THE BIRCHBARK HOUSE

SETUP

Before starting, briefly share the history of Madeline Island, which is named for the daughter of Chief White Crane. Her birth name was Ikwesewe, but when she married the fur trader Michael Cadotte she converted to Catholicism, and her "saint name" became Madeleine. (Just a few of many "blends" in and behind this story!)  The Ojibwa had lived on the island long before French explorers arrived in the 1600s. Then the Jesuits arrived in the 1660s, and established a mission at LaPointe, which became an important outpost for French, British and American fur traders.

Take your kids on an online tour of the island's beautiful shorelines, oooh-ing and ahhh-ing over its emerald and royal blue waters, pristine shores, and unique rock formations. If you discuss the colors and textures, and beautiful leaf and stone patterns, the island itself is a lesson in art appreciation. 

Take some time to learn about the unique construction and engineering that makes a birchbark house safe and weatherproof, and why it was the perfect summer shelter for a people who were able to take their materials straight from the land.

SUPPLIES

If you'd like to glue this project to a pocket folderfor storing worksheets, add pocket folders to the list.

• watercolors and brushes

• scissors and glue

• 1/8” x 2” "saplings" roughly cut from dark brown card stock or construction paper – 4 per

• dark brown paper cut into 1 ½ ” or so squares- 1 per

• small portions of uncooked cornmeal and wild rice for textural embellishments

• Madeline Island shore template (draw your own or use the one in our printables set) printed on card stock  – 1 per

• birchbark house templates (make your own or use the one in our printables set) printed on plain paper – 1 house per

• birchbark patterns (find images online or use the one in our printables) printed on card stock, cut into ¾” (or so) strips – 2 strips per

DIRECTIONS

Hand out the template and watercolor supplies. 

1.   Use watercolors to add the water, sky and foliage to the background template.

Tell the kids that they’ll construct their houses while the paint is drying, then add textures at the end. While they're painting, play some Ojibwa music. You might want to use this time to talk about smallpox, Native American perspectives on land ownership, favorite scenes in the story, or any other topics you choose. (See our Learning Links at the bottom of this page for lots of ideas.)

2.   Cut out the house template.

Before beginning the birchbark house “construction,” show this page about how birchbark homes are made, and share photos of birchbark houses. Talk about what makes a birchbark house weatherproof, comfortable, and functional.

3.   Cut the “birchbark” strips into rectangles, then glue them to the houses. Start with the bottom row first so you can overlap the next rows above (to keep out the rain). The pieces can be glued on rather willy-nilly, then you can trim off the excess around the outside edges and the doorway.

4.   Finish the wigwam with strips of  “saplings,” trimming off the extra like you did for the birchbark.  Add dark brown or black paper behind the doorway. 

5.  Once the paintings are dry, add cornmeal sand and wild rice pebbles/cones to the shores, then glue the completed birchbark house to the scene.

Of course there’s no end to the embellishments your kids can add if they have time—a fire peeking from within the house, animals in the woods, a birchbark canoe on the shore, skins to cover the smokehole and doorway, or whatever they imagine.

DISCUSSION

First, pull up a map and explain that the Ojibwa used to live along the Atlantic, but a prophecy about “food that grows on water” motivated them to move to the Great Lakes region about 1,500 years ago. (Ask the kids what that food might be!) In fact, the Ojibwa call themselves Anishinabeg  (Original People), because they believe they’re the ancestors of all North American tribes.

Next, talk tabout the big idea of culture— the collective beliefs, art forms, social rules, and day-to-day operations of a particular group of people. (“Operations” might include what they eat, how they store and serve food, what kind of house they live in, and what they wear.)

Share a few ways the Ojibwa are different from many other Native American tribes:

• they invented the dreamcatcher

• they make wigwams, canoes, scrolls, and baskets out of birchbark

• their moccasins are “puckered” around the toes (Ojibwa means “puckering”)

• they have their own language

You can listen to an Ojibwa man speak his language here and read an Ojibwa picture glossary here.  If you’d like to teach the kids a few easy Ojibwa words, aaniin (pronounced ah-neen) is a friendly greeting, and miigwech (pronounced mee-gwetch) means “thank you.”

 
Ask the kids what they learned about Ojibwa culture in The Birchbark House. What makes the Ojibwa people in this story different from the European settlers? You might want to divide the kids into four teams, and ask each team to come up with Beliefs, Art, Rules, or Operations.

There’s lots lots more to learn, of course—browse our Learning Links at the bottom of this page for many more resources.

