A Yurok Village

The big project in Third Grade at our school is the Native American Villages. The students are divided into groups, and each group studies a tribe and makes a model of their village. The goal is to have accurate details that truly reflect how they lived and used the land.

The teacher assigned the groups and chose a Chief and an Assistant Chief for each tribe.

Katie told us that the Chiefs and Assistant Chiefs were chosen because the teacher thought they would be "good leaders without being bossy." :-)

Guess who was Assistant Chief of the Yurok tribe?

Yep, Katie!


It took them many hours, spread over three school days, to make their villages. I got to come in on the third day to help them finish it (hot glue guns had to be operated by parent helpers!). The best part of being there on the third day was that I got to hear them present their villages to each other! I'm glad I had my camera with me!


Here's the Chief and Assistant Chief:


And here's the whole group:



Katie says:
The Yurok lived on the coast of Northern California, in the Redwood forest. Their primary means of transportation was in canoes up and down the coast. They lived in Longhouses made of redwood. Salmon meant a LOT to the Yurok Indians. Our group accidentally made enough salmon (out of clay) to last them about 2 winters!! They also grew corn to eat and hunted small game and deer. The chief (David) and I did the water. Isn't it cool how they overlap and look like waves?

Here's the Cherokee village (Catherine was the Chief)


And here's the Navajo village:



Then the villages were in the classroom at Open House for all to admire!