Thanksgiving: Native American Totem Pole

Project: Thanksgiving: Native American Totem Pole.
Materials needed: pencils, crayons, colored construction paper, brown construction paper, scissors, stapler or glue.

Would there be a Thanksgiving celebration without the willingness of the Native Americans to help the Pilgrims? My guess would be probably not. I feel that without the Native Americans running interference between life and utter destruction among the Pilgrims they (the Pilgrims) would have been forced to move back to England or to assimilate into the Indian culture.

This project enables us as a family to not only understand an important part of the Native American culture but also gives us the opportunity to discuss with our children the true meaning of Thanksgiving.

History of the Totem Pole:
Totem poles were common among the Northwest Coastal Indian Tribes and carved out of giant cedar trees. Smaller versions of Totem Poles were found among other tribes across the American continent.
A Totem Pole was used to pass on stories or important events to future generations of Indians like a book.
The Totem Pole was also used to tell the history of a family and was very important to the Native American culture.
The figures on the Totem Poles are symbols used to tell the story. These symbols were usually of animals and represented the key players in the story.

Relevance to the project: Have your child create a Totem Pole that tells "their story". Cut and paste on images to the Totem Pole that reflects the things your child likes (ex. a baseball, pizza). Or use an animal symbol to help tell their story (ex. eagle for speed, wisdom strength ). Create a Totem Pole for yourself while you are working with your child.

PROJECT STEPS:

                                                              

step 1

Step 1

1) Take one piece of brown construction paper and roll the paper into a tube. It could either be rolled the length or width of the paper. Use the stapler to keep the roll together becasuse the glue will take to long to dry.   

                      Step 2

2)  Draw and then cut out the symbols or shapes that are going to be used to tell the "story".

                    Step 3 

3) Glue the shapes, symbols onto the totem pole.

                     Step 4

4) You are finished now clean up the mess.

5) Stand back and admire your artwork with the family. Use this time to openly praise the projects and to summerize the idea behind th Thanksgiving Totem pole project.