The Creation Story
an Ojibwe legend retold by
Heather Gouge and Nicole Miller

Long ago before Mother Earth existed, the Creator sat alone in darkness thinking, and with His thoughts He formed Mother Earth. He covered the Earth with plants and trees, birds and animals, and many crawling insects, but He became lonely. So, from the soil of the Earth he formed two companions, a man and a woman. Beside the man he placed a bow and arrow. This was to show that the man was to be the protector and provider of food. Beside the woman he placed a birch bark basket filled with seeds. The basket and seeds represented the natural resources given to the Ojibwe people. The Creator also placed a book next to the woman. Then the Creator blew life into the woman and the man. First he blew life into the woman, and when she arose, she picked up the birch bark basket full of seeds, but she did not pick up the book. Her choice doesn't mean that Ojibwe people are not educated, they just have a different way of learning. When the Creator blew life into the man, the man picked up the bow and arrow and accepted his responsibility to protect and provide food. Then the Creator said, "Take care of Mother earth, and she will take care of you. Don't get greedy. Take only what you need, and remember to put down tobacco before you take from Mother Earth."
This is how the Ojibwe people came to be.

The Creation Story
Word Problems

Join: Result Unknown
___ butterflies fluttered into a meadow. Then ___ more butterflies fluttered into the meadow.
How many butterflies fluttered into the meadow?
(5, 4) (13, 14) (32, 27)

Separate: Result Unknown
There were ___ birds on a tree. ___ of the birds flew away. How many birds stayed on the tree?
(9, 3) (27, 8) (32, 27)

Part Part Whole: Whole Unknown
There were ___ mud turtles and ___ paint turtles sitting on the log?
How many turtles were sitting on the log?
(8, 4) (14, 13) (29, 31)

Compare: Difference Unknown
The man had ___ arrows with red feathers and ___ arrows with yellow feathers.
How many more arrows had red feathers than yellow feathers?
(8, 4) (19, 14) (31, 22)

Multiplication
The woman had ___ birch bark baskets. In each basket she stored ___ pieces of dried meat.
How many pieces of dried meat did she store?
(4, 5) (11, 10) (5, 25)

Measurement Division
The woman gave ___ berries to her children.
Each child got ___ berries. How many children does the woman have?
(10, 2) (18, 3) (32, 8)

Partitive Division
The man prepared ___ pieces of dried venison to give to his ___ relatives.
Each relative got the same amount. How many pieces of venison did each relative get?
(9, 3) (15, 3) (28, 7)

Join: Change Unknown
The woman made ___ pieces of frybread for a family feast. After the feast, there were ___ uneaten pieces of frybread. How many pieces of frybread were eaten during the feast?
(10, 21) (26, 52) (49, 77)

Separate: Change Unknown
The woman sewed ___ beads onto her husband's moccasin. In the night, a pack rat chewed off some of the beads so that there were only ___ beads left on the moccasin. How many beads did the pack rat carry
away to its nest? (10, 6) (26, 14) (32, 19)

Part Part Whole: Part Unknown
The man sang ___ songs to his wife. ___ of the songs were serious. The rest were silly.
How many silly songs did he sing?
(12, 8) (24, 6) (35, 26)

Compare: Quantity Unknown
Red and yellow beads are in a basket. There are ___ red beads. There are ___ more yellow beads than red beads. How many yellow beads are in the basket?
(3, 8) (12, 22) (24, 28)

Two-Step Problem
The woman gave ___ pieces of frybread to each of her ___ children and ___ pieces of frybread to her mother. How many pieces of frybread did the woman give away?
(2, 2, 4) (3, 5, 6) (4, 7, 10)