Island Readers & Writers | P.O. Box 227 Mount Desert, ME 04660 | 207-460-8897 | www.islandreadersandwriters.org

Kunu’s Basket, A Story from Indian Island Kunu’s Basket is about a young Penobscot Indian boy who wants to learn how to make his first traditional pack basket. As he navigates through the tapping of ash strips and getting the bottom of his basket just right, Kunu applies patience and perseverance. At the heart of it all, is a boy who grew up watching his dad and grandfather make baskets, and as he makes his own for the very first time, he reaches an important understanding of how each generation of men help the next, by sharing their tribal history through basketry.

Lee DeCora Francis

comes from the Penobscot Indian Nation in Maine and the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. She currently lives with her husband, two sons, and their cat on Indian Island in Maine. Lee is a Native Studies teacher at the tribal elementary school, one of three Native American Schools in the Maine Education School System. This is her first book.

Susan Drucker and her husband live in Bowdoinham, Maine. She is an illustrator and artist, creating sculptures, puppets, and life drawings. She created delicate yet stunning illustrations in support of the text, weaving in images from past traditions and contemporary life. Kunu’s Basket is her first illustrated children’s book.

Island Readers & Writers | P.O. Box 227 Mount Desert, ME 04660 | 207-460-8897 | www.islandreadersandwriters.org

Discussion Questions

Kunu’s Basket

1. Have you ever tried to learn how to make something by watching someone else make it? What was it? Could you do it? 2. Think of something you have tried to learn or get better at. How did it feel when you were trying? Did you need patience or perseverance? How did you feel if you made a mistake? 3. Have you ever learned how to do something from an older person? What was it? Did you try to teach it to someone else? 4. Do you have traditions in your family or in your school? What are they? Why do you do them? 5. Think about some of the traditions that you enjoy the most. What makes them so special? 6. How are your traditions alike and different from your friends? 7. Have you ever made anything using sticks, stones, acorns or other things you found outside? What? 8. What are some uses of baskets that you can think of? Do you think all baskets are made by hand? 9. Do you sometimes like things that are made by hand better than things that come from a store? Why or why not? (baked goods vs. clothes, for example)

* Baskets by George Neptune

Island Readers & Writers | P.O. Box 227 Mount Desert, ME 04660 | 207-460-8897 | www.islandreadersandwriters.org

Kunu’s Basket Hudson Museum, University of Maine, Orono

Weaving by Hand

“People of the Dawn” Classroom Exhibit Learning Trunk from the Hudson Museum, Gretchen Faulkner (207-581-1904) http://umaine.edu/hudsonmuseum/education/classroom-exhibits/

Quimby Field Trip Grant to the Hudson Museum http://umaine.edu/hudsonmuseum/

Virtual Hudson Museum Free iPadd app https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/maine-indian-gallery/id636797210?mt=8

Penobscot Nation Museum, Indian Island Penobscot Basketry, James Neptune (firekpr@hotmail) http://www.penobscotnation.org/museum/

ABBE Museum, Bar Harbor School Progam: Basket Comparisons, Raney Bench ([email protected]) http://www.abbemuseum.org/education/school-programs/program-descriptions.html Birchbark Basket and Birchbark Heart Activity Printable http://www.abbemuseum.org/education/educator-resources/online-curriculum.html

Tilbury House Publishers Kunu’s Basket: A Story from Indian Island http://www.tilburyhouse.com/childrens/kunus-basket.htm

‘Teachers Take Note’ Section http://www.tilburyhouse.com/childrens/kunus-basket-teachers-take-note.htm * Baskets by Jeremy Frye

Island Readers & Writers | P.O. Box 227 Mount Desert, ME 04660 | 207-460-8897 | www.islandreadersandwriters.org

Kunu’s Basket Text-to-Text Book Connections Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto

