Indigenizing Your Curriculum
Indigenous New Hampshire Collaborative Collective
WELCOME! KWAI!
Who/what is INHCC?
Introduction to
“Teaching on n’dakinna”
Two main goals:
Two main sections:
Recommended Resources
Contained in the guide:
“Before Lesson Planning Begins”
Self-Reflection
“Before Lesson Planning Begins”
Cultural appropriation
“Before Lesson Planning Begins”
Dos and Don’ts
13 moons unit: Lesson Plans
-The 13 Moons Curriculum is based on the Abenaki people’s seasonal
practices and strives to connect these traditional
practices to student’s lives today.
- Lessons designed with the help of
University of New Hampshire education
students, and current and prior members
of INHCC.
-This is a work in progress with additional units
and activities being developed.
-We continually seek topics to develop curriculum relevant to today’s
teachers, and encourage feedback on lesson plans already available.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Uf3PMYlHORBiOfjibeCkHcaY2KPCl964/view
13 moons unit: Lesson Plans
Greetings and an Invitation to Explore
Kwai! (qu -eye) Hello, greetings! Bonjour, Hola!
We are on the homelands of the Abenaki people, who have ongoing cultural and spiritual connections to this area. We acknowledge the land and the people who have stewarded it through the generations.
The Abenaki people lived in the area that is now New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, and Quebec, Canada long before Europeans came to North America. The Abenaki people called this area N’Dakinna (n-da-kee-na) or “our homeland”
13 moons unit: Lesson Plans
The lessons are meant to promote curiosity and understanding of the
Abenaki people and culture today and in the past.
Each lesson is designed with multiple age groups in mind. The
explorations are designed to target early elementary age
students and the extension section is meant to continue
engagement with upper elementary school students.
There are guiding questions and suggestion for connections students
may make between the activities they are engaging in and the
13 Moons Abenaki calendar.
Each lesson includes C3, NGSS, and Common Core Standards
for math and literacy where applicable.
The lessons include additional resources for educators.
13 moons unit: Lesson Plans
Lessons include and encourage hands on activities.
For example , the lesson that corresponds
with the Zataikas (Zaa-ta-ee-kass) or
Blueberry Moon includes instructions for
making Pemmican (a food that is made with
dried fruit, seeds, and fat) that was made by
the Abenaki people during the Temaskikos
(Tim-askee-koos) the Gathering and
Harvesting Moon, as a high energy, easy
to store food to eat during the Pebon,(Pah-bon) winter months.
One extension activity in the Sigwankas (See-g-waa-kass) Spring Maker Moon lesson, students are guided through weaving a fish net .
13 moons unit: Lesson Plans
Lessons promote getting outdoors, exploring the land, and nature.
As part of the Pia8dagos
(Pee-ah-ohn-daag-oos)
Falling Branch Moon, lesson students
explore the winter landscape to uncover
evidence of the animals that are active
in the winter months.
The Penibagos (Pa-nee-Bag-oos )
Leaf Falling Moon lesson, students
gather leaves and identify types of trees
through a leaf rubbing activity referencing
the Northeast Trees Identification Guide.
Dos & Don’ts: example 1 - LANGUAGE AND TERMINOLOGY
Each 13 Moons Lesson Plan has Abenaki Words to Know Incorporated throughout the lesson.
Example 1: Do encourage Students to hear, practice, and learn familiar words in abenaki language
Dos & Don’ts: example 2 - APPROACH
Lesson Affordances (Objectives, Understandings, Knowledge, Skills)
during the spring.
food source for the Abenaki people.
Example 2: do encourage STUDENT INTERACTion WITH OUTDOOR SPACES AND THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
Swimming in Spring with the River Herring!
Indigenous New Hampshire Collaborative Collective’s 13 Moons Elementary Explorations
Investigating the Year through Abenaki Histories and Seasonal Practices
(Image Source; Indigenous New Hampshire Collaborative Collective. (2019). Indigenous NH Harvest Calendar. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Uf3PMYlHORBiOfjibeCkHcaY2KPCl964/view )
Exploration 1:
How does the land shape how people move across natural spaces?
Ask/Discuss:
Check out the many Abenaki Trails!
Even though it is hard to read the words, look at all of the black lines. Those are Indigenous pathways across New Hampshire. Have you traveled on these Abenaki trails before?
Abenaki peoples traveled by land and by water.
This is another older map showing Seacoast New Hampshire: The waterways, nebi, are colored in black. Some waterways are rivers, labeled in blue. Can you find waterways the Abenaki people would travel through on this map?
Dos & Don’ts: example 3 - Vetting Resources
Example 3: do encourage student conversations about indigenous perspectives through vetted films and resources
Hands on Activities
Paper Canoe Building
Hands on Activities
Fish Net Making
Hands on Activities
Fish Net Video
VIDEO LINK HERE
Questions?
Resource guide https://indigenousnh.files.wordpress.com/2021/10/inhcc_resource-guide-for-educators_updated-10.19-1.pdf
and all resources can be found at