Students will use a photograph of Jose Encarnacion Chireno’s woven sash to ignite a brain storming session about what the sash is, who it belonged to, and what it represents. Students will then use plain white paper and pencils or crayons to design their own sash for any famous resident of Nacogdoches from the same era as Chireno. This lesson should be taught as an introduction to a lesson about the Battle of Nacogdoches.

Created by Rhonda Williams, 2004

The student is expected to analyze the background of the Texas Revolution using information from the Battle of Nacogdoches. TEKS §113.6. Social Studies, Grade 4. (b)(3)(A)

The student is expected to use the history of downtown Nacogdoches and the “Old Stone Fort” to identify clusters of settlement in Texas and explain their distribution. TEKS §113.6. Social Studies, Grade 4. (b)(8)(A)

The student will explain the meaning of selected patriotic symbols and landmarks of Texas, such the woven sash worn by Chireno. TEKS §113.6. Social Studies, Grade 4. (b)(17)(A)

The student will differentiate between, locate, and use primary and secondary sources, such as biographies and artifacts, to acquire information about life in Mexican Texas, organize and interpret this information, and then draw inferences and conclusions, as well as identify the elements of frame of reference that influenced the use and significance of the woven sash. TEKS §113.6. Social Studies, Grade 4. (b)(22)(A,B,C,E)

The student will organize information about the Old Stone Fort in a timeline. TEKS §113.6. Social Studies, Grade 4. (b)(22)(C)

The student will create visual material based on research and information incorporating main and supporting ideas. TEKS §113.6. Social Studies, Grade 4. (b)(23)(A,B)

This lesson should be taught as an introduction to a lesson about the Battle of Nacogdoches.

Read, with students, the article the Battle of Nacogdoches in The Handbook of Texas.

Place the photograph of Chireno’s woven sash on the computer screen and projector, or transparency and overhead projector.

Journal Activity: ask students to write a short description of the artifact in their journals.

End activity with a brainstorming discussion regarding the possible identity of this item.

Explain to students that this artifact is actually the ceinture flechee, or woven sash, made by local Native Americans out of unraveled Spanish uniforms reported to have been worn by Jose Encarnacion Chireno, a leader of the Nacogdoches troops, during the Battle of Nacogdoches in 1832.

Pass out the Artifact Analysis Sheet. Have students answer the questions individually. Check and discuss answers. Ask students to suggest reasons for the continued significance of this sash.

To complete this activity, students will need plain white paper and map pencils or crayons. Assign the following:

You are responsible for designing a sash for a famous resident of Nacogdoches during the period that he would have been a Mexican citizen. Use the woven sash Jose Encarnacion Chireno as a model. The pattern should be geometric. Your grade will depend on the effort that you put into the drawing.