Cluster II Simulations
Ohlone Indian Unit
From the files of teacher Rick Ehrhorn
This cluster-wide simulation began in the 2004-2005 school year. At different points in prior years several classrooms had worked together on activities related to the Ohlone Indian unit that is part of the district social studies curriculum for third grade, but never before had there been a simulation involving all the second and third grade students.
Along with the 2/3 teachers, several interested and knowledgeable parents and staff members helped develop the original simulation, including Alexi Miller, our farm aide at the time and a parent, Marie Luise Fries, our future farm aide and a parent, and Claire Elliot, parent. We also consulted with Keith Guttierez, a local expert on the Ohlone Indians. Julie Bagniefski, 2/3 teacher, attended workshops at Coyote Hills and a talk by Malcolm Margolis, author of The Ohlone Way. Alexi and Julie visited the replica of the Ohlone village at Rancho San Antonio as well.
In designing the simulation we had several goals. First and foremost was to give the students as much experiential understanding as possible of the very different culture and lifestyle of the Ohlones. This unit also directly tied to the science unit on the baylands. The study of this habitat underscored the importance of the deep relationship between the Ohlones and their natural environment that lasted virtually unchanged for thousands of years. The native habitat at the farm could serve as way to help connect the students to the plants used by the Ohlones. By using the farm as an outdoor lab in the study of both these units, we hoped to inspire students to deepen their own connection to nature and to preserving the environment. A final goal was to build community. By working together on this extensive project, we could build collaborative relationships among staff members. In the preparation activities for the simulation itself we wanted to go beyond individual classrooms in letting teachers and students get to know each other. Parent support would also be integral to the project’s success.
The first part of the simulation was the “Go-Around.” Each teacher chose an activity related to the unit that she would then teach to all of the 2/3 students in seven different sessions. To help address our goal of building community, the students were mixed up into seven different groups consisting of two or three students from each class. The hour-long sessions took place twice a week for the month prior to the scheduled simulation day. The original activities were: weaving mats (using paper bag strips in lieu of tule reeds); weaving baskets (using raffia and cardboard frames); making jewelry (making cordage out of raffia and attaching shells); making deerskin masks (out of brown construction paper using a template designed by Cassie Gay, Room 10 aide and artist), making tule skirts (out of raffia and string); making gambling sticks called staves (using wooden tongue depressors); a gathering game and plant identification in the native habitat; and seed grinding (using stone mortars and pestles from 2/3 teacher Arlene Gordon and the district). Some teachers did more than one activity. The mats, skirts, masks, jewelry and staves were then used for the simulation day.
The first simulation day was scheduled for the second to the last Thursday of the school year as the culmination to the unit. We belatedly discovered that this was the same day that Terri Feinberg’s 4/5 class was scheduled to perform Shakespeare on the play structure. To address this conflict, we decided to begin our day with a trading session as trading was a big part of Ohlone life. The trading session would be held in silence behind the 2/3 wing, to avoid disrupting the play, but also to underscore the amazing fact that the Ohlones did not think of themselves as one tribe but were actually 40 distinct tribelets with their own languages. Each class had an item to trade-shells, twine, salt, feathers, rocks, raffia and bars of soap. Each student’s goal was to give away all but one of his/her seven feathers, for example, and to get one of each of the other items. The traded items would then be used or given as an offering at each of the seven simulation stations during the day. To facilitate the trading we used a core value of Ohlone culture-generosity. With 140 students trading it would be difficult for students to find the exact person who had what they needed and needed what they had as the trading time went on. If the students were trading in the true Ohlone style, they would be focused on giving rather than getting, and therefore would have the trading item out in their hands ready to give it away even if they did not need what the other person had. This worked so well and was such a powerful event underscoring key ideas from the unit that we kept this as our start to the day, even though we made sure after that not to conflict with the play schedule.
Students dressed in skin colored clothing as the Ohlones wore little or no clothing. Girls wore the raffia skirts and all students wore the shell jewelry. Students also made pouches as a homework project. The pouches were for the trading items. Each classroom had its own tribelet name that came from the Ohlone word for that room number. Each classroom also designed a chin tattoo for the girls to wear, as this was how the Ohlones identified potential marriage partners and clan and family affiliation. Boys painted simple designs with creek rock on arms and faces, as Ohlone men would paint their bodies for hunting and ceremonies.
After the trading session all classrooms assembled at the farm and Julie Bagniefski read a legend written by two of her students called, “Why the Ohlones Shout at the Sun.” The students then all greeted the sun as the Ohlones did each day, “Thank you, Esmen (sun), for bringing us another beautiful day.” This illustrated another key idea, that to the Ohlones everything was alive and had a spirit and nature much like their own. Julie read a passage from The Ohlone Way introduction as well, describing the very different lifestyle of the Ohlones but also encouraging us to find a connection within ourselves.
From the farm the “tribelets” then rotated throughout the day to seven different stations. Parent Elaine Johnson headed up the food station on the farm stage where the students tasted quail eggs, yerba buena tea, wild strawberries and quail meat that they helped grill. They also ground seeds in a stone mortar and pestle. Students ate the salt packets from their pouches as a separate side dish just as the Ohlones did. In the back of the farm by the redwood trees Claire Elliot ran a craft station making jewelry. In the native habitat parents Alex Creighton and Andy Welsh had made the frame of two structures out of long branches simulating Ohlone huts. Students then tied smaller branches with foliage on the frames using twine from their pouches as well as extra twine. The last station on the farm was arrowhead carving using bars of soap and plastic knives to simulate flint-knapping.
