Use the

Newspaper

2

When you close your eyes and lis-ten to someone read a play aloud,your imagination soars. That’swhat Readers Theatre is all about— plays read aloud without fancysets, stages or props. These playsinvite the listeners to be as much apart of the play as the actors,because the listeners in the audi-ence must imagine what thingslook like as they hear the words.While you listen to these plays, youcan, for a moment, become thecharacters and experience theirsights, sounds and feelings.Readers Theater is easy and funbecause you don’t need muchrehearsal. What counts is a goodreading of the script, not a dra-matic, memorized presentation.You don’t have to remember allthe lines because they’re rightthere for you to read aloud andenjoy! There are not usually propsor movement, although addingsome could make the play morelively and fun.

THE AMERICAN INDIANS

By reading the scripts in this spe-cial newspaper section, you canenjoy Readers Theater and learnabout American Indians. (Somepeople call them NativeAmericans, but in this section wewill use the term AmericanIndians.) You will learn about thedifferent groups, or tribes, andyou will discover many contribu-tions they made to the Americanway of life.

GETTING STARTED

Read along through the play whileyour teacher reads aloud. Decidewho will read each part and giveeach person some time to getready to read aloud. When youare ready for the performance,readers usually stand in a formalpresentation style. They may alsosit on stools, chairs or the floor.The narrator may stand with thescript placed on a music standslightly off to one side. Readershold their folders quietly.

The position of the reader showsthe importance of the role. For areading of Cinderella, for exam-ple, the Cinderella characterwould be in the front center ofthe stage, with the stepsisters tothe sides and a little bit behindher. Readers of short parts mayenter or leave the stage beforeand after their parts. Or, readersmay stand for a reading and sitdown for the rest of the script.

After each play reading, talk aboutwhat you think the story meantand what you learned from read-ing or listening to it.

BREATHE!While reading aloud, your breathand voice should come from yourdiaphragm. (That’s the part ofyour body between your stomachand your ribs.) Touch your finger-tips to your diaphragm whilebreathing in. If you are breathingproperly, your diaphragm willpuff out. Some American Indiansbelieve that this area is the centerof power for the body. It certainlyis the center of power for goodspeaking skills, and if you do itright, your voice will be strongerand will sound great when youread aloud.

Credits The text for this Hot Topics supplement was written by Debby Carroll

The three plays by Joseph Bruchac

“Escape” courtesy of Storycart PressSee Storycart Press Web site,www.storycart.com for lots moreReaders Theater.

Edited by Ken Bookman

Design by Berns and Kay, Ltd.

Some illustrations courtesy ofFulcrum Publishing,Golden, Colorado. Contact Fulcrum Publishing forsome wonderful books aboutAmerican Indians.

Photos courtesy of theLibrary of Congress

Special thanks to David Pego

©Hot Topics Publications Inc. 2000except where noted

READERSTHEATER: A PLAYWITHOUTA STAGE?

Skill: enhancing listening skills, categorizing

To test your listening skills,close your eyes and remain

quiet.What noises do you heararound you? Do a newspapersearch of items that make noise.Write down all of the noisyitems, and rank them from mostto least noisy.

Skill: organizing information

Readers Theater is entertain-ment. Look through the

newspaper to find other enter-taining events. Make a chart toshow the events and otherimportant information.

3

Gluskabe: Glukabe or Gluskonba is the culture hero of the Abenakipeople. His name, Gluskabe, means “the person who talks,” or “the sto-ryteller” and he sometimes manages to get his way by talking others intothings. Gluskabe also has the ability to change or transform. He is saidto have shaped himself from the dust that fell upon the Earth from thehands of the Creator and then, later, to have made the giant animalssmaller so they would not be so dangerous to the human beings (whomGluskabe regards as his grandchildren).

Though Gluskabe has great strength, he often relied upon the advice ofhis wise grandmother, Woodchuck, who corrected him when he wasselfish or misused his abilities — a traditional role still played to this dayfor young people by Abenaki elders and by the stories of Gluskabe.

Abenaki: The Abenaki nations are the Algonquin-speaking peoplesof the area now known as northern New England and the Maritimeprovinces of Canada. They include the Passamaquoddy, Malisett andMicmac, the Penobscot and, furthest to the west, the St. FrancisAbenaki.

Among the places where St. Francis Abenaki communities can be foundtoday are the Odanak Reserve in Quebec and the St. Francis/SokokiBand in Swanton, Vermont. Abenaki literally means “Dawn Land.” TheAbenaki also call themselves Alnobak, which means “Human Beings.”

Hunting: Like other nations of the Northeast, the Western Abenakiengaged in some agriculture but also relied heavily upon hunting fortheir survival.

They traditionally observed certain practices, such as not huntingfemale animals with young and not hunting in the same area every yearbut regularly moving to new hunting grounds to avoid wiping out thegame. Hunting was not done for sport but for subsistence, and virtuallyevery part of the animal would be used for food, clothing or tools.

It is also traditional to ask pardon of the slain animal’s spirit and to treatthe animals with great respect, for the animals are not regarded as“dumb beasts” but as intelligent beings who are hunted only out ofneed. If the humans show proper respect, the animal people allowthemselves to be hunted. Thus it is Grandmother Woodchuck, an oldand wise animal, who advises her grandson — and all human beings —in this story.

GLUSKABE’S GAME BAG

Use the

Newspaper

AN INTRODUCTION

Skill: describing ways humans affect the environment

Many consider Indians to be the first ecologists because of the greatrespect they had for wildlife and the earth. Find an article in the

newspaper that is connected to the environment.Write about how anIndian would respond to the article.What might an Indian say and do?