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The corn seeds represent the harvest so important for survival, that Omakayas and Angeline defended from the crows in Chapter 4.  Decorating the pots with colorful seed beads also creates a chance to show the kids some beautiful beadwork done by the Ojibwa.

Besides those meaningful tie-ins to the story and the Ojibwa culture, most kids love to get their fingers in the dirt, and anticipate the growth of their seeds.

SUPPLIES

small clay or compostable pots
potting soil
Indian corn seeds
beads
glue (drip or stick)

DIRECTIONS

Share images of beadwork done by the Ojibwa, and ask the kids to create a beaded pattern on their pots.

Use stick or drip glue to add beads to the outside of the pot before planting.

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This straight-from-the-story snack of bannock and maple sugar reminds us of the time Omakayas shared this treat with the bear cubs. (You’ll find the inspiration for this “taste of the story” in Chapter Six.)

We used Wisconsin organic maple sugar and poured it from a birchbark cone, like Mama did in Chapter Eleven. (If you can't find birchbark thin enough to curl into a cone, you could use the birchbark paper for the wigwam activity in our printables set.)

There are various ways to make bannock – here’s the recipe our kids thought was delicious! Of course we added blueberries to the batter and plenty of maple sugar on top, so that might have had something to do with it.

TALKING POINTS

While we ate, we talked about the history of bannock. It used to be made from camas bulbs until European settlers came along with wheat flour and made it even more delicious (and easier to make). It’s now considered a cultural icon associated with indigenous people across the continent. 

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SETUP

Talk to the kids about perspective. Point out that In this story we mostly know only what Omakayas is experiencing. We know what happens as she sees, hears, smells, tastes, and touches it. We know what she thinks and feels. Once in a while, though, the author lets us in on a different character’s firsthand experiences.

For instance, in Chapter 6, we’re left alone with Pinch and those tempting berries. We’re not just told what he does, but what he’s feeling and thinking. When he tells his mother that Andeg ate the berries, we’re not just told that she throws a stick at the bird, but what she’s feeling and thinking. The author has “hopped” from Omakayas’s mind to her brother’s and then to her mother’s.

DIRECTIONS

Let’s try it! Think about the scene in Chapter 2 when Omakayas is wiggling a leafy stick for the bear cubs, and suddenly the mother bear flips her on her back and pins her down. How would each of these characters describe that exact same scene, in one or two sentences?

SUPPLIES

You can choose the scene and other characters yourself, or use othe creative writing worksheet in our printables set.

PREP

Make a list of Anishinaabemowin nouns and verbs with their English translation, and make a copy for each child. (Our vocabulary worksheet, in our printables set, does this for you.)

DIRECTIONS

Explain that the language of the Ojibwe, called Anishinaabemowin, which means “the language of a good person," was an unwritten language until the late 20th century, when its speakers began preserving it by writing it “the way it sounds,” using English letters.

Point out that this blend of Anishinaabemowin sounds and English letters is yet one more example of two cultures blending. Tell them they're going to take that blend and do even more blending!

Ask them to blend English and Anishinaabemowin words to describe a painting of an Ojibwa person or scene, such as this one:

A-wun-ne-wa-be, Bird of Thunder (1845) by George Catlin
Smithsonian American Art Museum

Distribute your list of words, or the "vocabulary writing" worksheet in our printables set, and give the kids time to compose a description in "Anishinaabemowinglish." Invite volunteers to read their work aloud. They'll either be intimidated or enthralled by the chance to try pronouncing new words; if you'd like to expand on this learning opportunity, here's a guide to basic Ojibwa pronunciation.

With older kids, you might want to go on to talk about the portrayal of Indigenous peopls in European art.

You can discuss the narrative arc in any of these three ways; we've found the first to be the most engaging, because it breaks up the discussion into bite-size chunks.

1. Introduce the concept of the narrative arc up front, but save the story's scenes to discuss as you go, pausing to "do what the characters did" in fun hands-on ways, while weaving in discussions and other worksheets.

2. OR introduce the concept and complete the worksheet before the activities, so kids have a review of the story fresh in their heads first, and you can remind them "where we are" on the arc as you go.

3. OR at the end of your activities, introduce the concept, then help kids figure out where the different parts of this story fit on it.

The narrative arc worksheet in our printables set summarizes the story by plot point, and has kids fill in some blanks.

Give the kids the souvenir travel sticker included in our printables set, or have them design their own.

Kids might like to add their sticker to a reading kit, like an old briefcase (or faux vintage) or a suitcase that can hold a book, bookmark, glasses, snack, blanket, journal, pen, and whatever!

Or they might want to put it on a binder or water bottle. No matter where they see their sticker later, it will remind them of this wonderful journey they've taken with you!

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