Women's and Men's Work

 

DURATION: 45 minutes

• Class Handout
• Job Strips master
• Jobs Assessment
• Jobs Assessment Key

Introduction:

Men and women had different jobs that they were expected to carry out.  Providing food, clothing, protection for their tribe, and raising children were very important duties.

Guiding Question:

Assessments:

1. Have the students read the material on the website on "How They Worked" or pass out the handout containing the same copy.  Let the students read the copy.
2. Pass out copies of the Jobs Assessment.
3. Have students classify the list of “jobs” in a Native American community in the 1700s in the Southeast as “Women’s Jobs” or “Men’s Jobs”.
4. Use the Key to check student answers. (Allow them to explain their reasoning in cases of disagreement.)

Procedures:  

1.      Ask students to try to imagine living in what is now Tennessee 400 years ago – no electricity, no iron tools, no grocery stores.

2.      If feasible, project the website and have students compare the man depicted in the painting titled An Indian Painted for the Hunt with the women depicted in the painting Native American Woman and Baby. (What do these paintings suggest about the major roles of men and of women in Native American cultures as “providers” and “caregivers”, respectively?)

3.      Divide the class into teams of 4 students.

4.      Pass out the strips with various “jobs” that had to be done in a Native American community and have the teams separate them into “Men’s Jobs” and “Women’s Jobs”, discussing their thinking.

5.      Go through the job list one by one, tallying the team classifications and having teams share the reasons for their classifications. (Encourage them to consider how much strength the job required and to realize that young children had to be breast-fed and continually cared for, limiting what women were free to do.)

6.      Have students “fast forward” to the present day and brainstorm jobs once thought to be “men’s jobs” or “women’s jobs” that are now open to either men or women. (Both men and women can cook, hunt, and garden. Both may build buildings and create pottery and jewelry. Both may care for young children. Both can be leaders and soldiers. There are still some jobs that require physical strength that may be too difficult for most women, but a strong woman may be able to do the job.)

7.      Summarize how and why roles have changed. (Strength is not as important any more and women have more options for working outside the home.)

 

• Have students examine the paintings on the TN4ME website for other examples that illustrate “women’s jobs” and/or “men’s jobs”.
• Have students follow the link on the TN4ME website to explore how it is possible to identify game animals from their tracks.