UNITED STATES HISTORY NOTES: GRADE 5

 

CHAPTER 2

 

LESSON 1: THE EASTERN WOODLANDS

 

I. YOU ARE THERE (page 76)

 

-The campfire crackles and glows before you. An old man rises to tell a legend. Long ago, he begins, your people went to war. The battles were bloody and cost many lives.

 

-But then a man named Deganawidah had a vision. He told the warring groups to stop their endless battling. They should agree to deal fairly with one another and establish a lasting peace.

 

-The old man continues by telling of Hiawatha, who convinced five warring groups to join together in a “Great Peace.” People of the five groups buried their weapons. Over these weapons, Deganawidah planted a magnificent white pine called the “Tree of Peace.”

 

 

II. THE IROQUOIS (Page 77)

 

-The legends about Deganawidah and Hiawatha are part of the early history told by the Iroquois people. The five groups were tribes of American Indians.

 

-A tribe—a group of families bound together under a single leadership—is a term often used to describe people who share a common culture.

 

-The five tribes were the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk. Scholars think that in about 1580, these tribes came together to create the Iroquois League.  

 

-A league is an organization that people form which unites them for a particular purpose. Later, a sixth tribe, the Tuscarora, joined the Iroquois League.

 

-The five tribes sent 50 representatives—all men—to a Great Council. This council made the decisions for the League as a whole. The older women of the tribe choose—and could remove—these representatives.

 

-The Iroquois Trail linked the lands of the League. Today, the New York Thruway follows part of the route of the Iroquois Trail.

 

-The Iroquois lived in the Eastern Woodlands cultural region of North America.

 

III. LIVING IN THE WOODLANDS (Page 78)

 

-The Eastern Woodlands region provided rich resources for the Iroquois and other woodland people. Thick forests offered nearly endless supplies of wood. People hunted animals that were plentiful in the area—such as deer, bear, elk, and beaver—for food. They used the skins and furs of these animals for clothing.

 

-Thousands of lakes, rivers, and streams provided water and fish. Native Americans grew such crops as corn, beans, and squash in the fertile soil.

 

-A longhouse was an Iroquois building used for shelter. Young trees provided poles for the frame, and slabs of elm bark served as walls.

 

-It could be as long as 150 feet, half of a football field. Each longhouse was divided into living areas for as many as 12 different families. Rows of shared cooking fires were placed in a center aisle of the longhouse. An Iroquois village or town could have as many as 150 longhouses.  

 

-The Iroquois called themselves the Haudenosaunee, which means “People of the Longhouse.” The name Iroquois originally came from other tribes, speakers of the Algonquian language. Algonquian speakers included the Wampanoag, Powhatan, and Pequot.

 

-The Iroquois also used trees to make their swift birch-bark canoes. They bent birch saplings to make the frame. Then they stretched wide strips of bark over the frame.

 

-First they used sharp, pointed tools called bone awls to punch holes in the bark. Then they used bone needles to sew the pieces together. Finally, they covered the seams with tree gum to make the canoes watertight.

 

-The Iroquois used the woodlands for both food and clothing. For example, men hunted for deer. They used the animal hides for clothing and the meat for food.

 

-Women tanned the hides and sewed them into shirts and leggings. They also cleared parts of the woodlands of trees to make fields for crops.

 

-In spring, they attached birch-bark containers to the maple trees and gathered the sap for maple syrup.

 

 

IV. IROQUOIS BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS (Page 79)

 

-Like other Native Americas, the Iroquois felt a deep connection to the animals, the trees, and other resources around them. When an Iroquois hunter killed a deer, he knelt beside the road and spoke to it. He thanked it for the food and clothing it would provide for his family. Only then did the hunter take out his skinning knife.

 

-At harvest time, the Iroquois gave thanks for their crops: “Great Spirit in heaven, we salute you with our thanks, that you have preserved so many of us for another year, to participate in the ceremonies of this occasion.”

 

-Polished seashells that were hung on strings were called Wampum. Wampum was highly valued by the Iroquois. A wampum belt might serve as a gift to honor a marriage. It might be given to comfort someone after the death of a loved one.

