Museum Education Kits 

The South Dakota State Historical Society offers education kits to South Dakota classrooms and other groups. Each kit contains hands-on objects, relevant lesson text, ready-to-use worksheets, and a variety of fun and unique activities. For more information or to schedule an Education Kit please contact Ronette Rumpca by e-mail Ronette.Rumpca@state.sd.us or telephone 605-773-6011.

South Dakota State Historical Society Education Kit
Fur Trade: Bridging Two Worlds

Making a Winter Count

Objectives:

• Participants will become aware of what a winter count is, how it was used, and who used it.

• Participants will brainstorm symbols that best represent events in their lives and create their own winter counts.

• Participants will share information about their counts with the rest of the group.

Timeframe: 45 minutes

Materials:

Included in the kit

Overhead of Lone Dog’s Wintercount

Poster of Lone Dog’s Wintercount

Wintercount Key

Provided by instructor

Overhead projector (optional)

Paper (brown paper bags with torn edges give a nice “hide” effect)

Provided by participants

Markers, paints, or crayons

Background Information:

Europeans divided time into days, weeks, months and years.  The Sioux marked time by counting nights, moons, winters, and generations.  Designing a symbol for each winter and putting the symbols down in chronological order on hide, paper, or cloth created a winter count.  The figures and symbols on a winter count depict a memorable event for each year.  They serve as a kind of diary for a tribe.  The symbols on a winter count are meaningless unless someone knows the history and stories the symbols represent.  It was the count keeper’s job to tell the winter count stories. Wintercounts aided the memory of the tribal historian by providing a symbol for an event during a particular year.  The memory of that event then triggered other memories.

Lone Dog’s winter count covers the years 1800-1871.  Its symbols are organized in a spiral, starting at the center and working counter-clockwise.  Lone Dog probably consulted with his tribe’s elders for their advice before choosing each symbol.

Activity Steps:

1. Display the overhead of Lone Dog’s Winter Count on the projector or show the poster of the winter count to the participants and explain what a winter count is. Ask if they see any symbols that might deal with fur traders.  (Some examples would be numbers 2, 3, 18, 20, 21, 23, 29, 32, 56, and 69.) The explanations for the symbols can be found on the Wintercount  Key.  Why would the building of a trading post be the most important event of the year?
    

2. Give each participant a piece of paper and explain that they will be creating their own winter count.  Each participant will need to think of a symbol that best represents each year of their life, or whatever years they choose to depict – doing a symbol for each year in school, for example.  Participants draw their counts on the paper. Encourage them to be thoughtful and creative.
    

3. Once completed, the participants can share their counts with the rest of the group, sharing the stories that each of their symbols represents.

Download Making a Winter Count (pdf)

Go to Lone Dog Winter Count

Go to Lone Dog Winter Count Key

Download Lone Dog Winter Count (pdf)

Download Lone Dog Winter Count Key (pdf)

For More Information on Education Kits please contact:
Ronette Rumpca
Curator of Interpretations
605-773-6011
Ronette.Rumpca@state.sd.us