1. Second Grade Unit Three:
Respectful Teaching About the Creek and Cherokee
Sarah Blascovich Brown
Teacher on Assignment

2. Establishing Our Prior Knowledge?
What do we know about Georgia’s first people?
Describe their culture as it was when Oglethorpe & other English settlers arrived in Georgia.
How do Native Americans maintain their culture & heritage today?
Use the following page’s activity as a good introduction for students when discussing our perceptions of Native Americans. Helping students see the distinctions between the Creek and Cherokee in Georgia is essential, so that they do not view America’s original inhabitants as one conglomerated group of “Indians.” Just as there are similarities & differences between Americans and citizens of other countries today, there are similarities & differences between Creeks & Cherokees before, during, and after the time of colonization.

3. Creek Community Life
Confederation – “tribal towns” were individual units within it
Covered entirety of Southeastern US at time of contact
Removed in 1830s via “treaty” to lands in present-day Oklahoma
Today’s membership – 60,000
Why is there an Ocmulgee River in Georgia and an Okmulgee county in Oklahoma?
for information on Creek/Muscogee heritage & language materials.
for classroom-ready materials
**VERY USEFUL list of achievements of the Muscogee prior to European contact*
This website links to a number of Native American languages. This particular page is a small glossary of words in Muscogee (transliterated Muskogee here), with a linked pronunciation key:

4. Where the Creek lived in Georgia
You see that many different treaties and cessions took the land of the Creek over time.
The very first cession, right along the Savannah River was to whom?
This map shows the location of Creeks in Georgia prior to removal. Today, people of Muscogee descent live everywhere. 

5. Cherokee Community Life
New Echota
Division of labor between men & women
Active trading culture
Settled, farming communities
Removed to Oklahoma in 1838 – the Trail of Tears
This website links to a number of Native American languages. This particular page is a small glossary of words in Cherokee, with a linked pronunciation key: .
Cherokee Courthouse - Oklahoma

6. Where the Cherokee Lived in Georgia
*A final note – speak of Georgia’s first people as respectfully, sincerely, & conscientiously as you would speak about your own ancestors. This website, originally written as a list of suggestions for a Native American theme-based community organization, has some very helpful hints for teaching about Native Americans. Some of the hints are not as relevant as others, but the author gives GREAT examples of ways to be sure that you are teaching about Native Americans accurately and respectfully.
~map from Carl Vinson Institute, UGA
Cherokee holdings in 1830

7. Whose name is this?
Sequoyah was born in Tennessee, and lived throughout the Southeast
He visited fellow Cherokees in Georgia (where the Cherokee capital of New Echota was located)
He was a fervent believer in preserving Cherokee culture and traditions
He worked to establish a system of writing known as a syllabary
The Cherokee Phoenix has a website: Since it is a functioning newspaper, not all of the information on that site may be appropriate for students at all times. However, portions of it will switch to Cherokee when you drag your mouse over the words.
{New Georgia Encyclopedia}

8. Resources:
The New Georgia Encyclopedia (Creek):
The New Georgia Encyclopedia (Cherokee removal):
The New Georgia Encyclopedia (Sequoyah):
The Cherokee Nation (Oklahoma):
The Creek (Muscogee) Nation:

9. Resources:
Oyate (Books, Reviews, Other Publications):
American Indians in Children’s Literature:
National Museum of the American Indian:
Ocmulgee National Monument (Macon):
New Echota State Historic Site (Calhoun):

10. Resources:
Oyate (Do and Do nots):
Ten Cultural Respect Guidelines:
Cherokee Heritage Center (click on Learn):
Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee (state-recognized):
Perdido Bay Tribe/Lower Muscogee Creeks:

11. Cherokee Resources:
The Cherokee Little People, First Fire, The Ice Man, all written by Marijo Moore. These stories are appropriate for retelling to children, and are traditional Cherokee works.
Itse Selu: Cherokee Harvest Festival, by Daniel Pennington (member of the Cherokee nation), tells not only about the festival, but also about traditional Cherokee life before contact with Europeans.
The Trail of Tears, by Joseph Bruchac (member of the Abenaki nation), discusses the removal of the Cherokee in an historically accurate and respectful way.

12. Creek Resources:
The Good Luck Cat, written by Joy Harjo, who is a member of the Muscogee Nation, is full of wonderful inspiring poetry.
Jingle Dancer, by Cynthia Leitich Smith, discusses one girl’s desire to dance in a modern Muscogee celebration. Her website includes teacher resources for this book:
The Great Ball Game, another by Joseph Bruchac, is a traditional Muscogee story.

13. Teaching Unit Three: Individuals, Groups, & Institutions: Location
Contributions of Sequoyah to Cherokee culture
Show that Creek & Cherokee had institutions (cultural, governmental, etc., even before Europeans came to Georgia)
Location
Review ways that geography impacts lifestyle
Discuss differences in Creek & Cherokee lifestyles based on geography of their particular areas (general ideas)
Production, Distribution, and Consumption
Ways that Creek & Cherokee obtained things they could not make or find locally
Barter/trade vs. currency

14. Teaching Unit Three: Scarcity Time, Change, and Continuity
Identify resources that were scarce to the Creek and Cherokee
Discuss how scarcity of land affected both groups of people, as well as the European influence on this idea
Time, Change, and Continuity
Compare ways that European/American cultures have changed over time to ways that the Creek and Cherokee cultures have changed over time
Compare students’ lives to Sequoyah’s