Native American History for Kids - Canoes
Plank Canoes: The California Chumash made planked canoes, which they took out on the ocean for quick travel and to fish.
Cedar Carved Canoes (Dugouts): In the Pacific Northwest, canoe carvers were trained by their ancestors to be carvers. No one else was allowed to carve a canoe. The art was handed down from father to son, from uncle to nephew. These canoes were huge. They were carved from cedar trees, of course.
For those of you who do not live in the Pacific Northwest, cedar trees can grow over 80 feet tall quite easily. Since the forests are so thick, there are few branches on the way up. (This is still true today.) One way to describe a cedar tree is that it is a tall, wide, strong pole of wood with a hat of green leaves at the very top. The natural shape of cedar trees make them rather perfect for cutting into planks or for splitting into two long sections. That's exactly what these early people did. They built canoes that were 50 feet long and 8 feet wide. These were workboats. Each canoe could hold 20 warriors and 10,000 pounds of cargo, such as fish.
They also carved boats that were much smaller. A single family, for family outings, to enjoy the water and the sunshine or to visit other tribes along the coast, used these small boats.
To make a canoe, first they had to cut down a cedar tree. Then they had to split the log in half, without cracking it. Then, they had to burn and scrape down the middle, to begin to shape it. Once they got that far, they filled the hole they had scraped down the middle with water. Just as the women used hot stones to make water boil in cooking baskets, so did the ancient canoe makers soften the cedar. They filled the hollow with water and added hot rocks until the water boiled. This softened the cedar so that they could begin to shape and carve their canoe.
Birch Bark Canoes: The Chippewa/Ojibwa were master canoe builders. First they put stakes in the ground, forming an outline of the canoe. The stakes were not part of the canoe. They were used to hold the boat upright while it was being built. Next, they placed thick sheets of birch bark inside the stakes, forming the canoe. They added bent cedar ribs. They sewed the bark together with string made from spruce roots. They glued it together with spruce gum that made the seams watertight. Their canoes were portable, light weight, sturdy, and waterproof. Some of their canoes were so big they could move entire families. Make a Birch Bark Canoe (Native Tech)
Native Americans for Kids
Native Americans in US, Canada, and the Far North
Early people of North America (during the ice age 40,000 years ago)
Northeast Woodland Tribes and Nations - The Northeast Woodlands include all five great lakes as well as the Finger Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River. Come explore the 3 sisters, longhouses, village life, the League of Nations, sacred trees, snowsnake games, wampum, the arrowmaker, dream catchers, night messages, the game of sep and more. Special Sections: Iroquois Nation, Ojibwa/Chippewa, The Lenape Indians. Read two myths: Wise Owl and The Invisible Warrior.
Southeast Woodland Tribes and Nations - The Indians of the Southeast were considered members of the Woodland Indians. The people believed in many deities, and prayed in song and dance for guidance. Explore the darkening land, battle techniques, clans and marriage, law and order, and more. Travel the Trail of Tears. Meet the Muscogee (Creek), Chickasaw, Choctaw, Mississippians, Seminole Indians and Cherokee Indians.
Plains Indians - What was life like in what is now the Great Plains region of the United States? Some tribes wandered the plains in search of foods. Others settled down and grew crops. They spoke different languages. Why was the buffalo so important? What different did horses make? What was coup counting? Who was Clever Coyote? Meet the Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Comanche, Pawnee, and Sioux Nation.
Southwest Indians - Pueblo is not the name of a tribe. It is a Spanish word for village. The Pueblo People are the decedents of the Anasazi People. The Navajo and the Apache arrived in the southwest in the 1300s. They both raided the peaceful Pueblo tribes for food and other goods. Who were the Devil Dancers? Why are blue stones important? What is a wickiup? Who was Child of Water?
Pacific Coastal Northwest Indians - What made some of the Pacific Northwest Indian tribes "rich" in ancient times? Why were woven mats so important? How did totem poles get started? What was life like in the longhouse? What were money blankets and coppers? How did the fur trade work? How did Raven Steal Crow's Potlatch?
Inland Plateau People - About 10,000 years ago, different tribes of Indians settled in the Northwest Inland Plateau region of the United States and Canada, located between two huge mountain ranges - the Rockies and the Cascades. The Plateau stretches from BC British Columbia all the way down to nearly Texas. Each village was independent, and each had a democratic system of government. They were deeply religious and believed spirits could be found everything - in both living and non-living things. Meet the Nez Perce
California Indians - The Far West was a land of great diversity. Death Valley and Mount Whitney are the highest and lowest points in the United States. They are within sight of each other. Tribes living in what would become California were as different as their landscape.
Native Americans of the Far North: What trick did the Kutchin people use to catch their enemies? How did these early people stop ghosts from entering their homes? Why was the shaman so powerful? What is a finger mask? Play games! See and hear an old Inuit myth! Enter the mystical world of the people who lived in the far north in olden times. Algonquian/Cree, Athapascan/Kutchin, Central Canada, Inuit, The Shaman
Comparison Chart (Europeans & Indians)