The Choctaw
by Cameron

Sand Storm
     My mom and dad were hunting in the woods.  My parents were hunting in a place where there were not trees.  It was windy when I was born.  The wind took me away from my mom and dad.  I landed on a rock.  The wind and the sand were swirling around me.  Suddenly the sand storm stopped.  My dad named me Sand Storm because I was in the middle of the Sand Storm.  So that is how I got my name. 
 
Living in the Eastern Woodland
     The bobcat was drinking water from the Mississippi River and on the other side a deer was drinking.  On the side down about a mile there was a coastal plain.  The plain gets good soil because the Mississippi River floods.  Pine trees, hickory nuts, walnut, and pecans grow when the Mississippi River floods.  In the woods was a mother eagle in the pine tree.  On a summer morning the Yazoo River was flowing.  On the other side was a bear trying to eat the white perch, crappie, blue gill, and bream.  In the summer it rains 65 inches and the winters are short.  Now the Eastern Woodlands is getting dark, and you should come see it.
 
The Fantastic Cabin
     Have you lived in a cabin that has the poles straight up?  Do you have enough mud and bark to make a roof?  The Choctaw make their cabins with bark, mud, and poles from a pine tree and swamp cane that ties the poles together.  Do you have a rectangular or square house?  My house has a grassy roof.  Inside I have a bed on the side of the wall and a bucket and a kettle on the outside of my house.  I have a fire outside and a farm.  You should build a cabin.		  
Clothing
     Do you wear a poncho style cape?  Do you wear moccasins?  Well, the Choctaw did.  Women wore short skirts made of deer skin.  They also wore long dresses decorated with beads and ribbons.  The men wore shirts, moccasins, a belt, and a black hat and had a Mohawk.  In battles they wore paint on their faces.  Now you should try wearing clothes like the Choctaw did.

 
Food
     Three men from the Choctaw went hunting.  They all took their blow guns with one spear with them.  They got one deer and a bear.  Next they went fishing and caught fish with a net.  Women went to plant corn, pecans, and beans.  They made soups with them.  When the three men came back, they gathered nuts and berries.  One night you should eat like the Choctaw for once. 
Sources

Book: Lepthein, Emilie V. The Choctaw.  1987.

Online database: "Mississippi." Britannica Elementary Encyclopedia. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition.  12/1/2006.

Web site: "Choctaw Indian Fact Sheet."  http://www.geocities.com/bigorrin/choctaw_kids.htm.  12/20/2006.
 

Native Americans by Mrs. Hardt's Third Grade Class

Native American Index ~ Mrs. Hardt ~ CCS ~ MSAD 50