THE WASHOE AND THEIR ENVIRONMENT, PAST AND PRESENT:

A MAPPING ACTIVITY

OBJECTIVE: Students will be introduced to the Washoe and will gain an understanding of where the Washoe live and have lived. They will understand the territories of the Washoe and how the Washoe related to them, before contact with white settlers, immediately afterward, and in the present, and will improve their map skills.

TEACHER BACKGROUND: see student booklet of the same title.

KEY POINTS: What the Washoe traditionally obtained from the land (shelter, food, and clothing), the names of the three bands of Washoe and where they live, the importance of Lake Tahoe, the concept of ''owning.' the land, the gold rush bringing white people, the loss of the land and when and where parcels were regained.

MATERIALS: Overhead projector, cassette tape player.

MATERIALS FROM KIT: Blank maps (copies for all students) of Washoe territory from Celebrating Nevada Indians (pages M-20, M-23), overheads of maps from Celebrating Nevada Indians (pages M-19 and M-22), Lesson 3 notetakers (copies for all students), overhead notetaker, Washoe language tape, Celebrating Nevada Indians curriculum.

ACTIVITIES:

1. Ask the students, "DO you know where Carson City is? Give each student a blank map of Nevada and eastern California, and tell them to find and label Carson City with a C, Gardnerville with a G, Reno with an R, and Woodfords with a W on this map. (They probably cannot.) Then tell them that the Washoe did not have maps like this before the white settlers came, but they knew how to get from one place to another all around this area. How did they do this?

2. Have the students split into small groups and allow each student five minutes to give directions to the others of how to get from the school to their houses. Tell the students that listening carefully is an important part of this activity. Once they are done, explain to them that the streets and buildings they probably used to give directions were not here before white settlers came, and that the Washoe and some of the first white settlers and explorers, such as Fremont and Carson, needed to use permanent features to find their way, such as particular mountains, trees, rivers, and lakes, with help from the position of the sun to determine direction.

3. Have the students look at their blank maps of the area. Have them identify on the maps all the locations that are already familiar to them. Show them on an overhead projector the Washoe territories before 1850 and the contemporary Washoe territories, and the surrounding landmarks, and have them fill these in on their individual maps.

4. When they are done with the maps, tell the students to leave their map out on their desk, then hand out the notetaker for Lesson 3 (see Appendix C). Explain the Key Points above while the students fill out their notetakers. OR Hand out the booklets on Lesson Three. Have the students read to themselves or read to a partner and fill out the notetakers as they go. Have the students place the map and the notetaker in their Washoe Culture folders.

5. The Washoe vocabulary words for this lesson are: Wa'-she-shu (Washoe people), 'Hung-a-lel-ti (southern band of Washoe), 'Wel-mel-ti (northern band of Washoe)' and 'Pau-wa-lu (eastern band of Washoe). Use the cassette tape of Washoe words for pronunciation, and see Appendix A for suggested vocabulary activities and the Washoe spelling of these words.

OPTION: Have the students make a relief map, using their maps from Activity 3, and Dreft or Ivory Snow detergent (or another non-toxic detergent or powder) to form topographical features.

CLOSURE: Read the students a Washoe legend about how a permanent environmental feature, such as Lake Tahoe, came to be. See the story of Damollale, Pawetsile, and the water baby, from the end of page 32 through the beginning of page 33 in Wa She ShU, or look for another. Another appropriate story for an introduction to the Washoe is the story of the Coyote and the Lizard, on pages 28-29 in Wa She ShU, which tells how the Washoe got hands. See Appendix B for suggested activities to go with stories.

EVALUATION: The students' small group discussions will demonstrate their understanding of the difficulty of directions before maps. Their maps will show their mapping skills and their understanding of Washoe territories.