All worksheets / American Indian Culture
Official Requirements & Fillable Workbook · 2026 Edition
This badge was called Indian Lore until recently — it is now American Indian Culture, and its requirements were revised for 2026. You will study the cultural areas, research one tribe, group, or nation in depth, learn some of a language, and either visit a museum or attend a contemporary gathering. Note the word contemporary: these are living cultures, not history.
Every requirement for the American Indian Culture merit badge, word for word as published, with room to write under each one on the printed worksheet.
Identify the different American Indian cultural areas. Explain what makes them each unique.
Research an American Indian tribe, group, or nation. Tell your counselor about traditional dwellings, way of life, tribal government, religious beliefs, family and clan relationships, language, clothing styles, arts and crafts, food cultivation, foraging and preparation, means of getting around, games, customs in warfare, and where and how they live today.
Do the following:
Do the following:
Do ONE of the following:
Scouting America last revised the American Indian Culture requirements in 2026. That is the badge, not this sheet — an older year does not mean the worksheet is out of date.
This worksheet was checked against https://www.scouting.org/merit-badges/american-indian-culture/ in Aug 2026 and reproduces the requirements word for word. Both dates are printed on the sheet, so a copy in a binder can always be placed in time.
Requirement text is © Scouting America, reproduced verbatim. The worksheet layout and design are original to this project.
This badge is built around three groups you choose yourself — one of them your own. The work is mostly getting out and meeting people: a festival, a place of worship, a conversation with someone who can tell you what their traditions actually mean. Pick your three groups first, because requirements 1, 2, and 3 all depend on them.
American Heritage starts with the Declaration of Independence in your own words and ends with your own family's story. In between you will choose from interviews, local history, film, biography, and song. Several requirements need a counselor's approval before you start — read ahead so you are not halfway into a project that has to be redone.
American Labor is about the people who do the work and the arrangements that govern it — unions, bargaining, grievances, strikes, globalization, and the tradeoffs between owners, workers, and the public. Requirement 7 asks you to argue both sides of a live issue, which is the heart of the badge: you have to make the strongest case for a position before you decide what you think.
Animal Science covers breeds, diseases, digestion, and management across seven kinds of livestock — then asks you to go deep on one. Requirement 6 has six options (beef, dairy, horse, sheep or goat, hog, avian) and you complete only ONE. Read all six before you start; several involve a farm visit or raising an animal, so pick the one you can actually arrange.
