Grades: K-2
This phenomenal trunk focuses on how the People of the Great Plains used the bison in their everyday lives, from the arrival of the horse through the decimation of the great bison herds. It includes an array of activities that can be incorporated into your classroom, and pairs with 2nd grade social studies standards.
Bison Culture Education Trunk:
Our education trunks are provided for free of charge to all schools; shipping is available as well. Details of shipping can be found at the bottom of this page. This trunk is also available as a Virtual Education Trunk. The virtual trunk has 360-degree photos of every item.
This trunk (and the accompanying curriculum) was created to help tell one small piece of the story of the Indigenous People of North America. Native Americans have been living in North America for more than 14,000 years; their history is vast and diverse. This trunk focuses on how the People of the Great Plains used the bison during a roughly two-hundred-year period. The time period the trunk and curriculum examines begins with the arrival of the horse on the great plains in the mid 1600s and ends with the near extinction of the bison during the mid 1800s.
This trunk includes bison items like tanned leather, rawhide, pelt, tongue, stomach, brains, horns, hooves, and more. It also includes replicas of period appropriate Native American items, made out of bison. This includes a shield, spoon, drum, arrow, parfleche, awl, bowl, and more. All of these items were made by artists using historically accurate techniques, and are great representations of what these items would have looked like during this time period.
Bison Culture Classroom Curriculum:
Additionally, we have created an engaging and educational set of activities that dive into same time period and topic. This curriculum is not meant to be an exhaustive dissertation on the subject, but instead a series of activities that teachers can use to bring this important moment in history to life. As such, we have curated a list of educational videos and created unique classroom activities that can be plugged directly into what you're already teaching in your classroom.
The Bison Culture Classroom Curriculum was designed to meet Kindergarten through 2nd grade social studies standards, focusing heavily on 2nd grade. If your school uses the Wit and Wisdom curriculum, you'll find these activities dovetail wonderfully with what you're learning. Teachers of 3rd grade through 5th grade students will find that many of these activities can be used with their students as well.
These activities were created with guidance from Native American Cultural Centers, Wyoming Board of Education, and teachers. Like with the education trunk, this curriculum is offered free of charge to all teachers, schools, and other organizations. The file box below has the Complete Teacher Book, as well as the individual activities.
Please read the Curriculum Guide first. It will explain how the different activities and videos fit together. You can find it within the "Complete Teacher Book" or download it separately.
Bison Culture Curriculum Files
Videos for the Bison Culture Classroom Activities:
Please Note: A couple videos mentioned in the curriculum plan are not shot and/or uploaded yet, but will be uploaded in the next few weeks.
Video for Section 3: Hunting
Video for Section 4: Pemmican and Jerky (A new version of this video will be uploaded at a later time)
Video for Section 6: Story Telling
Videos for Section 7: Winter Counts
Video for Section 8: Parfleches
Details on Trunk Shipping vs. Trunk Pick Up at the Museum.
- Pick up and drop off at the museum is free to every school! If you drive here, you can borrow the trunk!
- If your school is within Wyoming, but more than an hour and a half from the museum, the museum can pay to ship the trunk to you. But you must cover the cost of shipping back to the museum. The museum has a yearly budget allocated to shipping trunks; once that budget is depleted, shipping costs have to be covered by the school.
- The Museum does not ship trunks to schools within an hour and a half of the museum. However, pick up at the museum is always available.
- If your school is outside of Wyoming, you must cover the cost of shipping both ways. Additionally, we are limited to locations that North Park Transportation can deliver to. This usually includes Northern Colorado, Denver, and some other regional states. Check with the museum to learn more.
- If you want to know more about our Bison Culture Education Trunk, fill out a program request or give us a call.
