Patterns for A Plains Indian Village

       Both an illustration and a pattern with instructions for a Native American canoe are included below. There are also two native people, a man and a woman, that may be cut out and added to the canoe as well.

Plains native paper dolls for your reconstruction of their village encampment.

       Print and cut from paper then trace around the teepee on top of cardboard to craft a template for young students to use while assembling a village representing Native Americans who once lived on the plains.

A picture of what a Native American village might have looked like on the plains.

Craft a Paper War Bonnet

To craft a war bonnets, you will need a tape measure to determine the
circumference of each student's head. Cut strips of construction paper
approximately one additional inch longer than the measurement of
each child's head. Staple the two ends together so that these overlap by the
additional inch after the paper band has been decorated with markers
depicting native motifs. Cut and paste on to the backside of the
headband, feathers made from colorful construction paper. You may
also fringe the edges of the papers by slashing these with
scissors if you'd like.

      Feathered war bonnets (also called warbonnets or headdresses) are worn by honored Plains Indian men. In the past they were sometimes worn into battle, but most often worn for ceremonial occasions as is the case today. They are seen as items of great spiritual and magical importance. The eagle is considered by Plains tribes as the greatest and most powerful of all birds, and thus the finest bonnets are made out of its feathers.

      Its beauty was considered of secondary importance; the bonnet's real value was in its supposed power to protect the wearer. The bonnet is still only to be worn on special occasions and is highly symbolic.

      The bonnet had to be earned through brave deeds in battle because the feathers signified the deeds themselves. Some warriors might have obtained only two or three honor feathers in their whole lifetime, so difficult were they to earn. The bonnet was also a mark of highest respect because it could never be worn without the consent of the leaders of the tribe. A high honor, for example, was received by the warrior who was the first to touch an enemy fallen in battle, for this meant the warrior was at the very front of fighting. Feathers were notched and decorated to designate an event and told individual stories such as killing, capturing an enemy's weapon and shield, and whether the deed had been done on horseback or foot.

      After about ten honors had been won, the warrior went out to secure the eagle feathers with which to make his bonnet. In some tribes these had to be purchased from an individual given special permission to hunt the bird; a tail of twelve perfect feathers could bring the seller as much as a good horse. Some tribes permitted a warrior to hunt his own eagles. This was a dangerous and time-consuming mission and meant that he had to leave the tribe and travel to the high country where the bird could be found. When the destination had been reached, ceremonies were conducted to appeal to the spirits of the birds to be killed.

       A chief's war bonnet is made of feathers received for good deeds to his community and is worn in high honor. Each feather would represent a good deed. A warrior's war bonnet, such as the famous war bonnet of Roman Nose, the Cheyenne warrior, was said to protect him during battle. In several instances, Roman Nose, wearing his war bonnet, rode back and forth before soldiers of the United States Army during battles of the Indian Wars and, despite being fired upon by many soldiers, was unscathed.

• Read More About Native American Headdresses

Cut and Paste Paper Pueblos

These paper pictures of pueblos were made by kindergarteners. They learned about how some indigenous people built their homes and why their homes were appropriate for the environment in which they lived.

Above is a photograph taken of a Zuni pueblo in 1873,
Below is a photograph of a Kiva and surrounding
pueblos taken in Taos New Mexico in 1920.

      Pueblos are modern and ancient communities of Native Americans in the Southwestern United States of America. The first Spanish explorers of the Southwest used this term to describe the communities housed in apartment-like structures built of stone, adobe mud, and other local material. These structures were usually multi-storeyed buildings surrounding an open plaza. They were occupied by hundreds to thousands of Pueblo people.

      The Pueblo people are a Native American people in the Southwestern United States. Their traditional economy is based on agriculture and trade. When first encountered by the Spanish in the 16th century, they were living in villages that the Spanish called pueblos, meaning "towns". Of the 21 Pueblos that exist today, Taos, Acoma, Zuni, and Hopi are the best-known. The main Pueblos are located primarily in New Mexico and Arizona.

      Adobe (pron.: /əˈdoʊbi/, UK /əˈdoʊb/; Arabic: الطوب) is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material (sticks, straw, and/or manure), which the builders shape into bricks (using frames) and dry in the sun. Adobe buildings are similar to cob and mudbrick buildings. Adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for some of the oldest existing buildings in the world. In hot climates, compared with wooden buildings, adobe buildings offer significant advantages due to their greater thermal mass, but they are known to be particularly susceptible to earthquake damage.

