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American Indian
American Indian
Headband
During the wintertime, the
people of the Algonquin tribes wore gus-to-weh’s, meaning “real
hats.” They were made of soft deerskin and decorated with feathers. During
the rest of the year, they wore simple headbands with painted symbols, beads
and sometimes a feather. You too can make a headband like the American
Indian children wore. You don’t have to find any deerskin but rather use
supplies from your local craft shop.
Materials:
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1 ½ -by-18-inch strip
of felt: tan, brown or any light shade
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Ruler
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One-hole paper punch
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White glue or craft
glue
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Two 10-inch-long
rawhide laces (sold as shoelaces) or string/twine
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Scissors
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Six 1-inch-square
scraps of felt in any bright colors
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Optional: small beads, sequins, feather
Instructions:
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Spread your newspaper
out.
-
Lay and flatten the
felt strip on your newspaper. Hole punch two holes about ¼ inch from
each end. (You should have a total of four holes, two at each end)
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Fold over each end
about an inch. Punch through each of the holes made so that the hole
goes through each layer of felt.
-
Unfold the ends and
then glue them back together. Make sure the holes are lined up. Allow
the glue to dry.
-
Turn your felt strip
over so that the folds are underneath. Run a rawhide lace (or
string/twine) trough both holes on one end of the strip. Make sure you
tie a double knot about two inches beyond the headband in your lace.
Repeat the step with the other end of the strip.
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Cut off one loose end
of rawhide and leave the other for the tying the headband to your head
for each end of the strip.
-
Position the felt
squares where you like on the front of the headband and glue them on. If
you have beads or sequins glue those on too.
-
If you want to add a
feather, place a patch of the quill end of the feather and glue to the
back part of the headband (near the laces).
-
In order to wear your
new American Indian Headband, tie the laces at the back of your head!
Native American Stick
Toss
Game
Almost every American
Indian child from every North American tribe played some version of the
stick toss game. They would use rib bones from a deer and paint designs on
them with paint made from clay and berries. You can grab a friend or two,
make your own sticks out of old Popsicle sticks and markers, and play the
stick toss game.
Materials:
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4 craft sticks, tongue
depressors or Popsicle sticks
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Red, yellow and black
markers or felt tip pens (fine-tips are best)
-
15 counting sticks
(these can be twigs or pencils)
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2, 3, or 4 players
Instructions:
-
In order to play the
game, players first sit down facing each other and place the 15 counting
sticks off to the side. (If four people are playing then for teams of
two.)
-
The first player picks
up the four made sticks. With the fingertips of one hand, he/she holds
the sticks in a bunch by their tips and then gently tosses them so that
they land on the ground between the players.
-
The player who tossed
the sticks score points according to which side of the certain sticks
are facing up.
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Front side of Four
Directions: 4 points
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Front side of Rain:
3 points
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Front side of
Lightning: 1 point
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Front side of Sun:
1 point
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Back side of
Lighting, Sun, or Four Directions: 0 points each
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Back side of rain:
cancels out the entire score for that toss
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Once the player
determines their score, they pick up the number of counting sticks equal
to their score. That player continues to play as long as he/she
keeps scoring, but as soon as they toss the backside of rain, it’s the
next players turn.
-
When all 15 counting
sticks have been removed from the pile, the player tossing and scoring
points takes the sticks from the other player’s or team’s pile.
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The person who
officially wins the game is the player who has gotten all 15 counting
sticks. That hardly ever happens and the game can go on forever so you
can make the rule that who ever has the most counting sticks when you
decide to quit the game, wins!
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