Out on the field was the deer hunting station. Parent volunteers wore deer masks and served as the deer. Students also donned masks, as the Ohlone hunters would wear a deer head to help them get close to the deer. Students were taught how to stalk and divided up in small groups to hunt a parent “deer” using Nerf arrows. When the deer was “killed”, the student made an offering of the feather and then was given some turkey jerkey or raisins (vegetarian option). This “meat” could not be consumed by the hunter, however, but could only be given away to other hunters in keeping with the Ohlone custom and value of generosity. Also on the field was the game station. At this station there were three possible Native American games to play-pinecone toss, throwing double-balls with shinny sticks, and hoop and spear. The pinecone toss was a team game involving tossing pinecones into a small hoop on the ground. Shinny sticks were long hockey like sticks made from tree branches and the double balls were two tennis balls tied in a sock. Students paired up to throw and catch the double ball with their sticks. Hoop and spear involved throwing a bamboo stick threw a hula hoop as it rolled along the ground. The final station, called “Tribelet Time”, took place in a tent in the trees behind Room 14. Some teachers chose to use that time to read published legends or ones written by students as part of the unit. Other teachers used it as a gambling station, either playing staves or other gambling games.
For our closing ceremony we gathered on the field. Teachers formed a circle on the inside facing out and then all the students formed a circle around them. Each tribelet had prepared a chant using their tribelet name. Teachers led the chants in succession using clapper sticks to keep the rhythm. Julie then led the whole group in a dance, stomping to the side while turning the head back and forth as was described in our Ohlone text.
Various changes were made to this original simulation based on feedback and experience as well as changing circumstances. For the Go-Around, we cut back to four activities from seven in 2011, as we had two more classrooms due to the addition of Mandarin Immersion. It was too difficult in terms of time and scheduling to do nine sessions, and some of the activities were repeated on the simulation day or could be done easily by individual classrooms. We decided to do the four activities that were direct preparation for the simulation-making masks and skirts, making pouches (using burlap and twine), weaving mats and making jewelry. Two classrooms would do each activity and the students would be divided into eight groups. While this did not let each teacher work with each student, it was much more manageable.
We changed a few of the activities for the simulation day as well. The soap arrowheads were just too messy and environmentally unfriendly. Marie Luise found a man named Dick Baugh who was willing to come and demonstrate authentic flint knapping and to show his quivers and arrows. Mr. Baugh has very generously come every time since 2007 and also demonstrates his fire drill, using student volunteers to help start the fire. In her role as our farm aide/naturalist, Marie Luise has been so instrumental in facilitating and improving our simulation and the farm activities connected to the unit. In 2007 she cut down tule from Foothills Park to use in the crafts making station. Students made little boats and ducks and floated them in a tub of water. Since then Michelle Yee, 2/3 teacher, has spearheaded the tule collection for the simulation with the help of other 2/3 teachers. The structure building has come closer and closer to an Ohlone style hut. In 2009 a parent brought in cattail reeds and the station included weaving mats for the walls of the structure. In 2011 authentic willow branches from our native habitat were used to form a structure that is domed like true Ohlone huts rather than more teepee style. The station also included the building of an acorn granary to be used to store acorns collected by students each year. The native habitat has become such a key component of the unit and a source of authentic materials. The food station menu changed a bit to include more kinds of berries and smoked salmon rather than quail meat. In 2007 parent Doree Tschudy also brought in mussel shells to use as utensils just like the Ohlones did.
The native habitat has become such a key component of the unit and a source of authentic materials. The food station menu changed a bit to include more kinds of berries and smoked salmon rather than quail meat. In 2007 parent Doree Tschudy also brought in mussel shells to use as utensils just like the Ohlones did.
In 2011 we added two stations to accommodate the two additional classes. We expanded on the “Tribelet Time” station and had a tent for legends and a separate area for gambling. Michelle also made contact with a Native American storyteller, Dr. Darryl “Babe” Wilson. Dr. Babe told legends at an assembly in the MP room for all the 2/3 students in April of that year, and then returned to tell stories to individual classes at our simulation at the end of May. Marie Luise very generously offered to pick him up and return him to Santa Cruz on both occasions. We also added another craft station suggested by Marie Luise. To simulate petroglyphs, the rock paintings done by some Native Americans, students used natural paints Marie Luise purchased from the Stanford powwow to paint Native American symbols on paper. The paintbrushes used were twigs from bottlebrush plants.
In response to feedback from a family of Native American heritage, the Perezes, we did away with the dancing and chanting at the closing ceremony after 2007. This family explained that dancing was a religious activity to Native people, to be performed by members of that group only. The Perez family very kindly agreed to dance and sing for us at the closing in 2009, using clapper sticks they had made especially for their performance. Because of adding two stations, there was no time for a closing ceremony starting in 2011.
The connection between the Ohlone Indian unit and the farm and native habitat has continued to grow stronger, thanks to the expertise, leadership and enthusiasm of Marie-Luise. On her own time she has taken classes and sought out experts in the community. Our unit and simulation are so enriched by the resources of the farm and of Marie-Luise. Our school is uniquely able to provide students with an ongoing hands-on, experiential understanding of this culture and people.
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