      Buildings made of sun-dried earth are common in West Asia, North Africa, West Africa, South America, southwestern North America, Spain (usually in the Mudéjar style), Eastern Europe and East Anglia, particularly Norfolk, known as 'clay lump. Adobe had been in use by indigenous peoples of the Americas in the Southwestern United States, Mesoamerica, and the Andean region of South America for several thousand years, although often substantial amounts of stone are used in the walls of Pueblo buildings. (Also, the Pueblo people built their adobe structures with handsful or basketsful of adobe, until the Spanish introduced them to the making of bricks.) Adobe brickmaking was used in Spain starting by the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age, from the eighth century B.C. on. Its wide use can be attributed to its simplicity of design and manufacture, and the economy of creating it.

      A distinction is sometimes made between the smaller adobes, which are about the size of ordinary baked bricks, and the larger adobines, some of which may be one to two yards (1–2 m) long.

More Related Content:

• Why did Pueblo indians build their houses on top of mesas?
• Facts for kids about Pueblo Indians
• Pueblo de Taos from National Geographic
• Research Starters: Anasazi and Pueblo Indians
• Pueblo Indian History for Kids

Picture Puzzle: Find the hidden potter

Where is the other potter?

From the "Painted Desert" your wares you brought

For the curious crowds at the splendid Fair

But where is the brother who with you wrought?

Why is he not working beside you there?

Molas Characterized by Kuna Legends, Real Animals, Politics or Geometric Shapes

In this craft project, students make their own molas from paper instead of fabric. The methods of designing used in reverse applique are the same when using paper. However, the use of paper instead of fabric is much easier to do.

Both the crab and the turtle pictured here
are my teaching samples of paper molas.

      Traditional molas are made with fabric and a reverse applique technique. Several layers (usually two to seven) of different-colored cloth (usually cotton) are sewn together; the design is then formed by cutting away parts of each layer. The edges of the layers are then turned under and sewn down. Often, the stitches are nearly invisible. This is achieved by using a thread the same color as the layer being sewn, sewing blind stitches, and sewing tiny stitches. The finest molas have extremely fine stitching, made using tiny needles.

      The largest pattern is typically cut from the top layer, and progressively smaller patterns from each subsequent layer, thus revealing the colors beneath in successive layers. This basic scheme can be varied by cutting through multiple layers at once, hence varying the sequence of colors; some molas also incorporate patches of contrasting colors, included in the design at certain points to introduce additional variations of color.

      Molas vary greatly in quality, and the pricing to buyers varies accordingly. A greater number of layers is generally a sign of higher quality; two-layer molas are common, but examples with four or more layers will demand a better price. The quality of stitching is also a factor, with the stitching on the best molas being close to invisible. Although some molas rely on embroidery to some degree to enhance the design, those which are made using only the pure reverse-appliqué technique (or nearly so) are considered better.

      Molas will often be found for sale with signs of use, such as stitch marks around the edges; such imperfections indicate that the mola was made for use, and not simply for sale to tourists. A mola can take from two weeks to six months to make, depending on the complexity of the design.

Kuna woman selling Molas in Panama City

      The mola forms part of the traditional costume of a Kuna woman, two mola panels being incorporated as front and back panels in a blouse. The full costume traditionally includes a patterned wrapped skirt (saburet), a red and yellow headscarf (musue), arm and leg beads (wini), a gold nose ring (olasu) and earrings in addition to the mola blouse (dulemor).

      In Dulegaya, the Kuna's native language, "mola" means "shirt" or "clothing". The mola originated with the tradition of Kuna women painting their bodies with geometrical designs, using available natural colours; in later years these same designs were woven in cotton, and later still, sewn using cloth bought from the European settlers of Panamá.

^{More Related Content}

• The Art of Being Guna, from The San Diego Museum of Man. Retrieved February 19, 2006.
• Molas: the Textile Art of Panama, from The University of Missouri. Retrieved February 19, 2006.
• Rainforest Art. Retrieved February 19, 2006.
• "About Molas"March 26, 2008.
• " Mola HistoryJune 16, 2006
• Making a Paper Mola Lesson Plan
• Kuna and Their Molas
• Collage Mola: Free Lesson Plan Download
• Folk Art: From Mexico - Mexican handcrafts and folk art is a complex collection of items made with various materials and intended for utilitarian, decorative or other purposes. Some of the items produced by hand in this country include ceramics, wall hangings, vases, furniture, textiles and much more.