my daughters' school has a native american day in november. the whole month, they learn about four different cultures in each of the corners of the united states. they have a shoebox diorama to complete for their social studies grade that week. then they do a day where they taste authentic foods and do crafts. when i asked my daughter what they ate, she said rice and pumpkin pie! of course, the person who was trying to organize what foods to bring left a message on my voice mail-that i received too late to cook anything-to bring rice, corn bread, pumpkin pie, and turkey. what happened to learning the culture? that sounds like an asian-infused thanksgiving dinner, with a side of french pastry. (pumpkins are so american, but the traditional pumpkin pie that we all eat is not so much native as it is mixing of cultures) so, i am hoping to bring something to her classroom to sample as well as some crafts my oldest daughter has done with her grandfather. she has a beautiful dream catcher, a drum and stick set, and several pieces of jewelry and hair pieces they have made together. i am trying to find a couple of simple recipes, something easily portable and easy to make. and, of course, because some of the children might not be allowed to eat certain things, we have to keep the food list to what is available at the grocery store. (no deer, acorn, etc) hm...i wonder if a native american "class" is just the kind of project my little brownies and daisies would be interested in...
