The Bear Who Stole the Chinook

Real World Connections
As teachers, a big part of our job is finding ways to make topics interesting and relevant to our students so they will become lifetime learners, as opposed to "pass-the-test-and-forget-it-learners". When I taught I was always searching for connections between the topics and the real world examples - especially ones that were fun, weird, impactful, or humorous. One of my favorite strategies was to show ways that cultures have been affected by Earth Science concepts - and history is full of ways that Earth systems have influenced the development of lifestyles, diets, weapons, building materials, wars, and traditions. Climate and water resources are two that have impacted every culture that has ever existed. -Rod Benson, retired Earth Science teacher

Successful hunt
In Montana, where teachers in all subject areas are tasked with helping students learn about Native Americans (past and present) this approach provided a way for me to work toward this goal. Like many teachers, I knew very little about specific connections between various tribes and their homelands - and it takes time to do the research to gain this background. But occasionally I found a connection, came up with an idea, tried it, and found that it worked! That was the case as I was searching for ways to make Chinook winds more interesting to my students.

A *Siksika story
I found a fun music video on YouTube called, "The Bear Who Stole the Chinook", by Jack Gladstone. Gladstone's song is based on a *Siksika story about the Chinook winds, which frequent the east slopes of the Rockies from central Montana into Alberta, Canada. A search to learn more led to maps that revealed a remarkable correlation between the part of Montana-Alberta where Chinook winds are most common and the area the people of the Blackfoot Confederacy chose as their homeland. As it turns out, the Chinook winds were a major factor.

The plan:

1. First, make sure that you understand what causes Chinook winds. Go to this website and carefully read everything. TV meteorologists usually blame the warmth on the fact that the winds are down-sloping. There's more to it. Perhaps they think their viewers would not understand the complete explanation.

2. CLICK HERE to view the PowerPoint presentation. You're welcome to use it with your classes. I included comments with many of the slides to help guide you through it.

3. Show students the music YouTube video embedded at the top of this page. A link is also provided in the presentation.

*It's complicated!
The Siksika are a tribe in Alberta, related to the Blackfeet of north-central Montana. Both are part of the Blackfoot Confederacy - a group of tribes that share a common language and culture, had treaties of mutual defense, and intermarried. "Blackfeet" refers to the tribe in Montana, whereas "Blackfoot" is usually associated with their relatives north of the border. The Blackfoot Confederacy consists of the following tribes: Siksika (aka Blackfoot), the Kainai (aka Blood), and two sections of Piegan or Piikani – the Northern Piikani (Aapátohsipikáni) and the Southern Piikani (aka Amskapi Piikani, Pikuni, Blackfeet). Source: Wikipedia: The Blackfoot Confederacy