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Robbins Museum EDUCATIONAL Programs
Welcome to our Program Page! Our Native American Educational Project program (sponsored by the A.D. Makepeace Fund, Wareham, MA) is expanding and growing, and we hope to post new information on a regular basis.
In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to give our Education Department a call (or drop an email) to inquire about how our programs can connect with learning in your classroom and district! 508-947-9005 ~ education@massarchaeology.org
For a more in-depth look at how our materials fit with the Massachusetts Frameworks, visit: www.massarchaeology.org/Education/EdOutreach.pdf
Artifacts & Archaeology
(Adaptable) K-12
An introduction to archaeology that answers the question, Just What IS Archaeology? Students learn about fieldwork, research, and the science of archaeology. As they examine and discuss a wide variety of artifacts, they also have an opportunity to learn about changing lifeways, cultures, and technologies.
This analysis enables students to understand how people have made a living over thousands of years, what impact the environment had on their lives, and how successful they were at adapting to and using local resources. Importantly, students gain insight into how their own communities have changed over time.
Sample Frameworks Connections:
* Explain the meaning of time periods or dates in historical narratives and use them correctly in speaking and writing;
* Interpret timelines of events studies; identify different ways of dating past events
* Explain how objects or artifacts of everyday life in the past tell us how ordinary people lived and how everyday life has changed.
* Describe the climate and key regional physical features and major natural resources
* Compare maps of the modern world with
historical maps of local cities and towns
K-3
A program specifically designed for younger learners, The Story of The Wampanoag serves as an introduction to the history and culture of the Wampanoag peoples.
Maps detail where traditional tribal lands were located and show the resources upon which Native peoples depended and how closely they lived to the land. Students learn about day-to-day life, about the importance of traditions such as dancing, and about the role legends play in telling the history of the tribe through time.
A key learning goal is reinforcing students’ understanding that the Wampanoag Nation is still a vibrant part of local communities.
Sample Frameworks Connections:
* Explain the meaning of time periods or dates
in historical narratives
* Observe visual sources that accompany historical narratives and describe details
*Identify the Wampanoag and their leaders at the time the Pilgrims arrived (and beyond) and describe their way of life
* Locate tribal lands on a map; compare maps from different centuries
* Create artwork to tell a story or reinforce a new idea
* Describe the role of traditional stories and dances to the Wampanoag
Create A Calendar
(Adaptable) 1-3; 4-6
Building on their knowledge about Native American lifeways, students will explore the traditional calendar, identifying the seasons and months, exploring how each gets its name, and analyzing what these names can tell about the activities and events that happen through it.
Students can use images and create drawings to make their own calendars; they can compose stories or songs about the season, the phases of the moon, or the animals that Native peoples depended upon during the year. A comparison with contemporary calendars allows for discussion of events (holidays, for example) that are popular now but were not part of the Native way of life as well as evaluate what ceremonies marked the traditional year and their importance for the Native community.
Expand this lesson for older students (Grades 4-6) and undertake a look not only at contemporary calendars, but also at ways of marking time from the Medieval through the Colonial periods. How do “seasonal rounds” change place-to-place, time period to time period? How does following a “natural” cycle differ from the way we mark time today?
Sample Frameworks Connections:
* Understand and explain the life cycles of people, animals, and natural resources
* Apply concepts about time and place to identify patterns and make predictions
* Identify the differences in climate, physical characteristics, and natural resources available through the year
* Create 2D/3D works of art that are inspired by historical or cultural styles
* Interpret legends, oral histories, dances, and art that depicts the seasonal rounds of communities or groups through time
* Organize, classify, and depict data using charts, graphs, and pictorial representations
* Identify patterns (in weather/climate; in choices people make about their livelihood)
* Identify the parts of the day, week, season, year
Living on The Landscape
4-12
Drawing from the exhibits and dioramas at the Robbins Museum and analysis of historic maps, students undertake an in-depth analysis of just how New England Tribes lived day-to-day.
Examination entails assessing geographic features (rivers, landscapes, topography) and discussing how weather, climate, and resources changed through time. Additionally, students will evaluate how cartographers depicted animal life as well as human activity, then discuss what information about daily life and ways of making a living can be gleaned from such analysis.
A second component of this lesson entails reading primary sources that describe the experiences of early explorers as they disembarked from ships, explored regional locales, and interacted with local Native American tribes.
Follow-up and discussion synthesizes what students have learned in their reading of maps and documents with an evaluation of the artifacts Native peoples made and used. Important connections between natural resources, lifeways, and cultural norms are made as students examine Native artifacts, get an introduction to archaeology, and explore how indigenous communities lived on the landscape.
