Basket+Weaving+Inquiry+Plan



** Inquiry Planner Worksheet ** (Adapted from “Learning through Art” – GuggenheimMuseum web resource)

**Grade Level**: __Five (5)__ **Theme**: __First NationsArtwork/Craftwork__ What material is the basket made out of? What shape is the basket? Is the basket loosely woven or very tight? Is the basket a natural colour or are their colours?-What colours are on the basket? If made with reeds, how thick are they? Are the reeds all the same width?
 * Outcome ** : //Choosefrom a variety of art media to express a feeling, to communicate a message andrepresent people, places and objects:// use a variety of paper manipulationtechniques, e.g., folding, curling, weaving, overlapping to create a collage,montage or mobile
 * Artwork/Artist ** : __Birchbark, Splint, and Sweetgrass Baskets__
 * Observational Questions ** (encourage __description__ and __analysis__ usingelements and principles of design, responses are mostly objective):

**Interpretive Questions** (encourage __interpretation__ and __judgment__,responses may be subjective): What do you think the First Nations people used the basket for? Are there specific basket designs for specific purposes? Is there a particular group of First Nations people who make certain baskets? If the basket is coloured, what do you think the colours may represent?

**Selected Information** (includes information about the artwork, artist andperiod in art history): “Basket-weaving is one of the oldest known Native American crafts--there areancient Indian baskets from the Southwest that have been identified byarchaeologists as nearly 8000 years old. As with most Native American art,there were originally multiple distinct basketry traditions in North America. Differenttribes used different materials, weaving techniques, basket shapes, andcharacteristic patterns. Northeast Indian baskets, for example, aretraditionally made out of pounded ash splints or braided sweetgrass. Cherokee and other Southeast Indian baskets are traditionally from bundled pine needlesor rivercane wicker. Southwestern Indians make baskets from tightly coiledsumac or willow wood, and Northwest Coast Indians typically weave with cedarbark, swamp grass, and spruce root. Northern Indian tribes like the Ojibwe and Dene craft birchbark baskets, and the Inuit even make whale baleen baskets (though this is a more recent tradition than theAmerican Indian ones). As native people were displaced from their traditionallands and lifestyles, their traditional tribal basketweaving styles started tochange somewhat as they adapted to new materials and absorbed the customs ofnew neighbors, and in places like Oklahoma where many tribes were interredtogether, fusion styles of basketweaving arose. However, unlike sometraditional native crafts, the original diversity of Native American basketstyles is still very much evident today.” []

**Notes for Inquiry** (may include vocabulary, follow up questions,troubleshooting tips, etc…) Vocabulary that will be helpful to know: Birchbark, splint and sweetgrass baskets, Reeds (rattan), Weaving, Spokes Different kinds of basket/weaving techniquessuch as- coiled, plaiting, twining, wicker,splint Quills

-See Basket Weaving Lesson Plan - See First Nations Art in New Brunswick WikiSpace: http://firstnationsartinnewbrunswick.wikispaces.com/
 * Suggested Art Activity ** (describe the process, medium, technique, etc…)