Lesson 1:Wampum belts
Students learned about Native American art and culture in their homeroom class and could not get enough! In this lesson we dove deeper into Native American art forms by studying Wampum belts. Wampum belts are beaded belts traditionally made by Eastern Woodlands tribes of the indigenous people of North America. These belts were commonly made with hand carved beads created from seashells and other available natural elements. They were most often created to commemorate a person or event as a sign of high respect and honor. The purpose of these belts caused them to become an important living record of Indigenous culture, allowing us to learn about these cultures today.
After discussing the traditional purpose and process behind these works of art we made them for ourselves! We started by thinking of a story we wanted to tell, a person we wanted to honor, or an event to commemorate. Once each student had an idea in mind, they planned out how they were going to communicate their idea on graph paper before beginning on their actual belt. After learning the process of weaving with beads students completed their Wampum belts, helping each other as problems came up along the way. After the belts were finished students could not wait to show off their hard work by wearing their belts while sharing with their classmates the significance of their creative decisions.
After discussing the traditional purpose and process behind these works of art we made them for ourselves! We started by thinking of a story we wanted to tell, a person we wanted to honor, or an event to commemorate. Once each student had an idea in mind, they planned out how they were going to communicate their idea on graph paper before beginning on their actual belt. After learning the process of weaving with beads students completed their Wampum belts, helping each other as problems came up along the way. After the belts were finished students could not wait to show off their hard work by wearing their belts while sharing with their classmates the significance of their creative decisions.
To the right you will see a students work in progress. First students planed out what they wanted their belt to look like on the graph paper. Each square represented a bead on their belt. After the belt was planned students picked up all the beads they would need and kept them in a ziplock bag while they worked. As they completed their belt they kept track of their progress by crossing off each row of beads from their planning sheet after it had been added to their belt.
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To the right you will see one of our student "braiding experts" finishing up her braid. After she and the other braiding experts were done, they helped teach other students how to braid at the braiding station they created. Students who already knew how to braid were excited to help their peers learn a process they enjoyed!
Above you will see an example of a fully completed wampum belt! Lauren made this one to honor how much she loved her Dad for his birthday. She did this by figuring out how to use the beads in her belt to write "I <3 my dad". She said that she used red and blue because those are her dads favorite colors, and that the pink was used to represent love.
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