 

-Some belts were created to symbolize an important event. Wampum could even be used as an invitation to peaceful talks.

 

V. THE IROQUOIS TODAY (Page 80)

 

-There are about 50,000 Iroquois today. Many live on reservations—land set aside by the United States government for Native Americans—in northern New York State.

 

-Fifty members still form its Great Council. They meet a few miles south of Syracuse, New York, on the Onondaga Reservation.

 

-League members, mainly from the Mohawk tribe, have become skilled builders of city skyscrapers. They are known as “high iron” men, putting up girders as high as a thousand feet above the ground. 

 

 

LESSON 2: THE GREAT PLAINS

 

I. LIFE ON THE PLAINS (page 83)

 

-The Great Plains was---and still is—a fairly flat region. Hundreds of years ago, much of it was covered with a sea of grass, waving in ever-blowing wind. Unlike the Eastern Woodlands, few trees grew on the dry Great Plains. But millions of buffalo grazed the huge area.

 

-Tribes of the Great Plains include the Lakota, also known as the Sioux, as well as the Pawnee, and Osage. Among the later arrivals were the Cheyenne, an Algonquin-speaking people.

 

 

-For a long time, most Plains people followed a farming and hunting life. Because much of the land was dry, they settled their villages along rivers. Here they could get water for their crops—corn, beans, squash, and pumpkins. They built lodges to live in.

 

-These were large, round huts built over a deep hole. The walls of a lodge were made of earth, packed over a wood frame.

 

-The plentiful buffalo were central to the lives of the Plains Indians. People used these animals as a major source of meat. The people made buffalo hides into articles like clothing and blankets.

 

-They carved buffalo horns into bowls. They even used the stomachs of buffalos, hung from four poles, as cooking pots for stew.

 

-In the summer and fall, groups of Plains Indians traveled to hunt the massive beasts. A buffalo could weigh well over a ton and could run very fast. The hunters were on foot.

 

-It was difficult for them to get close enough to use their bows and arrows. Plains Indians could kill their prey by crouching near them in an animal disguise, or by getting the buffalo to stampede over a cliff.

 

-While on the hunt, people lived in tepees. To make a tepee, women set up poles in a circle, their tops coming together at a point. Then they covered the frame with buffalo hides.

 

-People also used the poles to transport buffalo meat and other goods. They made a travois by lashing the load to two poles. Dogs then pulled the travois. A travois’s load could weigh about 75 pounds.

 

II. THE CHEYENNE (Page 84)

 

-In the 1500s, people from Spain brought the horse to the regions of the Aztec and Maya in Mexico. The tribes living near Spanish settlements were the first to learn of the horse. Some horses broke free and wandered north.

 

-In the late 1700s, the Cheyenne tamed some of the descendants of these horses which had become wild. The Cheyenne also got horses by raiding other tribes and by trading.

 

-Using the horse, the Cheyenne changed their way of life. Buffalo hunting became a major way to get food. The horse made buffalo hunting much easier.

 

-Mounted on a swift horse, a single Cheyenne hunter could ride close to a herd of buffalo. Then he could use his bow and arrow to kill the animals. Later on, Plains hunters also used guns to hunt.

 

-The horse also made Cheyenne settlements much more mobile, or easy to move. A horse-drawn travois could move four times as much weight as a travois pulled by a dog. And horses could move twice as fast.

 

-Now Cheyenne women could more easily move tepees and set up new camps. The Cheyenne developed a way of life based on moving to different places in different seasons. They now referred to the past as the time “when we had only dogs for moving camp.”

 

-The horse became so important to the Cheyenne and other Plains people that they measured wealth in horses. Sometimes tribes raided other tribes to capture horses. Riders became skilled in war as well as hunting.   

 

III. THE CHEYENNE TODAY (Page 85)

 

-Today, about 12,000 Cheyenne live on the Great Plains. Many live in present-day Montana on a reservation established by the government.

 

-Many Cheyenne follow their traditions, keeping their language and ceremonies alive. Every Fourth of July the Northern Cheyenne powwow is held in Lame Deer, Montana. Visitors to the powwow can see traditional dances and games of the Cheyenne. A powwow is a gathering of American Indians.

