Indigenous People’s Journal
An APES Biomes Project
The phrase indigenous peoples refers to any ethnic group of people who inhabit a geographic region with
which they have the earliest known historical connection, alongside more recent immigrants (non-natives from
other places) who have also populated the region.
Other related terms for indigenous peoples include aborigines. Aboriginal people, native people, first
people, and autochthonous, which has Greek roots, and means “sprung from the earth”. It is for that reason, that
technically, even we, who have been here for centuries, cannot be officially classified as “indigenous” peoples of
this country. Indeed, that honor would befall the Native Americans, whose populations were decimated in the
middle and late 19th Century by Europeans.
We are starting our biomes of the world unit, and in an attempt to gain perspective that we may not
obtain another way, you will be creating an “Indigenous People’s Journal”, in which you will be writing your thoughts
and daily rituals as if you were indigenous to the biomes you’re learning about. We will be discovering the
characteristic richness and diversity of 12 terrestrial biomes, and the aquatic biomes as well…which of course you
will not have to enter into your Indigenous People’s Journal. The Indigenous People’s Journal will be collected and
graded twice, with an average of both grades taken as the final summative. You will have time in class to work on it
occasionally, but you may have to take it home once in awhile. The terrestrial biomes we will be visiting in our
journals are:












Polar ice caps
Tundra
Taiga (Boreal/Coniferous Forest)
Temperate Deciduous Forest/Temperate Rain Forest
Temperate Grassland
Tropical Grassland/Savanna
Chaparral
Desert
Tropical Rain Forest
Tropical Deciduous Forest
Tropical Scrub Forest
Mountain Alpine
You may start your research now, into the natives or indigenous peoples of these terrestrial areas. That way,
there will be less time wasted in class.
You will become one of the indigenous people from each of the biomes we are studying. If you are a male, your
gender will be female…if you are female, your gender will be male! You will describe a day in your life. May include:








Name and description of place where you live (town, geography)
Types of foods you eat, and how you obtain them
What your climate is like
Tell about the native species you rely on
How do you obtain other resources you may need (such as for shelter, transportation, energy…etc.)
Tell about your family structure, and a little about how your culture has adapted to the biome
What role do you play in your family? (ie hunter, provider, gatherer, child-rearing)
Remember, this is a journal, so put some personal things in it that are of relevance. (if you are the
hunter, you may have a lot of time for leisure…if you are mainly responsible for child rearing and home
maintenance, you may have very little time for leisure. What do you do with your leisure?)