Steps in Creating a Three-dimensional Project

• After you have completed the research, decide how your group would like to illustrate the information you collected.
  • A topographical map could be made from paper mache and painted to show various landforms. On the topographical map you could illustrate a specific trip, summer and winter camps, caribou migration routes, fishing spots or areas where different game was hunted or trapped.
  • You may want to create a diorama to show camp life, or how a tent or iglu was set up – with all the necessary tools, equipment and clothing. You could create dolls wearing miniature skin clothing, and miniature equipment or tools from soapstone, bone and sinew.
  • An arts and literacy group may want to portray their research in soapstone carvings or clay sculptures.
• Work as individuals, in pairs or small groups to create your three-dimensional projects. If you are planning a large project, the whole group may want to work together on one project, with some people creating the background scene, some sewing clothing, others modeling the dolls. You may want to create a large topographical map as a group project.
• Make up a written work plan for the group to follow, so everyone knows his or her job and can see the big picture. Brainstorm all the steps in completing the project and the dates you hope to complete each step. Post the work plan where everyone can see it. Add more tasks as they come up.
• Regularly consult with the Elders with whom you did the research to make sure your work is accurate.
• Note unfamiliar traditional vocabulary, record it with meanings and try to use it in your labels and other writing.
• Create labels and titles for your projects on the computer.
• As the project progresses, group members can document their progress and their feelings about their work in journals.
• When the work is complete, invite the community for a public viewing of the projects – an open house or presentation. Plan a short talk about your research and the creation of the three-dimensional projects. Everyone can take turns presenting some of the information, with perhaps one group member acting as the master of ceremonies. (See Public Presentation or Open House in the Active Projects section.) Advertise your event through radio, TV and posters.

“But the most critical carrier of the ancient ways of understanding and of dreaming the world is the language itself. In Yuchi you cannot construct a single sentence without understanding a lot of things about how you see the world. It’s all built into the language, it’s all coded there. This is a different way of understanding.”

Richard Grounds, Yuchi Native American language office

From Spoken Here by Mark Abley, published by Random House Canada, 2003