page 1 | page 2
Lesson 2. Bags, Baskets, Bundles, Gourds, and Nets
Vocabulary
ARTISAN: A person who has skills to perform the tasks from start to
finish to make pottery, carve wood, weave cloth or make other kinds of useful
and pleasing items called arts and crafts. Another word for artisan is craftsman
or craftsmen.
BACKSTRAP LOOM: An apparatus for weaving cloth. It is made with sticks
and warp threads stretched between the front stick which is tied to a post or
tree, and the back stick, which is attached to a strap around the weaver’s waist.
GOURDS: Biodegradable natural containers made from the dried hard
rind of fruits from a tree or vine.
INDIGENOUS: Pertaining to the original inhabitants of a particular
area.
MAGUEY: A plant with large spiny leaves common throughout Mexico, Central
and South America which yields hard fibers for making rope and bags and other
items.
HERITAGE: Actual things or ideas, customs, skills, etc. passed on from
earlier generations.
TRADITION: The handing down of customs, information, beliefs
without written instructions.
TUMPLINE: A strap that people put over the forehead
or chest, often with a rope attached to a net used to carry a load carried on.
Materials
- Copies for each child of the “Maya
Ways of Carrying Things” downloadable
coloring and discussion sheets drawing A and drawing
B. (These require Adobe
Acrobat Reader to save and open files.)
- A copy of the Coloring Book for reference in presenting lesson material.
It is best if each child can have one or two copies of coloring book pages showing
bags, baskets, net making and gourd decoration.
- A bag of good size with a
strap long enough to put around the forehead and allow the bag to rest on
the back (see sheet A). A handmade Maya net bag is best but a canvas or other
type of bag will do, as long as the strap is about 2” wide and about 36” long.
- Several hand made baskets with flat bottoms at least 8”- 9” in diameter.
Wash cloths or similar sized soft cloths to be folded under the basket
- Cloths
about 40" x 45" or 36" x 36" to make a bundle. A
Maya woven cloth is best one but any colorful cloth of similar size can be used.
Use a man’s
size handkerchief to make a small bundle to wrap coins.
- Gourds, small ones of the size used for
drinking and/or larger. See Resources for more information
about items in a Teacher’s Kit to accompany
this lesson.
Activities
1 - Maya Ways of Carrying Things
Have copies of sheets “Maya Ways of Carrying Things” for
each child to color and to discuss.
Using the drawing on sheet A, ask children
to count the different ways Maya people are carrying things. Hint: you can
find a total of ten approaches.
Answers (in the drawing, clockwise from bottom left):
- boy with gourd for drinking water
- girl with tumpline to carry pottery water jug and
- the same girl carries a basket with a
handle
- woman with baby in cloth sling and
- the same woman carries a basket on her head
- Woman with arm bundle and
- she also carries a stack of cloths on her head held together by
twine
- man with bag over shoulder
- man carrying bag with strap over forehead like a tumpline (beyond him are
shown three methods already counted: one women with gourd on her head and
two with baskets)
- woman with tumpline and net
Ask children
to look at drawings A and B and notice that only women carry baskets. Maya
men do not have the custom of carrying baskets and it would not even occur to
them to do it. Discuss this with students.
Using sheet B, ask children
to name the ways of carrying in this drawing. Hint: there are five ways in
all.
Answers:
- on womens’ heads: a basket,
a rolled up mat tied with twine a bundle, and a bundle.
- bundles supported
with tied ends over the forehead of two women
- one bundle on a man’s shoulder,
- a bundle over a girl’s arm
- what way of carrying is left out of the list of answers? Answer: Carrying
a basket using hands and balancing it on the hip.
2 - Making Drawings About How We Carry Things
Ask children
to use crayons (not felt pens) to draw some of the following:
- themselves, friends, family — showing how they carry various articles
- a UPS delivery person, a pizza
delivery person or anyone who carries things as part of their job
Discuss with students to
the ways their drawings showing people carrying things compare to those of
the Maya as seen on the coloring sheets or in the Coloring Book. How are they
similar? How are they different?
3 - Easy to Do! Carrying a Load with a “Tumpline”
See drawing A, look
for the man with the strap of his bag over the forehead, this is called a “tumpline.” As
seen in drawing B, a bundle can also be used in tumpline fashion — but
is harder to do.
