Native American Unit Study - Lesson 6: Southeastern Indians

My daughter made fruit leather and owner sticks.

Like the Scythians who lived in  Asia (Russia, China), the southern Indians were mound builders. The natives who lived near the coast made jewelry from shells. Unfortunately, many of these tribes were pushed westward onto reservations in Oklahoma. Many fought at first, but later surrendered. All except for the Seminole tribe in Florida. The Seminoles were made up of Native Americans of many different tribes, as well as runaway slaves and others living on the outskirts European settlements.

Owner Sticks
Have you ever left a note on the couch to reserve your seat for a movie? Have any of your children claimed a left-over slice of pizza as theirs? Owner sticks were used label property as belonging to an individual. They could be large or small depending on the item. Each individual had a unique set of sticks.

My daughter made a set of sticks using craft sticks, ribbon, glue and feathers.  

When they were complete, she used them to claim the prized seat on the couch.

Fruit Leather
Fruit could be preserved and eaten when not in season by mashing and drying it into sheets. As a child, I called this a Fruit-Roll-Up, although I'm not sure it contained much real fruit.

 My daughter had her grandfather help her use the blender to make fruit leather from blueberries and grapes.

 Plastic wrap was placed on a cookie sheet.

The blended fruit was placed in a warm spot to dry which took several days.