Legend of the Indian Paintbrush
by: Tomie dePaola

Before You Read
In The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush, you will see that Little Gopher paints on animal skins, also known as picture writing. Picture writing is a way for the Native Americans to remember their legends so they can be retold for many years.  Native Americans did not just paint on animal skins, they also painted on rocks.
Click to see pictures of Native American rock art:
Southwestern United States Rock Art Gallery

After You Read
You have just finished reading The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush.  Tomie dePaola did not make up this story on his own.  It is a legend that has been retold by his people for many years.  Now you will get a chance to write your own legend!  You will pretend you are a member of a Native American Tribe.  You have just discovered a new wildflower.  How did this flower come into existence? How will you name your flower?
Task:
You will choose a wildflower with a name you think is interesting and write a legend about how that flower got its name.
You will research forms of  picture writing, called petroglyphs.  In the book, Little Gopher used these pictures to retell the stories of his people.
You will then create a picture writing of your legend of the wildflower.

Process:
1) Visit these sites on wildflowers.  Look at the names of the wildflowers and choose below you would like to write a legend about.
    Wildflowers in Bloom
    

2) Look at these sites with legends retold by Native Americans.  These will help you get ideas for your legend.
    The Origin of the Prairie Rose
      Or check out these books:
    The Legend of the Bluebonnet, by Tomie dePaola
    Where the Buffaloes Begin, by Olaf Baker
    And It Is Still That Way: Legends Retold by Arizona Indian Children, by Byrd Baylor

3) Here are a few more sites with examples of legends. These sites contain legends written by other students.
    The Orchard School
    

4) Based on these legends, create your own legend explaining how the wildflower you chose got its name.

5) After you have written your legend, you can revisit the rock painting links from Before You Read, or click here for examples of Native American symbols. Use this site to research picture writings.
    Indian Summer

6) Now that you understand what a petroglyph is, create your own one of these two ways:
    - use crayons to draw your story on a piece of brown butcher paper
    - use paints to paint your story on a piece of brown butcher paper

Beyond What You Read
Congratulations on completing your own legend!  We hope that it is one that will be passed on from generation to generation in your family, just as Little Gopher's stories were.  You may want to publish your work online so that other people can read it as well.  You can publish for free at Writer's Area.

Game
Here is a fun hangman game you can play after you have finished the rest of the activities! Good luck!
 
 
 

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some graphics from: Poison's Icons