Folklife Resources for Educators

Materials Related to Navajo Indians

There are 3 titles in this list.

Explore Culture Online
by Arizona State Museum
http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu/explore.shtml

Online educational activities, podcasts, videos, exhibitions, oral histories, databases, bibliographies, and multimedia resources created for the Arizona State Museum about their exhibits, collections, and programs related to the material culture of Southwest Native Americans. Includes cultural and archaeological topics such as masks, pottery, textiles, painting, and weaving from Northern Mexico, New Mexico, and Arizona. Can be used in the classroom.

Sponsoring Organization:
Arizona State Museum
The University of Arizona
Tucson AZ 85721-0026
(520) 621-6302
http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu/

Native American Dolls
by National Museum of the American Indian
http://smithsonianeducation.org/images/educators/lesson_plan/native_dolls/native_dolls.pdf

Teaching guide for K-12 education with lesson plan and activities on diverse traditions of Native American dolls and dollmaking. Native doll makers describe how their work keeps old traditions alive and helps in developing new traditions. Includes examples of Navajo, Inupiat, Ojibwe, Seneca, and Seminole dolls exhibited in the National Museum of the American Indian and transcripts of interviews with their makers. The lesson is useful for teaching about cultural differences where students are encouraged to compare and contrast Native dolls with those from their own background. It meets national curriculum standards for History and Geography. Lesson plan originally published in the fall 2004 issue of "Smithsonian In Your Classroom." (28 p. PDF)

Sponsoring Organization:
National Museum of the American Indian
Fourth Street & Independence Avenue, SW
Washington DC 20560
(202) 633-6996
http://www.nmai.si.edu/

Other Organizations:
Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies
600 Maryland Avenue, Suite 1005
Washington DC 20024
(202) 633-5330
http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/

Native Words, Native Warriors
by National Museum of the American Indian
http://www.nmai.si.edu/education/codetalkers/

Interactive curriculum website for grades 6-12 that explores the lives and experiences of American Indian Code Talkers, the servicemen who used their traditional tribal languages to transmit secret messages for the US military during World War I and World War II. Includes lesson plans, correlated to National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies and National Standards for History, captioned photographs, maps and documents, discussion questions, activities, and audio recordings of spoken word and Native American music.

Sponsoring Organization:
National Museum of the American Indian
Fourth Street & Independence Avenue, SW
Washington DC 20560
(202) 633-6996
http://www.nmai.si.edu/