Native American Reading Guide
Encounters and Foundations
Read pages 6-10 in your literature book and answer the questions below.
1. The first interactions between Europeans and American Indians largely involved ______________
________________________________________________________________.
2. An interdependence resulted between the cultures. The Europeans relied on the American
Indians to teach them ____________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________.
3. At the same time and in exchange, the American Indians were eager to acquire ______________
_________________________________________________________________.
4. In the early years of European settlement, American Indians vastly outnumbered the colonists.
What was the estimated number of American Indians in New England in 1600? ______________.
5. Why did the arrival of European settlers have a deadly impact on Native Americans?
6. What was the most deadly disease for Native Americans?
7. After surviving exposure to European diseases, how did the settlers treat survivors?
8. Who were the first people to write about life in the New World?
Native American Oral Traditions
Read page 20 in your literature book and answer the questions below.
1. “The Sky Tree” is a creation myth of the ___________________________.
2. “The Earth Only” comes from the oral tradition of the ___________________________.
3. “Coyote Finishes His Work” has been handed down through the tradition of the _________
______________.
“The Sun Still Rises in the Same Sky”
Read pages 23 in your literature book and answer the questions below.
1. Native American literature is based upon an ___________ tradition, meaning stories have been
passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth.
2. Why did scholars have problems recognizing the traditions of Native American literature?
3. Native American cultures use stories to ______________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________.
4. American Indian literature reflects a view of the natural world that is more ____________ than the
one typically seen in Western literature.
5. The Native American universe is not dominated by human beings. _____________ and
______________ are often interchangeable in myths and folk tales.
6. American Indian cultures were also keenly aware of the power of ____________. Words are as
powerful and alive as the human breath that carries them. Songs and chants can _____________
______________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________.