Bee Tree by Patricia Polacco

The Tooth Mouse by Susan Hood, illustrated by Janice Nadeau

This book is about

A little girl takes a break

Have you ever lost a

a young Latina girl

from reading to spend

tooth and put it un-

who felt ready to

time with her grandfa-

der your pillow for the

take on the family

ther, who is going to

tooth fairy? Well if you

tradition of prepar-

teach her how to find a

were a French child, you

ing the tamales for

bee tree. As they chase

would be offering your

dinner.

bees through the Michigan countryside

baby teeth to the Tooth

After slipping her mother’s diamond ring

together, they experience the joys of ad-

on (for just a minute), she makes 24 tama-

venture and learning. With lines like, “Now

for money. Children identify the tradition

les before she realizes the ring is gone, and

child, I am going to show you something

in Sri Lanka with a squirrel and in Korea a

probably inside one of the tamales! Food

what my father showed me, and his father

Blackbird. This book can be used to share a

and family are the themes of this book. The

before him.” this story presents another

meaningful tradition and how it is similar

story could be the basis for a discussion

opportunity to talk about learning lessons

and different around the world.

about how things don’t have to be perfect

from older people, and the way knowledge

when it comes to traditions, because what’s

can be gained through experience.

Christmas

most important is really the people sharing the tradition, not how well it is done.

Island Readers & Writers | P.O. Box 227 Mount Desert, ME 04660 | 207-460-8897 | www.islandreadersandwriters.org

Mouse

in

exchange

Kunu’s Basket Word Search

t k t j g h f j a x m b p j a

n r l o d r t a a y f a n q n

o m b a b h i e b c b v c f a n s p u q b k j b a p t b c n p d h s k e j y b a b e n n c

x c s g e l r o o f s t o l j

s r q s g o c i n o h r d g r

j i b e w o t u t e w y a n a

m b f n g a m k s y p d s o z

l a a h r c j g n t e l d z z

u h b s l e i n s e n w t e e q h e c q t z c g e v r k h a o d s u m s a w s q k y i o x

g d a b p k v f c f b t d e v

n o i t i d a r t n u x z i h

Island Readers & Writers | P.O. Box 227 Mount Desert, ME 04660 | 207-460-8897 | www.islandreadersandwriters.org

Birch Bark Brown Ash Generation Maine Penobscot Sweet Grass Tradition Tribal Customs

Kunu’s Basket

A Seasonal Wheel Activity

Making baskets requires an understanding of the seasons and the diverse offerings of natural resources each season provides. For example, sweet grass can only be harvested at specific times in the summer. Winter birch is different than summer birch. Think about your own life and the seasons. What are your family customs and traditions? Do you pick blueberries in August? Visit a corn maze or pumpkin patch in October? How do the weather and seasonal changes affect life, culture, art, or the economy of your community? Do people dig clams or plow driveways for seasonal income? In the winter does the earlier darkness change your dinner or bedtime? 1. Each participant should have a copy of the Seasonal Wheel (You might want to enlarge the template) 2. Talk about what each month and season is like (cold, hot, rainy, busy, dark, boring, etc.) and what happens at that time (family visits, school starting, holidays, fires in the fireplace, canning food etc.) before they begin to fill in their Seasonal Wheel. 3. After conversations, everyone should pick a few ideas that best represent how they identify with the season (In September I shop with my grandmother for new school sneakers). 4. Participants can fill in the months with words and illustrations after their conversations and after deciding what best represents the season for them (students might focus on holidays, industry, outdoor activities, etc.). 5. The Seasonal Wheel can support understanding of how the seasons might influence a tradition and can demonstrate the diversity among people. 6. You might make a large Seasonal Wheel on chart paper that the class fills out together each month. 7. Use the Seasonal Wheels to support conversations around seasons, traditions, and as a writing idea tool.

* Katahdin Basket, Fred Tomah, Maliseet, 2004

Island Readers & Writers | P.O. Box 227 Mount Desert, ME 04660 | 207-460-8897 | www.islandreadersandwriters.org

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