Brownie DINE Badge (special interest badge)

Because we come from a tribal family (Maya's maternal grandmother is of the Cherokee Nation), we integrate a lot of tribal learning into our homeschooling.  When Maya and I discovered that the Girl Scouts of Western OK had a badge that was tribal in nature, we knew that we had to do it!  We did adapt it to reflect the tribes of Pennsylvania (instead of Oklahoma) but it was a wonderful and fun learning experience about something that is important to our family.

The full requirements for completing the DINE badge can be found here.   The four activities that Maya selected to earn this badge were:

#1: On a map of the state of Pennsylvania, show the tribes that originally inhabited the territory that is now PA and the tribes that are presently represented by large concentrations in PA.

#6: Learn about the food eaten by the tribal peoples in PA, past and present.  Prepare one of the foods.

#8.  Learn about the crafts done by tribal people in day to day living.  Pick one of these (leather, beading, pottery, basketry, etc) and learn how to do it.

#9:  Learn about the differences in the dress and homes of PA tribal peoples.


We took a trip to the Reading Museum to complete the majority of these requirements and to supplement our learning experience.

For #1, Maya used her research skills to find information online about the tribes native to Pennsylvania. We learned about the earliest tribes and who still remains.  In our area, the Lenape people still hold programs and meetings.  This area was traditionally home to the Erie tribe, Iroquois tribes (Seneca and Oneida), Lenape tribe, Munsee tribe, Shawnee tribe, Susquehannock tribe and later the Nanticoke tribe.

http://www.native-languages.org/pennsylvania.htm

For #6, we chatted about how the different tribes would have different food tastes based on where they lived, what was common in the area, etc.  What is a common food amongst tribes throughout North America, are corn cakes.  These simple cakes are made from stone ground meal, fat, and liquid.  For our recipe, we used stone ground cornmeal, buttermilk (although a more traditional choice would have been water or buffalo milk, or, possibly, after European settlers, sheep or cattle), chicken egg (a traditional source would have been duck eggs), and some PA honey.  Traditionally, animal or fish fat would have greased a hot stone and they would have been quickly fried on either side. We used a hot griddle to symbolize the stone and oil to replace the animal fat.

#8, and #9, we learned about food, culture, and homes of PA tribal peoples at the Reading Museum. As part of (what appeared to be) a permanent exhibit on world cultures, there was a great learning segment on the different tribes of North America, with some PA specific items, that included things about food, dress, culture, crafts, and homebuilding.  It was a well rounded and great experience.

Are you interested in earning the DINE badge?  Get yours here!