This lesson introduces students to two of the most important aspects of Native American culture, both past and present: oral storytelling and the role of elders within tribal communities.Tribal nations and Indigenous communities in Oregon are varied and have multiple unique languages, world views, ways of life, and traditions. Like most cultures, they have many ways they communicate, preserve, and pass on their cultural and ceremonial traditions to future generations.One of these ways is through oral tradition, in which information is passed down through the generations by word of mouth. There are many forms of oral tradition, including poems, songs, speeches, choreography, and spoken word. One of the most well-known forms of Native oral tradition is storytelling. Western oral tradition is often divided into categories of folktale, myth, and legend. Tribal nations do not make this distinction and simply say “stories” or “teachings.”

This lesson introduces students to the history and importance of the Indigenous language known as chinuk wawa. Students will have the opportunity to learn how tribes from diverse regions and language families used chinuk wawa as a method of communication among groups essential for trade, political, social and other reasons. They will also reflect on the power of language and the relationship between language and cultural identity.

Four lesson plans developed by the Coquille Tribe of Oregon for fourth-grade students.
Lessons include:
1) People Groups - This lesson will give students a foundational aware- ness of the Indigenous, sovereign people groups who live in what is now known as Oregon—their history, their culture, and the issues that continue to impact them today. When undertaking the study of Indigenous people, it is important to begin with their long history on the land. Indige- nous people have lived in Oregon for thousands of years, in established communities, with estab- lished social structures, languages, and cultures. They were—and are—deeply and inextricably connected to the land.
2) Sea Otters - In this lesson, students will learn about the import- ant role of the sea otter in the history and tradi- tional life of the Coquille Indian Tribe. They will also learn about the long-term impact the European fur trade had on the population of this magnificent creature and how the sea otter’s virtual extinction damaged the ecosystem of the Oregon Coast. Stu- dents will then learn how to identify and diagram the sea otter’s internal and external structures (i.e., the organization of the inside and outside body parts that form a living thing) and describe how the purpose of these structures supports sea otter survival. Finally, students will create an educational poster or pamphlet that provides an overview of the sea otter and its impact on the traditional life of the Coquille Indian Tribe.
3) History of the Coquille Indian Tribe - This lesson will give students a general knowl- edge of the history, ancestral territory, and traditional lifeways of the Coquille Indian Tribe. Working in groups, students will use maps, make predictions, and participate in a close reading of
a written text that allows them to check their pre- dictions. The text provides other interesting facts about the Tribe, which should provide informa- tion and generate questions that can guide their learning in subsequent lessons about the Coquille Indian Tribe.
4) Coastal Lifeways - The Coquille Indian Tribe flourished on Oregon’s southwestern coast for thousands of years in a homeland encompassing more than a million acres. The Tribe’s ancestral and modern lands of interest include significant portions of Oregon’s Coos, Curry, Douglas, Jackson, Josephine, and Lane counties. The Coquille traditional lifeways are deeply tied to the coastal environment. This lesson provides students with the opportunity to gain specific knowledge about important elements of the Coquille coastal lifeways.

Native American people have lived in the area “now known as Oregon since time immemorial (long predating European contact and beyond human memory). During the era of colonialism— and even into the 21st century—non-Native people often portrayed the North American continent as a vast wilderness that was virtually unpopulated when they arrived. This could not be farther from the truth. In Oregon alone there were dozens of tribes, each with its own ancestral territory and rich cultural history. There was not a single region of Oregon that did not have an Indigenous tribe or band living within it. Despite disease, genocide, forced assimilation, and cultural suppression, many of these tribes managed to survive, and they continue to carry their cultural traditions forward as sovereign tribal nations. To survive, however, required giving up vast areas of their ancestral territory, sometimes by way of treaties and sometimes as a result of force. The two activities in this lesson will give students an essential understanding of the rich diversity of Native American tribes that existed in Oregon prior to European settlement, the current territory of the nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon, and the inseparable bond between Native people and the land.

This lesson will give students a foundational awareness of the Indigenous, sovereign people groups who live in what is now known as Oregon—their history, their culture, and the issues that continue to impact them today. When undertaking the study of Indigenous people, it is important to begin with their long history on the land. Indigenous people have lived in Oregon for thousands of years, in established communities, with established social structures, languages, and cultures. They were—and are—deeply and inextricably connected to the land. It is also important to increase students’ awareness of the continued presence of Indigenous people groups in Oregon and to explore what it means to be a sovereign nation within the United States. This lesson will also help students begin to think about how the story of the American West (e.g., the Oregon Trail, westward expansion) has typically been told from a white settlers’ perspective and to consider how that history might look from the perspective of those whose ancestors were here for thousands of years before the settlers arrived. Finally, this lesson will enable students to identify the nine tribes in Oregon that are currently recognized by the federal government and to understand that all of Oregon was and still is Indian Country.