Using a fairly large
bag with a wide shoulder strap long enough strap (2-3” wide and about 36” long)
can double as the tumpline . A handmade net bag is best but a canvas or other
type will do. The shoulder strap is simply put around the forehead and the bag
rests on the back. Carrying a bag in this way can elicit gales of laughter from
children but such reactions can become points of discussion.
Ask students
- what is the benefit of using the tumpline method to carry things? Answer:
the tumpline allows people to carry very large or heavy loads more easily,
because the muscles of the upper body are used very efficiently. Carrying with
with a tumpline allows people to carry loads that are sometimes larger than themselves!
This cannot be done if you are carrying something in front or over the shoulder.
- why
is it not done in the USA or Canada? Answer: most of us have either plastic
or cloth bags for their ordinary carrying needs and vehicles to transport larger
articles. And many people seldom walk to do errands. They might even take their
car to a nearby corner store!
- how would they would feel carrying loads down a street using the tumpline
method?
4 - Easy to Do!
Carrying a Basket
The secret of carrying a basket on the head is: first, fold into quarters
a washcloth, or a piece of soft cloth such as flannel and place it on the head.
(The traditional way of arranging the cloth that goes under the basket is more
complicated but this simple approach works well with a small or medium size basket.)
IMPORTANT: the basket must have a flat bottom!
Put the basket on top of the cloth — something
to weigh down the basket a little will help make it more stable, but is not necessary.
By walking with a straight back the basket almost magically will not slide off
the head.
Ask children
- if as they carry a basket, they can feel how important it to have good
posture and that a basket WILL ONLY stay on their head if they do
- how
would they feel carrying a basket on their head while walking down the street?
5 - Easy to Do!
Making and Carrying a Bundle
The most simple way to make a very small bundle is by using a cloth handkerchief.
Put a few coins in the center of the handkerchief and tie together first two
opposite corners, then the other two opposite corners. You will then have a very
small bundle! You can carry it in your hand or put it in your pocket.
To make
a bigger bundle, take a larger piece of cloth (about 40" x 45" or 36" x 36"
),
put an item such as a sweater in the middle of it. In the same way as in making
the small bundle, tie together two opposite corners and the other two opposite
corners. The resulting bundle can be put over the arm like a purse through the
space under the knot on top (see sheet B, look at the girl in the right hand
corner).
6 - Discussion: How & Why We Carry Things
Ask students to talk about why it is more common in for people in Guatemala
to carry loads with with the tumpline or some other way. Answer: BECAUSE THEY
HAVE TO CARRY THINGS!
Some
people in Guatemala and Central America live in areas without roads, and fewer
people have their own vehicles than in Canada or the USA.
Pretend that plastic
or paper bags had never been invented — how would people carry things? Hint:
name all the ways of carrying things seen on sheets A and B.
Discuss
the pros and cons of walking and carrying things yourself as contrasted to mainly
carrying things using motorized transportation —
Assessment
Children should be able to
- show good understanding of how making and using bags, baskets, bundles,
nets, and gourds are important in the lives of the Maya
- discuss how looking
at ourselves and how we carry things tells a story about us, and how people
in other countries who carry things in their own ways tell us about themselves
- make a small bundle with coins or a small item inside, tied in the manner
described above
- carry a basket on their head easily across a room
Lesson 2 Resources
A Teacher’s Kit from Terra
Experience, a Fair Trade Federation member, includes Maya shoulder bags, gourds
and a bundle cloth to accompany this lesson. See Teachers
Resources at www.terraexperience.com.
Books
Technology in the Time of the Maya by Judith Crosher. Raintree,
Steck and Vaughn, 1998. Has sections on crafts, architecture, food use, the calendar,
glyph writing system and more. Excellent!
A Life of Their Own: An Indian Family in
Latin America by Aylette Jenness & Lisa Kroeber. Thomas Y.
Crowell Company, 1975. Gives a picture of many aspects of Maya daily life, including
carrying, goods and the part that crafts play.
Websites
Native American Technology and Art: www.nativetech.org
Further information on related books & websites
can be found on the Resources page
page 1 | page
2 | next
|