The Plains Meet the Woodlands

The Native American Heritage Museum offers third and fourth grade students an immersion program called "The Plains Meet the Woodlands." The program takes about two hours, students are divided into two groups, one of which experiences eastern Woodland culture and the other Plains culture activities. These include gathering and processing corn, making travois, hunting deer, and hunting buffalo. Then students make trade goods, trade them, and end with a race.

The students are divided into two groups representing the Woodland and the Plains culture. Woodland people gather in the bark house and talk about how to build it, what materials to use and how long it would take to build. Students demonstrate their knowledge as they answer questions about what crops Indians grew, what they lived in, and what they hunted. The Woodland culture group gathers and processes corn, squash, and pumpkins. Students make darts and practice with a target to learn to be good hunters. The Woodland culture invites the plains culture to trade and feast. The Woodland people then hunt deer for the feast and make clay beads to trade.

The Plains group helps put up a tipi, scrapes hides and talks about hunting buffalo. Scouts are sent out to locate a small buffalo herd while the rest of the group builds some travois. Eventually, the whole Plains tribe hunts buffalo. In preparation for the feast and trade, students make parfleches--leather pouches used as suitcases to carry clothes, food, and personal items. Students also learn about buffalo hides and the winter count and then create their own stories.

After trading their goods, the Plains and Woodlands hold a relay race. The Woodland people make gifts of candy corn, representing corn to the Plains people, and thank them for coming and recognizing the need to cooperate with other tribes in order to survive.

The Native American Heritage Museum offers the "Woodlands Meet the Plains" program every year in September, October, and November. The program is tailored to third and fourth grade in Kansas and fifth grade in Missouri. Schools are invited to participate by contacting Suzette McCord-Rogers at 785-442-3304 or nahm@kshs.org.

Many elementary schools have participated in the past. The Native American Heritage Museum is located two miles east of Highland. Admission and program fees apply. Please contact the Native American Heritage Museum to reserve a date.

Buffalo Program

How did the Native Americans use the buffalo stomach? How did they use the bladder? A totally fascinating buffalo program offered by the Native American Heritage Museum answers these and other extremely interesting questions. Students thoroughly enjoy the buffalo information and the chance to experience many of the articles "hands-on." As the presenters impart the information on the myriad of ways the Native Americans made use of the buffalo, actual buffalo parts are passed among the students.

The Native American Heritage Museum makes its buffalo program available as a traveling program. The program is tailored to 3rd and 4th grade in Kansas and 5th grade in Missouri. The program may be booked by contacting Suzette McCord-Rogers at 785-442-3304, 785 272-8681, ext. 223, or nahm@kshs.org.

Program fees apply. Please contact the Native American Heritage Museum to reserve a date.