1 Little, 2 Little,

3 Little Indians

A Native American Literature Approach

Compiled by:
Diego Andrs Ruiz Soto
Mara de los ngeles Pez Nio

Content

Preface

Poems:
The Arrow and the Song.
By: Henry W. Longfellow
Lullaby.
By: Leslie M. Silko. (Laguna Pueblo)
A New Dream. (Wuski A-Baw-Tan)
By: Jennifer Pierce Eyen (Shawnee People)
Stories:
The Boy in the Moon (Vuntakutchin Story)
By: Frances Jenkins Olcott.

Bibliography

Preface

This book of activities for children on their third year of English

Learning is intended to offer little readers a survey of some
adaptations and pieces of Native American Literature.
They will be able to discover a whole panoramic view of the
most important elements of Native American Literature and
more than anything, while they have fun and receive suitable
feedback from illustrations and activities that will provide
plenty of vocabulary and grammar structures in the target
language, teachers will find an excellent tool to make an
approach to literature through the development of the
necessary skills for reading comprehension.

Poems

The Arrow and the Song

By: Henry W. Longfellow

I shot an arrow into the air;

It Fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a Song into the air;

It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong
That it can follow the flight of Song.

Long, long afterwards, in an oak

I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.

Activity No.1
I.

Choose the correct

answer

1. The sight could not follow

the arrow because:
a. It could not fly.
b. It flew swiftly.
c. It went to the sun.
d. It flew very far.
2. The song was breathed into:
a. A flowers scent.
b. A Southern wind.
c. The Air
d. The Oceans breeze.

3. Long afterwards he found

the arrow and the song in:
a. A Mountain.
b. A lake.
c. The Earth.
d. An Oak.

II. Read again the last

stanza. Draw that moment
when he find the arrow and
the song. Share your
drawing with your class.

Lullaby
By: Leslie M. Silko (Laguna Pueblo)
The earth is your mother,
she holds you.
The sky is your father,
he protects you.
Sleep,
sleep.
Rainbow is your sister,
she loves you.
The winds are your brothers,
they sing to you.
Sleep,
sleep.
We are together always
We are together always
There never was time
when this
was not so.
.

Activity No. 2
I. Match each member of the family with its corresponding surpassing being.

Mother

Father

Sister

Brother

II.

Look at the little boy sleeping. Think about the Lullaby his mother just sang.
Imagine how his dreams would be and draw the scene.

A New Dream (Wuski A-Baw-Tan)

By: Jennifer Pierce Eyen (Shawnee People)
A POEM DEDICATED TO OUR ELDER, HORSE MAN
WHO PASSED OVER TO THE LAND OF THE
DEATH DREAM ONE STORMY NIGHT

I have seen the rain speak

and the wind dance
I have seen the lightning knife
cut the sky
I have seen the hills
at the first light of the day
whispering secrets
to the Southwind Peoples ear
I
I
I
I

am happy
am no longer thirsty
dance a warrior dance
am not sick, I am free!

This night I dream a new dream!

Now, I come to drink the stars!
Activity No. 3
I.

Choose the correct

answer:

1. When the rain speaks

a. You may hear the rain
falling to the ground.
b. You may hear the rain

drops speaking.
c. You may see words on
the sky.
2. When the wind dance
a. Wind comes from the
mountains.
b. Wind blows.
c. You cannot feel the

wind.
3. When the lightning
knife cut the sky, it
happens because.

teacher just gave you.

Cut out by the dotted
line.

a. It is going to rain.
b. It is not raining yet.
c. It is a stormy night.

4. The poem is dedicated

to horse-man who
probably was a:
a. Leader.
b. Beloved member of
the tribe.
c. Chief.

2. As a real artist Paint

your mask, and use
spark materials and
glue. But be careful
with glue you dont
want to ruin your art
piece.

5. Horse man was very

sick. But at the end he
could rest and he:
a. danced a warrior
dance.
b. sang a victory song.
c. danced with the stars.
II. Lets do a mask! Follow
these steps and a nice mask
to play the final dance of
chief Horse man.

