The Bureau of Indian Affairs has just approved the funding you requested in order to study the Hupa tribe, an American Indian tribe who living in California.  Pack up your gear and prepare to embark on your expedition, and don’t forget to carefully document your trip. The information you gather is of the greatest importance. Have a safe journey and good luck!

Your task is to travel deep into the territory of the Hupa tribe. You must keep a very detailed travel journal describing all that you see. The Bureau of Indian Affairs has asked that you pay special attention to the environment, the Hupa people, and to their way of life. It is also important that you enter the information you gather into your travel journal as soon as possible, while your experiences are still fresh in your mind.

Along your way you will see many wonderful and fascinating things. In order for the information you gather to be useful it must be divided into 6 areas of interest:

*  Entering Hupa, Land of the Hupa

*  Meeting the Hupa people

*  Dwellings and Structures of the Hupa people

*  Hupa Artifacts

*  Hupa Fishing

*  Ceremonial Dress of the Hupa 

Step #1: Observe all of the photographs in an area.

Step #2: Choose 2 photographs from each area.

Step #3: Write the most descriptive journal entry you can about everything you see in each of the photos. Remember it is your job to paint a picture with your words so that the officials at the Bureau of  Indian Affairs can get a real sense of the Hupa Tribe. 

Then from your observations, write down the inferences you have made about the Hupa people. The inference could be from the specific photo, but you may also come up with inferences that are based on information from a number of photos and from your overall expedition.  Make at least 5 inferences.

Step #4 When you have finished writing about the photos in one area of interest move on to the next. Your journal should include 2 entries for each area of interest. Since there are 6 areas of interest your expedition journal should contain a totally of 12 written descriptions.

Step #5: When you return from your expedition you will deliver your finding with a local fourth grade class.

Official Hoopa/Hupa Tribes Website

Hupa Myths, Dance, Medicine Site

Website with Hupa Information

Grade Four

History-Social Science Content Standards.
4.1 Students demonstrate an understanding of the physical and human geographic features that 
define places and regions in California. 1 Explain and use the coordinate grid system of 
latitude and longitude to determine the absolute locations of places in California and on Earth. 

4.2 Students describe the social, political, cultural, and economic 
life and interactions among people of California from the pre-Columbian
societies to the Spanish mission and Mexican rancho periods. 

1 Discuss the major nations of California Indians, including their
geographic distribution, economic activities, legends, and religious
beliefs; and describe how they depended on, adapted to, and modified the
physical environment by cultivation of land and use of sea resources.

Writing
1.0 Writing StrategiesStudents write clear, coherent sentences and paragraphs that 
develop a central idea. Their writing shows they consider the audience and purpose. Students 
progress through the stages of the writing process (e.g., prewriting, drafting, revising, 
editing successive versions). 

1.3 Use traditional structures for conveying information (e.g., chronological order).

Evaluation and Revision
1.10 Edit and revise selected drafts to improve coherence and progression by adding, deleting, 
consolidating, and rearranging text. 

2.1 Write narratives: Relate ideas, observations, or recollections of an event or experience. 
Provide a context to enable the reader to imagine the world of the event or experience. Use 
concrete sensory details. 

Investigation and Experimentation
Students will: 
6a Differentiate observation from inference (interpretation) and know scientists’ 
explanations come partly from what they observe and partly from how they interpret their 
observations. 

Artifact:  an object produced or shaped by human beings that have historical                     or archeological interest.

Dwelling:  a building or a place of shelter that people live in, also known as                     a home

Environment:  the physical surroundings and conditions affecting both living                             and non-living things

Expedition:  a long journey or trip taken by a group of people for a specific                             purpose

Inference:  an answer or conclusion drawn by using the information already                         available

Journal:  a personal record of occurrences, experiences, and reflections kept                     on a regular basis; also known as a diary

Mode of Transportation:  a method of moving people, animals, or things; a                                                     method of travel

Narrative:  a story or written account of events and experiences

Object:  a thing (for example: a basket or a ball)

Structure:  something that has been built or constructed