Skill: understanding the challenges of a diverse population

The American Indians are one of many diverse groups that make upour America.What other ethnic or racial groups are mentioned in

today’s newspaper? Write a summary of one of the stories that involvesone of these groups.

4

Characters:Narrator 1, Narrator 2, Narrator 3,Narrator 4, Gluskabe (pronouncedgloos-KA-bee), GrandmotherWoodchuck, Chipmunk, Bear,Moose, Squirrel, Chipmunk, Fox,Deer, Rabbit, Other Animals

NARRATOR 1:Here is where our story camps.NARRATOR 2: It is a story from long ago.NARRATOR 3: It is a story of the one calledGluskabe.NARRATOR 4: The ancient one who had greatpower.NARRATOR 1: But even though he had thatpowerNARRATOR 2: Gluskabe was much like the restof us.NARRATOR 1: He had to learn how to use hisstrength.NARRATOR 2: And he often made mistakes.NARRATOR 3: It was good that Gluskabe livedwith his grandmother.NARRATOR 4: Her name was Woodchuck. Shewas very wise.NARRATOR 1: Back when our story begins .NARRATOR 2: Gluskabe woke up one morningand said .GLUSKABE: Grandmother .GRANDMOTHER WOODCHUCK: Yes, my grandson.GLUSKABE: I am going to go hunting. I willbring back much game for us toeat!NARRATOR 3:So Gluskabe went into the forest.NARRATOR 4: But the animals saw him coming.SQUIRREL: Here comes Gluskabe.

RABBIT: Let’s hide from him.BEAR: Good idea!FOX: We can hide behind the rocksand trees.DEER: Everyone, hide!ALL THE ANIMALS: Hide, Hide, everyone, hide!GLUSKABE: Where have all the animals gone?NARRATOR 1: Gluskabe could not find even oneanimal.NARRATOR 2: Even though he could hear themlaughing at him from their hiding places.NARRATOR 3: He was not happy.NARRATOR 4: He went back home to his grand-mother’s wigwam.GLUSKABE: Grandmother, I want you to makea game bag for me.

GRANDMOTHER WOODCHUCK: Why do you want one?GLUSKABE: Because.GRANDMOTHER WOODCHUCK: I am not sure I should do this.Whenever you ask me for some-thing, it seems you always get intotrouble.NARRATOR 1: So Gluskabe sat down in front ofhis grandmother .NARRATOR 2: He crossed his arms .NARRATOR 3: He took a deep breath.NARRATOR 4: And he started to chant.GLUSKABE: I need a game bag, I need a gamebag, I need a game bag, I need agame bag.

NARRATOR 2: Finally Grandmother Woodchuckcould stand it no longer.GRANDMOTHER WOODCHUCK: Gluskabe, stop your chanting,please! It is hurting my head. Iwill make a game bag for you.NARRATOR 2: Then Grandmother Woodchucktook deer hair and wove a finegame bag.GRANDMOTHER WOODCHUCK: Here, Grandson.NARRATOR 3: But Gluskabe was not satisfied.GLUSKABE: Grandmother, this game bag istoo small.NARRATOR 4: So Grandmother Woodchucktook caribou hair and wove a bigger game bag.GRANDMOTHER WOODCHUCK: Here, Grandson.NARRATOR 1: But Gluskabe was still not satisfied.GLUSKABE: Grandmother, this game bag istoo weak.NARRATOR 2: So Grandmother Woodchucktook moose hair and wove agame bag that was bigger andstronger.GRANDMOTHER WOODCHUCK: Here, Grandson.NARRATOR 3: But Gluskabe was not still satisfied.GLUSKABE: Grandmother, this game bag isnot good enough, either.GRANDMOTHER WOODCHUCK: Grandson, what kind of game bagdo you want?GLUSKABE: I want one made out of wood-chuck hair!NARRATOR 4: So Grandmother Woodchuckpulled all the hair from her stom-ach and wove it into a game bag. NARRATOR 1: Ever since then, all woodchuckshave almost nohair on theirstomachs. NARRATOR 2: Though that gamebag was not large, it had great powerbecause it was made

GLUSKABE’S GAME BAGA play by Joseph Bruchac based on a traditional Western Abenaki Story

5

from his grandmother’s hair. NARRATOR 3: No matter how much was putinto it, there would still be roomfor more. Gluskabe knew this.GRANDMOTHER WOODCHUCK: Here, Grandson.NARRATOR 4: Now Gluskabe was satisfied.GLUSKABE: Grandmother, this game bag isjust what I want. Ktsi oleohneh!Thank you very much!NARRATOR 1: Then, holding his new game bag,Gluskabe went back into the forest.NARRATOR 2: Just as before, the animals sawhim coming.CHIPMUNK: Someone is comingSQUIRREL: It’s Gluskabe again.RABBIT: Let’s hide once more.MOOSE: Yes. it’s time to hide.FOX: We can hide in the places we hidbefore.BEAR: He’ll never find us!DEER: Quick, everyone hide!ALL THE ANIMALS: Hide, Hide, everyone, hide!NARRATOR 3: But Gluskabe did not look forthe animals.NARRATOR 4: He stopped in the middleof a clearing and thencalled out in a loudvoice.GLUSKABE: All you animals, listento me. A terrible thingis going to happen. Theworld is going to end andeverything will be destroyed.NARRATOR 1: The animals heard this.NARRATOR 2: It frightened them very much.NARRATOR 3: They came out of their hidingplaces.

GLUSKABE: Just climb into my game bag. Youwill be safe in there when theworld is destroyed.NARRATOR 1: So the animals did as he said ...NARRATOR 2: From the little chipmunk to thegiant moose ...NARRATOR 3: They all went into Gluskabe’sgame bag ...NARRATOR 4: And the game bag stretched tohold them all.

