The Abenaki & Dawn Land

1. The Abenaki& Dawn Land An Interdisciplinary Exploration: Native Peoples & Places of New Hampshire’s White Mountains

2. Dawn Land: Abenaki Creation Story Adapted from the novel Dawn Land (2010) by Will Davis (Adapter, Illustrator) & Joseph Bruchac (Author)

3. Abenaki: People of the Dawn The Abenaki are a tribe of Native American and First Nations peoples belonging to the Algonquian nation of northeastern North America. They are located in an area the Eastern Algonquian languages call the Wabanaki or Dawn Land Region. The Abenaki were one of the five members of the Wabanaki Confederacy; the other four being the Maliseet, the Mi'kmaq, the Passamaquoddy, and the Penobscot.

4. Dawn Land: Abenaki Maps Western Abenaki Region Eastern Abenaki Region.

5. Abenaki: People of the Dawn The Abenaki, like their fellow Wabanaki tribes, were peaceful, although they were often forced to defend themselves against the Iroquois. Abenaki life was observed and recorded by European explorers of the early 1500s. Land was not owned, but used according to custom, season, and need. Abenaki set up villages along rivers and lakes where they had access to water and could hunt, farm, and fish using traps called weirs.

6. Abenaki: People of the Dawn By the late 1600s the Abenaki population in New Hampshire was declining. They had no natural immunities against diseases such as small pox and influenza that were introduced by European settlers. Major epidemics broke out between 1615-1620 that decimated populations. Conflicts with invading Mohawks and tensions with European settlers claiming ownership of Abenaki ancestral lands made the situation even worse. By the end of the century, many of the remaining Abenaki had either married Europeans, melted into the rural population, or decided to leave and settle in Canada.

7. Abenaki: People of the Dawn Contemporary Abenaki live on the reserves in Quebec, as well as on reservations in Maine and communities in New Hampshire and Vermont. Abenaki communities have made efforts to revive their culture and traditional crafts, particularly black ash basket and rattle making and traditional dances. Their arts reflect the spirituality, connection to nature, and desire for peace and harmony that characterize the Abenaki, qualities that are valuable assets for contemporary society as a whole.

8. Dawn Land: Abenaki Place Names The Abenaki loved the land and were close observers of nature. They gave names to the mountains, rivers, streams, and other natural features and, for the most part, early European settlers kept them. Shapleigh, Frank Henry. Mount Washington from the Ammonoosuc River. Oil on canvas. 14 x 20 inches. 1890.

9. Dawn Land: Abenaki Place Names Ammonoosuc River ('manosek) - "fishing place" Amoskeag Falls (namaskik) - "at the fish land" Contoocook River (nikn tekw ok) - "to or from the head or first branch of the river" Grand Monadnock (minoria denak) - "the bare or smooth mountain" Kearsarge (g'wizawajo) - "rough mountain" Massabesic Lake (massa nbes ek) - "to the great pond" Merrimack River (mol dema) - "deep water or river" Mt. Pisgah (pisga) - "dark" Nashua (niswa) - "two" Newichwannock River (n'wijonoanek) also known today as Salmon River - "long rapids and falls"

10. Dawn Land: Abenaki Place Names Piscataqua River (pesgatak was) - "the water looks dark" Pemigewasset River (pamijoassek) - "the river having its course through here" Saco River (soko) - "towards the south" Sunapee Lake (seninebi) - "rock or mountain water" Suncook River (seni kok) - "to the rocks" Umbagog Lake (w'mbagwog) - "to the clear water lake" Winichahanat (wiwnijoanek) also known as Dover - "the place where the water flows around it" Lake Winnipesankee (wiwninbesaki) - "the lake between or around land or islands" Souhegan River (zawhigen) - "a coming out place"

11. The Abenaki& Dawn Land Part A: Project Description Goals & Highlights

12. Abenaki Project Description The Abenaki & Dawn Land is a rich, multi-faceted project that explores the culture of the indigenous people of the White Mountains region of New Hampshire. The project is uniquely: • Collaborative • Interdisciplinary • Arts-Integrated Students will be engaged in a variety of inquiry and place-based learning experiences that will foster a rich understanding of the history, tradition, and legacy of the Abenaki peoples.

