Home: The Story of Maine
A Part of the Main: European Settlement of
Lesson #1: Culture and Resource Use
For use with Modules 1
Alignment with the Maine Learning Results:
A CLEAR AND EFFECTIVE
Uses oral, written, visual, artistic, and technological
modes of expression.
A CREATIVE AND PRACTICAL PROBLEM SOLVER
Observes situations objectively to clearly and accurately
A RESPONSIBLE AND INVOLVED CITIZEN
Recognizes and understands the diverse nature of society.
A COLLABORATIVE AND QUALITY WORKER
Demonstrates reliability, flexibility, and concern for
B. HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE, CONCEPTS, AND PATTERNS
Students will develop historical knowledge of major events,
people, and enduring themes in the United States, in Maine, and
throughout world history. Students will be able to:
- Explain how different ways of knowing and believing have
influenced human history and culture.
- Explain the benefits and conflicts resulting from
encounters among cultures.
B. HUMAN INTERACTION WITH ENVIRONMENTS
Students will understand and analyze the relationships
people and their physical environments. Students will be able
- Explain factors which shape places and regions over
time (e.g., physical and cultural factors).
- Read and understand excerpts from
The Wabanakis of Maine and the Maritimes.
- Compare and contrast the different ways European settlers
and Wabanaki Indians used the land and its resources.
- Write a conversation between a Wabanaki person and an
English person that demonstrates an understanding of the
different cultures and that negotiates a plausible solution to a
- Excerpts from The Wabanakis of Maine
and the Maritimes, Historical Overview
- Land and Resource Use Chart
- Assignment Sheet #1
- Grading Rubric #1
Timing: 5-6 days in class,
with time outside of class to complete assignment
- After viewing A Part of the Main: European Settlement of
the Mainland, discuss with your students the relationship
between environment and culture. How do different cultures make
use of their environments? How does environment shape culture?
Begin by looking at the familiar. Ask questions like the
Have students read the excerpts from The Wabanakis
of Maine and the Maritimes. Depending on the reading
level of your students, you may want to have them read it
together as a class, in pairs, or on their own. Or, you may want
to present the material in a lecture.
Go over the reading with your students carefully in class.
Make sure they understand the main points. After they have read
the excerpts, have students fill out the Land and Resource Use
Charts individually (possibly for homework), using the
information from the reading (or lecture).
Go over students' charts in class. Make a chart together on
the board or on a large piece of butcher paper. Compare and
contrast the different ways that both cultures used the land and
its resources. Ask students to imagine how these differences
might have created conflicts between the two groups. Make a list
of possible conflicts on the board.
Tell students they will have the opportunity to put
themselves in the shoes of people from these two cultures and to
try to solve one of these conflicts. Students should form pairs,
and choose one of the scenarios presented on Assignment Sheet
#1. They will then write a conversation that might have occurred
between a Wabanaki Indian and an English settler concerning the
conflict they have chosen. They will perform their conversation
in class. See Assignment Sheet #1 and the Grading Rubric for
On a designated day in class, have students present their
conversations. Then, have students grade their own performances
according to the Grading Rubric. Grade them yourself, using the
- How many ways do you interact with your environment
throughout the course of a day?
- What resources does Maine's natural environment provide?
What resources does the local community's environment
- How do we use those resources?
- What are our ideas about land and who owns it?
- How has Maine's environment shaped its economy?
- How do you think things might be different in Maine if the
surrounding environment were different?
- Compare conflicts that arose over land and resource use in
colonial days to conflicts that arise today. Look at the
conflicts between the timber industry and environmentalists, for
example. Or, conflicts over coastal access between private
property owners and tourists.
- Have students research an aspect of Wabanaki culture that
has persisted in Maine throughout the years. They might look at
basketmaking, hunting, or storytelling. How has the custom
changed? How has it stayed the same?