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A DRAMATIZATION!
PART ONE: The Plains
(1) The Ecoweb: Characters: bunchgrass, gumweed, western meadowlark,
burrowing owl, black-tailed prairie dog, harvester ant, earthworm, white-
tailed jackrabbit, pronghorn, bison.
Questions
Where does your character live on the prairie? Air? On the ground? Below the
ground?
How does your character move--or does it move? How can you show the movement?
(Plants need to answer this too! Do you grip the soil? How? With what?)
What noises do you make? Do you rustle in the prairie wind?
What do you eat? Can you exchange materials? What? With whom? And does
anyone eat you? Again, can you exchange materials?
(2) Arrival of the Indians: Part One: Cheyenne Sweat Lodge Prayer (see
links at Frontier Life) Character: Narrator
(3) Arrival of the Indians: Part Two: Algon and the Star People's Arrival--
the Capture of the Star Maiden; Her Return Home; Algon's Search For Her; The
People's Arrival in Oiser Baskets
Characters: Algon, the Hunter; twelve star maidens, including the youngest;
Mice who replace the star maidens; the son of Algon and his bride; the young
star maiden's father
Props: Oiser baskets; Algon's medicine charms (dried leaves); feathers,
claws, wings, etc. from different creatures, made of paper
(4) Interlude: Teacher Reading the Quotation from Hershman John's 'The Dark
World' at Prairie Poetry
QUESTIONS FOR THOUGHT:
Who is Algon? Who is his bride? Who are the Star People? Why did Algon
chose a bride from the Star People in this story?
What do you think of Coyote (in Hershman John's
poem)? Will the people live or die in your opinion? Why did Coyote say, 'if
the rock floats . . . ;' 'if the rock sinks . . . ?' Can anything be done to
make the rock float? Should anything be done?
PART TWO: Indian Spirituality and the Bison
The Buffalo Dance: Characters: dancers; Materials: rattles, or jars filled
with beans, rice, beads, etc.; drumsticks, or pencils; Masks and other props.
QUESTIONS FOR THOUGHT:
Why were the bison important to the Plains Indians?
How did the Indians view their relationship with the bison?
Where are the bison today? Can you find out? What happened?
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
MORE TO COME!
POE'S "EL DORADO"
Questions for thought: who might the knight represent in the Plains?
what is he searching for?
will he find it?
why does "his strength" fail "him at length."
what do you think of the pilgrim's shadow?
why did Poe chose the name, "ElDorado?"
PART THREE: A Meeting Between Spanish Sailors and Pacific Indians
PART FOUR: The Dust Bowl
PART FIVE: Lewis and Clark's View of the Plains
PART SIX: Prospectors for gold on the Plains
PART SEVEN: Scenes from Frontier Life: "Cabaret," Great Plains Style: A
scene in a frontier barroom
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