DISCUSSION QUESTIONS/TOPICS

  • What did medicine men or medicine women do?
  • Their clients believed they had special powers given to them by the spirits to heal the sick, call animals to be hunted, foretell the future, assist in warfare, and help find lost property. Powers were obtained through dreams and visions. If a dream or vision directed one to become a medicine person, one was obligated to do so even if he/she didn't want to. Doctoring was one of the most important jobs, and usually involved the use of medicinal plants. Medicine people, often called "shaman," are still sought by traditional American Indians today to cure certain physical and psychological problems. Medicine men and women differed from priests, who presided over ceremonies. In the story, Little Basket's powers  focus mainly on seeing the future.
  • The warehouses at Casas Grandes held thousands of trade items. Why were these items valuable farther north? Which may have been the most valuable?
  •  Discuss the concept of supply and demand, luxury items vs. utilitarian items, etc. For example, a trader might trade a macaw and turquoise beads (luxury items) for a turkey feather blanket (utilitarian item) from a person of the Ancestral Puebloan. The blanket would, in turn, be traded to someone who lived in the cooler mountain climes (the feather blanket might be essential to keep warm in the winter. This would be a good time to mention that there are real mountains in Mexico).

FURTHER READING

  • Arizona Traveler Guidebooks
    1988, Arizona Birds, Renaissance House Publishers, Frederick, CO.
    1988, Arizona Cactus, Renaissance House Publishers, Frederick, CO.
  • Astronomy Magazine
  •  Brandenberg, Aliki
    1976, Corn is Maize, The Gift of the Indians, Harper Collins, New York, NY.
  • Brody, J.J., et al.
    1983, Mimbres Pottery: Ancient Art of the American Southwest, Hudson Hills Press, NY.
  • Cassells, E. Steve
    1998, The Archaeology of Colorado, Johnson Books, Boulder, CO.
  • Cornett, James W.
    1995, Indian Uses of Desert Plants, Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, CA.
  • Di Peso, Charles C.
    1974, Casas Grandes, A Fallen Trading Center of the Gran Chichimeca, in VoL 3, Amerind Foundation, 9, Dragoon, AZ.
  • Harvey, Karen D. and Lisa D. Harjo
    1994, Indian Country: A History of Native People in America, North American Press, Golden, CO.
  • Haury, Emil W.
    1989, The Mogollon Culture of SW New Mexico, Medallion Papers 20, Gila Pueblo, Globe, AZ.
  • Hayden, Julian
    1972, "Hohokam Petroglyphs of the Sierra Pinacate, Sonora, and the Hohokam Shell Expeditions" in The Kiva, 37 (2):74+
  • Houk, Rose
    1992, Mogollon, Southwest Parks and Monuments Association, Tucson, AZ.
  • Martin, Paul S.
    1979, Prehistory: Mogollon, In Handbook of North American Indians 9, Southwest,  Alfonso Ortiz, ed., pp. 61-74, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
  • Matson, R.G.
    1991, The Origins of Southwestern Agriculture,  University of Arizona Press, Tucson, AZ.
  • Menzel, D.H.
    1983, A Field Guide to the Stars and Planets, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA.
  • Nabokov, Peter
    1987, Indian Running, Native American History and Tradition, Ancient City Press, Santa Fe, NM.
  • Raymo, C.
    1982, 365 Starry Nights: An Introduction to Astronomy for Every Night of the Year, Simon & Schuster Inc., New York, NY.
  • Silver, Donald M.
    1998, One Small Square, The Night Sky, Learning Triangle Press, New York.