Fourth graders hold annual powwow

Fourth grade powwow participants: (left to right) Brittany Crawford, Zech Mickel, Bill Hix and Heidi Brush. Photo by Jim Cornelius

Fourth grade students at Sisters Elementary School celebrated their annual powwow on Thursday, November 7.

They were all dressed in Indian attire, elaborate costumes with handmade jewelry and feathers woven into their hair, held in place with leather thongs.

The students recently completed their study of the different groups of Indians in Oregon.

"Our focus was on how their environment affected their lives," said fourth grade teacher Diane Jacobsen. "We studied the foods they ate, the kind of houses they lived in, and how they used things from their environment to survive."

To enhance the study, artist in residence William Walther of LaPine spent six sessions with the students, helping each class create three different Indian environments out of papier-mache.

They constructed cave dwellings, representative of the Paiutes who lived in the Great Basin area. Totem poles and trees were made to depict the habitat of the Coastal Indians, namely the Tillamook, Clatsop and Chinook.

The third group of Indians were the Nez Perce, who lived on the Plateau, and students fashioned canoes, teepees and trees to represent their environment.

The kids also spent time studying Indian legends and what goes into the making of a legend. For their final assignment they were required to create their own legend.

"Students learned that a legend could have Indian or animal characters," said Diane, "but the animals always exhibited human characteristics. The legend always tried to explain something from nature, and it was meant to teach the children.

"Hidden within the legend was the real reason the legends were told. They were to teach the children how they should or should not behave.

"Legends were always told by the grandparents, because they were considered the teachers."

The students presented a short program for their family and friends who attended the event, including Indian songs and dances and original legends, written by the students.

The Eagle Song was one of the children's favorites. It was done as a chant and expressed how the eagle was revered by the Indians, and how they wanted to be strong, good hunters, like the eagle.

The students concluded the special event by partaking of foods the Indians would have eaten.

Parent Jay Crawford brought elk jerky and Jeff Wester brought a salmon he'd smoked.

A variety of nuts, cornbread, blueberries, strawberries, and dried cranberries rounded out the menu. Fresh spring water quenched the thirst.

"Our study of the Indians was a perfect opportunity to incorporate science, social studies, language arts, PE and music," said Jacobsen.

"The powwow gave the students an appreciation for another culture, something they wouldn't have experienced from reading about it in a textbook. They actually became a member of the Indian culture."