For Grades 4-6
To arrange a visit for your school group, please call (585) 697-1942. Please make reservations at least two weeks in advance. This program will also be available in the 2013-14 school year.
Under the breathtaking night sky of the Star Theater, explore the oral traditions of Native Americans by listening to authentic Native American stories, recorded by Native American storytellers of our region and throughout North America.
Deepen your understanding of the perspective and relationship of Native American cultures to the universe. Explore how early Native people saw the sky and used it to know when to plant, hunt, hold ceremonies and move. Learn how modern-day Native Americans still use the sky. Observe the sky phenomena featured in the stories, including the Sun, the Big Dipper, the North Star, the Pleiades, and the Summer Triangle, in the Planetarium sky.
NYS Learning Standards: ELA1; SS1(1,3); MST4PS(1),4LE(1)
Click here to download a detailed outline (32k pdf)
Some of the stories in this program are adapted from the DVD "Skytellers: the myths, the magic and the mysteries of the universe," distributed by the Lunar and Planetary Institute, http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/skytellers
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For more information
Words & Place: Native Literature from the American Southwest, http://www.parentseyes.arizona.edu/wordsandplace/index.html. Videotaped stories of the southwest, recorded in the 1970's. Each program presents one American Indian singer, storyteller or author performing from his/her repertoire in a natural setting in the community.
RECOMMENDED BOOKS:
"Coyote Fights the Sun: A Shasta Indian Tale" by Mary J. Carpelan
"Coyote and Native American Folk Tales" by Joe Hayes
"Coyote Tales" Edited by William Morgan, art by Andrew Tsihnahjinnie
"How the Morning and Evening Stars Came to Be" (Assiniboin), Published by the Montana State Historical Society
"The Star Maiden" (Ojibway) by Barbara Juster Esbensen
"Sunpainters-Eclipse of the Navajo Sun" by Baje Whitethorne
"Keepers of the Night" by Joe Bruchac & Michael J. Caduto
"They Dance in the Sky" by Jean Guard Monroe & Ray A. Williamson
"How the Stars Fell Into the Sky" by Jerris Oughton
"The Arctic Sky: Inuit Astronomy, Star Lore & Legend" by John McDonald
"Star Trails: Navajo" by Don Childrey
"The Dancing Healers" by Carl Hammerschlag (A good read about his experiences working with the Navajo people)
"The Milky Way" (Cherokee) by Gayle Ross & Joe Bruchac
"How Rabbit Tricked Otter & Other Cherokee Trickster Stories" by Gayle Ross