Mascots, Icons, and ‘Aumakua

Unit 1 – From Evolution in Isolation to Globalization

Activity 6 – Mascots, Icons, and ‘Aumakua

Materials & Setup

• Student Pages “Mascots, Icons, and ʻAumakua” (pp. 6-8)
• Student Pages “The ʻAumakua – Hawaiian Ancestral Spirits” by Herb Kāne (Courtesy of Hawaiʻi Division of Aquatic Resources, ©2004) (pp. 9-10)

Instructions

1) Pass out the Student Pages “Mascots, Icons, and ʻAumakua” and “The ʻAumakua – Hawaiian Ancestral Spirits by Herb Kane.” Go over the answers for page one in class, and then allow students to finish on their own. (They will need access to the Internet or a library.)

2) Ask students what they know about their school’s mascot: Why might the school have opted for that particular mascot? When was it chosen? Who chose it? If it is an animal, is it native to Hawaiʻi? Do they feel the mascot is an appropriate representative of the student body? Why or why not? What qualities does it embody? Have students write a list.

3) Have students name all the native Hawaiian plant, animal, bird, fish, or insect species they can think of that embody the qualities they listed, or other commendable qualities.

4) Allow students to vote for a class mascot based on what they’ve brainstormed.

Journal Ideas

• Write a story, using the ʻaumakua legend as an example.
• How might cultural traditions, such as the Hawaiian belief in ʻaumakua, influence how a culture treats its natural resources?

Assessment Tools

• Participation in class discussion
• Student pages
• Journal entries

Media Resources