Sample Frameworks Connections:
* Describe how climate and resources impacted ways of living and economies locally and through time
* Using maps, locate major river tributaries, topographic features, and coastal regions; use cardinal directions, legends, and artistic representations
* Explain and give examples of ways in which soils are formed and discuss their unique properties
* Discuss how understanding stratigraphy can enhance our understanding of past lifeways, resources, and environments
* Identify materials used to accomplish a task and explain how environmental conditions impact choices people have made in creating and using tools
4-12
Expanding skills and knowledge found in the Living On The Landscape program, this unit takes students on a journey to study the traditional homelands of Native peoples (particularly the Wampanoag), and compare Native American and EuroAmerican settlement patterns.
Students will use maps depicting Native homelands, then create transparencies to analyze how land ownership transferred from tribe to colonist. Primary documents (such the 1629 Charter issued by King Charles) will be analyzed, and early deeds examined.
Through this analysis, students will answer critical questions about how each group (Native and colonist) felt about the land as well as how it was exchanged and subsequently used. This lesson will be reinforced as students research and compare Native names for towns, rivers, and resources to those used by English settlers.
A key learning goal is enhancing critical thinking skills as students answer questions such as: What impact did expanding colonial population have on Native/white relations? Were land transactions always honorable? How did each group view the other? What were the goals of white settlers, politicians, and missionaries? The responses to these queries lay the foundation for an in-depth study of Native/Colonial interaction from the 1630s onward.
Sample Frameworks Connections:
* Compare different types of maps
* Give examples of how changes in supply and demand impacted land purchase and population expansion
* Explain the early relationship of English settlers to indigenous peoples, including views on land ownership
5-12
This lesson synthesizes learning and critical thinking skills students have mastered in previous lessons (it thus serves as an excellent assessment piece), and then builds on this knowledge to engage students in a comprehensive study of regional Native tribes.
Students will once again turn to maps and primary documents to evaluate the impact of European settlement on local Native nations. From the earliest attempts at colonization to the acquisition of Native lands, colonial expansion altered the indigenous way of life.
Students will research, analyze, and discuss topics such as the immersion of Native peoples in the market economy of Europe beginning in the late 1500s; the decimation of local populations by European diseases and the subsequent realignment of Native tribes and allegiances; the establishment of Native American Praying Towns; King Phillip’s war; and the resiliency of Native communities as they developed strategies to survive and maintain their own identities.
An essential goal of this (and other) lessons is to contextualize learning in such a way that students are able to analyze, debate, and discuss from multiple vantage points. Engendering a wider empathy for the impact of history on Native Americans is another critical element of learning, as is –for older students especially – an awareness that Native peoples were full participants in the historic events that shaped (and changed) their lifeways and cultures.
Sample Frameworks Connections:
* Describe the effects of European exploration and diseases on Native peoples
* Identify the reasons for establishing Native Praying Towns as well as the Indian College at Harvard University
5-12
This is the culminating piece in the study of Native American resiliency.
The Wampanoag Tribe will serve as the case study for students, who will research how this Tribe (and others) survived after King Phillip’s War.
Using a variety of primary and secondary documents, Internet searches, and oral histories, students will get a look at a story seldom told in history texts. Unveiling this “hidden history” will introduce young learners to the Native leaders who sought to reestablish their rights as citizens and as an autonomous Nation.
From William Apes in the early 1800s to Russell Gardner in the 1960s, tribal members have actively engaged in advocacy for their communities. Students will also learn about the men –such as Ship’s Captain Amos Haskins– who turned to the maritime industry of New Bedford to work as seamen; about Russell Peters (Fast Turtle), a contemporary member of the Mashpee Wampanoag who is an advocate and public speaker (among other roles).
In addition to contextualizing and expanding what is “known” about the Wampanoag People, this lesson serves as the final chapter (and assessment) in this series, as it brings students to the contemporary scene and instills in them a sense of the rich and vibrant history of Native American peoples.
Sample Frameworks Connections:
* Identify leaders and notable people in Massachusetts history
* Explain the importance of the maritime trade to the region
* Discuss the ideal of “no taxation without representation” from the perspective of Native Americans
The Robbins Museum
The Robbins Museum of Archaeology is dedicated to the Native Cultures of New England; to preserving their material record; and to promoting archaeological awareness and public understanding of Native American culture through its exhibits, public outreach initiatives, and educational programs.
Since 1939, the Robbins Museum and its “sister,” the Massachusetts Archaeological Society, has studied the people whose cultural legacy is within the lands we walk upon today.
Our exhibits cover 10,000 years of Native American history and culture. A Walk Through Timedisplay enables students to understand how Native peoples adapted to changing environmental and social conditions from the prehistoric through the Contact periods. A diorama of the Wapanucket site provides a visual representation of life in Middleboro from 10,000 years ago through the early historic period. Artifacts (arrowheads, axes, fishing gear, and other tools) from important Massachusetts archaeological sites offer an in-depth look at the relationships Native Americans had with their environment and illustrate how native tribes made their living. A replica of a mishoon (a canoe hand-crafted from a log) is only one example of the technologies and resources Native Americans used daily.
Bring your students (and staff!) and come join us on an exploration of 10,000 years of vibrant history!
We look forward to sharing this dynamic story with you!
