American Indian Project

Fairfield—The students at Saint Catherine Academy finished their social studies unit on American Indians with a culminating activity of a trip to the Institute of American Indian Studies Museum and Research Center in Washington, CT.

The students have been studying habitat, artifacts, clothing as well as the areas of the country that a particular tribe was native to. They worked in teams using books and on-line sources for their research.

Each group prepared a poster that showed their research and presented their projects to their classmates. Sr. Cheryl Driscoll commented, “The students did an excellent job of working together and we all really enjoyed their presentations. I think we all learned new information through this process.”

At the Institute for American Indian Studies, students saw firsthand a longhouse, wigwams, canoes as well as clothing and tools that were used by the Northeast Indian tribes. “I liked seeing the longhouse because I saw how the Native Americans lived,” reported Kelly. “I saw the wigwams and teepees. I liked the animal skins and learned that they ate buffalo and used the skin for the wigwam, “ shared Kelsey. “I loved the clothing. I wish I had clothes like that!” said Jonathan.

Touring the longhouse, the students noted that there was a hole in the roof. James recalls, “it is for the smoke to leave the house while they are cooking.” Jennifer liked seeing the “mashing of corn into flour.”

“The canoes are made from the bark of trees” added Josh and “they last for twenty years.”

While the tour was informative, all the students agreed that the best part was the bus ride because it was a “fancy” bus with a movie and nice seats!