A Day In T he Life Of T he Wampanoag

1. A Day In The Life Of TheWampanoag Kyle Zitney 5th Grade Mr. Barber

2. Introduction My name is Ajit. It means Invincible. I am part of the Wampanoag tribe. My tribe lives in the Northeastern region of the USA. This is my story…

3. Journal Entry #1 - Housing “Oh man! That was a good nights sle… Oh! I didn’t see you there. Wuneekeesuq! My name is Ajit. That means “invincible”. That word I just said means “Good Day!” You are standing in my home. It is called a Wigwam. The whole structure is made out of sticks, grass and bark. It may not seem fun but it is fun sleeping with my whole family.” Turn to next page for more Info.!!!!!!!!

4. More Housing! “Our Wigwams make us feel cozy and safe. This my bed. It kind of looks like a bench, doesn’t it? During the winter we make a fire in the middle of our home to keep us warm. We have about 30 Wigwams in our village. We have a circle in the middle of our village. We use it for celebrations and ceremonies. It is fun at a celebration. We have lots of big feasts that are for winning at war with other tribes. You should join us for one.”

5. Journal Entry #1 – Food! “We Wampanoag were farmers and hunters. We plant corn, squash and beans. We men hunted deer, fish, turkeys, rabbit, birds and lots of other small game. We children found berries, herbs, nuts and other natural recourses. We have lots of celebrations that involved big feasts. There is a lot of preparation before one of those. After one, you would be full for about 500 years strait! YUMMY!!”

6. Journal Entry #1 – Clothes/Characteristics “We Wampanoag wear some unusual things. Women wear knee length skirts. They also wear infancy headdresses with only 2 or 3 feathers. Us men wear something called a “Breechcloth”. It looked like a skirt with only one awkward thing. It only had 2 sides! It had one in the front and back. None on the sides. It may sound embarrassing but it can get air out in the summer. We are so lucky!” Breechcloth:

7. More Characteristics! “We are also very artsy. We decorate ourselves with body tattoos. I can’t get one until I’m 15. That is a tribe rule. I can’t wait! We are very connected with each other. There is not one person in this tribe I don’t know. We all like each other!”

8. Journal Entry #2 - Geography “We live in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. There are some mountains and a lot of rivers and valleys. Some of us live next to the ocean. Our wigwams need strong waterproof roofs because it rains a lot here. We have a mild summer and a cold winter. Our breechcloth helps us keep cool in the summer. We have made some very good adaptations here in the Northeast region. The weather made it hard to plant crops.”

9. Journal Entry #2 – Animals “We don’t live in caves because of animals. There are bats, coyotes, foxes and bobcats. There are even Black Bears here in the mountains! We have to watch out to not get eaten. They usually won’t bother you. You have to bother them first to get attacked. Luckily I haven’t experienced one before. There are Dams in the river because of beavers. We hunt the white tailed deer that lived here. They can usually feed us for about 3 days.”

10. Journal Entry #2 - Plants “The flowers are also very pretty. I love the smell of them. It makes me feel very refreshed when I smell them. That doesn’t mean I am soft though! I am the toughest kid in the tribe! There are Honeysuckles, Cape Tulips and Black Locusts. One thing you want to watch out for is itch grass. It will make you very itchy! It hurts really bad!”

11. Journal Entry #3 - Weather “It rains a lot here were we live. The rain makes it hard to grow crops. In the winter it is cold. We have a mild summer because we are up in the northern region. I feel bad for the women because they have to wear dresses in the summer. They must get really hot! It is good we wear Breechcloth so that we boys can air out. I can’t stand being hot. Boys are definitely luckier than girls!”

12. Reflection #1 “It is 3 month's later and I am going to have a baby sister! I won’t be the only child anymore! I was the only one in the whole tribe that didn’t have a sibling. I am super exited. Our future will be bright. We have plenty of food for the winter. In the spring I will have a sibling! Also in the spring I will go on my first hunt. I am sure I will catch a lot of prey for my mom and my new sister. My first hunt means I am almost a man! YAY!! I hope I will live up to my name. Invincible.”

13. Reflection #2 Some things I have learned are to not try to put to many details. Too many will make it confusing and hard to read. I think I will get a 94% - 100% on this project. If I had to do this again I would try to tell just the important stuff not the hard to comprehend details. I hope I will do really well on this assignment.

14. Bibliography "Energy and Environmental Affairs." Mass.Gov. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. <http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/natural-heritage/species-information-and-conservation/mesa-list/list-of-rare-species-in-massachusetts.html>. "Massachusetts - Climate." City-Data. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. <http://www.city-data.com/states/Massachusetts-Climate.html>. "Massachusetts." netstate. Web. 25 Oct. 2013. <http://www.netstate.com/states/geography/ma_geography.htm>. "Plymouth Plantation." Plymouth. Web. 25 Oct. 2013. <http://www.plimoth.org/what-see-do/wampanoag-homesite> "Wampanoag Indian Fact Sheet." bigorrin. Web. 25 Oct. 2013. <http://www.bigorrin.org/wampanoag_kids.htm>. "INDIAN BABY BOY NAMES." babynames. Web. 25 Oct. 2013. <http://www.babynames.org.uk/indian-boy-baby-names.htm>. Print Source Weeks, Alvin G. Massasoit of the Wampanoag's. Fall River, MASS: The Plimpton - Press, 1919. Print.