13. Abenaki Project Vision Throughout The Abenaki & Dawn Land project, students and teachers will be asked to consider these essential questions: What is the legacy of the Abenaki peoples? How is their legacy relevant to today’s communities in the White Mountains region? What are our present and future roles in preserving and promoting the Abenaki legacy? How has the legacy of the Abenaki peoples affected your personal land ethic?

14. Student Learning Objectives School-wide Academic Expectations: • Communicate effectively by understanding the application of an interrelationship among listening, speaking, performing and viewing skills. Demonstrate ability to communicate own point of view publicly with conviction and precision. • Create work that speaks to your individuality, imagine possibilities outside the anticipated, and innovate new solutions to long-standing/global problems.

15. Student Learning Objectives School-wide Academic Expectations: • Demonstrate an understanding of history, civics and government, geography, and economics and connect this knowledge to current real-world circumstances. • Understand and appreciate artistic expression, creation, and performance – including the role of the arts in society.

16. Student Learning Objectives School-wide Civic Expectation(s): • Use knowledge and experiences to develop a code of ethics, including: making good decisions, listening with understanding, thinking interdependently, and assuming responsibility for personal actions and community involvement. (Assessed using School-wide Rubrics)

17. Student Learning Objectives In addition to the School-wide Academic, Civic, and Social Expectations noted, each teacher participating in The Abenaki & Dawn Land project will develop student learning objectives and assessments that support specific course requirements as outlined by: Discipline-based Grade Level Expectations (GLEs) NH State Curriculum Standards LHS Course Competencies

18. Abenaki Project Highlights Integrated Arts Project Student Nature Journals Observing Writing Drawing Reflecting

19. Abenaki Project Highlights Place-based Learning Experiences View of the Ammonoosuc River   View from Mount Pemigewasset

20. Abenaki Project Highlights Professional Development Fall Teacher Workshop Hood Museum of Art Dartmouth College Hanover, New Hampshire October 10, 2011 Native American Art at Dartmouth: Highlights from the Hood Museum of Art October 8, 2011, through March 11, 2012

21. Abenaki Project Highlights Museum Field Trip Native American Art at Dartmouth: Highlights from the Hood Museum of Art October 8, 2011, through March 11, 2012

22. Abenaki Project Highlights Visiting Artist Alice Ogden Black Ash Master Basket Maker Juried Member: League of New Hampshire Craftsmen Roster Artist: New Hampshire Council on the Arts

23. The Abenaki& Dawn Land Part B: Project Rationale

24. Abenaki Project Rationale Excerpt from Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv: Within the space of a few decades, the way children understand and experience nature has changed radically. The polarity of the relationship has reversed. Today, kids are aware of the global threats to the environment—but their physical contact, their intimacy with nature, is fading.

25. Abenaki Project Rationale Reducing that deficit—healing the broken bond between our young and nature—is in our self-interest, not only because aesthetics or justice demands it, but also because our mental, physical, and spiritual health depends upon it. The health of the earth is at stake as well. How the young respond to nature, and how they raise their own children, will shape the configurations and conditions of our cities, homes—our daily lives. Louv, R. (2008). Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. Algonquin Books. Chapel Hill, NC.

26. Abenaki Project Rationale Excerpt from Nature Journals: An Enduring Marriage of Art and Literature by Deb Crowder: It has likely been a common experience of people of many varied interests throughout time to have found themselves outside, looking at nature, capturing that moment with words or images or both, whether they be artists, writers, scientists, or simply those who are fascinated with wild things.

27. Abenaki Project Rationale A collection of drawings of natural subjects that are accentuated with hand-written notes describing details have come to be commonly called “nature journals.” Notable American artists who are known to have drawn and written about natural objects in sketchbooks include Winslow Homer, James Audubon, Roger Tory Peterson, and Abbott Thayer. Lewis and Clark recorded their discoveries during their explorations by keeping meticulous journals that included drawings and writings. http://www.communityworkinstitute.org/cwjonline/articles/aarticles-text/naturejournals-crowder.html