NARRATOR 4: They gathered around Gluskabe.CHIPMUNK: What can we do?BEAR: The world is going to end.MOOSE: Everything is going to bedestroyed.SQUIRREL: What will happen to us?DEER: Help us, Gluskabe!GLUSKABE: I have an idea.FOX: Tell us, please.ALL THE ANIMALS: Please, Gluskabe, please.

NARRATOR 1: Then Gluskabe tied the top of hisgame bag shut.NARRATOR 2: He laughed, picked that game bagup and carried it home toGrandmother Woodchuck.GLUSKABE: No longer will Grandmother haveto walk around looking for food.Now, whenever we want some-thing to eat, we can just reachinto my game bag.NARRATOR 3: Grandmother Woodchuckopened the game bag and lookeddown into it. NARRATOR 4: All of the animals in the worldlooked back up at her. GRANDMOTHERWOODCHUCK:Gluskabe, why must you alwaysdo things this way? You cannotkeep game animals in a bag. Theywill sicken and die. There will benone left for our children andour children’s children. It is alsoright that it should be hard tohunt the animals. We growstronger trying to find them andthe animals grow stronger andwiser trying to avoid beingcaught. Then things are in theright balance.GLUSKABE: Grandmother, you are right.NARRATOR 1: So Gluskabe picked up his gamebag.NARRATOR 2: He went back to the clearing andopened it up.GLUSKABE: All you animals, you can comeout now. The world wasdestroyed, but I put it backtogether again.NARRATOR 3: So the animals came out ofGluskabe’s game bag and wentback into the woods. They arestill there to this day.

NARRATOR 4: But they grew suspiciouswhen they saw that every-

thing still looked the same. Theydecided Gluskabe had trickedthem. ALL FOUR NARRATORS:So it is that ever since then noanimal has everclimbed intoanyone’s gamebag again. And here, this story ofGluskabe ends.

6

WHERE DID THEY COME FROM?If you look at a map of the world, you will see a small bit of water, achannel, between Alaska and Siberia. This water is called the BeringStrait. Between 10,000 and 50,000 years ago, during what is known as theIce Age, large glaciers (big formations of ice) sucked up the water in theshallow channel, and the Bering Strait disappeared. Then Alaska andSiberia were connected by a land bridge. Some scientists believe thatpeople walked over this bridge, following the grazing herds of animalsthey were hunting, from Asia to the Americas. Other people believe thatthe Indians were on this continent even before people were in Asia andthat, maybe, people moved the other way.

Of course no one knows for sure the whole story of how the AmericanIndians first came here. In fact, many tribes have their own wonderfulmyths about how they got here. The Iroquois tell of Skywoman, who fellfrom the sky onto an island that grew into the Earth. The Hopi, fromArizona, tell a tale about a terrible flood in a world below this one thatmade people come up through a hole in the Grand Canyon into thisworld. And that is interesting because that story is much like the story ofNoah’s Ark and the great flood. Scientists are studying why so many peo-ple in different parts of the world, tell stories about floods. What do youthink?

Questions&Answers

WHAT DID THEY WEAR?American Indians made theirclothing from the things aroundthem. They used animal skins forcloth, sinews for thread, andbones for needles. Where animalswere scarce, they wove cloth fromplant material. Although theyloved to create beautiful ceremo-nial costumes, they also dressedin everyday styles to suit theweather where they lived. It wasimportant that their clothes fittedloosely so they could move easily.Men wore loincloths, shirts,tunics and leggings. Women woreskirts and dresses. Shoes could bemade of leather, like moccasinswith hard or soft soles. In winter,

WHERE DID THEY LIVE?The American Indians spread across the land. They depended on naturefor food and shelter, so where they lived ruled how they lived. On theNorthwest Coast, where forests and water are plentiful, the Nootka builthomes of wood and ate mostly fish. The Inuit (sometimes calledEskimos) made homes of ice and hunted the polar bears that lived with

them in thefrozen tundra ofthe Arctic.

The Plainspeople huntedbuffalo whilethose in theSoutheasterntribes becamefarmers. TheCherokee nationstretched overland that is nowseven states:Virginia,

Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and theCarolinas. They settled in villages and on farms.

WHAT WERE THEIR HOMES LIKE?Some tribes built permanent homes while others followed their foodand moved from place to place. Some tribes spent winter in oneplace and summer in another. The Eskimos lived partly under-ground, beneath turf roofs. Seminoles, in places like Florida, raisedtheir homes (called chickees) on stilts because the land was swampyand wet. The sides were open because of the hot and humid weath-er. Tribes in the Southwest had many people in a small area so theystacked their homes made of mud bricks, one on top of another,much like modern apartment houses. Ladders led to the upperfloors. The Iroquois in the Eastern United States and SoutheasternCanada, lived in longhouses — huge houses made of a pole framecovered with slabs of elm bark. Several families lived together ineach house, separated by storage units. Mandan people beside theMissouri River built round domed houses so that the heavy raincould easily run down the sides. Plains tribes like the Sioux,Cheyenne, Crow, and Blackfeet built tepees. Those were cone-shaped

AboutAmericanIndians

they added shawls and blanketsfor extra warmth. The fancy cere-monial clothes might be made ofdeerskin and decorated withfringe or with eagle feathers oranimal tails.

HOW DID THEY LIVE?Many American Indians lived inharmony with the Earth and tookcare of it.

Others were not as careful withthe land’s resources. Most werefarmers and hunters at one timeor another. Many AmericanIndians, including the Utes of theGreat Basin, moved around a greatdeal, searching for things to eat.They foraged (looked around) forseeds, berries, nuts and roots.They also would eat grasshoppersand small rodents or lizards aswell as larger animals like deer.Birds would be shot with bowsand arrows.

