American Indian Homes in Kansas
Guided tour—Kaw Mission State Historic Site, Council Grove
Grades—First
Bring your students to the mission to learn how the Kaw (Kansa) Indians used the environment to build homes. These Indians were uprooted from their native habitat and moved to a reservation. The government provided them with stone huts to live in. Your students will learn the reaction of the Kaws to this housing.
They will compare the size of the Kaw's native bark lodges to the stone huts. They will also compare the housing of other Kansas Indians including the Pawnee, Cheyenne, and Wichita. In addition, the students will use the touch table to study items made from the environment. Part of the tour will be held in the classroom where students will use a large wall map of Kansas to identify the location of these tribes. The rest of the tour will take place in the museum and outside.
This tour addresses grade specific standards and provides pre- and post-visit materials to help teachers fulfill those standards. Each teacher will receive the Read Kansas! lesson P-6 "American Indian Homes in Kansas." Teachers might also be interested in either of these educational resource trunks-"Indian Homes in Kansas" or "Uses of the Buffalo".
Standards addressed:
Kansas Standards for History Government and Social Studies:
Standard #5: Relationships among people, places, ideas, and environments are dynamic.
- 5.1 The student will recognize and evaluate dynamic relationships that impact lives in communities, states, and nations.
Kansas College and Career Ready Standards
- RF.1.4: The student will read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. (a) read on-level text with purpose and understanding; (b) read on-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive reading; (c) use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.
- SL.1.1: The student will participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
Download PDF with tour information
Cost is $2 per student. One adult enters free for every 10 students. Additional adults pay the student rate.
Length of tour: approximately one hour.
Number of students in a group: For the best experience, we recommend no more than 30 students per tour. Larger groups can be accommodated by dividing them between guides.
Registration and scheduling: contact the site administrator at 620-767-5410; or email kawmission@khsh.org. Tours must be scheduled at least two weeks in advance.
