🦅 What Makes a Great Leader?

Week 21 • Monday • Meeting Native American Heroes

🎯 This Week's Goals

This week you will learn:

• What qualities made Native American leaders great
• The stories of Sacagawea, Sequoyah, and Sitting Bull
• How leaders protected and helped their people
• What their stories can teach US about courage and wisdom

📖 Reading Time

What makes someone a great leader? Is it being the strongest? The loudest? Native nations believed a great leader was wise, brave, and generous — someone who put the people first.

Many nations chose leaders called chiefs. A chief might lead in different ways: some guided hunts, some kept peace, some spoke for the nation in important meetings. In some nations, like the Haudenosaunee, wise women called Clan Mothers helped choose the chiefs!

This week you will meet real Native American leaders whose courage and cleverness changed history — a brave young mother, a genius inventor, and a fearless protector. Their stories still inspire people today.

✏️ Reading Questions

1. What three qualities made a great leader?

2. What different jobs might a chief do?

3. Who helped choose chiefs among the Haudenosaunee?

📝 Vocabulary Grid

Write what each word means in your own words.

leader
chief
wise
brave
generous
courage

✏️ True or False

Write T for true or F for false in each circle.

Great leaders put the people first.
A leader had to be the loudest person.
Some chiefs kept peace and spoke for the nation.
Clan Mothers helped choose Haudenosaunee chiefs.
Being generous was an important leader quality.
Leaders' stories can still inspire us today.

🧠 Think About It

1. Think of a leader you know — a parent, teacher, or coach. What makes them a good leader?

2. Which quality do you think matters most: wisdom, bravery, or generosity? Why?

🎨 Draw a Leader

Draw someone being a good leader — helping, protecting, or guiding others.

📅 Coming Up Next

Tomorrow: meet Sacagawea, the brave young Shoshone woman who guided explorers across mountains — with a baby on her back!