Other tribes like the Hopi andthe Pueblo grew crops like cornand beans. They cleverly inventedways to water the land and keepthe birds away. They believed ingodlike higher powers, so theyperformed many rituals to help ahealthy harvest.

For the Plains tribes, like theMandan and the Gros Ventre, buf-falo meant life, so they huntedthose animals in order to live.They used the hides for clothingand shelter, the manure for fuel,the fat to burn in their lamps, thehorns for spoons, the bones fortools and toys, the stomachs forcooking pots, and the hooves forrattles and glue.

Northwestern tribes, like theTlingits, hunted whales and fishedto live. Tribes that lived near theGreat Lakes fished, too. Theycarved hooks out of animal boneor horns, and they made har-poons of wood. Often they wouldhave a religious ceremony to cele-brate the first catch of the season.For the Inuit (Eskimos), fish werevital to their survival in the frozenwinter when there was no plantfood around.

structures made from buffalohides and sewn together. Whenthe tribes had to move, theirtepees could easily be folded andtaken with them. Furniture wassimple and sparse. Buffalo skinswere beds with backrests of wil-low logs woven together.

7

8

Characters:Storyteller, Village Chief, Mother,First Young Man, Second YoungMan,Third Young Man, ProudDaughter, Second Daughter, ThirdDaughter, Frog Chief, Frog Chief ’sSon, Villager 1, Villager 2, Villager3, Villager 4, Other Frogs

STORYTELLER:There once was a young womanwho was too proud. She was theeldest daughter of the VillageChief. Many young men wanted tomarry her.FIRST YOUNG MAN: I would like you to be my wife. Iam a great fisherman.PROUD DAUGHTER:Hah! Your face is like a fish. Youare not good-looking enough forme.SECOND YOUNG MAN:I would like to marry you. I amstrong. No one can beat me atwrestling.PROUD DAUGHTER: Hah! Look at how you aredressed. Go wrestle with a bear.You are not worthy of me.THIRD YOUNG MAN: I would like to marry you. I am agreat canoe-maker.PROUD DAUGHTER:Hah! Use your canoe to travel tosome other village to find a girlwho will marry someone asskinny as you.STORYTELLER: No man was good enoughfor her. One day, she andher sisters walkedbeside the biglake near theirvillage. Itwas a

warm day. Many frogs were sittingon the mud bank in the middle ofthe lake.SECOND DAUGHTER: Look at those frogs.FROGS: Huh-huh. Huh-huh. Huh-huh.THIRD DAUGHTER: They are all looking at us.PROUD DAUGHTER: How ugly these frogs are.THIRD DAUGHTER: Sister, that is rude.SECOND DAUGHTER: That one seems to be listening.You should not insult them.PROUD DAUGHTER: But it is true.STORYTELLER: Then the Village Chief ’s prouddaughter picked up the frog thatwas looking up at them.PROUD DAUGHTER: You are very ugly. Even anotherfrog would not want to marry you.STORYTELLER: Laughing, she threw that frog intothe lake.SECOND DAUGHTER: Sister, you should not have donethat.FROGS: Huh-huh. Huh-huh. Huh-huh.Huh-huh.THIRD DAUGHTER: The frogs are angry at you.PROUD DAUGHTER: Hah, what can a frog do?STORYTELLER: That night, the Village Chief ’sproud daughter woke up. Shethought she heard someone call-ing her from outside the great

wooden longhouse. Shestepped out into themoonlight and saw atall young man. Hewas handsome andwore clothing coveredwith bright greenbeads.

PROUD DAUGHTER: Who are you? You are thehandsomest man I haveever seen.

FROG CHIEF’S SON: Huh-huh. I have cometo marry you. Comewith me to my father’shouse.PROUD DAUGHTER: I will go with you.FROG CHIEF’S SON: Huh-huh. We mustclimb the hill to myfather’s house.STORYTELLER: Then they began towalk. It seemed to herthat they were climb-ing a hill. But theywere walkingdown toward thebig lake. When theyreached the lake,they did notstop. Theywent underits waters. Thenext day, no onecould find her.VILLAGE CHIEF: Where is my daughter?SECOND DAUGHTER:She was not in her bed this morn-ing.THIRD DAUGHTER: Perhaps she went for a walk.MOTHER: This is strange. We must look forher.VILLAGE CHIEF: Everyone, look for our daughter.VILLAGER 1: Look for her footprints.VILLAGER 2: Here they are in the mud. Theylead to the big lake.VILLAGER 1: Her tracks end at the water.VILLAGER 2:She must have drowned.MOTHER: Oh no! My poor daughter.STORYTELLER: So the people of the village con-cluded that she had died. Theybeat the drums for a death feast.People cut their hair and black-ened their faces in mourning. One

THE GIRL WHO MARRIEDA FROGA play by Joseph BruchacBased on a traditional Tlingit story

day, though, two men were walk-ing by the lake.FROGS AND PROUD DAUGHTER:Huh-huh, huh-huh, huh-huh.VILLAGER 3: Look at all those frogs on theirmud bank.VILLAGER 4: Hey! Look there in the middle ofthose frogs!VILLAGER 3: It is our chief ’s daughter.VILLAGER 4: Quick, let’s wade in and get her.FROGS AND PROUD DAUGHTER:Huh-huh. huh-huh, huh-huh.VILLAGER 3: Too late. They’ve gone back intothe lake and taken her with them.STORYTELLER: The men went quickly to theVillage Chief ’s longhouse.VILLAGER 3: We have seen your daughter.VILLAGER 4: She has been taken by the frogs.VILLAGER 3: We tried to reach her.VILLAGER 4: But the frogs took her with themunder the water.MOTHER: My husband, we must rescue ourdaughter.VILLAGE CHIEF: Everyone, follow us to the lake.STORYTELLER: The people of the village hurriedto the lake. There they saw theVillage Chief ’s eldest daughter sit-ting on the mud bank surroundedby the frogs. They tried to reachher but, just as before, the frogsdove in and took her with them.SECOND DAUGHTER: Our sister insulted the frogs andmade fun of them.THIRD DAUGHTER: She said they were ugly. That iswhy they have taken her.MOTHER: We must ask the Frog People toforgive her.VILLAGE CHIEF: We will make offerings to them.

