Overview
Indigenous Necklaces: Make your own Pendant
Author: Phil Albers Jr (Karuk)
Lesson partner: Rebecca Lowry, Humboldt County Office of Education
Grades: 4th-5th
Suggested Amount of Time: 1-2 class sessions
Curriculum Themes:
- History
- Cultural Strengths
- Relationship to Place
- Cross Curricular Integration
Learning Goals
Students will learn about:
Students will learn about:
- traditional necklaces
- traditional cultural items used in necklaces and jewelry
- traditional forms of currency
- resource management
Lesson Overview
This lesson teaches about traditional Native necklaces and items for making necklaces. Students will learn about the materials, necklace making process and some cultural aspects of items used for necklaces and jewelry. Students will engage in classroom discussions and make their own pendant and/or necklace.
Teacher Background
This lesson is based on Traditional Ecological Knowledge passed down through generations of Indigenous people of Karuk, Yurok, Hoopa, Wiyot and Chilula ancestry. These teachings are upheld and continued today throughout the descendants of those peoples. Many Indigenous people use necklaces in their culture and heritage. These teachings and items are applicable in a traditional context and a modern context. The opinions in this lesson do not necessarily reflect the opinions of any listed Tribes or community members.
Interactive Slides
About the Interactive Slides
A key component of this curriculum includes interactive slides and a lesson script/facilitation support. These materials are designed to support ease of implementation and help guide lesson delivery.
The interactive slides are animated to gradually reveal content and may include links to videos and audio playback buttons for Tribal language integration, songs, or slide facilitation.
In addition to the downloadable lesson and student handouts, this lesson comprised of 1-2 class sessions, includes interactive slides and lesson script/ facilitation support.
*To ensure full accessibility, we recommend making a copy of the instructional material(s).
Instructions:
To use the slides effectively:
- Project the slides in "Slideshow Mode" to activate animations. Written content will appear with each click.
- Set speaker volume before beginning the lesson to ensure all students can hear audio content.
- Play audio by clicking the audio playback icons one at a time. There may be a brief pause while the audio loads.
- Hovering over an audio playback icon will reveal a playback bar that allows you to play, pause, adjust speed, or fast-forward the audio.
- Note: You do not need to use the playback bar unless you wish to adjust playback. Simply clicking the icon will play the audio.