LIFE OF THE MOHEGANS

By: Layla Singletary

My name is Olathe it means beautiful

I am in the Mohegan tribe

My tribe lives in the Eastern Woodlands

This is my life as a Mohegan Indian………

JOURNAL ENTRY #1Our food

Today my tribe was farming and hunting out in a warm humid breeze. All the women in my tribe are harvesting corn, squash, beans, nuts and fruits. My dad and other men are out hunting. The men hunt deer, turkeys and fish. After my mom is done picking the corn, squash, beans, nuts and fruits I will make soup, bread and stews for us to eat. I have to make a fire outside to cook the food.

JOURNAL ENTRY #1 Our Housing

Today while I was sitting in my wigwam eating my corn, squash and beans. I felt a warm gentle breeze blow over me. I loved it when I could feel the cool or warm breezes (it always depended on how I felt). This time I felt calm, relaxed and happy when the warm air blew over me. Sometimes when cool air blows over me

JOURNAL ENTRY #1Our Clothing

Today when my 2 brothers and I woke up in the morning we went to put on our clothes (my bigger brother helped put on my baby brothers

clothes. I put on my knee-length skirt, my shirt, my earrings, my moccasins, and my head band with 2 feathers in the back. My brother put on his breech

cloth and leggings, his head band with 2 feathers in the back, his earrings, and his moccasins. Then he helped put the same things on my baby brother.

Clothing

JOURNAL ENTRY #1Tribe Characteristics

My mom is a farmer. Today when she was out harvesting my baby brother started to cry because he was hungry. So she had to come in and feed him. Then she started to cook the corn and beans she had harvested. My dad came home from hunting in the valleys. He had brought home fish. My mom and I started to cook the fish.

JOURNAL ENTRY #2Humans rely on deer, beaver,

fish and turkey as their food

source.

Plants rely on the sun as their power source.

Deer rely on plants as their food source.

Fish rely on

Beaver also rely on the plants as

their food source.

Ecosystem

JOURNAL ENTRY #2Terrain

Today I decided to take a walk. While I was walking I saw hill. I climbed that hill. After I climbed the hill I saw tons of hills. When I looked down I saw valleys. I walked back the way I came from and when I was almost to my tribe I started walking east . After walking a long time I saw sea coasts. I started walking back to my village. While I was walking I was thinking of the wonders I had just saw.

JOURNAL ENTRY #2Common Plants

Today I was out helping my mom with our crops. When I got out in the field I saw tons of corn, squash, beans and fruit. My mom told me I was not helping her harvest the crops. She said I was going to collect the nuts from off of the trees we grew. After that night I decided that I loved collecting nuts.

JOURNAL ENTRY #2Common animals

Today while I was walking around the village I heard some noises coming from the valleys. I was curious and followed the sound even though I knew I was not suppose to. When I got into the valley I saw something run across the valley. It was dark brown and spotted white then I knew that it was a deer. I saw a little pond with fish and beaver in it. I saw something small and light brown. Then I saw it. It was a turkey. I stayed there for quite a while then I heard my mom calling me so I back to my village.

Weirs - Made of branches and directed fish through a small opening. Wampum -pieces of broken clamshells were formed into beads, drilled through, and polished to a sheen.

Fun Facts!The wampum was strung on cord and used as money in trade with other tribes or worn as jewelry. Some wampum strings represented special events in the history of the Mohegan.

When Mohegan's planted they used wooden handles with clamshells and horseshoe crab shells attached at the end.

They traveled in canoes made from the bark of birch trees.

JOURNAL ENTRY #3Survival Strategies

Today I had to help my family collect our tools that my dad and brother use to hunt. We collected bows ,arrows ,nets, spears , weirs and wampum. Weirs are made of branches and directed fish through a small opening, where they became trapped. Wampum are pieces of broken clamshells were formed into beads, drilled through, and polished to a sheen. The wampum was strung on cord and used as money in trade with other tribes, or worn as jewelry. Some wampum strings represented special events in the history of the Mohegan. When planting, they used wooden handles with clamshells and horseshoe crab shells attached at the end. They traveled in canoes made from the bark of birch trees.

JOURNAL ENTRY #3Weather Description

Whew!! I am so hot. Especially because it is the middle of summer. Today my mom is sick and I have to finish harvesting the rest of the crops. I can’t wait until the winter where it will be much cooler. I finish the rest of the crops. I started to ask my mom about what to do with them but decided not to because she was fast asleep. So I just left them by her. When she woke she was really mad at me and I had to do chores for the rest of the day.

JOURNAL ENTRY #3Weathers impact on daily life

Today we are moving again. We move are village depending on the season. In summer our wigwams in our villages are spread out and the land between us is used to plant our crops. In winter we moved closer to the woods and our wigwams are bigger and built closer together. It is winter now. So we are moving closer to the woods. I have to help put our wigwam together. I’m going to miss my dad because he has to set up hunting camps even deeper in the woods, where he stays there until the heavy snow comes.

REFLECTION #1I love moving because I get to sees

different things from a different point of view. Everything turned out very well. I love being able to go and explore things that I haven’t seen very much of. Everyday of my story I thought were exciting.

REFLECTION #1I think my tribe and I will be very

successful in the future because we are doing very well in surviving in our environment. I think we will feel proud of ourselves because we figured out how to deal with different things like neighboring tribes or other challenges. I think that my tribe has an exciting journey ahead.

REFLECTION #2I think this project went well but I had

to do some of the research at home and some the project at home. I enjoyed everything, like that we can write what we thought of how we did on our project and that we had to challenge ourselves in writing in first person. I didn’t really have anything I didn’t like about the project. I think I did fine. I’d give myself a B because I think I did fine but I didn’t really connect the journal entries together very well.

FUN FACTS

The Mohegan believed there were spirits in animals, plants, water, rocks, and even in the sun, moon, and weather. They called these spirits Manitou. The also believed that a Great Spirit who lived in the southwest sky created the world and all the Manitou. When a Mohegan died, he or she went to live with the Creator. The dead were buried with tools and weapons to help them in their journey.

The main religious figure in each village was the powwow. The powwow was a medicine man who used herbs, roots, songs, and prayers to treat sickness.

BIBLIOGRAPHY http://ehis.ebcohost.com.proxy141.nclive.or

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 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/387657/Mohegan

http://www.bigorrin.org/mohegan_kids.htm

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