Dwellings of Many Nations - How the Land Shaped the Home (Past and Present)

Quick-write: 'What does YOUR home look like?' Each child sketches their home in 2 minutes. Surface: homes are different. Why?

• Affirm differences: 'apartment, house, mobile home - all are homes'
• Bridge: 'just like our homes are shaped by where we live and what materials are around, Native dwellings were too'

Different nations built different homes based on the LAND, the WEATHER, and the MATERIALS around them. The Haudenosaunee built LONGHOUSES (long, wood, bark roof) in the forested northeast. The Diné build HOGANS (round, wood-frame, earth) in the dry southwest. The Lakota/Dakota used TIPIS (portable, hide-covered) on the plains because they moved with the buffalo. The Pueblo nations built PUEBLOS (multi-story adobe brick) in the arid southwest. The Coast Salish built PLANK HOUSES (cedar plank, big roofs) in the rainy Pacific Northwest. The Inuit built SNOWHOUSES (igloo, snow blocks) in the Arctic. The Wampanoag built WETU/WIGWAMS (round, bark-covered) in the wooded northeast. The Mvskoke built RECTANGULAR HOMES with palmetto thatch in the southeast. TODAY, most Native people live in modern houses and apartments, just like us. But traditional dwellings are STILL built for ceremony, for teaching, for honoring the old ways.

• The dwelling fits the WAY OF LIFE.

  model Because Plains people followed the buffalo herds across the prairie; tipis are PORTABLE - you can take them apart and move them in an hour.

  prompt Why did the Plains nations use tipis instead of longhouses?

• Match: hogan -> ___ Nation (Diné).
• True or false: Native people today live in tipis. (False - mostly modern homes, with traditional dwellings for ceremony.)

M-2-F-CUL-06-A Photograph

Eight photo PAIRS, each 8x10, presented as a 4x2 grid. Each pair: LEFT a historical or current-ceremonial photo of the traditional dwelling (e.g., Haudenosaunee longhouse at Onondaga; Diné hogan at Navajo Nation Museum; Lakota tipi at Standing Rock; Acoma Pueblo; Tulalip plank house; Inupiat snowhouse in present-day Alaska; Wampanoag wetu at Plimoth Patuxet Museum; Mvskoke rectangular home from Oklahoma Historical Society). RIGHT a current photo of an enrolled member's modern home (apartment, ranch, mobile home, multi-story house - all dignified contemporary residential). Each pair labeled with nation name. Each photo cited from the nation's communications office or a recognized museum collection.

• Each pair receives 1 of 8 nation cards with two photos (traditional dwelling + modern home of an enrolled member today). Pair reports back: 'The ___ used ___ historically AND today live in ___.'

  scaffold Cards include the nation flag and the land photo
• Class builds MG-7 wall chart by placing each pair's card in the right region/climate column.

M-2-F-CUL-06-B Chart Physical / non-image

Wall chart 36x48, 4 columns labeled (Wooded Northeast | Plains | Southwest Desert | Coastal Northwest+Arctic+Southeast), 2 rows: (TRADITIONAL | TODAY). 8 dwelling cards distribute across the grid by climate/region. Each card with photo + nation + 1-sentence description. Bottom: 'Many of these traditional dwellings are still built today for ceremony, language teaching, and cultural continuity.' Style: clean infographic, dignified, no stereotyped 'olde days' framing.

MG-7 Chart

Mounted on classroom wall at child-eye-height. The visual equal height of the three poles is INTENTIONAL - sovereignty means the tribal nation is not 'lower' than the state. Used in lesson 12. School must source the correct local-region tribal nation flag during setup (teacher_notes provide guidance). NEVER use a generic 'Indian' aesthetic; only the official seal/flag of the specific nation.

• Name TWO different traditional dwellings and the nations that built them.
• Where do most Native people live today?

• Add 'longhouse', 'hogan', 'tipi', 'pueblo' to Word Wall
• Preview tomorrow: food and the seasonal round

• Find one photo of YOUR home. Bring it tomorrow. We'll compare how OUR homes are shaped by land, weather, and materials.