imagine being dug up in the future.
  • 9 x 12 drawing paper will be available, and pencils will be sharpened. Erasers will be available.
  • PowerPoint will be ready to share and discuss.

 

Day 2

Students will analyze and discuss the images from the PowerPoint about the archeology lab.

  • Students will examine the artifacts on the table.
  • Students will be encouraged to experiment in a variety of ways to use symmetry in drawing the objects/artifacts on their paper. Some children will create the way they want!
  • Students will use careful tracing skills of the objects.
  • Students will choose the materials to create their image based upon their interest/skill level.
    • Collage Techniques
    • Painting
    • Use Model magic compound for a 3-D effect
  • What makes certain parts of a community sacred? What does “sacred” mean?
  • What should we do when an area has been declared sacred?

 

Day 3–5

Students will begin their projects based upon the artifacts found upon their tables.

  • Students will be reminded of using good gluing skills, cutting skills with control, tracing appropriately, and understand the necessity of cleaning up in a timely manner.
  • Students will work independently on their project, using time in an efficient manner, and analyze their progress at the end of the class period.

Formative Assessment (linked to objectives):

Monitor student progress throughout the lesson:  clarifying questions, using check-in strategies, etc., providing extensive support during the lesson for all students.

Consideration for Back-up Plan:

In the event this lesson is not completed within the specified time period, it is important for students to analyze, predict, and pace their time in order to complete the project on time.  Discussing and drawing their responses can be the lesson itself.  This will allow the student’s work to continue and therefore evolve as the students become familiar with the tools.

Summative Assessment (linked to objectives):

The summative assessment of this lesson should be based on:

  • The visual image created by the students, checking that it illustrates their understanding of the meaning of artifacts taken from middens as reflections of the nature of a community. Teachers might need to ask students questions during the process of creating their drawings and possibly reiterate to them the intended meaning they were supposed to take away from the lesson during the process.
  • The students’ active use and exploration of materials and tools employed in the creation of their work of art.
  • (1st grade) Observations and investigation made apparent in the preparations for making a work of art.
  • (2nd grade) Completion of a work of art or a design employing various materials and tools to explore personal interests, raising questions, and showing curiosity.

 

Review at the conclusion of the lesson: What is a community and what can be learned from what is discovered in an archaeological dig?

Teacher’s Reflection (What went well?  What did the students learn?  How do you know?  What changes would you make?):

 

VTS Images:  Hidatsa Village

Hidatsa Village, Earth Covered Lodges, on the Knife River, 1810 miles above St. Louis,
by George Caitlin (hidatsa-village-earth-covered-lodges-knife-river-1810-miles-above-st-louis-4105).

VTS Images:  Mandan Village

Mandan: village: A Mandan Village on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River, aquatint by Karl Bodmer, 1839 (https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mandan-people)

 

Name:  __________________

Teacher:  _________________

 Visual Thinking Strategy:  Think and Wonder
(Students May Write or Draw Their Answers)

What Do You See?

 

 

 

Review:  Language Arts Vocabulary List

  •  Community
  • Archaeology
  • Middens
  • Artifacts
  • Sacred
  • Excavation
  • Survey
  • Diet
  • Investigating
  • Digging
  • Pow Wows
  • Pottery
  • Pictograph
  • Petrograph
  • Discovery
  • Wall Art
  • Shaman
  • Dwelling
  • Quadrants
  • Shards
  • Scooping
  • Ceramic
  • Document
  • Treasure hunting
  • Sift
  • Sifting
  • Distilled water
  • Grainery
  • Repelling
  • Pollen Samples
  • Well Preserved
  • Theory
  • Perspective
  • Interpret
  • Reconstruct

 

Art Vocabulary List:

  • Symmetry
  • Warm Colors
  • Cool Colors
  • Pattern
  • Negative Space
  • Positive Space
  • Lines
  • Outline
  • Repetition
  • Small
  • Medium
  • Large
  • Thick
  • Thin
  • Details
  • Title
  • Composition
  • Collage
  • Scissors
  • Diagonal
  • Horizontal
  • Vertical

 

References:

(Videos Recommended for 1st & 2nd Graders And Art Teachers)