 

LESSON 3: THE SOUTHWEST DESERT

 

I. LIVING IN A DRY LAND (Page 89)

 

-The Southwest Desert cultural region is mostly hot and arid. Several different tribes settled in this region long ago, including the Hopi and the Zuni.

 

-They developed a village way of life, based on farming. As a result, they later became known as Pueblo Indians. Pueblo is the Spanish word for village.

 

-The people of other tribes in the region were not farmers. They included the Apache, who were hunters, and the Navajo, who raised sheep.

 

-Pueblo Indians are thought to be descended from the Anasazi, the “Old Ones” of the land around Four Corners. Like the Anasazi, the Pueblo developed irrigation to grow corn, beans, squash, and cotton.

 

-The Pueblo also followed Anasazi housing customs. Their villages looked like today’s apartment buildings, rising several stories off the ground. The Hopi placed their villages on top of high mesas. Such sights helped them defend themselves against enemies.   

 

-Hopi men governed their villages. But women owned all the property and passed it down to their daughters. Men were the weavers of cloth, and women were the weavers of baskets. 

 

II THE NEED FOR RAIN (Page 90)

 

-Rain—that is what tribes like the Hopi needed most to survive in their harsh, dry region. They believed that beings called kachinas could bring them this rain and other kinds of help. Hopi dance ceremonies honored the kachinas and sought their aid.

 

-One such dance began when a group of dancers emerged from a kiva. This was an underground chamber where ceremonies were performed. A kiva symbolized the underworld, from which the Hopi people believed they came before entering this world.

 

-Kachina dolls were given to young children to educate them about their religion. Today, Hopi children continue to receive kachina dolls.

 

-The snake dance was another ceremony which dancers hoped would bring rain. In the snake dance, dancers held rattlesnakes and other kinds of snakes in their teeth. When the dance was over, the dancers released the snakes. The snakes then slithered away, looking like tiny streams of water.

 

-Everyone in the community, young and old, came out to witness these ceremonies. To prepare, they washed their hair with suds made from the yucca plant.

 

III. THE HOPI TODAY (Page 91)

 

-Today, Hopi continue to live on their traditional lands. More than 7,000 Hopi live on a reservation in northeast Arizona. Their reservation is completely surrounded by the much larger Navajo reservation. There have been tensions between the two over land ownership.

 

-The Hopi continue to live in villages. One of them is Oraibi, built on a mesa. Founded in about 1050, it is probably the oldest town in the United States. Many Hopi still follow their ancient traditions and customs, such as the kachina dances and the snake dance.  But they have adopted modern ways too. Some Hopi live in New Oraibi—a town built in the valley below the older Oraibi.

 

IV. CITIZEN HEROES (Pages 92-93)

 

-Have you ever used a secret language? During World War II a group of Navajo soldiers used their native language to create an unbreakable code—and helped the United States win the war.

-In February 1945, United States Marine Thomas H. Begay jumped into the waves off the small Pacific island of Iwo Jima. Enemy fighter planes roared overhead. Bullets came from every direction. Begay carried a rifle, but his most important weapon was invisible. In his memory were several hundred words of a secret code based on his own Navajo language.

 

-Thomas Begay was one of about 420 Navajo “Code Talkers” who helped the American effort against Japan in World War II. American troops needed to transmit messages to each other secretly so that the enemy could not find out their plans.

 

-These brave soldiers “talked” a complicated code to each other over a radio in the middle of heavy fighting. By performing this special service, they allowed commanders to communicate with soldiers on the battlefield without the enemy understanding.

 

-“Were it not for the Navajos,” said Major Howard Connor, “the marines would have never taken Iwo Jima.

 

-Why did the United States recruit Navajo from the Southwest to create and use a code? The Navajo language is spoken by very few non-Navajos. More importantly, it does not have a written alphabet. The language and history are passed from person to person.

 

-Code Talker William McCabe explained: “Well, in Navajo everything is in memory. From the songs, prayers, everything… That’s the way we (were) raised up.”