1. Cut out! Look at the

cartoon board your

3. Wear your mask! Now

that your mask is
ready, let the fun
begin. In groups tell the
horse
mans
New
Dream and practice
your intonation and
pronunciation.

Stories

The Boy in the Moon

By: Frances Jenkins Olcott
Do you see the mark in the middle of the Moon that looks like a
man? Well, that is really a little Indian boy. It happened this way:
Many years ago, there lived a Vuntakutchin boy. One Winter when
he saw that his people had nothing to eat, he dreamed they killed a

lot of Caribou. He told his dream in the morning, and the braves set
out
to
hunt.
But before they went, the boy made his uncle promise that he
would give him the meat of the leader Caribou. The uncle killed the
leader, but when he came back from the hunt, he gave the boy the
wrong
meat,
and
kept
the
right
meat
for
himself.
Well, the boy felt so badly that he cried for two nights. And on the
third night he disappeared. He wore Marten-skin pants, and in the
morning his uncle saw the left leg of the pants, hanging to the tent
pole in the hole where the smoke goes out. And when the uncle
went outside the tent, he found that all the Caribou, which had
been killed the day before, had come to life again, and run away.
As for the boy, he had gone up to the Moon, and there he is now,
with one leg bigger than the other, because the right leg has pants
on it. From his hand hangs a little bag full of the wrong Caribou
meat, and during the Autumn and Winter, when the sky is clear, you
may see him standing in the Moon.

Activity No. 4
I.

V
W
Q
Y
S
T
E

Lets find the hidden words. Use different colors to

highlight them.

U
X
T
G
E
S
R

N
C
S
J
W
R
S

T
E
R
A
T
L
I

A
Q
W
U
M
L
L

K
I
D
G
T
I
N

U T
I
A
O U
R P
W I
O U
C
J

C
R
H
U
N
T
M

H
N
Y
R
T
A
L

I
A
I
R
E
F
D

N
W
P
U
R
T
Q

L
S
W
O
I
U
A

Q
I
L
N
B
T
L

S
B
R
A
V
E
S

N
T
F
C
V
R
T
I

S
H
B
T
B
M
A
L

B
Q
L
S
D
O
B
V

H
K
E
M
R
O
Z
F

VUNTAKUTCHIN
HUNT
WINTER

II.

X
W
A
Y
E
N
R
T

K
T
D
N
Z
U
U
Z

S
H
E
A
O
G
L
D

M
E
R
G
P
E
N
S

E
G
C
F
D
L
Y
P

R
N
A
U
T
U
M
N

Y
Z
R
E
X
E
W
N

AUTUMN
LEADER
CARIBOU

D
Y
I
P
E
A
K
Z

O
R
B
Y
P
D
J
S

E
X
O
N
O
G
O
F

T
T
U
F
M
J
L
M

TENT
BRAVES
MOON

Words Jumble! Take into account the words you just

found in the word search. Once you discover the word
hidden in the mixed letters.

NTHU: ___________

TTEN: ____________

LAEDRE: __________

MNOO: ____________

WNTIER: __________

AUTMUN: __________

VBREAS: ___________
III. Draw the sequence of the story taking into
I.

II.

One Winter, Vuntakutchin people

had nothing to eat.

IV.

A Little boy dreamt his people killed

many caribu people.

V.

Uncle broke promise. Little boy

cried for two nights.

Caribou people who died during

battle came to life again.

account the statements.

III.

Uncle promised to Little boy to give

him good meat, after war.

VI.

Little boy flied to the moon and

shows himself during autumn and
Winter.

IV.
V.

VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX. Bibliography
X. Jenkins, Frances. The Red Indian Fairy Book.
Houghton Mifflin Company. Boston and New York. 1917.

XI.

Longfellow, Henry. The Arrow and the Song. 16

september 1845. Online text copyright 2003, Ian
Lancashire for the Department of English, University of
Toronto. Published by the Web Development Group,
Information Technology Services, University of Toronto
Libraries.
XII. Osorio-Hoyos-Gmez, The United States in Poetry. A
Brief Anthology. Universidad Pedaggica Nacional. Bogot,
2007.
XIII.