Piecing It Together: American Indians Jigsaw

Tonight our class presented our Indian American jigsaw projects. Becky and I worked together on the Tlingit (pronounced klin-git) tribe. Again, working with Becky was great. She definitely took an interest in the project, honestly, more so than I did. Social Studies was never my favorite subject, but Becky really enjoys it. In this way, we were a good balance for a research project.

Before this project I had never heard of the Tlingits before. I thought it would be beneficial to research a tribe I had no prior knowledge on. And then I realized I couldn't pronounce their name... Even after practice, it's still a struggle, which Becky makes fun of me for mercilessly. The focus of the project was on how geography influenced Indian American tribes.

The Tlingits were a Northwest tribe, residing in what is now Alaska, British Columbia, and the Yukon. The climate in this area was temperate and humid, with cold, rainy winters. The land was compromised of forests, ocean, mountains, and rivers. In this area, Tlingits used natural resources such as red cedar trees, spruce trees, wapato greens, seeds, and berries.

Because of their location, Tlingit men became excellent hunters. Much of what they hunted was small game, like deer, goats, and birds. Inward tribes would also hunt caribou and moose. They also took advantage of being surrounded by so much water and proved to be excellent fishermen. In Tlingit society, salmon was even considered a sacred animal. Women in the Tlingit tribe were responsible for gathering seeds, berries, and other plants for cooking and other uses around their home.


Tlingits lived in large wooden homes, called plank houses, made from spruce and cedar trees. These were rectangular buildings with four posts, sloped roofs, and no windows. They were 40 to 50 feet long with one central fire pit and a smoke hole above it. Plank houses typically had multiple families living in them, meaning it was common for 50 people to live in one home.


Their clothing was designed with the temperature in mind. Men wore breech clothes, which were light and breathable for the summer. For formal occasions, they wore tunics, leggings, and cloaks painted with tribal designs. Chilkat blankets were used during the winters as coats or jackets to keep warm. Women often went barefoot and wore little clothing during the summer.

 
Learning about Indian American tribes is a fantastic way to understand geography. Each tribe had a different way of life which was dependent on the area around them. As were learned through this project, some tribes were nomadic and followed buffalo as it was their main source. Others found an area to live and created a lifestyle for themselves there. Understanding how the resources around them effected their day to day life is exactly what geography is about.