STORYTELLER: They placed dishes of food on thewater. The dishes floated out andsank, but the frogs did not returnthe daughter. They placed fineskin robes on the bank of the lake.The Frog People took the robes,but still kept the Village Chief ’sproud daughter.VILLAGE CHIEF: We must dig a trench. We willdrain the water from the lake andrescue my daughter.STORYTELLER: The people dug a trench and thewater began to drain out of thelake. The frogs tried to drive themaway, but the people just pickedthe frogs up and dropped themback into the water, being carefulnot to hurt them. The Chief of theFrog People saw this.FROG CHIEF: Huh-huh. Our homes are going tobe destroyed.FROG CHIEF’S SON: Huh-huh. What shall we do,father?FROG CHIEF: Huh-huh. We must give my newdaughter back to her people.FROG CHIEF’S SON: Huh-huh. Father, I am sad to hearthis.STORYTELLER: So the frogs brought the youngwoman to the trench.VILLAGE CHIEF: My daughter.PROUD DAUGHTER: Huh-huh, huh-huh.SECOND DAUGHTER: She is all covered with mud.THIRD DAUGHTER: She smells like a frog.MOTHER: She is still my daughter.PROUD DAUGHTER: Huh-huh, huh-huh.STORYTELLER: One frog leaped out of the waterafter her. It was the one who hadbeen her husband. The VillageChief picked him up carefully andplaced him back gently into thewater. Then they took the youngwoman home. For a long time,she could speak only like a frog.Finally she learned to speak as a

human again.PROUD DAUGHTER: The frogs know our language. Wemust not talk badly about them.STORYTELLER: From that day on, the people ofthat village used the frog as theiremblem. They learned the songs ofthe frog people from the VillageChief ’s eldest daughter and neverforgot the lesson she had learned.They still tell her story. And whenthey hear the frogs singing in thelake, they say that the frogs aretelling their children this story, too.

Skill: understanding contemporary social issues

Diversity is a wonderfulthing.We can learn a great

deal from celebrating our differ-ences instead of fighting aboutthem. Find some examples ofdiversity in today’s newspaper.Write an essay, based on whatyou found, telling about howdiversity is good for our society.

Use the

Newspaper

9

10

Based on a traditional Tuscarora story

Characters: Storyteller, Dayohagwenda, CornSpirit, First Villager, SecondVillager, First Child, Second Child,Third Child, Fourth Child, FirstWife, First Husband, Second Wife,Second Husband, First Hunter,Second Hunter, Third Hunter,Fourth Hunter

STORYTELLER: Long ago, there was a village ofpeople whose cornfields wereblessed with good harvests. Therewas so much corn for so manyyears that the people began totake it for granted. FIRST VILLAGER: We have so much corn, why dowe need to weed our fields?SECOND VILLAGER: You are right. It is too much trou-ble. Let the weeds grow.There will still be more cornthan we need.FIRST CHILD: I am tired of drivingthe birds awayfrom the corn-field. Let’s goplay instead.

SECOND CHILD: We can play, knock the corn stalksdown and trample on them!THIRD CHILD: It doesn’t matter that the cornhasn’t been picked yet. FOURTH CHILD: It doesn’t matter that the crowswill come in and eat thecorn. FIRST CHILD: There will still beplenty left. ALL CHILDREN: Let’s play.FIRST WIFE: My husband, do youwant more corn toeat?

FIRST HUSBAND: No, I have eaten enough.FIRST WIFE: What shall I do with the rest of this corn?

FIRST HUSBAND: Just throw it to the dogs.SECOND HUSBAND: Is the corn dried enough

for us to store it as seed corn for next year?SECOND WIFE: There is so much of it, Iam sure that some of it isdried enough to put intothe storage baskets.

SECOND HUSBAND: Those baskets do not look to bewell made. Will the seeds staydry?SECOND WIFE: It would take too long to make thebaskets tight. There is so muchcorn, what does it matter if somespoils? Did you dig the storage pitdeep enough to keep it fromfreezing? SECOND HUSBAND: I am tired of digging deep storagepits. This will probably be deepenough.STORYTELLER: Even the Clan Mothers and theVillage Elders forgot to be grateful. CLAN MOTHER: There is no need to have a cere-mony to give thanks to the corn.VILLAGE ELDER:

It is too much trouble. Thecorn will still grow without it.

CLAN MOTHER: And if we do not have corn, thereis plenty of game in the forest.

The Corn SpiritBy Joseph Bruchac

11

VILLAGE ELDER: You are right. Even if the storedcorn spoils, we can still hunt tosurvive.STORYTELLER: Of all the people in that village,only one man remembered toshow respect. His name wasDayohagwenda. He cared for hisfields and weeded them. He har-vested his corn with care andgave thanks. He made strong bas-kets and dug a deep granary tostore the dried corn.DAYOHAGWENDA: I am sad about the way my peopleare acting. But they will not listento me. I hope that bad luck doesnot come to them.STORYTELLER: But bad luck did come. When theMoon of Falling leaves arrived, thehunters went into the forests. Thehunting was not good.FIRST HUNTER: There are no deer in the forest.SECOND HUNTER: I have been hunting for manydays and I have not seen even onegame animal.THIRD HUNTER: The deer, the moose, even therabbit are gone.FOURTH HUNTER: I have tried to fish, too. But thelakes and streams seem to beempty.FIRST HUNTER: We will have to dig up the cornthat we stored.STORYTELLER: But, when they went to dig up thecorn, they were dismayed.SECOND HUSBAND: All of the corn in this basket hasrotted.SECOND WIFE: All of the corn in this basket waseaten by mice.ALL OF THE PEOPLE: What shall we do? We will starve.STORYTELLER: Meanwhile, Dayohagwenda waswalking in the woods. He wasworried about what might hap-pen to his people because they nolonger showed respect for thecorn or gave thanks. He found anold trail that led to a clearing inthe forest. In the middle of theclearing was an old elm barklodge built on a mound of earth.Weeds grew all around it. An oldman in torn clothing sat thereweeping.

