Native American Art Project-Homeschooling On A Shoestring

Our little, old poodle dog looks on in the background.



This is best done as a two day project, letting the fabric to soak in the dye overnight.

Were it later in the season, I'd have brewed some dried leaves and bark for the brown colour dye. Instead, I used a combination of tea and cinnamon. It certainly smelled nicer than leaves and bark. The reddish colour came from the skin of a plum steeped in water. Berries would be more authentic, but then if that sort of thing was bothersome to your sensibilities, you wouldn't let your kid finish it off by drawing bison on it with crayons.

We made some rag dolls to put in the tipis, and had great fun swaddling the baby doll to a board on the mama doll's back. For some reason Danny finds that really amusing.

This was presented as an art project on Native arts, not as part of the history segment on the Americas. I'm not sure I would have presented it in a dramatically different fashion, but I might have tried to place the Plains Indians into a larger context-and I would have had to cover more information than an art project demanded. I likely will revisit the project on a larger scale (maybe build one in the backyard?) as I start dealing with the Westward expansion, Jackson, and the Removal Act. I'm trying to resist that horrible tendency I have of discussing a subject by recommending another book on a similar subject that sort of relates to whatever we were discussing, but then reminded me of that book by what's-his-name, who also noted how there were similarities...and then you're essentially screwed. I've really had to learn how to narrow my scope so as not to confuse the youngster.