Fourth graders at Abbey Lane Elementary School were immersed in lessons about traditional Native American culture during a two-day program called “Journeys Into American Indian Territory,” a traveling museum featuring Native American educators Unaian Bruno and Maddi Cheers, who discussed the culture and customs of the Eastern Woodland native people.
Bruno and Cheers taught the students about traditional culture, survival, clothing, customs and government, in addition to showing them artifacts which included a lacrosse stick, clothes made out of animal skins, musical instruments and the replica of a longhouse. The students then attended the second half of the workshop about Native American games, including the ring and pin game and the bowl dice game.
“These games were designed to teach Native American children hand-eye coordination and to learn skills to hunt,” Bruno told the students.
Tying into the fourth-grade curriculum in New York studies, students have been learning about the Native Americans of the local area.
—Submitted by the Levittown School District