DAYOHAGWENDA: Grandfather, why are you weeping?CORN SPIRIT: I am weeping because my peoplehave forgotten me.DAYOHAGWENDA: Why are your clothes torn?CORN SPIRIT: Because your people threw me totheir dogs.DAYOHAGWENDA: Why are you so dirty?CORN SPIRIT: Because your people let the children trample me.

DAYOHAGWENDA: Why are there weeds all aroundyour lodge?CORN SPIRIT: Because your people no longertake care of me. Now I must goaway and never return.STORYTELLER: Now Dayohagwenda knew whothe old man was. He was the CornSpirit.DAYOHAGWENDA: Grandfather, do not leave. I stillrespect you. I will go back andremind my people how to treatyou.CORN SPIRIT: Grandson, I know you. I will staywith you. If your people showrespect to me, I will not leavethem. I will help them throughthis winter.

STORYTELLER: So Dayohagwenda went back tothe village.FIRST HUNTER: What shall we do?SECOND WIFE: We have no more corn.CLAN MOTHER: We will surely starve.VILLAGE ELDER: Look, there is Dayohagwenda.DAYOHAGWENDA: People, listen to me. I found anold man in ragged clothes sittingin the forest by a lodge surround-ed with weeds. It was the Corn

Spirit. He said his people have for-gotten him and he was about toleave forever.ALL PEOPLE: Oh no. Now we will all surely die.DAYOHAGWENDA: No. I spoke with Corn Spirit. I saidthat we would treat him withrespect. If we respect him, he willhelp us through the winter.ALL PEOPLE: We shall do so.STORYTELLER: Then Dayohagwenda dug up thecorn he had stored. He had dughis granary deep and covered itproperly. There was even morecorn than he remembered. Therewas enough to feed the whole vil-lage through the winter. Therewas enough to use as seed cornthe next spring. From that day on,

If you’d like to read moreabout corn and the AmericanIndians, check out the book,“Corn is Maize: The Gift of the

Indians” by Aliki (Harper Collins;1986. 40 pages.)

Skill: exploring universal themes

Aplant’s habitat meets itssurvival needs, such as sun-

light, food and water. In thisstory, it is suggested that thecorn plant also needs respect.People need respect, too. Canyou find a story about respect intoday’s newspaper? Find one andwrite a paragraph explaining whyrespect is so important in thatstory and to our society.

Skill: understanding point of view

The Corn Spirit represents anobject, the corn plant, shar-

ing its point of view as if it werea person. It’s interesting to tryto see things from a new pointof view. Choose a picture fromtoday’s newspaper and write anarrative from the point of viewof one object in the picture.

Use the

Newspaper

his people never again forgot togive respect to the corn. Theygave thanks for all the blessingsthey were given. They taught theirchildren to do the same and so itis to this day.

12

SUMMARYThe Seminoles left the Creek tribe,settling in Florida. Because Floridawas under Spanish rule, manyslaves escaped to Florida to jointhem. Some Seminoles were slaveowners themselves, while othersmarried ex-slaves and helped oth-ers to fight for freedom. AfterSpain sold Florida to the UnitedStates, the whites wanted the richland. Some Seminoles foughtback, but finally agreed to move toa reservation in Oklahoma. Therethey struggled with more brokenpromises from the governmentand, finally, they moved to Mexico.

PRESENTATIONSUGGESTIONSBecause most of the charactersare males, the narrators could begirls to give gender balance to thescript. The general could sit at adesk to one side, with John Horsemoving to the desk for theirexchange. The other speakersshould stand in the order of thespeaking.

DELIVERY SUGGESTIONSJim and Samuel should soundscared at first. Later, theyshould sound worried,though confident, as theydiscuss how they will leavefor Mexico. The generalshould sound control-ling and nasty.

CHARACTERSNarrator 1, Jim,Samuel, Narrator 2,John Horse, William,General

NARRATOR 1: In the early 1800s, many SeminoleIndians lived in the FloridaEverglades. They had farms andlived in freedom and peace. At thesame time, many black slavesescaped to the Everglades insearch of a better way of life.Listen and learn about how twogroups of people struggled togeth-er for freedom for many years.JIM: Why are wegoing south?Won’t themaster find usif we go thisway?SAMUEL: No. If we can crossthe border intoFlorida, we’ll besafe.JIM: How do you knowthat?SAMUEL: I’ve heardthe masterandhis

friends talk about slaves escapingto Florida. It’s owned by a countrycalled Spain. We should be safethere.JIM: I hope you’re right. How muchfarther is the border?SAMUEL: I’m not sure,

but we must keep going. The sunwill be up in a few hours. If wedon’t cross before sunup, we’ll becaught for sure. I know I don’twant to go back to work for the

master, do you?JIM:

I sure don’t! Let’s get going.NARRATOR 2:

Many escaped slaves likeJim and Samuel made it

to Florida. Theybecame friends withsome Seminole

Indians who appre-ciated their farm-ing skills. TheSeminoles alsovalued the blackpeople’s English-speaking abili-ties. In time,

some of theblacks andSeminolesmarried.They livedtogether,

workinghard,

enjoyingthe landand their

families. Butthen every-

thingchanged.

