Northwest Coastal Indians Crafts

Wooden Box

Background Information:

The Makah could bend a plank into a box by grooving and steaming the corners. The box was ten carved with images such as bears, whales, and the thunderbird.

Directions:

This box was made by covering a detergent box with the wood grain Contact paper. The design was then drawn with a marker to resemble carving.

Totem Pole

Directions

1. Collect empty wrapping paper rolls, empty boxes, or empty bolts that material comes on from the cloth shop.
2. Measure the width around your roll.
3. Cut pieces of construction paper 8 inches by the width measured around the roll.
4. Decorate each piece of construction paper with markers or colored chalk to look like an animal for the totem pole. Wings, tails, antlers, and other features may be glued onto the construction paper so that the totem pole would appear more three dimensional when assembled.
5. Glue the sections of the totem pole onto the roll.

Northwest Coastal Hat

Armor

Background Information:

The only American Indians that used any sort of armor were the tribes of the northwest. This body protection was topped by a wooden headpiece, shaped to fit the head and neck. It was carved with faces to scare the enemey, but still resembled its owner.

Directions for Making the Armor

1. Use ice cream sticks to make this two-piece miniature of Tligit armor. For The chest armor use ten 1½ inch long sticks. Weave leather in and out to hold the sticks together at the top and bottom.

2. For the stomach armor, use four regular sized sticks and six 1½ inch long sticks. Place the longer sticks in the middle and weave the leather in and out at the top and bottom as you did on the chest armor.

3. Paint a simple design in the cent of the chest and stomach pieces of armor.

4. For the should stramps cut tow strips of leather and glue the straps to the inside of the chest piece.

5. Cut two short pieces of leather and glue them at the sides to hold the tow armor sections together.

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