First American Experiences:

First American experiences may be scheduled as individual units or combined to provide an all-day learning experience.  Multiple units may have to be scheduled in order to accommodate multiple groups. 

Wigwam Adventure (1 hour) 

Travel back in time during your visit to our authentic Native American Wigwam.  Nestled within the preserve’s forest, you will rediscover how the First Americans lived in harmony with the natural world.  The maximum number of classes scheduled for the Wigwam Adventure program is one.

Students will be greeted and escorted to one of our replica wigwams.  Students will enter the wigwam, where they will be seated on either blankets around a fire burning in the center of the wigwam.  The instructor, in the deerskin dress and role of a Native American, will share the culture and ways of the tribes of our area including smudging, drumming, wigwam construction and tribe members and their roles.  Students will learn some of the medicinal plants used and some of the games the children would have played in order to enhance their life skills.  The meaning of the  medicine wheel and the symbolism of different animals will also be shared.  Each class will be given a Native American name and taught how to show respect and give thanks to Mother Earth.

Students will also learn of the amulet and its meaning.  The instructor will demonstrate the making of an amulet and then allow students to make their own amulet that they can take home. 

Stone Tools (1 hour)

Investigate the uses of Native American tools through viewing relics and using reproductions.  Learn what materials are used to create tools, observe and participate in the making of a tool that you will bring back to the classroom.  The maximum number of classes scheduled for the Stone Tools program is one.

Students will enter a classroom and sit on carpet squares on the floor, allowing for plain view of the tool making process.  Students will learn different materials used by Native Americans in making tools and where these materials originated.  The process of forming these materials will be explained and demonstrated.  Students will be able to investigate the uses of Native American tools through viewing relics and using reproductions.  In using these reproductions, students will be able to assist in various steps of the tool making process, such as drilling, scraping, and sanding.  The work of both the students and the instructor will result in the making of a tool that can be taken back to your classroom.

Tunxis Indians Hayride (1 hour)

Visit the 60-ton Indian Rock and learn about its history and legend.  When done as a stand alone unit, students will travel to the wigwam and unearth the history of the first inhabitants of our Preserve.  The maximum number of classes scheduled for the Tunxis Indians Hayride is two.

Students will first be oriented with the rules of the hayride.  Students will then board our tractor-drawn hayride in order to proceed through the preserve and learn about the first native peoples of our area.  The wagon will make several stops to allow for student learning about the Tunxis Tribe that inhabited this area of Connecticut.  During the hayride students will learn how the Native Americans would have hunted.  Both the different animals hunted and the tools used to hunt them will be discussed.  The use of a throwing spear and a tool called an attalatle will be demonstrated.  The hayride will also stop near Indian Lake so the students may hear the legend of Morgan’s Swamp.  The students will walk from the hayride to visit the Indian Rock to learn about the rock’s significance to the Native Americans.  The students will have the opportunity to go under the rock in order to see where traveling Native Americans would have slept.  While visiting the Indian Rock, students will also learn how the First Americans would have migrated from Asia, across North America and to Connecticut.

Foods of the Earth (1 hour)

Observe first hand the various native foods, gathered and cultivated, by the First Americans.  Students will sample a variety of native foods.  The maximum number of classes scheduled for the Foods of the Earth program is two.

Students will enter a replica Native American wigwam and sit on benches around a fire burning in the center of the wigwam.  The instructor, in the dress and role of a Native American, will tell of the arrival of the first Native Americans in Connecticut.  The instructor will cover how these native peoples would have obtained food by hunting, gathering, and farming.

Students will learn how the native peoples would have hunted the animals of the forest.  The uses of the different animals will be described and the skins of some of these animals shown and passed around so the students may touch the skins.  Students will learn how the meat and fats (grease) were used as food or in cooking and preparing foods.  Students will also be introduced to how skins would be prepared in order to be used as clothing, blankets, or mattresses.  Students will have the opportunity to taste dried meat.

Students will also learn how the Native Americans would have planted gardens and grown crops for food.  The “Three Sisters” (corn, beans, and squash) provide the basis for the native garden.  Students will learn how these crops can be grown together and eaten together or separately.  Students can take turns in grinding corn into flour.  The uses of this flour in making a flat bread, called a journey cake, will be discussed.  The uses of squash in making bowls and tools will also be shown.  Students will have the opportunity to taste a journey cake, popcorn, and pumpkin (squash) seeds.

The students will also discover how the Native Americans would have gathered foods from the forest and land around them.  Students will learn the various roots, fruits, and seeds, including nuts, that would be gathered and their related uses.  Students will have the opportunity to taste dried fruit (apple, cranberry and grape/raisins), cranberry juice, and maple syrup as a sweetener on the journey cake.

First American Vocabulary