Transcript My Life As A Chinook - danbarber

My Life As A Chinook
By: Jil Chang
My name is Amitola, which means Rainbow.
I belong in the Chinook tribe.
The Chinooks live in the Northwest
Region.
This is my life as an ordinary Chinook . . .
Journal Entry #1: Winter
Housing
CLINK CLANK! I woke up listening to the sound of a hammer, being used to hit
some wood? I checked my window, oh wait, I forgot my type of house doesn’t
have windows… I went out the door and saw him making our winter Pit
House, it was way deeper in the ground before. My dad says the deeper it is
the warmer… At least I have something to look forward to when he’s done,
my mom and I get to paint…
Journal Entry #1: Winter
Clothing
While my father was building our house, my mother and I were planning on
making fur coats for the men when they go hunting next time. My mother and I
always make clothing for the men. In the summer when it’s like really hot, they
usually wear no clothes at all, so yeah we kind of get a small break… Whenever
it’s raining we have to make hats and capes, those are the most troubling!!!
Journal Entry #1: Winter
Food
My mom and I are also responsible for cooking the food(sometimes men), so
today my mother and I are going to cook for our family, while my father finishes
up our Pit House. We cook fresh foods by either roasting it over a fire or baked
in a mini pit. Dried foods were cooked by boiling it in water that’s in a cooking
basket or wooden cooking boxes/bowls. Today we were going to cook elks and
salmon that the men got when they went hunting.We were going to roast it
over a fire today.
Journal Entry #1: Winter
Tribe’s Characteristics (Gender Roles)
Oh yeah, I forgot.. I also had to help my mom make dinner for my dad, I guess he
does deserve some thanks…? My mom also said we had to make some food for
the men who went out to either hunt, fish, or build some homes. The first task I
had was to go out and collect some shellfish, herbs, fruits, vegetables, and some
other plants. Sometimes, my job can be really boring… After the men give us
the food they either hunted, or fished, we can add our finishing touches! I
sometimes really wish I could go hunting or fishing with the men…
Journal Entry #2: Winter
Terrain
I was running across the grassy, bumpy land while waiting for my dad to finish the
house, then all of a sudden I tripped over this huge rock lying in the middle of
nowhere. “I’M GOOD!” I yelled, just in case anyone was watching me.. I sighed… “I
wish that the cold weather would just disappear so I could roll around the grass
again… No fun rolling around in cold weather…” A little kid was watching me, like
I was crazy… “Why are you talking to yourself…?” He asked. “Oh, you know…
Wishing we could have all that grass and bumpy terrain back…” And of course, he
kept staring…Gotta love little kids, huh?
Journal Entry #2: Winter
Ecosystem (Some common animals)
As soon as my dad finished building our home we get to go hiking,
hopefully…Some animals we usually spot are either elk, deer, bears, beavers,
raccoons, muskrats, and many others, men would only hunt most of those.
They are all very fascinating! In the winter though, there aren’t as many animals
as in the summer. Once my dad and some other men finish hunting, everyone
gets to eat a yummy treat!
Muskrat 
Journal Entry #2: Winter
Ecosystem (Common plants
If we do get to go hiking my dad and I are going to go pick some plants that are called
herbs for my mom. The herbs that we are going to get for her are either for
medicine, for the sick people, or she’s going to use it in her food. I’m not what the
specific names for each herb is, I only know that they’re for cooking and
medicine… In the winter, we don’t get as many herbs just a few types, but in the
summer we get many herbs.
Journal Entry #3: Winter
Weather Description
Today when I woke up, it was also FREEZING. I feel so sorry for my dad, since he has to
work in the cold, cold, cold, COLD, weather. Today the weather was like in the 40’s,
as usual. I can not wait for summer to come, where the temperatures will be in the
60’s or 70’s! It’s really annoying for the men, who have to work in the freezing
weather, at least they get fur capes… That the women make…
Journal Entry #3: Winter
Weather Impact
Whoa! A blizzard, at this time when we’re just about to get most things done?!?!? We
rarely ever get these!!! This is a horrible time for one to come! “Mom, mom!!” I yelled, I don’t have
time to fix my sloppy handwriting!! I put on my coat as fast as I can and ran out of the village as fast as we
could. Once we got out, we started watching the strong winds blow the houses apart, one after another. We
had to hide in a cave, until the blizzard was over. The blizzard didn’t last as long, but
it still damaged most things… As soon as everyone went inside our village, people
immediately started rebuilding and some men already went out to hunt for animals.
Journal Entry #3: Winter
Survival Strategies
The whole village went to work immediately, all the women (counting me) started
collecting cedar bark to make new clothing for the villagers. All the men
immediately made their spear (they were jacked up because they were rushing) and
went out to hunt, they didn’t get many animals…Some men had to stay and cut
down some trees and work on the houses. Well.. One house was finished… There’s
more clumping together when we don’t have as much homes…
REFLECTION
It’s been a few months, our village finally got finished. I’m so happy that I’m finally able
to make clothes that are much harder to sew. I still get kind of jealous that the men
get to go hunt and we don’t… The neighboring tribe came today, of course they
just wanted to trade with us. “I come in peace.”, the leader ALWAYS says that
whenever he arrives. I look around, “Uh.. Hey..” He started saying that he wanted to
trade with us again, and he offered a few items for ours. Like clothing for food, and
all that other stuff. Once we finished I scooted away, slowly and carefully. I went
home and saw my mom planting some crops in the grassy field, near our house. I
told her about my day, and of course she just smiled like she always does…
That is my life, as a Ordinary Chinook…
REFLECTION
I think that this project went OK. It took me a while to get the hang of talking in
“Perspective Mode”. What I really enjoyed about this project is getting to make a
PowerPoint. This is like one of my very first PowerPoint's ever. There wasn’t
anything that I didn’t enjoy, I thought that everything was pretty cool. I think I
might’ve gotten a B, because this is kind of my first time using perspectives in a
project, and I sometimes had to go back to edit A LOT of things. Talking in
“Perspective Mode” was kind of challenging for me, and there was kind of some
random change in this journal... I still had a lot of fun though. 
SOURCES
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http://www.fotevikensmuseum.se/Photo/art17/P0011574.jpg
http://www.lyneart.com/BBOY.jpg
http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/graphics/muskrat3sm.jpg
http://www.nesco.com/i/f/Herbs3.jpg
http://soulofamerica.com/soagalleries/seattle/famattr/SeaTillicumVill_salmon1.jpg
http://blog.bicyclism.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/cowandbikes-thumb.jpg
watertown.k12.ma.us/cuniff/americanhistorycentral/02indiansofnorthamerica/Th
e_Chinooks.html
gregarobinson.com/art/ChinookFAQs.aspx
ehow.com/info_8250435_customs-chinooks-indians.html
science.calculator.ca.gov/pdf/eco_restor_fall_chinook.pdf
MORE SOURCES
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www. Tcpj.com/company/climate.htm
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My Social Studies Notebook 
http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110601120152/wizard101/images/f/f1/Epic
_Face.jpg
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