The Great Bear Story

Vocabulary Words

• Iroquois – A Native American people from the northeastern part of North America.  They refer to themselves as the Haudenosaunee, “People of the Longhouse.”
• Big Dipper – – a group of seven bright stars that form the outline of a bowl with a handle (dipper).

Fun Facts

• The Big Dipper includes the bear (four stars making up the dipper) and the three hunters who are following (three starts making up the handle of the dipper).
• The Great Bear Story describes how Native Americans explained the colors in the Fall and why the Big Dipper is not visible during the Winter months.
• Hammonasset – a Native American word meaning “the place was where we dig holes.”  The Hammonassets were “the people who dig holes”.  They dug holes for farming in the fertile soil around the river.