28. The Abenaki& Dawn Land Part C: Project Implementation References & Resources

29. Abenaki Project Implementation Interdisciplinary Partners Visual Arts Emily West Platt LHS Course: Foundations in Visual Art Social Studies Denise Lafitte LHS Course: United States History Literacy Coach Jennifer Carbonneau Initiative: Writing Across the Curriculum

30. Abenaki Project Timeline September 2011 TBD Collaborative Planning October 2011 10 Teacher Workshop: Hood Museum of Art Dartmouth College TBD Integrated Arts Project: Student Nature Journals Place-based Learning Experiences 17 Mountain Day Hike: Mount Pemigewasset

31. Abenaki Project Timeline November 2011 4 Interdisciplinary Field Trip: Hood Museum Dartmouth College TBD Discipline-based Projects Performance-based Assessments 18 Visiting Artist: Alice Ogden Master Basket Maker December 2011 TBD Exhibit of Student Work

32. Abenaki Project References Abenaki Culture Day, G. M. (1994). A Western Abenaki Dictionary. Canadian Museum of Civilization. Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. ISBN-13: 978-0660140247 Masta, H. L. (2008). Abenaki Indian Legends, Grammar, and Place Names. Global Language Press. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ISBN-13: 978-1897367186 Davis, W. & Bruchac, J. (2010). Dawn Land. Fulcrum Publishing. Golden, CO. ISBN-13: 978-1596431430

33. Abenaki Project References Abenaki Culture (continued) Wiseman, F. M. (2001). The Voice of the Dawn: An Autohistory of the Abenaki Nation. University Press of New England. Hanover, NH. ISBN-13: 978-1584650591 Nature Journals Leslie, C.W. & Roth, C.E. (2000). Keeping A Nature Journal: Discover a Whole New Way of Seeing the World Around You. Storey Publishing, North Adams, MA. ISBN: 1-58017-493-0

34. Abenaki Project References Nature Journals (continued) Leslie, C.W., Tallmadge, J. & Wessels, T. (1996). Into the Field: A Guide to Locally Focused Teaching. The Orion Society, Great Barrington, MA. ISBN-13: 978-0-913098-52-3 Ludwig, L.K. (2007). Mixed-media Nature Journals: New Techniques for Exploring Nature, Life, and Memories. Quarry Books, Beverly, MA. ISBN: 1-59253-367-1 London, P. (2003). Drawing Closer to Nature: Making Art in Dialogue with the Natural World. Shambhala Publications, Inc. Boston, MA. ISBN: 978-1-57062-854-2

35. Abenaki Project References Place-based Learning Sobel, D. (1996). Beyond Ecophobia: Reclaiming the Heart in Nature Learning. The Orion Society, Great Barrington, MA. ISBN-13: 978-0-913098-50-9 Sobel, D. (2008). Childhood and Nature: Design Principles for Educators. Stenhouse Publishers, Portland, ME. ISBN: 978-1-57110-741-1 Sobel, D. (2004). Place-Based Education: Connecting Classrooms & Communities. The Orion Society, Great Barrington, MA. ISBN-13: 978-0-913098-55-4

36. Abenaki Project Resources Appalachian Mountain Club. Youth Opportunities Program. Boston, MA. Arts Alliance of Northern NH. Littleton, NH. Arts in Education Institute 2011. Plymouth State University. Plymouth, NH. Hood Museum of Art. Dartmouth College. Hanover, NH. Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics. Boulder, CO. New Hampshire Folklife. (2004). State of New Hampshire: New Hampshire State Council on the Arts. http://www.nh.gov/folklife/index.htm New Hampshire State Council on the Arts. Concord, NH. Trail to Every Classroom. National Park Service & Appalachian Trail Conservancy. Harper’s Ferry, WV.

37. Personal Credentials Leave No Trace Master Educator Center for Outdoor Ethics Outdoor Leader-Backpacker Certification Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) Youth Opportunities Program (YOP) Trail to Every Classroom Program Alumnus Grant Recipient 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11 National Park Service Appalachian Trail Conservancy Wilderness First Responder Healthcare Provider CPR Stonehearth Outdoor Learning Opportunities (SOLO)

38. Emily West Platteplatt@littletonschools.org Littleton High School Littleton, New Hampshire Arts in Education Institute Plymouth State University July 2011