 

-The Navajos’ memory allowed them to send and receive messages very quickly, which was very important for saving lives. When the code was first tested, two Navajo Code Talkers could rely a message in about 20 seconds. A code machine took about 30 minutes to send and decode a message. Soldiers under attack could not wait that long to tell their commanders what was going on.

 

 

-For many years, few people knew of the Code Talkers’ courage. The code was still top secret until 1968. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan named August 14 as National Navajo Code Talkers Day. In 2001, Congress honored the Code Talkers with the Congressional Gold Medal. 

 

LESSON 4: THE NORTHWEST COAST

 

I. YOU ARE THERE (Page 94)

 

-The entire village is buzzing about the party being planned. The couple giving it is celebrating the completion of their new home. The party will go on for 12 days. At least 200 people will come to enjoy it.

 

-Inside the house, you see different kinds of food-wild berries, meat, vegetables cooked in fish oil. Over the next several days, there will be much speechmaking as well as singing, dancing, and feasting.

 

-The floor is piled high with gifts. Are these housewarming gifts for the hosts? No, they are gifts the hosts will give to their guests. For this party, you don’t bring presents. Instead, presents are given to you!

 

II. RICH RESOURCES (Page 95)

 

-The party you just read about is called a potlatch. Potlatch comes from a Chinook word meaning “to give away.” The tribes of the Northwest Coast, including the Kwakiutl, the Tlingit, the Haida, and the Nootka, gave such parties.

 

-The Northwest Coast cultural region had plentiful natural resources. Its forests contained many tall, sturdy cedar trees. These forests were also rich in game for hunting. The coastal waters and rivers were filled with fish and seals.

 

-The people of the Northwest Coast did not have to grow crops for food. They got all they needed from hunting and gathering.

 

-With such a wealth of resources, the Kwakiutl and other tribes were able to hold potlatches. The Kwakiutl lived on Vancouver Island and along the Pacific coast of what is now Canada.

 

-Displaying wealth and generosity was very important in Kwakiutl culture. Copper shields and stacks of blankets were common gifts. A single guest might be given as many as 20 blankets.

 

-The totem pole, a carved post with animals or other images representing a person’s ancestors, was another way to show wealth. With so much wood available, some Kwakiutl became master wood carvers. People proudly displayed their totem poles, some as tall as a four-story building, outside their door.

 

-A master carver also used a single cedar log to make a dugout canoe. The Kwakiutl used such canoes to hunt at sea. They hunted not only seals, but also sea otters and even whales. Such prey provided meat for food, furs for clothing, and oil for lamps and heating.   

 

III. CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS (Page 96)

 

-A shaman was an important person in the Kwakiutl culture. A shaman was a person people came to when they were not feeling well. They believed that the shaman could cure them. Among the Kwakiutl, both men and women could become shamans.

 

-Because food was plentiful, the Kwakiutl had plenty of time to create beautiful objects. Many of them—masks, rattles, serving dishes—were carved from wood and decorated with paint. The objects reflected the Kwakiutls’ respect for the spirits they felt around them.

 

-Thanks to a mild coastal climate, the Kwakiutl could often wear light clothing. Kwakiutl women wove cedar bark into a fabric. Then they made it into skirts for themselves and long shirts for the men.

 

-The Kwakiutl also wore clothing made of buckskin, taken from the deer of the forests. In colder weather they put on animal furs.

 

-The forests’ cedar trees supplied the Kwakiutl with sturdy housing. Logs provided the upright posts for a house and its roof beams. Planks cut from logs formed the walls and roofs.    

 

IV. THE KWAKIUTL TODAY (Page 97)    

 

-Three hundred years ago, the Kwakiutl numbered about 15,000. Today, only about 4,000 survive. The forest and the sea remain important in their lives. Most of the men work in logging, construction, or fishing.

 

-The Kwakiutl keep many aspects of their traditional culture. They have also added new customs. Foods such as sugar, flour, potatoes, and tea have joined berries, game, and fish. Powerboats have often replaced their cedar canoes.

 

-Newer building materials have replaced traditional cedar houses. Both medical doctors and shamans serve the people. The Kwakiutl still give potlatches today.