NARRATOR 1: Spain soldFlorida to theUnited States.The whiteswanted thegood farmland

that the Seminolesworked. The governmentwanted to move the

Seminoles to reservations.The Seminoles fought back,but resistance was hard.Samuel, Jim and another for-

mer slave talked with aSeminole leader.

!ESCAPE!By Suzanne I. Barchers and Charla R. Pfeffinger

Copyright 1999 Storycart Press®

P.O. Box 740519Arvada, CO 80006-0519Phone/fax: 303-423-6092. www.storycart.com.

13

SAMUEL: John, this war is costing too muchand going on too long. We have tofind a way to give people backtheir lives. I’ve learned that thearmy has captured Osceola. Thisis especially bad news for us.JOHN HORSE: Why would they capture Osceola?He went to the army under awhite flag of truce. Doesn’t thatmean anything to the army?JIM: Capturing him must have beenmore important than honoringthe truce. What are you going todo, John?JOHN HORSE: I’m not a leader. How can I talkwith the army? They won’t evenhonor a white flag of truce!WILLIAM: Someone has to try! You are wise.And you are a leader. Maybethey’ll listen to you.NARRATOR 2: John Horse did go, and he signeda peace treaty with the army. TheSeminoles agreed to leave Floridafor Oklahoma, where they allcould work their farms in peace.But the government broke itsword. They wanted someSeminoles to stay in Florida towork as slaves. Once again, theSeminoles were at war. Somewere caught by the army, whileothers escaped to the Everglades.John Horse tried to reason withthe general.

JOHN HORSE: General, we have agreed to endthis war. We’ve signed a treatywith the government. Our peopleare ready to go to the reservationin Oklahoma. Why won’t you let usgo?GENERAL: But so many of you are hiding outin the Everglades. We want themto leave too. Can’t you do some-thing about them?JOHN HORSE: I don’t control them and I have noway of finding them. If your sol-diers find them, I’ll try to convincethem to come with us. But that’sall I can do. The rest want to leavenow.GENERAL: All right, you can leave. But we aregoing to keep searching for theones who are hiding.NARRATOR 1: In 1849, the Seminoles left forOklahoma, but they left behind600 others who were hiding in theEverglades. The government final-ly gave up their search in 1858after 300 Seminoles died.Meanwhile, John Horse and thetribe had their share of troubles inOklahoma.JOHN HORSE: I’ve called this meeting becausewe need to decide how to protectour black brothers. They are beingcaptured and returned to theSouth to be slaves. The govern-ment has again broken its promise

to let us work the land in peace.SAMUEL: Then we must move. I don’t wantanother war. And we don’t havethe men to fight.JIM: Samuel’s right. We didn’t escapeslavery to fight wars. We werelooking for freedom. This seemslike another form of slavery.JOHN HORSE: It appears that we have threechoices. We can stay here andfight. Or we can find a new homenear another tribe that will helpus fight. Or we can move toMexico. The government can’tcontrol us there.WILLIAM: Our families won’t want to leave.But our safety is more important.I think we should move to Mexico.JIM: How do we know we’ll be safethere?JOHN HORSE: We don’t know for sure. But weknow we’re not safe here. Let’s goto Mexico and meet with theirleaders. If they welcome us, Ithink we should move there.WILLIAM: That’s a good plan. We’ll all goalong to help you talk to them.JOHN HORSE: Let’s make our plans. We’ll needto take supplies. And we need tobe sure our people are safe whilewe’re gone.

NARRATOR 2: The visit went well. John Horseand the Seminole tribe moved toMexico in 1850. Twenty yearslater, the United States govern-ment asked the black Seminolesto return to the United States asscouts for the army. They prom-ised them land for their familiesin exchange for their help.NARRATOR 1: But the government broke theirpromise again. Many of theSeminoles returned to Mexico.NARRATOR 2:Today, you can find Seminoles inmany places. They live in Florida,Oklahoma and throughout thesouthwest. They no longer hide inthe Everglades. They are success-ful business people and farmers,with many living in different citiesand others living on reservations.The government broke promiseafter promise to them, but manyof these determined, hard-work-ing people survived.

Skill: identifying human emotions

The characters in “Escape”are scared to move to a

new land. Look through thenewspaper to find other typesof emotions people feel.Whatmade them feel the way they do?

Skill: understanding interrelationships of groups

The United States govern-ment and the Seminole

Indians agreed to settle theirconflict with the Indians beingforced to move.What otherconflicts are in the news? Whoare the participants and what istheir dispute? Can you think of apeaceful solution to the conflict?

Use the

Newspaper

14

IS IT TRUE THATAMERICAN INDIANSSOLD MANHATTAN FORA FEW BEADS?Dutch traders did give the Lenapetribe some beads and other itemsworth about $24, but the tribe didnot think of this as payment forany land. They did not believe thatland could be owned or boughtand sold, so it is likely that theythought the beads were a goodwillgift.

Questions&AnswersAboutAmericanIndians

M o r e

HOW DID THEY COOK?It’s your turn to cook dinner. You have no gas or electric stove, no microwave, no tap water, not even asupermarket! You can imagine how hard a job it wasfor American Indian women (or anyone of that time) tocook without all of the things you are used to having. The women madethe meals, and it took hours for them to collect the food and water. Theywould teach their daughters the skills, too. Pueblo women baked cornbread in outdoor ovens, heated by the sun. Most days, young Hopiwomen would grind corn on a rough stone slab called a “metate” andrub them with a smaller stone. They would then use the ground corn tomake more than 30 dishes! The Tlingits would fill baskets woven of rootswith water, meat and vegetables and then drop in hot rocks until thewater boiled to make stews. Later, after they began trading with theEuropeans who came here, they used metal pots too.

