Lesson #1 – Petroglyphs / Pictographs
Tribal Value: Respect
This lesson deals with the ancient carvings used to record important events, and
emphasize the importance of animals and hunting in the lives of American Indian
people. We will examine the petroglyphs left on the uncovered rocks near Jeffers,
Minnesota by ancestors of the Dakota Nation and compare them with those of the
Anasazi people of the Southwest.
We will discuss and examine the difference between petroglyphs and pictograph.
Review: Reservations – Students will review the location of their reservation and those
of the Dakota Nation including Dakota Territory before European contact.
Learner Outcomes:
After participating in teacher-led discussions and activities, students will be able to:
1. Identify and discuss the homeland of the Dakota Nation both historic and present
day.
2. Define petroglyph and pictograph
3. Explain how the ancestors of the Dakota and other Indian Nations used
petroglyphs and pictographs to record special events
4. Examine and define what animals were important to these people and why.
5. Discuss the effectiveness of petroglyphs and pictographs as methods of
communication and record keeping.
Lesson #2 – Ojibwe Picture Writing – Tribal Value: Wisdom
The Ojibwe people of the Great Lakes Region used a combination of picture writing with
other devices to make maps, send messages an record information.
Review: The Ojibwe Clan System
In order to understand Ojibwe Picture Writing students will need to review the Ojibwe
Clan System as Clan animals were often used in this form of communication.
Learner Outcomes:
After participating in teacher-led discussion and activities, students will be able to:
1. Read and decipher the meaning of an Ojibwe message.
2. Discuss the importance of Ojibwe Picture Writing as a communication tool.
3. Identify the and materials used in Ojibwe Picture Writing.
Lessons #3 & #4 Storytelling
Tribal Value: Patience
It is largely through oral tradition that American Indian Cultures have been preserved
and transmitted through the generations. Traditional stories are a rich and exciting
form of oral literature. There are many different types of stories. Creation stories tell
how the earth came to be and how the animal people came to have their distinctive
features. Culture Hero/Trickster stories talk about a person/animal unique to that
culture with wonderful powers that can be both very good and very “tricky”. They are
complex characters who exhibit all the qualities we find in ourselves.
During these lessons students will have an opportunity to hear many traditional stories,
tell a traditional story through puppetry and create a gift to give a storyteller.
Learner Outcome:
After participating in teacher-led discussion and activities the student will be able to:
1. Discuss why traditional stories are told in the winter months
2. Discuss why a gift of tobacco is often offered to the storyteller
3. List at least two reasons why stories are told
Students will make their own story pouch.
Lesson #5 – The Dakota Winter Count
Tribal Value- Truth
The Dakota Nation along with many other Plains Tribes developed a Winter Count as a
calendric chronological recorded history. Years were counter by winters and during
the coldest time of the year (maybe January?) the principal people of the village would
get together and decide what was the most important event that happened that year,
important not just to a few but to all members of the village. Then the historian in charge
of the Winter Count would make on simple picture on a buffalo hide, not to tell the entire
story but only to remind the historian what the story was about.
Learner Outcomes:
After participating in teacher-led discussion and activities, students will be able
to:
1. Read and decipher the meaning of a historic Dakota Winter Count
2. Discuss the importance of the Winter Count as a communication and history
recording tool.
3. Identify the tools and materials used in making a Winter Count
Lessons #6 & #7
– The Written Word - Tribal Value - Courage
These lessons will introduce new Ojibwe and Dakota words and phrases to
students. We will discuss why oral languages developed into the written word
after European contact and how each Tribal Nation has its own language.
Learner Outcomes:
1. Students will understand and be able to say both the Ojibwe and Dakota
words used in the lesson.
2. Students will begin to understand that different words and dialects are used
by people living in different areas.
3. Discuss why it was important that American Indian people develop a written
language.
4. Discuss why some American Indian Tribes are losing their language.
5. Students will have an opportunity to write and illustrate a simple Ojibwe or
Dakota picture book highlighting the words they learned in the lessons