Two Old Women

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Skills of Indigenous People”

In this activity, students research and demonstrate a skill set used by Indigenous peoples and draw comparisons to Two Old Women.

In Two Old Women, the protagonists use the skills they have acquired to survive in the Alaskan wilderness alone. Research skills and resources used by Indigenous peoples and craft your own survival tool.

• Describe how your survival tool is constructed, what resources are required to create it, and why it is important to the survival of Indigenous peoples.
• With teacher permission, construct a prototype from paper, cardboard, or recyclables to represent the survival tool; if the tool is not practical or appropriate in prototype form, prepare an illustration instead.
• Outline and practice your presentation to the class.
• In your presentation, explain how the tool relates to the experiences of Sa’ and Ch’idzigyaak in the story.  

As you listen to others’ presentations, reflect in your notes or reading journal on the ways in which the protagonists might have benefited from the various tools.

Teaching Suggestion: Students might find it beneficial to discuss what qualifies as school-appropriate materials to present to peers.