American Indians had no set meal times or plans. They ate when hun-gry or when travelers arrived. Food was divided fairly and evenly so thateveryone could eat. Most tribes stored food for the winter.

HOW DID THEY GET AROUND?Many American Indians were great walkers and they often used theirfeet for transportation. Apaches even painted their moccasins withsacred pollen because they believed it would help them find their way.They developed clever ways to carry items, too. Women took the heaviestburdens in backpacks, while the men carried the weapons. In the colderclimates, they used sleds to pull their loads. Sometimes dogs pulled thesleds and then horses and ponies did, too.

Horses had been extinct since the Ice Age, but the Spanish explorersbrought them to the Americas and gradually they spread from tribe totribe. Comanches were especially talented horse trainers and traders.

Life events were very important toAmerican Indians. They celebrat-ed events such asbecoming an adult,getting married orwinning a battle. Theywore decorated cere-monial clothing and theywould dance, sing and pray.They also believed that nature,the sky, the soil, plants, birds, ani-

mals, rivers, etc., had spirits thatmust be respected, so those

were also celebrated. Passing traditions

from one generation toanother was common.Navajo women, for

example, wore earpendants before

they got married.After marriage,

they would wearthem on neck-laces until their

daughters were

DID THEY REALLYSMOKE PEACE PIPES?There were serious pipe-smokingrituals to ask for the help of thespirits. They might be used tomake war or peace or to seal adeal. Pipes were crafted beautiful-ly and took weeks to make. Thestem was carved of wood whilethe bowl might be made of soap-stone, clay, or wood. Pipes wouldbe smoked at events (later calledpowwows) where people gath-ered. Still today, powwows are joy-ful events to remind people of oldcustoms and to celebrate newones.

DID AMERICAN INDIANSREALLY HAVETHANKSGIVING WITHTHE PILGRIMS?Massasoit, chief of theWampanoag tribe, and about 90 ofhis warriors did join the Pilgrimsat Plymouth for a celebration inthe fall of 1621. In traditional style,the American Indians celebratedto thank the spirits for a good har-vest. The Pilgrims invited thembecause they were grateful thatthe Wampanoag had taught themhow to farm in their new home-land. Massasoit encouraged hispeople to keep the peace with thePilgrims, although it wasn’t alwayseasy.

HOW DID THEY READAND WRITE?Many tribes had written language.A Cherokee man, Sequoyah,invented a way of writing downthe Cherokee spoken lan-guage, using symbols.He had a symbol foreach sound in thelanguage. Withthis, theCherokee, forexample,became a literatepeople, writing theirlaws, their history, theirbusiness transactions andmore.

WHERE ARE THEAMERICAN INDIANSTODAY?As of 2000, there were about2,000,000 American Indians. Nativepeoples live all over the UnitedStates, but most live west of theMississippi River. Some still live ontribal reservations (land set asidefor American Indians), but mostlive in towns and cities with adiverse group of people. TheNavajo belong to the secondlargest tribe (the Cherokee is thelargest), but they live on the largestreservation, which is in theSouthwest. A tribal council gov-erns it. Today, American Indianswork the same jobs as anyone elseand live their lives in the sameway.

Skill: locating information about culture

These pages contain a greatdeal of information about

how the American Indians lived,worked, dressed, ate, traveled,and entertained themselves.Use today’s newspaper to findexamples of the way today’ssociety does each of thesethings. Create an oral presenta-tion telling about the examplesyou found in each category.

Skill: retelling

Look for a story in the news-paper that mentions several

people. Rewrite the article inthe form of a play, creating thedialog for the characters.Yourclassmates can help performyour own Readers Theater using your script.

Use the

Newspaper

15

old enough to wear the samependants on their ears.

WHAT WERE THEIR RITUALS?

16

Spirituality or religious belief is a big part of these plays.What are some of the things that you believe in?Remember, when you talk about religion, it’s impor-tant to accept everyone’s beliefs as right for them, even

if you don’t agree.

I believe in:

Many of the American Indian stories are about things inthe outdoors. Go outside as a class and observe naturefor five minutes. Take paper and pencil so you canwrite notes about what you see. When you come back

in, brainstorm a list of what you saw and talk about it.

What I saw:

Every outdoor area, even a cement schoolyard, hasnature to discover. Make a list of the things you foundon the lines below. If you keep a journal, write an entryor draw a picture about what you experienced outside.

My schoolyard discoveries:

Do some research in the library or on the Internet to findout more about American Indian tribes that lived inyour area or nearby. Prepare a short oral presentationabout what you discovered. Share your findings withyour class. Create a visual aid to illustrate something

you learned.

Note: When you research American Indians, you will want to check your sourcescarefully. Much printed material about Indians is misleading and often mistaken. Findout about the authors. Try to read books written by American Indians, if you can. TheSmithsonian Institution offers a great bibliography with book suggestions. You can findit on the Web at: http://nmnhwww.si.edu/anthro/outreach/Indbibl/bibgen.html

My presentation outline:

In American Indian life, Thanksgiving is not just a yearlyevent, but a daily practice. Giving thanks is a part ofliving in balance and taking part in the circle of life.What are you thankful for? Try to think of three thingsfor which you are grateful and write about them

below. Talk about this with your class.

I am thankful for:

Think about keeping a gratitude journal in which you write, every day,about one thing you are grateful for. It may be fun, once each week,to discuss your entries with your class.

In this box, draw one thing forwhich you are thankful.

Discussion Questions

1

2

3

4

5