The Circle of Life: Joseph Bruchac in Native American Animal Stories said, “Native North Americans saw themselves as participants of the great natural order of life, related on some fundamental level to every living thing. They spoke of their relationship to the earth in terms of family. The earth is the source of all life – Mother, the sun – Father, and the animals were their – Brothers and Sisters.”

Rock-a-Bye-Baby was the first American nursery rhyme and was created when pilgrims met members of the Wampanoag tribe. In good weather native mothers would place their babies in birch bark cradles and raise them high up in the tree limbs where gentle winds would rock the cradles and lull the babies to sleep. This protected them from animals and gave the mothers time to tend the fields of maize (corn).

Infants: Singing Rhymes – Holding the infants in your arms rock them gently while singing “Rock-a-bye-baby” from my book Teaching with Heart. Forming a warm nurturing relationship with infants help them to develop trust.

Toddlers: Rocking Together – Each child needs to find a partner Have them sit on the floor with their feet touching each other, then have them reach over and grasp each other’s hands. The children should rock back and forth singing “Rock-a-bye-baby.” When they finish, they should change partners and start all over again. Some children can be shy and may need you to get down on the floor and do it with them first then encourage them to find a new partner.

Preschool: Rebus Experience Chart – Rebus is where pictures replace some of the words in an experience chart. Ask children to draw pictures for the words in the “Rock-a-bye-baby” rhyme. They can draw pictures for the words “baby’” “tree,” “cradle,” “broken branch,” “wind,” etc. When writing the rhyme on the experience chart use the children’s pictures instead of the words.

Thanksgiving: In this month of November we should recognize the gifts Native Americans people gave to the world. Almost 75% of our present food plants were new to Europeans five hundred years ago. The most famous of the foods of our native people are the “three sister’s triad” of corn, squash, and beans. These were the key to the survival of the first early settlers. These foods also included tomatoes, potatoes, peanuts, and chili peppers.

Government: Our system of government was derived not from Europe - whose nations knew nothing about democracy - but from Indian tribal organizations. Benjamin Franklin urged our new nation to model its government on the “League of the Iroquois” and guided the creation of the American constitution on the Iroquois “Great Law of Peace.” As we offer our thanks this month let us remember our Native American brothers and sisters who have enriched our lives with their achievements and wisdom.