Powhatan Indians

This is a report I wrote on the Powhatan Indians. It is written from the perspective of a girl from the Powhatan tribe. Chama Wingapo!❶ My name is Umpsquoth Naantam❷. I am 8 years old. My tribe is known as Powhatan. We Powhatans use our time wisely. The men of the Powhatan tribe fish in rivers around us. They also trap and hunt animals for food and clothing. They make weapons and tools for farming. Women’s chores are making pottery and wooden plates, gardening, and gathering food like nuts and berries. I help out with the women’s chores. We grow grapes, corn, pumpkins, squash, sunflowers, and beans. My favorite plant is pumpkins, because they are yummy, pretty, and come in all shapes and sizes. My favorite chore is making pottery, because you can design it in any shape. You also can choose your pattern and color. Then you put it in the shade to dry. Women also make clothing for everyone in the village. All men, women, and children work very hard.

Our tribe lives in longhouses. A longhouse is made of trees where many families sleep. My mother, grandmother and aunt built our longhouse. I live with two of my cousins, one brother, my aunt and uncle, my best friend, Keshowse Onxe❸, and some of her family. I really like living with my best friend. She does chores too so we have a lot of fun doing chores. My mom always scolds us for being too silly during work time. She says, “Play after.”     

Powhatan Indians only eat foods we can provide. We grow tobacco, corn, and other crops. People grow crops in gardens. Men hunt deer, bear, raccoon, rabbits, and other wildlife. We never waste any parts of an animal. You might call this perfect conservation.

I hope you enjoyed learning about the Powhatan tribe from me. I hope you can come visit me sometime. I'll help make you rabbit stew. Chama Eweenetu!❹

❶Welcome, friend ❷ Moon Wolf ❸Sun Fox

❹Peace, friend

Pueblo Indians

This is a report I wrote on the Pueblo Indians. It is from the perspective of a girl in the Hopi tribe.

Haw! I'm a member of the Hopi tribe. Hopi Indians are one of the four main pueblo tribes. I lived in 1300 A.D. My parents often tell me stories about the easy times in the Hopi tribe. I will now pass on the stories to you. My people and I are descendants from the Anasazi tribe, my mom used to say. People lived in mud-brick houses called pueblos. Oh. Did I tell you my dad is the chief? Dad always told me 1 A.D his tribe started growing pumpkins and corn. He also told me back then they didn’t use pottery instead they used baskets. My older brother told me, about 500 A.D maybe 600 A.D pueblo people learned how to grow beans. They also started making pottery like other tribes. Then he quickly would ask, “Why did Hopi Indians start farming?” I always answered, “Because they knew how to grow plants already so they started farming pumpkins, corn, and beans.” Then he would say, “Very good.” Grandma would say around 700 A.D pueblo Indians began to build bigger houses out of mud-brick or sometimes even out of stone on top of high cliffs called mesas. She would talk about how pueblo people started to grow cotton for their clothes and started to make more complicated pottery with different shapes like cups, jugs, jars, plates, and bowls. These are some of the things I don’t remember who told me. Years and years ago the Hopi tribe traded turquoise for pretty parrot feathers and other things. There are four main groups of the pueblo tribe Zuni, Hopi [The one I’m in], Tanoan, and Keresan. It was very dry where they lived so they learned how to build dams and stone cisterns to store water. The water was not just for drinking but for irrigating their corn, beans, and pumpkins. By 1200 A.D People stopped living on top of mesas and moved to pueblo houses built halfway up the cliffs, in caves. Some people moved back up to the mesa tops [unlike me and my family] because they thought it was safer. But around 1300 AD, Pueblo people stopped building houses altogether and moved away from their homes. They lost all their power, and they stopped living in their fine houses, and they stopped farming. They traveled south-west, into southern Arizona and New Mexico, looking for new homes. That's when the Pueblo people first met the Navajo, who are moving south into Arizon and New Mexico at about the same time. I hope you like the facts about the Pueblo Indians. Bye!

My Personal Logo

I created this in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. This is my personal logo.